Is this normal
 

Hi,

This year I planted pumpkin, watermelon, and cucumbers.

All the plants were in the ground at the end of may and the pumpkin and
cucumber seem to be thriving although we have no pumpkins or cucumbers
yet. The watermelon is a little stunted but seems to be doing well now
and I see some flowers getting ready to bloom.

So here is is August 11th and so far no visible fruits. Is this
normal? I saw one female flower on the pumpkin and I tried to hand
polinate it and it seemed to take but then it just dried up and fell
off. I saw a bee crawling in that flower as well. It seems like all
the new buds I see are males. Is it normal to have so many male
flowers and so few female? It's been really hot lately - in the high
90's.

I usually get out and water everything in the morning with a hose so
they are all getting plenty of water.

I'd appreciate any feedback on the results I am seeing since this is
our first year trying to grow anything.

Thanks in advance,
Steve

You don't say where you live. Makes a big difference
================================================== ===============


wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi,

This year I planted pumpkin, watermelon, and cucumbers.

All the plants were in the ground at the end of may and the pumpkin and
cucumber seem to be thriving although we have no pumpkins or cucumbers
yet. The watermelon is a little stunted but seems to be doing well now
and I see some flowers getting ready to bloom.

So here is is August 11th and so far no visible fruits. Is this
normal? I saw one female flower on the pumpkin and I tried to hand
polinate it and it seemed to take but then it just dried up and fell
off. I saw a bee crawling in that flower as well. It seems like all
the new buds I see are males. Is it normal to have so many male
flowers and so few female? It's been really hot lately - in the high
90's.

I usually get out and water everything in the morning with a hose so
they are all getting plenty of water.

I'd appreciate any feedback on the results I am seeing since this is
our first year trying to grow anything.

Thanks in advance,
Steve

Northern New Jersey - close to New York City.

Thanks,
Steve

Hi Steve,

This year I planted pumpkin, watermelon, and cucumbers.

All the plants were in the ground at the end of may and the pumpkin and
cucumber seem to be thriving although we have no pumpkins or cucumbers
yet. The watermelon is a little stunted but seems to be doing well now
and I see some flowers getting ready to bloom.

So here is is August 11th and so far no visible fruits. Is this
normal?

I planted my cukes in mid-June due to the cool weather and I've picked
almost two dozen foot-long ones already. I've heard that if there's too much
nitrogen, i.e. a lot of fertilizer, the plants get too 'viney' and don't
bare fruit.

I saw one female flower on the pumpkin and I tried to hand
polinate it and it seemed to take but then it just dried up and fell
off. I saw a bee crawling in that flower as well. It seems like all
the new buds I see are males. Is it normal to have so many male
flowers and so few female? It's been really hot lately - in the high
90's.

The canteloup I planted got tons of male flowers for the first month or so,
then the females came after that. Probably in a week or so I'll be able to
pick my first melon. However, I have noticed that some of the smaller buds
are turning yellow. I thought maybe they weren't polinated even though
there's
enough bee activity around, now I'm not so sure. I just saw a melon about
the size of a fig turn yellow and I figured that has to have been polinated
to
reach that size. I'm not sure if I need more fertilizer or if it's just the
heat,
although I'm about ten degrees cooler than you.

I usually get out and water everything in the morning with a hose so
they are all getting plenty of water.

Yeah, I've been watering mine too almost everyday because of the heat
and no rain for almost a month.

Wally

Steve, I live in Queens, NY which is considered NYC and it's only been in
the high nineties
for a few days. The average temp here has been high eighties, low ninties.

Northern New Jersey - close to New York City.

Thanks,
Steve

I had to plant cukes several times because the young plants were eaten
by worms or rodents. Now several plants still haven't produced yet.
Some of my canalopes have finger nail size fruits. Only one of my 4
watermelon plants have fruits.

I don't water the watermelons or canalopes because I never see their
leaves wilt. You might try water every other day and later twice a
week. This is supposed to promote root growth. Daily watering makes
the roots lazy since they don't have to search for water. Stronger root
system will also result in faster grow and larger leaves.

no, it is not normal. specially the cukes, start producing within a
month of being in the ground. my guess: you have no bees or other
pollinators.

"Steve" wrote in message
...
wrote:

Hi,

This year I planted pumpkin, watermelon, and cucumbers.

All the plants were in the ground at the end of may and the pumpkin and
cucumber seem to be thriving although we have no pumpkins or cucumbers
yet. The watermelon is a little stunted but seems to be doing well now
and I see some flowers getting ready to bloom.

So here is is August 11th and so far no visible fruits. Is this
normal? I saw one female flower on the pumpkin and I tried to hand
polinate it and it seemed to take but then it just dried up and fell
off. I saw a bee crawling in that flower as well. It seems like all
the new buds I see are males. Is it normal to have so many male
flowers and so few female? It's been really hot lately - in the high
90's.

I usually get out and water everything in the morning with a hose so
they are all getting plenty of water.

I'd appreciate any feedback on the results I am seeing since this is
our first year trying to grow anything.

Thanks in advance,
Steve


OK, you saw a bee, that's good. I'm trying to think what your problem
might be. The first 2 things that come to mind are... Are you trying to
grow a garden in a location that is in shade half the day? or... Did you
plant way too much in an area that is too small? All the plants that you
have trouble with will tend to produce male flowers if they are not
thriving and may abort any fruits that start to grow.
I live way north of you and I don't dare plant out much until about June
1st. We've had an exceptionally nice and warm summer but we get a few
nights in the 40s as we do every summer. I've been picking cucumbers for a
month I bet. My pumpkins are doing well. Some of the small ones are
starting to turn orange already. The other pumpkins that are destined to
be big (close to 100 pounds sometimes) are just now starting to set some
fruit. The biggest right now are no bigger than a volley ball but they
will soon be much bigger than that!
I've been growing vegetables here since 1980 and helped my mother before
that. It gets easier. :-)

Steve in the Adirondacks

Steve, I was just in Old Forge yesterday at the Water Safari. I could
definitely tell that it's cooler around those parts, compared to the
blistering 90+ days in Syracuse.

I just started getting ripe tomatos today. I'm at least two weeks behind
where I was last year. I suppose the heat had something to do with it. My
Pumpkin planst are finally flowering so hopefully we'll have some for
Halloween.

FDR wrote:
Steve, I was just in Old Forge yesterday at the Water Safari. I could
definitely tell that it's cooler around those parts, compared to the
blistering 90+ days in Syracuse.

I just started getting ripe tomatos today. I'm at least two weeks behind
where I was last year. I suppose the heat had something to do with it. My
Pumpkin planst are finally flowering so hopefully we'll have some for
Halloween.

Yeah, I'm in Tupper Lake about another hour's drive north of Old Forge.
We used to take the kids down there sometimes. Now the younger one
doesn't like it any more and my daughter can drive herself and take her
friends.
I've been getting some of the little tomatoes but I haven't picked any
of the big types yet. I have one that has been looking ripe for a few
days now. I had better pick it before something happens to it!

Steve

"Steve" wrote in message
...
FDR wrote:
Steve, I was just in Old Forge yesterday at the Water Safari. I could
definitely tell that it's cooler around those parts, compared to the
blistering 90+ days in Syracuse.

I just started getting ripe tomatos today. I'm at least two weeks behind
where I was last year. I suppose the heat had something to do with it.
My Pumpkin planst are finally flowering so hopefully we'll have some for
Halloween.

Yeah, I'm in Tupper Lake about another hour's drive north of Old Forge. We
used to take the kids down there sometimes. Now the younger one doesn't
like it any more and my daughter can drive herself and take her friends.
I've been getting some of the little tomatoes but I haven't picked any of
the big types yet. I have one that has been looking ripe for a few days
now. I had better pick it before something happens to it!

Steve

Geez, you really are in the cold regions of NY state!