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My pumpkin has been in the ground for the past 3 weeks. It is growing very slowly (total vine length is about 4 inches). It now has 3 leaves, the leaves are somewhat yellow. I am suspecting that the site doesn't receive enough sun. I am thinking of moving the pumpkin. Is this a good idea? how far deep should I dig to avoid messing up the roots? I am a complete newbie. thanks

6/6/2015 10:14:24 PM

Central NY

How much sun does the plant get?

6/6/2015 10:59:18 PM

Going Green

Has it been cold and wet where you are. The plant does not root down or pick up nutrients when cold and extremely wet. Often when you first move a plant it does nothing for awhile and then takes off. 8hours sun is a minimum desired.

6/7/2015 8:06:50 AM

Since it is in the ground, temperature ranges from low 70 to high 80. I am in zone 6, east coast. I think it gets about 5 hrs of sunlight at most. I think it gets enough water, just not hot and sunny as it wants.

6/7/2015 11:53:33 AM

Upa Creek, Mo

5 hours of sunlight is not optimal, but you can grow a 1000 square foot plant with it easily. I do each year with 4-5 hours of light depending on the month. I'd let the plant get set along with temps above 80 and it should take off.

6/7/2015 1:54:06 PM

East Jordan, MI

Moving a weak plant may end up killing it. Let's see if we can determine what is going on. 70-80 degrees and 5 hours of direct sun should be doing better than you describe.

you might be over watering (drowning) it. Yellowing leaves is one sign of over watering. How often are you watering it?

The ground needs to be damp not wet.

How did you prep your soil?

Are you using fertilizer? if so, what, how much, how often?

6/7/2015 6:35:04 PM

1/2 c of fish fertilizer 5-1-1 mixed in 1 gallon of water, weekly. 3 feedings so far. Pour around the main vine.

Soil is bags of top soil mixed with my leaf/grass compost & Jobe's organic fert 2-5-3. It is on high ground so there is no chance for it to be drown in water. I water every other day, unless it rains. So 4 inches of vine (from ground to growing tip), 4 leaves, and the biggest leaf is 4.5 inches across. I appreciate everyone's replies. This is my first time and I don't know what else I should do.

6/7/2015 7:17:46 PM

Central NY

Your doing to much...it's easy to love them to death

6/7/2015 7:20:38 PM

the stem is about the same size of a fat pen

6/7/2015 7:21:31 PM

Upa Creek, Mo

I have some miniature varieties growing and that's about the same size they are. What seeds are you growing?

6/7/2015 9:00:02 PM

1071 Marley 14
(mother- 1874 Mathison 13 x father- 1766 DeBacco 13)

6/7/2015 11:51:00 PM

with those lines, if the plant is in the ground for more than 3 weeks, it should be bigger than 4 inches, right?

6/7/2015 11:52:00 PM

Central NY

yea... Should be doing better...:(...I'm growing that seed too

6/8/2015 7:19:38 AM

Central NY

If it were me..depending where u live ..start another seed (just in case), stop feeding this one and just keep it protected for now..don't water unless bone dry(the little starts/roots need to search for water..shouldn't need food until it starts growing..(week 4?)..my guess is you went to heavy on food for a plant that is too little to handle it, especially one that only gets 5 hrs of sun...the more sun, the more they will feed and vise versa ...it is like rocket science to grow a world record..not so much to just grow a big pumpkin so don't overthink it..maybe it's not too late that someone near you may have a backup plant??..ya never know.. Best of luck to you..don't give up

6/8/2015 8:02:31 AM

East Jordan, MI

1. Bags of top soil, could have been diseased...were they wet when you opened them? Did they stink? Was there any signs of mold? How much did you use? did you mix it with your soil?

2. leaf grass compost -- How much compared to dirt did you use? Was it completely composted or could you still tell there was grass and leaves in it?

3. Jobes organic 2-5-3 fertilizer -- how much did you use?

If your soil isn't well drained being on high ground really isn't relevant to over watering. Roots need air, if soil is saturated it is suffocating your plant. Don't go by top inch of soil, dig down 5 or 6 inches. if it is more than damp you are over watering.

A tiny seedling needs very little fertilizer and its brand new roots can burn very easily from the salts in the fertilizer. If the roots get burned, they stop growing. No roots equals no plant.

6/8/2015 7:19:07 PM

1. Bags of top soil -- they looked fine when I opened them. Just regular dirt smell. I dump 400 lbs of top soil on top my dirt (an area about 100 sqft) . No mix in.
2. leaf/grass compost -- 2 summers, they are not 100% rich colored decomposed but they are not big pieces either. I shredded the leaves before I put them in the compost piles. I would say 1/3 leaf compost, 2/3 top soils. I mixed the compost in with the top soil.
3. Jobes organic: I think I used about 3-4 cups for 400 lbs of dirt. It is possible that I overdid the fish fert. It got about 1/4c + 1 gal / week, for 3 weeks. I'll hold off on more fert for now.
4. I will check dig down and see.
I cover the dirt mount with black gardening fabric, could that make any differences?

6/8/2015 8:52:05 PM

Central NY

The fabric shouldn't make a difference... Can u post pics?

6/9/2015 9:09:06 AM

Winston Salem, NC

I made the mistake last year of trying to plant too many and one of my spots for a young one was shaded by trees for all but maybe three hours. The plant did much the same in its painfully slow growth as you describe. The yellowing is problematic and I think everyone else has addressed that. I got annoyed at waiting on this plant to do anything so after three weeks I dug 8-10" away from the plant and 12" down. I moved the plant to a sunny location and it took right off. Now that being said, these things can grow really slow until that vine lays down and your roots really get going. So you absolutely could leave it where its at.

6/9/2015 10:23:57 AM

East Jordan, MI

ok based on all of your answers, Im still leaning toward over watering, and maybe over feeding, although the lack of sun is not helping the matter at all. I still think I would prefer to start another seed than move it though.

6/9/2015 9:02:31 PM

Garden State Pumpkins

Did you treat the grass with anything? If you used any weed killer it would need to compost for much longer otherwise the residual in the grass cuttings would definitely slow you down. GrowEmBig!

6/19/2015 5:51:39 PM