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Kalamazoo, MI ([email protected])

I just posted some pictures to my diary of the blossom end of my 830 Bassett. The link is below. The pumpkin has been growing strong gaining 20 pounds a day for over a week. The last few days both of my pumpkins have begun to orange a bit and this spot appeared today. It feels soft but not really rotten. Is there a problem here or is it just the blossom end sicking in as I have read it is supposed to do? If it is a problem is it treatable? Thanks in advance for everyones help.

http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryView.asp?season=2007&grower=36322&action=L

8/3/2007 7:50:55 PM

Kalamazoo, MI ([email protected])

Opps I meant to ask: Is there a problem here or is this just the blossom end sucking in as I have read it is supposed to do?

8/3/2007 7:53:03 PM

Anamosa, IA [email protected]

It doesn't sound good if it is getting soft. The wrinkles in the skin don't look good either. It looks like my son's big pumpkin did in 2005 just before it started leaking. I don't know what to do except watch and pray.

8/4/2007 1:31:22 PM

Washington

Looks like it has a problem. You may find it splitting or rotting soon. Soaking a towel in some calcium and leaving it on might help stengthen the pumpkin. I would put a cover over it to control the moisture to the pumpkin at this stage. We have used the calcium in the past when we have had weak spots and it seemed to help. Why are your lobes gone on both pumpkins? Did you remove them intentionally?

8/4/2007 2:47:15 PM

Kalamazoo, MI ([email protected])

Yes I removed them based on some information I read on here. One seemed to be getting soft and the other had a deep well in the center of it that I didn't want holding moisture or bugs and causing problems. Did this cause the problem?

8/4/2007 4:50:53 PM

Kalamazoo, MI ([email protected])

I was encouraged by the fact that it gained 28 pounds yesterday but maybe this is contributing to the problem too.

8/4/2007 5:07:04 PM

Washington

I don't know if removing the lobes contributed to the problem or not. I had never heard of intentionally removing them. If one was getting soft it may have been the beginning of the problem. It might be rotting from the inside out. I have seen pumpkins get a split underneath and then rot from the inside. Hopefully the other pumpkin will do well for you. Good luck! Sherry

8/4/2007 8:09:00 PM

Simi valley, ca

Sorry to here its getting soft spot! Its got the deep ugly ribs like its mother the 1068, the mother had strong blossem end & so did the father (pollenator) so im supprized it does, If it does make it -It atleast has the genes to grow long time, & our summer last yr was brutal (VERY) & out of my pumpkins its the only one that kind of keept growing , 830 wasnt even close to its potential , Thanks for growing my seed Glenn Bassett

8/5/2007 12:07:03 PM

Kalamazoo, MI ([email protected])

The plant has been great, super aggressive and roots like crazy. The fruit has been doing good too, measuring to the 1000 lb bechmarks, gained 28 lbs yesterday. Regardless of the size it gets to I just want to get the seeds to a viable point. I crossed with the 691 Edwards (1370 x 1068), and with the 723 you mixed in its certainly got the heritage. I can't wait to see what it'll do next year. I put a rag soaked with nutri cal directly on the spot and sprayed as a foliar as well as soaked the sheet I cover it with. It seems to have helped. Spot was much firmer today. It may just be sucking in the way I saw described in another post. I also have another female down on the main not open yet. I would have just culled at this point but now I think I will pollinate to be safe. It would be a late pollination but I could still get the cross.

8/5/2007 2:16:16 PM

Hudsonville, Michigan ([email protected])

Jesse:
I hope I'm wrong, but it looks to me like that fruit is going down.Check real close for a split somewhere, though it could be on the bottom. I'd keep up with the calcium & any other advice Sherry gives you. Good luck...

Frank

8/6/2007 7:23:08 AM