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Oliphant Fce. PA.

Im trying to keep my stem from getting any softer before i get it weighed been keeping a fan on it and some captan is there anything else i can do i only have five days before the weigh off. I dont want it to reach the pumpkin and get it to start rotting

9/27/2004 2:35:37 PM

Commack, NY

Marty, have you scraped off the "bad stuff"? what i ususally do is i will scrape away CAREFULLY all the bad, soft stuff, then rinse the area with a solution of 10 parts water to 1 part bleach. After that i will dust lightly with sulphur powder, and keep a fan, or two blowing on it 24/7. Use discretion though, if its soft all the way through, im not certain this is what you would want to do. with 5 days left, you should be able to make it i would think. good luck.
Scott

9/27/2004 4:20:27 PM

I've had that happen to me last year and this year. It never seems to screw up the growth, but it sure is annoying. I wipe out the bad stuff and try to get it dry, then put Daconil or Captan on.

9/27/2004 5:24:35 PM

Belgium Europe

Same here...

9/27/2004 5:41:19 PM

Oliphant Fce. PA.

Last year my stem was nice and hard, no soft spot at all,this year i have two that did this wright before the weigh off.but I didnt really do good this year.My pumpkins are only between 200 and three hundred pounds.I dont think im going to beat my last years record of 466. I just want to get them weighed in one piece lol.I hope they make it the four days.I think they should thanks for all the advice.

9/27/2004 7:14:07 PM

Central PA

My stem is going soft - And I'm wondering if it is really into the stem wouldn't it be better to cut than to have the rot get into the pumpkin. Yea you lose 3-4 days of growth but at this point what is a few pounds compared to having it start going bad?

Note: I've lost ~60% of my pumpkins this year. Hence the reason to do anything to keep the rot away from the prize!

9/30/2004 5:31:51 PM