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Abbotsford, B.C

Boy, but the problems just don't stop coming, do they! I thought I had a good chance of growing a fair-sized giant pumpkin from my best plant, a 670 Daigle. But the last three days have been very troubling for me. From being on track to get somewhere above 900 lbs, my best pumpkin has stopped growing faster and has taken a sudden turn for the worse. For the last two days it has put on a mere 4 inches in circumference! (43 to 47). Now luckily I have another pumpkin on the plant; in fact, this pumpkin is on the main vine. But the same trouble has hit this pumpkin too; over the last two days, it has put on about 4 inches in circumference too (31-35, approximately).

Now I am not posting here just to have an audience for my woes. I am trying to figure out what has gone wrong here! There are several things which may have/are playing a part in this sudden turn for the worse.

7/31/2006 1:00:45 AM

Abbotsford, B.C

A) The weather has taken a bit of a turn for the worse. As far as I can see, however, a few clouds does not warrant this sudden turn for the worse in my pumpkin's growth.

B) I have recently started covering my pumpkins with thick blankets at night to bar off the cold. The downward turn in growth coincided approximately with when I started putting the blankets on. A coincidence? I can't see how the blankets could do any harm; in fact, from what I have read, they should be very beneficial (preserving pumpkin warmth so that it starts growing faster the next day).

C) I "watered" my giant pumpkins with warm water twice. That is, I watered the fruits, not just the plant. Let me explain. About four days ago I woke up around 5:45 to find that it was very chilly where I was sleeping. I was surprised at how much colder the nights were now that the hot weather had gone, and the winds had returned. That evening, I got a watering can of warm water and "watered" the fruits (at this stage in their growth, they are still waterproof) to warm them up before I put the blankets on. I did this one other time; yesterday, in fact. Could this have had the effect of slowing the pumpkins growth?...

And finally, probably of little consequence, but yesterday in response to the pumpkins slow growth I foliar fertilized a tad more than normal. And thats about all that I can think of. Comments, suggestions? I am really wanting to get my fruits growing as fast as they were before. I am slowly starting to lose hope of topping my last year's record (804 lbs). My 670 Daigle plant is my only hope of growing a really big one (see my last post on this board), and if these pumpkins luck out on me, it's hardly worth continuing the season...

Cameron

7/31/2006 1:01:20 AM

Abbotsford, B.C

P.S. It is only the pumpkin fruit's growth which has slowed on the 670 Daigle. Plant growth is just as good as it was during the hot weather we had several days ago. Not sure what this means, but maybe somebody else here will know.

7/31/2006 1:01:40 AM

valparaiso, in

i feel your pain. i had five pumpkins doing great until we had 4 days of none stop rain. after the rain stopped i went out and checked on them and they all split open. must have been too much water at one time. i also had to pull one plant because all of the pumpkins kept aborting. the one plant that is left has one pumpkin on it making him the last hope for the season. there is always next year.
Gritch

7/31/2006 2:36:27 AM

Salmon Arm, BC

Cameron, How cold did it get at night? I just got off work this morning and turned on the Weather Network like I always do and was stunned to see it was only 10C and that was at 0700. My kins growth has also slowed slightly (18 and 15 pounds last two days) but they are still healthy. I can see your rationale for wanting to warm up your kin before applying the blanket but I'm wondering if you are setting yourself up for a fungal nastie with all the moisture? Not too sure about this....just a thought. Anybody have any thoughts? Best of luck fellow BC grower! Deb

7/31/2006 10:50:28 AM

Salmon Arm, BC

Oh yeah....I was reading an article on NEPGA by Wayne Hackney regarding Chilling Injury. The Article is called "The Storage and Handling of Your Giant Pumpkin". You might want to give it a read. He suggests Remay fabric. I have a bamboo tent frame around the 1153 and attached Remay fabric to it with cheapies dollar store clamps. I roll up the fabric in the day and down when too hot or if impending storm to protect from wind hail etc. Just a suggestion. Let us know what you find out. Deb

7/31/2006 10:58:03 AM

Abbotsford, B.C

It was really, really cold, I was really surprised, just like you said you were. 10 degrees Celsius sounds about right for how cold it was. It was one of those still nights with the stars out that is super-cold, the mountain air just flows down and settles in the valley, brrrrr! Definitely why I started the thick blankets & warm water.

About an hour ago I switched on the overhead watering (it is 8:30 as I type this), and I just used some pieces of tarp and plastic to cover the blankets on top of the pumpkins while I water... I'll have to build some more permanent structures here soon.

The weather is still not extremely good; do you really think that weather could have such a huge effect on the pumpkin's growth? My largest pumpkin went from putting on 10 lbs a day and getting ever-faster to a mere 3-4 lbs a day! I can't see what I have done wrong here.

If it was a problem of pumpkins growing too fast, I have things I can do to shut down the growth (cutting off ends of vines to bleed them, shutting off watering & fertilizing, etc.), but I am at loss as to what I can do to get them to grow as they should be, or rather as they were.

Thanks for everyone who has replied so far.

Cameron

7/31/2006 11:32:42 AM

Syracuse, NY

just so you know, and i wish i had an answer to your problem, but i do not;
if you cut off the vine tips and thereby terminate the
growth of the vines, the plant will direct MORE of the growing energy to the fruits, as i understand it.
so, perhaps this is what you might want to consider
in an effort to get your fruits to grow faster...
there do appear to be numerous vine tips on your
plant that could be terminated,
or every other vine removed and the remaining ones buried with soil at each leaf junction.
believe, me, i myself need to get home tonight and do just this! the rain we have had in NY lately has made it less than fun to be out amongst the vines, but starting tonight i need to make another push to pick up on pruning and burying.
>>>>>a little at a time....2,3 vines a day per plant...
PS---i hope i am right and i hope i am helping---good luck----PS--your fruits don't look all THAT small, and
as soon as you don't pay attention to them, they will
take off! be sure to do, and try things, in moderation--eg

7/31/2006 6:48:23 PM