FragileWarrior said:

My ripe (or at least ORANGE) pumpkins seem to be getting mushy stems
right at the vine and then that's that. The first one that turned orange
turned out to be completely hollow inside due to rot although the outside
looked picture perfect. These are not large ones, either, although there
are a few larger ones still on the vine and still okay, stem-wise.

Any idea why they are going mushy at the stem/vine connection?

Could be a late flight of vine borer moths. The larvae will burrow
into the stem and can enter the fruit. Doesn't happen often (where I live)
but farther south there are two generations a year.
--
Pat in Plymouth MI ('someplace.net' is comcast)

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)