From

Location

Message

Date Posted

I have been looking high and low for an answer to this question and no one seems to know the answer. How come my pumpkin stopped growing mid-season? is there to much of one nutrient in the ground? it stopped growing in mid-July when it was around 400 lbs. it didn't die, it just didn't grow anymore. i know someone knows the answer to this.
thanks guys

1/5/2009 8:07:30 PM

Walton N.y.

we had a fruit do the same thing this summer the only thing i could think of was that we had a big temperature swing from warm (for 08)to cold and about the same time the fruit stopped growing i noticed a lenghtwise split down the stem so maybe those factors were what caused it to slow in growth (our fruit actually kept growing but only a few inches per week) but we set a pumpkin on 8/1 and it grew to be 1050.5 on the same plant

1/5/2009 8:52:24 PM

Cincinnati,OH

It could be a caused by alot of reasons.
A soil test would be a good starting point to rule out a nutrient imbalance.
Squash vine borers may have got your vine. There sneaky little buggers.
It could also be a soil borne disease that wakes up in hot weather.

1/5/2009 11:10:20 PM

Rhode Island

excessivly high levels of potash (some people load up all winter with wood ashes) can and will cause fruit to stop growing mid season.
could be any number iof things.
as ron mentioned above. GET A SOIL TEST. without it you are just guessing.

ps----sometimes as is the case in life ? there is no answer. i have had fruit stop on one plant and others in the same patch keep growing like gang busters.
in this case id just call it a genetic situation that occured in that seed/plant or pumpkin which hindered its potential.

pap

1/6/2009 8:02:05 AM

Windsor, Ontario, Canada

Lots of clay in your soil? Too much water could cause a root rot problem.

1/6/2009 12:52:35 PM

thanks guys, how do i go about getting the soil tested? Pap made a good point too. i live in Rhode Island and i do add a lot of wood ashes to the hole i dig in the spring. is to much ash not good? i live right on the water too, so i put fish, seaweed, leaves and manure in the hole as well. any suggestions while i test the soil?

1/6/2009 2:41:06 PM

Windsor, Ontario, Canada

Too much ash will really screw with your pH. Probably best to stay away from ash altogether.

1/6/2009 7:04:06 PM

i think that's the main problem, what am i looking for in the soil test?

1/6/2009 8:06:33 PM

Woburn, MA.

Hi Kurt, Umass does soil Tests and I think they give you recommendations with the test. Also, you can post your results on BP.com. I think I will have my soiul tested in the spring from Umass.

1/6/2009 11:08:16 PM

Walton N.y.

i'm thinking my problem was weather related or maybe pollination (although the pumpkin had over 500 seeds in it) as for the soil the other plants that were less than 50' away gave us the 1459 and 1248 so difference in soil conditions i really would like to rule out (even though i've seen farmers getting their fields fertilized with computer run programs that pinpoint soil sample results from gps recorded points in the fields ) and the program adjusts fertilizer rates around those areas and then to set an august 1st female and grow a 1050.5 off the same plant with the stunted pumpkin still on it makes me think pollination or weather plus the early set looked more like a wheel and the late set had more of a barrelish shape (like the parent pumpkin) and this makes me wonder if on any given plant could each female be that different making the decision of what fruit you keep even more important and with our insect spray program i don't think that bugs were a factor either

1/7/2009 8:40:25 AM