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Texas

planted early to test my first plant,and pumpkins are turning yellow at tennis ball size and getting real soft to the touch,what might be the problem so I can adjust for it the next time!I water every other day,temps are 80 during the day,60 at night,and been partly cloudy the past week.Hand polinated the flowers,as there are no bees around here,and feed with miracle grow water soluble plant food once a week(1 teaspoon to 1 gallon of water)any help would be great,as I am about to plant my giants tomorrow in ground.

5/10/2004 12:59:06 PM

Puyallup, WA

Sounds to me like they were not properly pollenated or the pollenation didn't "take". That is the most common reason.

5/10/2004 1:29:50 PM

Kansas City, MO

Very very common for first few to not "take" even if you're hand pollinating. Keep after them. Don't know who's right but I completely stop fertilizing when I'm pollinating.

5/10/2004 2:43:31 PM

Atlanta, Georgia

Too much nitrogen during bloom can prevent proper pollination also.
Sounds to me like you are using way too much.
At any rate it is probably wrong to use the miracle grow
during flowering as it is a high P fertilizer normally used to get the roots established on young plants from the seedling stage until about one week before the first flower opens.

I also agree with Stan and Greg1.
Best regards!
Michel

5/11/2004 1:19:13 AM