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Hello eveyone,

I hope you all had a safe and fun 4th!

I have a question about some of the females on my plants. On the "Lumina" variety I had 1 female bloom about 2 weeks before any males were ready, polinated another on the 6th and it looks like it took.
Polinated a "Big Max" on the 6th as well, this thing is growing like crazy! I am very happy with this one!

But no other females are even close to polination, many have just emerged from the vine growth. Have has some females on the vines just shrivel up and die is this normal, to have 1 or 2 early bloomers and others just fade away?? Switched from 15-30-15 to 20-20-20 about 2 weeks ago. We have had high temps here (90-100) the past 2 weeks. Have been watering 4 times or more a day but the plants still get stressed, is this contributing to the females dying off?

Wow, so many questions, looks like I will stop there..... for now!
Thanks for your help!

7/9/2003 3:46:54 PM

Western WA

Hey, good luck with that big max pumpkin. Anyways, the females that shrivel up before they bloom abort prematurely, and the ones that shrivel after they bloom were not pollinated or aborted. Its alright to have females bloom a while before males, you just have to wait until they line up on the same day. Most poeple say it is good to pollinate between july 5-15, but that is because they attend early weigh-offs. If you are growing for any other reason you still have a lot of time to get some pumpkins pollinated and ripe before october. The hot temperatures could cause abortions, but your watering should be helping.
-Antonio

7/9/2003 6:33:53 PM

Western Pa.

Too much nitrogen will cause spindly growth and pollination problems. Also high heat. I stop fertilizing at least a week before pollinating, and don't step up my fert.program until after fruits are set. It also appears, that because of weather conditions, many are experiencing "delayed" pollinations this year.

7/9/2003 7:24:31 PM

Thanks for the info!

I have noticed that the new growth is kinda spindly, should I back off the fertilizer all together, or go back to 15-30-15?
I have been doing it twice a week.....

7/9/2003 10:15:34 PM

Mineral Virginia

You're in good shape NoP, for what it's worth I planted an acre of pumpkins, 50 Lumina's, about 10 days ago for the Halloween growing season.

7/10/2003 8:53:28 AM

I will keep it up, maybe back off a bit on the 20-20-20 and see what happens.

Have 2 females that should be open in the next 2 days, they are Jack o Lanterns.

The giants only have pea sized females, one developed and never opened.

Good Luck with the Luminas! They seem pretty cool, the females on mine are perfect little circles, so I hope they have a good shape in the end!

7/10/2003 2:39:29 PM

Ypsilanti Michigan

I have the same problem with one of my plants. They get big as a baseball and then abort turning white.

7/10/2003 3:29:44 PM

New Brunswick

I am wondering if the problem lies with the 20 20 20. I have a container of the water soluble stuff and it warns to not apply in hot weather. The 15 30 15 Miracle gro, on the other hand, can be applied regardless of the weather...so I am sticking with that. I have been applying about once weekly at the rate of tbsp to two gallons of water per plant and then lots of plain water after. I also water heavily each morning. I have had lots of males and several (enough) females on all my plants. I have had only one that did not take...and I believe it was because I rotenoned the blossem for cuck beetles and filled the flower head with that before I thought ...and then pollinated....too late...she had been "had" with Rotenone I am afraid. One plant, (a 695.8 Van) is a bit slower with its females but I see they are coming. I guess I am just a tad leery of the 20 20 20.

7/11/2003 1:29:20 PM

I am thinking of going back to the 15-30-15, need to pick up a new box tomorrow, maybe I will post in the fertilizing forum and get see what everyone thinks.

The young leaves have picked up in the days since my original post, so maybe the 20-20-20 is OK, but I would like to see some more females open in the next week or so, I live in Colorado and we seem to get an early frost, season will most ilketly end in mid September.


Polinated 2 females this morning, man if I had the time I would start a diary!

After tracking back the vine one is a Big Max and the other is a Jack O Lantern.

That was about 6A, and its about noon and the flowers have closed. Used 2 or 3 males on each.

I know the flower closes regardless, but I have noticed on the ones that I have pollinated the friut "falls" to the ground after a day or 2 and the ones that did not get pollinated never fall. Is this a sign of a successful pollination?

The Max I pollinated less than a week ago has atleast trippled in size, man I cant get enough of checking on it! Trained anoter vine to grow by it to supply more shade and it worked well. The lumina that I pollinated the same day also dropped and it grownig slowly but surely.

Have my fingers crossed, hope these 2 take! Dont see any other females close to opening, maybe they are on a once a week opening schedule. ;)

7/11/2003 2:19:42 PM