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Sydney, Australia

Came home and found a split on the 600.5 fruit right next to where it joins the stem. Its about an inch wide but with some probing found it to be 2 inches deep. Not nice! Could be a problem. Any advice???

I have a fan running 24/7 directed to the split using a big bit of cardboard as a funnel. Have packed the split with mancozeb sulfur powder. Have also covered the whole fruit waterproof, to keep moisture out of the problem spot. Any thing else that can be done???

Praying it won't be the demise of my season. Fruit is getting big now, estimated at 510 pounds on day 32.

1/27/2004 4:15:04 PM

Nova Scotia

yesterday i found the samething on my pumpkin only it is a hole in the stem to the pumpkin about 3/4". i used mildew resistant caulking and filled.

1/27/2004 4:20:32 PM

Utah

sounds like you are doing the right thing- good luck with it.

1/27/2004 4:39:17 PM

derry n.h u.s.a.

try some dry fungicide maybe some captions or sulfur with a small fan ,enought to move the air around dust daily with a small paint brush,hope this helps.John

1/27/2004 4:39:44 PM

Joliet, IL

i have read that some will take the sap from a pumpkin on another plant, like a cull, by pricking it causing it to
weep out some sap. then they brush it on the split.
never tried it though. i might hold off on any watering and ferts until it heals a bit so as not to push it.
have you checked stem stress and can you eliviate any or
all stress on the stem, maybe supporting it enirely with
styrofome blocks and the surrounding vines too. i am no
expert but i have read many posts with success in treating
splits and hopefully it will heal just fine with the fan
and sulpher ben. good luck brother.

1/27/2004 4:54:46 PM

ontario

Boily those stems split are not always fatal....use a small knife to carve out any possible rot that might be there....than paste with a fungicide( i use sulfur paste because it seems to dry area faster)...use a small paint brush to apply.....put a fan on it 24 hrs a day and it should dry up....my 953 had split that you could probe from one side to the other but never went into cavity...

1/27/2004 5:50:46 PM

Montoursville, PA

Your split may heal. I did what you have done. I dug it out about every ten days and repacked it. At the ten day period I could see healing. My growth went from seventeen pounds a day down to ten and finally to five pounds estimated in hte final growing week. Based on my own losses following a split last year there will be significant loss of daily weight gains. Sorry to report such great news but at five hundred pounds you will, if it heals, still finish a real nice fruit. As soon as I saw that mine was healing I re-upped the feed to levels as if it were not split.

My coach said it will either grow or blow. My split came at about 300 lbs and I was able to squeeze out a 410.

1/27/2004 5:59:00 PM

ontario

Boily I had two fruit with similiar trouble neither slowed down.....you just need to manage it well....I know you have what it takes...chin up, move ahead :0)

1/27/2004 6:07:30 PM

Choctaw, OK

if it is weeping alot...thats not a good sign....make sure you keep it dry...


Case

1/27/2004 6:14:06 PM

Norton, MA

I think the pumpkin won't be the one doing the weeping it'll be ben. LOL! Sorry Ben, my only advice is pray.

1/27/2004 7:58:09 PM

Key West, FL

Keep doing what your are doing, keep packing it and leave the fan on all the time, should be alright, scrape any rot that develops and re pack. The walls are usually pretty thick there. Maybe slow the pumpkin a little or if there is any stress try to relieve it.

1/27/2004 8:15:51 PM

In the shade - PDX, OR

Ben - Is that split length wise or across the vine?
Before or after the fruit?
Those 30 & 40 pound gains sure add up quickly.

The only additonal advice I can give is the relieve the stress.

Both from the vine/stem AND the grower. Once the stem/vine is situated have yourself a Beer and try to relax.


Keep posting those pics.
Good Luck.

1/27/2004 8:18:53 PM

Sequim, WA

You might try wrapping the stem at the split with some old inner tube strips and a hose clamp. The main thing is to keep it dry. Fungicide is nice to use, but not absolutely neccessary. Have a beer or two and don't worry too much as long as you know you've done what you can, then it's out of your hands.

1/27/2004 11:41:41 PM

Sydney, Australia

Thanks everyone for all the advice. The pumpkin has survived the day with no change in the split. The split starts where the stem meets the fruit and goes into the flesh. The split seems to be more horizontal than towards the cavity, so fingers crossed. It did leak a small amount of juice out. I have repacked it with Mancozeb, time for a beer now! Out of my hands now, fan is on. Measuring it daily will tell the story.....

1/28/2004 12:06:02 AM

Indiana

my 1097 split at about 550 lbs, and made it to 1040 est where we cut her. get it dry as fast as you can. Thats about the only thing you can do.

Tom Beachy

1/28/2004 12:26:22 AM

new holland ohio

Boily My pumpkin split last year at the stem and pumpkin i used Pure Corn Starch and it dryed it up fast and it lasted till pumpkin show good luck
Chuck

1/28/2004 2:34:02 AM

Montoursville, PA

Chuck.......I am extending your comment just a little! Corn starch and corn meal are natural fungicides. It has been used as such to treat human fungus problems since the begining of corn in time. It is still used by people who can not use synthetic fungus treatments.

Many healthy patch growers add ten pounds of corn meal per 1000 sq feet to support the natural fungi resistance in plants.

1/28/2004 8:10:45 AM

Alex, IN

Ben sorry to bother you when you are trying to deal with a problem, but(if you have time) could you tell me how the seeds of mine in the test patch are doing?

Thanks,
Mikkal

1/28/2004 8:15:08 AM

Commack, NY

Boily, i had the same thing happen to my 1030. i used dry sulfur powder and a fan 24/7. I continued to apply the dry powder with a paint brush, and at times, i would even fill up a straw with sulfur and blow it in, just be careful not to inhale.
Scott

1/28/2004 9:24:03 AM

Caceres, mid west of Spain

Hey Ben, you got a lot of good advices from expert heavy hitters. I only can add that my 1036 from the same 600.5 seedstock didn't have that problem, but my 1032 did. I could easily manage it just with a powder captan based fungicide. The irrigation-misting water never reached to the fruit however. As WK, TB, etc said, you only have to keep it dry and without any rot.

Good luck........ you deserve it.

Carlos

1/28/2004 11:24:10 AM

Walkerton Ont

Hi Ben, Released stress before the stem on the pumpkin, by raising the main vine up, at least 5 feet before the stem of the pumpkin. I had happen to my pumpkin, as the pumpkin grew and i didn't have the vine proped up, I patched it up and i manage to keep it from going to the pumpkin.

1/28/2004 11:58:41 AM

Circleville Ohio USA

Boily, as Carlos I used powder captan in a squeeze keptchup bottle with a spout or a turkey baster and dusted when it seemed to leak a little. For serious cleaning of the area I've 4 parts water and 1 part bleach.

1/28/2004 12:23:11 PM

Key West, FL

Just keep the fan on it.

1/28/2004 11:52:23 PM