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#1
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Pumpkin
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. |
#2
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Pumpkin
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. -- Peace! Om "My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson |
#3
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Pumpkin
"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. -- Peace! Om "My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson Okay, I'll bite. How do you tell the difference between male and female blooms? -- Jonny |
#4
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Pumpkin
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 |
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