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Kutztown, PA

The first few plants I grew went down to foamy stump. In fact my largest pumpkin to date, i.e. 1100 Lb. was grown on what was left of a foamy I amputated mid season. All of these plant were initial installed straight up in the ground and all ended up with some sort of rainbow, rollercoaster, or pea trap stump/crown. Photos:http://www.bigpumpkins.com/diary/DiaryView.asp?season=2024&grower=101557&action=L
Last year I had four plants in the ground which all did well for most of the season but were killed by either residual use of round up, (operator error) or herbicide drift from the adjacent corn field (IMO). Even so, none had a foamy stump. Why? Well, I believe its because I put the young plants in the ground on an angle. I hadn't done that before, not thinking it was important. Doing so caused on the main vines to lay down virtually flat. Since I plant on slight mound that meant all of the excess water that might sit in a rainbow stump gravitates downward. I personally believe this remedies the foam stump problem. We'll see. The photo here is of a 2021 foamy from one of pee trap vines. Lost a nice 2365, 440 lb. pumpkin that year. Have you had any foamy stumps. I read Ken Werner's directions for how to treat a foamy. It brought back some undesirable memories of not so long ago.

[Last edit: 07/08/24 2:18:07 PM]

7/8/2024 2:14:36 PM

Grittyville, WA

Have you tried a fan? You can also proactively spray it with daconil, too. Its hard to see under/ all the way around them when they are at a low angle. But its good to keep trying and see what works. Im not sure if a foamy stump and an infected stump are the same thing... chicken or egg thing. Does the foam cause the infection or does the infection cause the foam. Things to argue about without really knowing... unless someone really does know.

7/8/2024 2:45:45 PM

Kutztown, PA

Gritty, I had fans on the stump even then. But what I have done differently is the planting angle, and I've been taking all of the growth off of the stump out to about two feet. Also, I didn't run any drip lines over the stump and left a drip free path about 3' wide down the main vine. I'd be willing to bet the foam is a biproduct (off gasing) of whatever brand of anerobic bacteria that infect "stagnant" water that builds up inside the stump. I wish some plant pathologist that really gets down to the nitty, Gritty, would tell us what's really occurring. All I'm saying is I haven't had one since I started planting on an angle. PS - I do dig out slightly under the flat laying stump but in essence it's really no different than having your vine laying on the dirt - at least I don't think it is.

[Last edit: 07/08/24 4:08:54 PM]

7/8/2024 4:08:35 PM