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St. Louis MO

I'm a first year guy with a very proud 150lb boy growing fine till now.......it rained 4 days last weekend and I have small slits/holes opening around my stem and oozing good pumpkin juice. I cannot find Captan here in St. Louis so I have been using baking soda and a fan and it isn't working. I have been obsessed with this thing to the point of leaving work early to play with him and will be highly upset if he gets incurably ill....PLEASE HELP>>FAST!

8/10/2000 11:55:49 PM

Western Pa.

Hi Steve!

Small splits and cracks and oozing are common at this stage, you should be O.K., as long as they don't open up into the cavity of the pumpkin. If you can't find Captan, sulfur dust can also be used.Keep the stem area dry! Good Luck!
kilr

8/11/2000 4:50:41 AM

St. Louis MO

My small slits have grown brown rotten flesh around each crack. I scraped it away and applied a mix of Daconil, baking soda and cinnamon, wiped it dry and put the fan back on it. IS THIS THE RIGHT THING TO DO?

8/11/2000 8:50:05 AM

South Hadley, MA

Er, not to incite panic, but does anybody else think that there is a chance that the "brown rotten flesh" is actually vine borer waste? The first time I saw a vine infected with vine borers I thought the vine was rotting and oozing. I'm not quite sure what the best way is to verify if this could be the problem. Steve, have you seen what vine borers look like once they are in a vine? Do you live in an area cursed with these demons? I've also been lucky enough never to have borers in a pumpkin stem, so I'm not sure what I would do next. Any other input from other?

8/11/2000 11:11:19 AM

Steve, you may want to look for a product by Ortho called:: Home Orchard Spray it comes in a green and white can and is a powder. I contains these ingredients and seems to have worked very well on my pumpkin (stems and scars) It will work against disease and bugs. Be careful the Malathion and Captan gives it a really toxic punch but it works well. Most home stores carry it. Good Luck!!!
Contains: 15% Captan and related derivatives, 7.5% Malathion and 15% Methoxychlor.
12 oz. canister

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8/11/2000 3:40:15 PM

santa barbara, Ca.

The cinnamin, and baking soda are good, so is the sulphur. I had a stem split I could put my hand through. I used cinnamin and baking soda, it worked. That ended up being a 598 pounder. Keep it dry. Good luck.

8/11/2000 5:33:29 PM

St. Louis MO

Maybe I am not very clear but this is not on the stem.....It is around the stem on what you may call the top of the pumpkin. The stem seems to be fine...it is where there are hints of the ribs forming near the stem. The brown stuff is decaying flesh...clearly. Please don't scare me like that.(vine borers)

8/11/2000 9:43:13 PM