From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Santa Cruz, CA

Now three of our six pumpkins have gone down to splits. This week it was the 695 Handy. When I pulled up the plants, I noticed that the soil was pretty wet. There were worms in it but the soil was much wetter than I would usually have my home garden. I'm thinking about next year and learning from our mistakes but could we have watered too much and caused all these splits? The pumpkins weren't growing faster that @16 to 25lbs at best when the splits happened. I did notice that the splits did start to occure after our summer fog set in and the sun didn't come out until noon. We didn't change our watering schedule as the weather changed. Maybe we should have?

8/28/2006 3:07:30 PM

Ontario, Canada.

I believe your problem may stem from points 4 & 5 of the attached link & message board. You may have had a chance to save that fruit with both preventative and reactive steps 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 & 7. Control of Blossom end splits(BES)is a subject I have been working on for a couple of years. I hope this helps.

http://www.bigpumpkins.com/msgboard/ViewThread.asp?b=3&p=170466

Here a link to the best paper I've seen in over two years of researching science journals. Although it is about tomatoes much applies to own Cucurbita Maxima.

"A typical scenario in which BER develops is as follows: When a bright period follows a period of cloudy, dull days, the increase in air temperatures reduces the relative humidity, thus increasing the rate of transpiration, drawing more water and calcium to the leaves and away from the fruit...........The increase in light would stimulate an increase in photosynthesis, which will move into the fruit. This increase and the increase in air temperature, which increases the rate of fruit expansion would both stimulate fruit growth rate, increasing the demand for calcium."

Physiological Disorders Related to Irrigation and Fertilization
Blossom-end rot (BER)

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/greenhouse_veg/waterfert_pages/ber.html

8/29/2006 1:04:44 AM

Santa Cruz, CA

Thanks for the links. I will read them. We do have our pumpkins covered ( carpet padding ) and the water has been consistant. ( 15 min. a day ) We are getting heavy fog until noon and then it is bright and sunny. I'd have never guessed that our problem could be calcium being pulled to the leaves. All this is very interesting and I will read more. Thanks for the help.

8/29/2006 12:47:10 PM

Montoursville, PA

Atta boy.........read, read, read. Ultimately it is you who must call the shot. Took me four years to get in tune with my doings in the patch.

8/31/2006 5:06:39 PM