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Simi valley, ca

big question this yr is ? this is time of yr to add our manures & such ! But this yr i had problems with plants ,Im not sure i had desease or not ? my plants started out looking supper good then when pumpkins were aprox 22 days old they stoped growing , the vines rotted off under the main vine mostly ! I also thing it might have been a watering problem , First i had hugh vines like 850 & 950 sq plants Yes 26 ft long secondarys ea side , so i has over head water come on several times a day in heat but for short time only & i think only the water ran down stalkes & kept wet directly under vines BUT not most of soil , I found this to be true when i pulled them up all at once , The middle & most of patch was compleatly dry , Maybe plants thought they were done for yr ?? But not sure ?? ,So no question is ,Not knowing should i amend soil of do nothing or use cover crop ? just not sure what to do , Oya i solerized for the last months also with plastic , but too it up now as it dont seem to get that hot anymore , AnyADvice Or opinions would be greatly appreciated ??? thanks !!

10/27/2007 12:39:05 AM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Glenn,

There are several questions wrapped up in there & all are valid. If you haven't already confirmed a disease like Fusarium with a pathology exam then we'll need to guess.

My first concern would be that you might have had too much water. Is there any way we can verity how much water was delivered per plant?

10/27/2007 3:41:59 PM

Simi valley, ca

Thanks steve for responding !! Well i did plenty prep beginning of season , but in middle of season got kindo busy with 3 yr old & such , So i belive my monitering of water was not suffecent , I was watering over head for few miniutes every hr or so aprox 5 times a day 11:00 12:00 1:00 2:00 3:00 it kept the leaves from wilting & thous the leaves from burning ,& the best looking plants for the middle of season iv had so far in 4 yrs , But i noticed that water ran down leaf stalkes & only mainly got water at base of stalk , I belive it stayed wet most of time , But was similar yrs before , EXCEPT this yr i may not have gave it enough soking for longer time to cover all ground between secondarys , Plants got huge 900 sq ft & i could only see & mainly water with hose outer edges & probly not enough in middle of patch

10/28/2007 3:35:11 AM

Simi valley, ca

And to confirm that !! I pulled plants soon after i noticed pumpkins stop growing ! All of middle of patch was BONE DRY so i think that plant was supported by outer secondarys where i got more water with hose ! Im wondering if plants thought it was end of season with no real water in most of middle of patch Except that it was probly too wet directly under vine where water ran down leaf stalk , but only wet for few inchs & not much farther !!! I was discusted at time & didnt send sample , Wish i did !! but now i just wonder what is best thing to do ? Iv solerized & now id add hourse manure & straw if i thought it was right thing to do ! ?? Not sure ??

10/28/2007 3:45:58 AM

Macomb County

read about PM at http://www.bigporchpumpkins.com/

4/3/2008 2:49:14 AM