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Pumpkin Not Fruiting Question

Peakey

Peakey

Ok I have some pumpkin plants on the go but the damn buggers aren't producing pumpkins. I get heaps and heaps of flowers but they just drop off. I've tried hand pollinating and that doesn't seem to help and other plants never have issues. Towards the base of the plant leaves have started to die off and as you work your way along a couple of the leaves have a white powdery look, I'm thinking fungus? Could this be what is stopping my pumpkins from taking?

On a side note I have some sweet basil that I let go to seed. For collecting I think you're meant to harvest the pod when it dries out?Mine have been green for a long time so I could be wrong or maybe it's not hot enough?

Thanks for any help :)
 
Pumpkins need lots of sun to produce and carry fruits how many hours of sunshine are they getting each day? What have you been feeding them and in what kind of soil did you plant them?
 
I Think the sunlight could be the main issue then as they probably on and off only get about 6-7 hours of full sun at max. The only thing they have been fed is some manure (chicken pellets) and maybe some seasol powerfeed at the start. The soil is fast draining and a bit clumped together I guess you could say. Is my first year trying out pumpkins. They are really growing gangbusters they were in full sun all day but are now getting shaded by neighbours trees as soon as flowers are coming up.
 
POTAWIE said:
Are you taking male flowers and manually pollinating the female flowers?
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Yeah but when I've been going to manually germinate the flowers were already at the stage of dying so may have been too late? I'll try and get ontop of it earlier, they were just something I chucked up the back of the yard as a trial run. Flowers seem to have such a short life-span (i think similar to cucumbers) but I was warned about this earlier. Maybe I should cut down this tree nearby that's stealing all my bees :P
 
You should see very few male flowers compared to female flowers so make sure to take advantage when a male does appear. I usually rip the whole male flower off and perform manual intercourse, but only after a little foreplay :)
 
Squash and pumpkins and such are probably some of the easiest plants to pollinate manually. Ideally, you shouldn't need to, but if I'm in the garden anyway I usually make it a point to do a quick run-through and pollinate any open female flowers.
 
Ok well I actually didn't know the difference between the flowers (noobish I know) but from what i read the female has a bulb under the flower? If this is the case my plants are a complete sausage fest...all male. Would that be an environmental issue?
 
Female :
pumpkinfemale.jpg


Male :
pumpkinmale.jpg


Notice the bulb shape at the base of the Female flower - that is the pumpkin that will develop if it pollinates properly . --- If the nutrients in the soil are not correct or too much heat the females will not bloom and will dry up and fall off before blooming - you might want to try a Bloom buster type fert (ie. low N higher P and K rating - if you do not see many females. Also you only have about a 4 hour window to pollinate (sunrise the morning the female opens till just before mid morning - if it doesn't happen during that time it will not happen) - you can tell when the flower will open the next morning as the flower will turn yellow and puff up the evening before it opens.
 
It's all about the birds and the bees, man. But mostly about the bees. Sit down, invite them over, put some rufees in their nectar, introduce them to your girlie flowers and you're good to go.
 
Are the butternut squash flowers look the same (with the bulb shape under the female)? I do have 1 butternut squash growing....
 
marclocas said:
Are the butternut squash flowers look the same (with the bulb shape under the female)? I do have 1 butternut squash growing....
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Yes - most squash flowers are pretty much the same with the females having the start of the fruit at the base of the flower. Normally you'll see males develop first and then females a bit later - so it is normal to see a plant develop all males at first and then within a week or 2 afterwards start to develop both.
 
POTAWIE said:
I never rely on bees for pumpkins, try manually pollinating
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I saw a lot of bees this summer in my little patch, but now that the mornings are cooler, when the prime pollinating time is, I don't see as many. I'll have to get out the little artist brush or some q tips for the new ones.
 
Pepperhead said:
I saw a lot of bees this summer in my little patch, but now that the mornings are cooler, when the prime pollinating time is, I don't see as many. I'll have to get out the little artist brush or some q tips for the new ones.
Click to expand...

Its time to pick pumpkins here now, propably too late for pollination.
Personally I don't bother with a brush, I use a whole male flower. The problem with female flowers is you only have a very brief opportunity to pollinate before they close so you have to always be looking for them.
 
Some of the local growers are picking now and the grocery stores and farmers markets have them out. Here they are still good on the vine until end of October. If a new one sets, I might still get a decent pumpkin by Halloween.
 
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