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Lombard, IL

My leaves wilt during the hottest part of the day and then perk back up as the afternoon goes on. How much stress does this cause the plants? I don't notice any damage or anything to the leaves. I was wondering if I should start shading them now since I will be offering shade once my pumpkins start growing.

7/5/2007 4:10:47 PM

Austell, GA

Sorry I can't tell you what you should do, but I just checked the forum because I had the exact same question...I've increased my watering regimen, but the leaves on the main vine (not so much the leaves coming out of the stump itself) seem to wilt as the temp goes up (it's about 87 today).

7/5/2007 4:19:22 PM

Picton,ON (j.vincent@xplornet.ca)

Wilting happens when the plant is loosing moisture faster than it can take it in. It is a sign of a poorly developed secondary root system. There is a period, when the plants are growing hard just before pollination when they are extremely susceptible to wilting.
If you have the ability to shade your plants on these hot days by all means do it. Some folks have misting systems in place to help cool the plants on these hot days. I shade my growing tips as I have had problems with burning them on hot days. Watering morning and night during to days can help.

7/5/2007 4:20:32 PM

Mine always grow out of this problem. I misted by hand my first year, but haven't bothered with it since them. Some people have elaborate mist systems set up to help cool their plants during the growth stages when the roots aren't keeping up with the leaves' needs, and I'm sure this is beneficial.
I've emailed you a few times wondering if I could come see your plants since I'm only a few towns over (3 train stops!) but haven't heard back from you? Maybe I got the wrong email address. Next time you have a problem/question I'd be happy to take a look and see if I can help.

7/5/2007 5:06:20 PM

Rhode Island

most of the wilting and / or leaf burn occurs to the young leaves that have no tap root developed under there leaf stem

it cant be helped unless you mist a lot during very hot days
shading all those new vine tips is a bit much as well.

some genetics carry over to the offspring seeds and are famous for being "WILTERS"

once the plant is totally dead headed and all the anchors are in place you can always cut out the crappy leaves.

7/5/2007 7:41:18 PM

Roswell, NM

It gets pretty darn hot with very low humidity over here in Roswell, NM. I was having the same issues with the leaves flagging / wilting. I set up about 30 feet of soaker hose on a timer. The schedule is every hour for 10 minutes from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm. The soaker hose is on top of the poultry compost. The poultry compost was used to bury the main vine out to about six to eight feet and the secondaries a couple of feet out. I have had the soaker hose on a timer for three days. I have not had an issue with the leaves since. The secondary root system may be taking off by now as well.

7/6/2007 12:16:48 AM

Lombard, IL

Good idea about the soaker hoses. The leaves that wilt during the day are the ones at the end of the main vines. I have been meaning to install a second set of soaker hoses along the main vines, now it looks like I no longer have an excuse not to. They perk up at the end of the day, but I don't want to stress my plants when they should be working on growing big pumpkins.

7/6/2007 11:22:05 AM

I'm not meaning to tear apart the soaker hose idea, I just want to explain why plants do this...
Maybe the soaker hoses do work, but that's technically not why the plants are wilting. If the plants are wilting in midday only, it means they aren't taking up the water fast enough, aka transpiration is too high. It doesn't mean that there isn't enough water in the soil; it means the plant isn't taking it in fast enough to compensate for the transpiration losses.
Soaker hoses add water to the soil, but if there is already enough water there, it won't alter the rate of uptake.
Misting lowers the transpiration rates and water loss through stomata by lowering the temp around the leaves and lowering the difference in water potentials between the leaf and the air around it.

7/6/2007 1:34:32 PM

Williamsport, Pa.

www.dripworks .com. low pressure sprinklers, 15 lbs psi. run main hose and secondaries to a riser with sprinkler on the top , bout five foot high.. need a timer from dripworks too

7/6/2007 11:23:16 PM

Ham Lake, Minnesota

I have two plants this year and am able to use large tarps corded to metal stakes to take the heat and sun off. When it gets toward 88 - 89 degrees in full sun start to finish its time for the tarps.

7/7/2007 1:36:09 AM

Roswell, NM

I agree 100% with Brigitte. I will have to change from 10 minutes to five minutes an hour. I checked on my plant yesterday and the soil was saturated. Almost mud like. So ten minutes appears to be too much. My leaves are not wilting though. I just hope that there will not be any other issues with the soil being to moist.

7/7/2007 7:53:43 PM

Ohio

Iam a newbie at this pumpkin growing. two vines, one in direct sun almost all day the other in and out of sun. the one in sun the leaves wilt all the time and perk back up. however they are now starting to die off and I have also lost several pumpkins that have stopped growing and then get rotten. they are small, size of grapefruit. the vine in sun/shade is doing much better. it has leaves wilting occassionally to the point of dying. lost several little pumpkins but the main pumpkin is 36" in circ and doing well so far. (I know tiny compared to the rest of yours) why are the leaves dying and why are the pumkins rotting and how do I keep my big one from dying? thanks for reply

7/29/2007 8:40:59 PM