RE: Funeral for a backyard pumpkin
First of all, my condolences to all who have lost fruit this year. I
haven't lost a big one this year (knock on wood), but I did last year.
I learned last year...it is never too late...well, almost never. I had a
pumpkin pollinate sometime in early august that was 200+ pounds by
weigh-off. If you are looking for Halloween, keep the plant and look for
new females to sprout. They should come.
As far as setting the fruit, it should lay on its side. The blossom end is
typically the thinnest part and should be kept very dry to avoid rot. Keep
the vine elevated to keep up with the pumpkin's growth or you will get stem
stress, which may have been part of your problem this year.
I grew on Sand last year and that worked out well. This year many are using
a paper mill fabric, which works real well. I have never tried on straw, so
I don't know if that works or not.
Good luck on setting another female soon. Hopefully the season is not lost
for you.
-Gus
-----Original Message-----
From: Therese Dillon [t*@optonline.net]
Sent: Wednesday, August 08, 2001 2:50 PM
To: pumpkins@mallorn.com
Subject: Funeral for a backyard pumpkin
This was our first year growing. I had asked about stem rot and captan
and all that recently. Too late. Today I went out to the garden to
water (it's very hot here right now) and noticed brown colors on the
side of the fruit near the base. The whole bottom is rotted out. This
was our only pumpkin and it will be tossed on the compost pile. My kid
is beside himself. We just culled a second generation of female buds
the other day. Is it too late to leave the plant in and wait for
another bud and pollination to take place?
What went wrong? I am afraid that the pumpkin should not have been
sitting upright on its blossom end on some straw. Was that the
problem? Should it have been on its side? What should we lay it on
next year? Thanks for any comments. Sad day.
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