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Location

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St. Louis, MO

This year, I'm growing Snack Jack and Howden field Pumpkins, in addtion to AG's. Today I picked my 4th Snack Jack and sometime this week, I'll have a 10 to 15 lb Howden ripe. The plants were all transplanted on May, 6th.

Is this because of the very high heat? We have been averaging over 90 F for several weeks.

Any thoughts would be appriciated.
Paul

7/25/2005 6:46:16 PM

Eastern Pennsylvania

Paul, Are you using a lot of heavy potash/phosphate fertilizer? Maybe lay off some? Or crank up the nitrogen?

I didn't plant my howdens until the 3rd week of may and I sowed direct into the soil. They are starting to blossom now. It's been over 90° for at least a week straight. I think they only take ~75 days to maturity as opposed to the 120+ for AG's. I have some volunteer howdens from last year that are ripening now. How are your AG's? I think I am slowing down but I don't measure too carefully. Good luck -Hertz

7/26/2005 11:40:24 AM

Menomonie, WI (mail@gr8pumpkin.net)

Are the plants looking stressed? Do they have Powdery Mildew? We Plant Memorial Day weekend and the Pumpkins are Mature by Labor Day. So It is about the same time span we run.

7/26/2005 12:59:39 PM

St. Louis, MO

I fertilize maybe every two to three weeks with Neptune’s Harvest Fish and Seaweed (I believe it is around 1-3-2).

That’s the weird thing. I have pumpkins galore on my field pumpkins, but my AG’s are about 15 feet long and not a single female this year. Two AG plants. All the plants look good. My Howdens look twice as good at my AGs.

It sounds like I planted them too early. My problem is here in St. Louis, we have long hot summers, with very high humidity. It seems I have to plant them just at the right time in order for the plants to be strong enough before the hot weather hits.

After reviewing my records, it looks like the combination of planting early and using transplants started them off too early this year. I’ll learn one of these days.

Next year, I’ll directly seed them around 4th week of May.

For this year, I’ll decorate the house early and hit the plants with nitrogen to see if they continue to produce.

Thanks for you help,
Paul

7/26/2005 2:05:12 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

The first week of May is pretty early for field pumpkins.

7/26/2005 5:26:28 PM

Tipp City, Ohio

We plant field pumpkins around the 10th of June every year. Last year, people were wanting to buy pumpkins for display Aug 29th....Tom

7/26/2005 10:36:51 PM