Hi,

Can any of you pumpkin experts help me. I have a couple of pumpkin
plants in a raised bed. one of them had 2 small tomato sizes pumpkins
growing on one stem, but they have turned brown & dropped off.
Touching one of them it looked soft & mushy.

Does anyone know whats wrong?

On 4 Sep, 20:12, tina wrote:
Can any of you pumpkin experts help me. I have a couple of pumpkin
plants in a raised bed. one of them had 2 small tomato sizes pumpkins
growing on one stem, but they have turned brown & dropped off.
Touching one of them it looked soft & mushy.
Does anyone know whats wrong?

How are the leaves? Is there plenty of air circulating around the
pumpkins? Do you have more fruits going? And did you give them lots of
beer ;o)

On 4 Sep, 20:12, tina wrote:
Hi,
\snip\
Touching one of them it looked soft & mushy.

Problem is likely to be one of air circulation.

Squashes suffer from flower end rotting when water/heavy moisture gets
into the open flowers and doesn't dry out . I grow squashes in a
polytunnel in the far north of Scotland and this is a very common
problem when bad air circulation prevents the young fruits from
staying dry. They turn soft and mushy from the flower end back
towards the stalk and eventually turn into a horrible mush.

Plenty of air circulation can be obtained by careful thinning of the
older leaves, allowing the sun to penetrate the jungle-like
undergrowth that squahes cover themselves with :-)

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Compo

On Tue, 04 Sep 2007 15:15:14 -0700, wrote:

How are the leaves?
The leaves are quite big & green, with prickles on them.

Is there plenty of air circulating around the pumpkins?
Yes I think so.


Do you have more fruits going?
Just 1 marble sized one at the moment.

And did you give them lots of beer ;o)
Beer. No. I Didnt realise i had to. I have given them some ckicken poo
pellets & seaweed powder, but no beer.

On 5 Sep, 20:26, tina wrote:
How are the leaves?
The leaves are quite big & green, with prickles on them.
Is there plenty of air circulating around the pumpkins?
Yes I think so.
Do you have more fruits going?
Just 1 marble sized one at the moment.
And did you give them lots of beer ;o)
Beer. No. I Didnt realise i had to. I have given them some ckicken poo
pellets & seaweed powder, but no beer.

Well, they're roting and it is a bit puzzling. If the leaves are
lovely, I just can't think, but best to get rid of the fruits just in
case. One more question: were they resting on the ground - and is it
very soggy, wet, muddy ...? It makes a big difference when you sow/
transplant your pumpkins - too early and the ground isn't warm enough
- too late and you don't get enough bees to polinate. Your first fruit
should have appeared at the beginning of July after a lot of leaves.
If you didn't get a fruit then it's because they haven't pollinated
successfully. You probably got a male flower but the female flower was
too late perhaps (easy recognisable by the little fruit behind the
flower and the male have a stamen covered of pollen) - sounds that it
might well have been the case and you got the fruits but they don't
develop, rot and drop.

When your fruits are right, they start growing rapidly and you can see
that your vines need support. I use bricks to help the vine to stay
straight. If by now you haven't seen any of this - you won't get any
pumpkins this year.

As for the beer, it's true, and it works - though I think it's a waste
of good ale ;o)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_east/3227455.stm

"tina" wrote
Can any of you pumpkin experts help me. I have a couple of pumpkin
plants in a raised bed. one of them had 2 small tomato sizes pumpkins
growing on one stem, but they have turned brown & dropped off.
Touching one of them it looked soft & mushy.

Does anyone know whats wrong?

Sounds like the female flowers, the ones with the embryonic fruit behind
them, are not being pollinated. Next time a female flower opens hand
pollinate it with a male flower by transferring the pollen from the male to
the end of the stigma (central sticky out bits in both cases) of the female.
Could be the cold weather is putting off the pollinating insects.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
17mls W. of London.UK

"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...

"tina" wrote
Can any of you pumpkin experts help me. I have a couple of pumpkin
plants in a raised bed. one of them had 2 small tomato sizes pumpkins
growing on one stem, but they have turned brown & dropped off.
Touching one of them it looked soft & mushy.

Does anyone know whats wrong?

Sounds like the female flowers, the ones with the embryonic fruit behind
them, are not being pollinated. Next time a female flower opens hand
pollinate it with a male flower by transferring the pollen from the male
to the end of the stigma (central sticky out bits in both cases) of the
female. Could be the cold weather is putting off the pollinating insects.

Mine is in the greenhouse and the only fruit is swelling daily - there are
no pollinating insects in there. In fact the fruit was swelling before its
bud flowered.

There are still very many bees outside - and it hasn't been cold all week!
I'm in shorts and vest.

Not a pretty sight ...

Mary

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
17mls W. of London.UK

On Wed, 5 Sep 2007 22:49:55 +0100, "Bob Hobden"
wrote:

Sounds like the female flowers, the ones with the embryonic fruit behind
them, are not being pollinated. Next time a female flower opens hand
pollinate it with a male flower by transferring the pollen from the male to
the end of the stigma (central sticky out bits in both cases) of the female.
Could be the cold weather is putting off the pollinating insects.

Thanks Bob, I'll try that although there are loads of bees & wasps
flying around my raised beds. I'll give it a go though.

Thanks

On Thu, 06 Sep 2007 18:54:27 +0100, tina wrote:

Am I too late now to get one ready for hallowean?

Thanks to all of you for your help.

On 6 Sep, 19:07, tina wrote:

Am I too late now to get one ready for hallowean?
Thanks to all of you for your help.

Yes. Sorry. As I said, you must have them fruiting by early July. I
also didn't mention the position of your vines - it is an important
factor, if you don't 'hand polinate' which I have never done. By
positioning them in a circle, you ensure that they get well polinated.