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Ct

Hello, I am wondering what's up with some of my pumpkin plants. I have Dills Giant Atlantic which I got from Gurneys or something. Some of the plants have leaves which appear to have a white chalk on them and I notice it's slowly progressing down one vine. It doesn't affect the other vines on the same plant.

WHat is this, what causes this, and how can I correct this?

8/20/2004 6:46:55 PM

Jaffrey NH

It sounds like Powdery Mildew. It happens every year unless a fungicide is used in preperation. Good luck with it. Powdery Mildew will take over real quickly, especially with this New England weather.

Doug

8/20/2004 7:16:23 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Hey another CT grower! Cool name too.

Phish, we've seen Powdery Mildew as early as June this year in CT (May in my greenhouse but that's another story) which is a good 3 weeks earlier than most years.

You can try searching the word "Powdery" here at this site & here us all singing the blues about it.

All new growers should bookmark these sites to help diagnose problems:

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/cucurbit/intro.html

And this one:

http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/factsheets/Cucurbit_List.htm

But here is the actual fact sheet on Powdery Mildew:

http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/factsheets/Cucurbits_PM.htm

and the corresponding fungicide comparison reprint. It's not complete by any means but better than nothing.

http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/NewsArticles/Cuc_Cntct_Fcides.htm

You might be too late to clear Powdery Mildew out this year. If the Giant Pumpkin bug has bitten you good, then stay tuned. There will be much more discussion here in the months before the 2005 season gets under way.

Hope you can make Durham.

Steve

8/20/2004 7:35:28 PM

Ct

Hi there. I'm from Waterbury. I'll check out those links you provided in a second.

I'm not entering my pumpkins in any fair. The entire reason I started was because me and a few guys from the firehouse have a bet going.

One of them says he has a pumpkin in the 60's already but I am not too sure of that since he won't let me go to his house. I'm a big surprised cause my soil is awesome (the other guys thought I had paid to bring special soil in) and my pumpkins are about the size of basketballs. The guy with the big one even came to my house to take one of my plants cause he was unhappy with his.

8/20/2004 8:36:47 PM

Ct

Hmmm, I checked out those links and it really doesn't look like anything in those pics. I will just take a picture tomorrow and we can all be sure.

8/20/2004 8:42:16 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Check this picture Phish. It's the plants at my son's school where I can't spray fungicides. The far end of the vine shows Bacterial Wilt which is nearly always fatal. In the foreground though you can really see Powdery Mildew in action. Look for the whitish cast on the leaves.

http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryViewOne.asp?eid=24622

Steve

8/20/2004 10:58:47 PM

Ct

I ran across some pics I took a couple days before and I can see in those that it's definitely the mildew as you suggest. I guess when it advances so much it just looked different. Well, now I know what it is.

Any ideas why my pumpkins even on my healthy vines are growing so painfully slow?

8/22/2004 8:42:12 AM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

On the healthy looking plants, the cool nights most likely. Though don't discount the possibility of Qhuash Vine Borers either. These can sometimes be hard to detect until the end of the year when we rip out the vines.

PM stops photosynthesis, so that's what's slowing the others down.

8/22/2004 9:37:44 AM

Ct

I don't think it can be the cool nights cause my buddy lives near me and his have taken off. I have tons of pumpkins but they just seem to grow soooo slow. Let me post up some pics.

8/22/2004 10:29:47 AM

Ct

Here's the picture from a view days ago where I realized that it was the mold.

Hmmm, guess it won't let me use vbcode or anything...I will just have to post the links.

http://www.justphish.com/20aug04/eva%20pumpkin%20leaf.jpg

My biggest pumpkin

http://www.justphish.com/20aug04/pumpkin.jpg

The secon biggest. Different vine.
http://www.justphish.com/20aug04/pumpkin%202.jpg

And the out of control patch.
http://www.justphish.com/20aug04/pumpkin%20patch.jpg

8/22/2004 10:34:29 AM

Ct

Here's the picture from a view days ago where I realized that it was the mold.

Hmmm, guess it won't let me use vbcode or anything...I will just have to post the links.

http://www.justphish.com/20aug04/eva%20pumpkin%20leaf.jpg

My biggest pumpkin

http://www.justphish.com/20aug04/pumpkin.jpg

The second biggest. Different vine.
http://www.justphish.com/20aug04/pumpkin%202.jpg

And the out of control patch.
http://www.justphish.com/20aug04/pumpkin%20patch.jpg

8/22/2004 10:40:54 AM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

The larger than average leaves got me thinking shade. The later picture that includes tree line confirms part of the problem. Then there is also the matter of the tree roots re-encroaching the pumpkins root area. This was a problem for us in the past but I removed the offending tree. Of course my nieghbors Silver Maples still move back into the patch despite my tilling efforts. Once the pumpkin roots fill the patch, all agressive tilling is halted & the trees head back in.

Some more random thoughts:

Turf is competing with the plants.
How many Pumpkinms per plant?
I see Powdery Mildew in every image.
What variety are you growing?
Is your buddy growing the same thing?

If the Giant Pumpkin bug has you good, plan to till up all that grass this fall. Then we can get some soil test & add the appropraite amendments. Then we'll get you the right seeds & you'll turn into a hopeless Pumpkinhead like all of us. LOL

Be prepared for the images of our recent Giant Squash & Pumpkin Growers of CT Summer 2004 SpyTour that Ken will likely get up in the next couple weeks. You're more than welcome to attend next year.

8/22/2004 1:37:07 PM

Ct

I don't believe shade is a problem because the trees are north of the pumpkins. The only time they get any real shade is a little bit when I have clothes on the line.

The pumpkins seeds I paid for were Dill Giant Atlantic from Gurneys. However, I bought 8 packages I think and not all the seeds looked the same, most were smashed (only a couple of decent seeds per package), and some packages bugs actually came out when I opened them. Needless to say I was not very happy. I split all the good seeds with the guys at work so we should all be growing the same thing.

There is lots of powdery mildew, but I do have a few unaffected vines.

On most vines I think I have maybe 5 or 6 pumpkins per. The soil is incredible. All my other vegetables and fruits took off like wild fire.

8/22/2004 9:39:12 PM