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Webster, NY

What do you think is the major reason for a pumpkin, that seems to be growing well, (15 to 20 lbs per day) to suddenly go to 3 to 5 lbs a day? It doesn't appear to be insects. Any thoughts????

9/11/2004 11:43:25 PM

Mastic Beach, New York

Did you get a cold nites by you?? or maybe you have a split under it? give it a couple more days and see if it picks back up... also how many days old is it?

9/12/2004 12:16:59 AM

Leicester, NY

Dave, I think those 40 degree nights our area had in July and August started the shut down process. During what should have been our peak growing period, we had late September like weather. Hard to maintain 20 lbs. per day dealing with that. Hope you can still pack on some extra weight before the weighoffs!

9/12/2004 8:13:03 AM

[email protected]

I agree with Joe, we had a 3 - 4 night snap of 38-42 degree weather that actually shut down the growth in my fruits. They remain healthy looking, but looking back at my records, the 16th to the 20th of August shut me down almost completely. In 4 weeks since then, I have only added 3 inches in circumference (6 inches OTT) to my 898 fruit, and my 805 Pukos which was younger has only done 6 inches in circ and 10 inches overall.

The cold night are brutal, but not deadly when it comes to splits. The scariest part of this time of year after a shut down like that is the heavy rains from the weather we have been geeting (hurricanes). The shells on the fruits get hard, and any extra rains can cause several problems besides splits. Gummy stem blight, rotting vines, powdery mildew from not drying out, etc..

So for now, I sit with 5 decent fruits for me, no growth, just maintaining the current weights without losing them.

9/12/2004 10:53:01 AM

Vancouver, White Rock, Canada

Could be age or genetics, too. My fruit shut down a few weeks ago at about day 50. The weather has cooled down considerably, but then there are other growers in my immediate area who have had younger fruit keep growing through it.

9/12/2004 6:37:27 PM

Webster, NY

Thanks for all the opinions everyone. I really think Joe and Rock are right. It seemed to slow down right about the time the cool weather hit and never really picked up again. Come weighoff time, I'll check to see if there is a crack under it.

9/12/2004 7:55:34 PM