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Follansbee, Wv

From all of my reading I have determined that one of the leading causes of death of healthy maturing pumpkins is splitting. There are probably many reasons for a pumpkin to split, so let's hear your split story. What do you think the determining factor was, and what will you do to try to prevent it in the future?

2/25/2005 1:31:28 PM

Nova Scotia

i had lack of consistancy with water. so i try to water a little everyday with just a touch of fertilizer everyday. but compensate for rain

2/25/2005 1:34:20 PM

Sweden

The most common reason for me has been to much pruning of vines in combination with watering and good weather.
or
when it´s go from low to high temperature and growt is increasing to fast.

2/25/2005 1:41:50 PM

Western NY

the ones that i have had problems with splitting seem to me to be mostly from bad "pumpkin design". either dill rings, thin blossom ends, or ribs that were just too deep, and something has to give.

i have been using all organic fertilizers. low numbers, slow release stuff, so i don't think that growth surges were the problem.

2/25/2005 2:47:04 PM

Edmonton, Canada

My experience has taught me that pumpkins seem to split more often, when the evenings are really cold. I think that the early morning sun heats things up, but the pumpkin takes longer to warm all the way to the middle, and that creates a pumpkin that's partly warm, and partly cold. That may equal splitting.

2/25/2005 2:51:10 PM

[email protected]

Last summer here I would attribute the splits to fluctuating growth. Particulary those growth changes that were attributed to temperature.

2/25/2005 3:55:04 PM

Picton,ON ([email protected])

I had a 400 lber split at the stem. It started slow then spred into the cavity over a two day period. It was recieving water regularly at that time, but was my fastest growing pumpkin. I wonder if I took off a bunch of vines or even cut off the main stem, when I noticed the split, if I could have slowed down the growth enough to save her. The plant was scrap after that.

2/25/2005 7:03:06 PM

Roanoke Il

Over the years I've seen almost all kinds of splits. To much rain at one time spllit in dill ring stem split to much fertilizer, bottom split, stem split all but the dillring split prabably could have be avoided. mark

2/25/2005 7:37:03 PM

Brillion Wisconsin

Stem stress ended my 2004 season with a nasty stem end split. I've had dill ring splits and splits between the ribs with your ocassional blossum end blow out.

One thing I have learned is to not put all your eggs in one basket. Plant as many plants as you have room for and pray that a few make it to October.

2/25/2005 7:48:26 PM

Ontario, Canada.

My view is that rapid respiration after systemic stress results in these problems. The stress causes root suberization which limits nutrient uptake. This in turn changes the plants internal hormonal clock to begin to protect the sink.

Roots and suberization. The process of suberized roots is the affect of a cork like substance that builds up on the surface of elder roots to insulate them from the world around them. The build up of the suberin layer is a natural occurance that is a response to a number of factors. Stress increases this build up which gradually begins the plants slow decline into senesence. Stress can be caused by any number of things, cold and drought are the two primary stressors we are most concerned with. However vigorus wind daamage and or sudden movements can trigger ethylene production too. Hormones signal the suberin to action which in turn leads to a reduction in the roots ability to absorb Calcium and other nutrients. The plant falls into this self imposed shut down to protect the maturing fruit and its procreating seeds inside.

Simply stated, the adventitous roots can't keep up to the leaf factory's increased output when the respiration rate increases on that good weather day on which the split occurs.

http://www.bigpumpkins.com/MsgBoard/ViewThread.asp?b=3&p=99180

2/25/2005 9:27:34 PM

Honesdale, Pennsylvania

My biggest OTT so far split on me last season and I think it was due to a combination of the factors listed above. The weekend it split we had a lot of rain and below normal temperatures. Like Andy I think the pumpkin design had a lot to do with it. It was over 100 inches side it side in early August. With it growing so high the blossom end was really thin which is where it gave out. Mother nature still plays the most important roll in these monsters.

2/25/2005 9:33:11 PM

New York

Trying out a few new things this season..new for me anyway. Overall.. working to elimate stress factors as Kahuna said.
These things below will apply to any fruit reaching 40 days old that appear to have a chance at reaching a good weight. Anything splitting before day 40 probably doesn't have a chance anyway.
1- Building an enclosed plywood "house" over the fruit (all sides)...removing the regular shade structure at day 40. Using insulation board attached to the plywood as well to keep temps as stable as possible during cold nights...or hot days for that matter...and using a small heater with a thermostat inside the house. We saw more blossom splits than I care to remember last season on pretty healthy fruit on what appears to be temperature related.
2- Will attempt to build a structure on any good ones to apply pressure against the sides of the fruit...especially blossom ends which I feel are the most preventable. As we know, these blossom splits always occur in a north and south position...a result of gravity pushing down on each side...such as cutting an orange in half and watching it fall in two as Tom B mentioned a while back. It's only a guess,but I feel some of the fruit I've lost may have been prevented if they had several hundred pounds of pressure holding up their sides. I have no idea what to do with stem splits and dill-rings...one step at a time I guess.

2/26/2005 2:47:50 AM

Joliet, IL

my blossum end split was east west on both sides of the
blossum and equal in size last year on day 45 of a big'n.
i guess that is a rarity with what alan n. stated above.
it happened after a severe summer cold stretch followed
by a heavy heavy rain then hot temps all within one week.
all kinds of stress. my dill ring split just dipped
down too deep and split when it ran too thin along a
very deep rib line.

2/26/2005 6:36:18 PM

Ontario, Canada.

A general overview of this theory can be seen at the link listed below. Is This the cause of suberized roots?

"Nitrate nitrogen tends to accumulate in the leaves and increase organic acid production, which increases the demand for Calcium to neutralize the acidity, if this calcium is in short supply calcium may be mobilized from the roots. This movement of calcium from roots is the demise of the root integrity and can lead to leaky roots and ethylene production signaling the plant to shut down".


Calcium More Than Just Limestone
http://www.agtest.com/

2/26/2005 11:30:18 PM