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high temperature and no fruit

 pumkinguy@aol.com wrote:
>Most pumpkins are temperature sensitive and will not set fruit at elevated
>temperatures. Some pumpkins are more sensitive than others. With Atlantic
>Giants and many field pumpkins, if you have 90 degree days and 70 degree
>nights, you will have trouble. <snip> When the weather cooled back down to
85 >degrees, almost all plants set fruit. 

In our area, we observed that the optimum growing temperatures were 75-80
degrees F during the day and 55+ degrees F at night. It was truly amazing
how much the plants grew during this period.

We have really hot temperatures in our zone 6 area. Above 100 degrees F for
2-3 weeks and an average of high 80s many weeks. We also noticed heat
stress with the plants at the high temperatures. None of the plants(flowers
and roses included) did well at these high temperatures. 

I came on this list about that time when it was really hot. Someone
mentioned photosyntheses of the plants were shutting down at these high
temperatures. Overhead watering cooled the plants and relieved them of the
heat stress. Maybe someone on this list who is more knowledgable can
elaborate on this.

Fortunately we have an overhead watering system. We watered in the mornings
around 5:00 A.M. and again when my husband came home from work around 2:30
P.M. We have very sandy soil and lots of wind. We do not worry about
drowning our plants. This method seemed to help to cool the plants. 

With gourd and pumpkins having such large leaves, the stress was more
noticeable. If you look closer at other plants around the home, the same
heat stress problem will also be observed.

I guess this brings me to a couple of questions. 

How much shade can the giant pumpkin tolerate? 
If we plant our giant gourd and pumpkin seeds in an area where they will
have afternoon shade, how much shade is too much?

Thanks, 
Jeanie


Gourds By Jeanie 
jdixon@oneworld.owt.com
http://www.owt.com/users/jdixon
Pasco, Washington USA
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