From

Location

Message

Date Posted

San Jose

Came back from long vacation, and powdery mildew has set in.Plant might last about 2 1/2 weeks. This is just a 600 +
lb porch pumpkin (not competition). I will still water and fertilize until time to strip leaves. What do I do next?
Leave it on the bare vine, still water, obviously keep it
covered,just want to preserve it as long as possible. Can it make it to Halloween?

8/30/2023 11:40:02 AM

Grittyville, WA

Keep the pumpkin dry and shaded. You can blast the plant with vinegar if you want to keep the mildew suppressed. When the plant is done for cut the pumpkin off.

8/30/2023 12:10:23 PM

Grittyville, WA

You can check for any bad spots on the pumpkin and treat them with daconil or just keep them clean and dry... One that I picked in August lasted till Christmas, they can last quite awhile, if they want to...

8/30/2023 12:17:30 PM

Look at the 1st three entries of this diary and note the dates. Frost and cold are your biggest enemies for causing pumpkins to over ripen quickly. Follow Gritties advice on maintaining them.



http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryView.asp?season=2018&grower=28291&action=L

8/30/2023 4:12:35 PM

San Jose

Well, I won't need to worry about frost/cold weather here in California. Kins, after I strip the leaves in about 2 weeks (guessing) is it ok to leave it on the vine for a while? Just thinking the stem attached would be good. And still water a little bit?

8/31/2023 11:23:19 AM

Grittyville, WA

A plant without leaves should not need much water I think high soil moisture could promote root, vine or stem rots more than it would help the pumpkin? All I can really say is, the first part to fail will probably be the stem...

With that in mind, when you cut it off, you can try leaving a longer section of vine than 1" specified by the gpc. 1" is not a huge distance for rot to travel. Leaving a node or two of healthy vine in either direction from the pumpkin stem is something to consider, because if for some reason you didnt have fungicides or you couldnt keep the stem dry, then that extra distance from the cut ends allows the pumpkin more room to defend itself naturally and could delay its demise.

8/31/2023 12:30:17 PM

San Jose

Good point on the water, I didn't think about that. And leaving a long stem sounds good too, more distance for rot
to travel. I can also spray some daconil on the stem. Thanks for your good suggestions!

8/31/2023 2:04:45 PM