In article et,
"Jonny" wrote:

"OmManiPadmeOmelet" wrote in message
...
In article . com,
"austinartistdotnet" wrote:

Last year, the kids carved the Halloween pumpkin on the porch and we
washed the seeds into the front garden. Now we have a huge pumpkin vine
growing. There are about a dozen large leaves and probably five or six
flower buds. Since temperatures are getting into the high 90s now, what
can I do to make sure this plant produces pumpins for the fall- or do
you think it will make it that long? How or when should I prune it? I
read that letting it get too large discourages insects from helping
pollinate the flowers. Should I plant some lantana, or other
insect-attracting plant next to it? Right now, there are just three
dying gardenia plants (that's another post, entirely) near the pumpkin.
Any advice would be great.

Whenever I had that happen, I just let them do their thing. :-)
I never pruned and ended up with several pumpkins per year. If you are
worried about pollination, take some pollen from the male blooms and
pollinate the female blooms by hand. It can increase your yield.

And a neat thing that mom taught me, baby pumpkin, still green and soft
like a large squash is _delicious_ steamed or prepared like a regular
summer squash. ;-d

I've had too much trouble with squash borer moths to have much luck with
either squash or pumpkins for awhile tho'. sigh I envy you.
--
Okay, I'll bite. How do you tell the difference between male and female
blooms?

A male flower will have a circle of "stamens" covered in pollen grains.
The female or fruit bearing flower has two features. Pistils only with a
sticky coating on the tip or tips to catch pollen, and a swelling at the
base of the flower where it joins the stem that looks like an itty bitty
pumpkin (or squash/melon in the case of squash or melon flowers).

If you have excess male blooms, they are excellent picked and stuffed
with a mix of rice, eggs, sausage and various spices, tied shut and
fried. ;-d.

Google for "stuffed squash blossoms" recipes.
--
Peace!
Om

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch"
-- Jack Nicholson