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Nsw

Hello everyone!

My name is Matt and I am a first time grower from England.

As the title suggests a bunch of beautiful female flowers opened up this morning but all the males are closed :(

There are lots of closed male flowers about, but they look much smaller than their female counterparts - is this usual?

In this photo you can see the situation at hand:-

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/543/20120719083600.jpg/

Any help much appreciated :)

7/19/2012 12:31:12 PM

Nsw

Do I smell bad or something? :/

7/20/2012 5:55:33 PM

Upa Creek, Mo

I don't know the answer, but that isn't normal.

7/20/2012 8:08:20 PM

East Jordan, MI

This is not typical.

On a healthy well established plant, the males should start blooming about a week before the females. This usually happens around 50 days after the seed sprouts, give or take 5-15 days for differences in growth rate of the plant in different environments/climates.

However, early in the cycle it is typical to have a female bloom with no males on that particular day. As the plant gets larger and more able to support a pumpkin the flowers will become more plentiful and you will have several males opening every day. In my opinion that is kind of Mother Natures way of making sure the plant is big enough to reproduce successfully.

It's hard to tell from the picture, but it doesn't look like the plant is very big. In my experience the plant is usually at least 8 ft long with 5 ft sidevines before any flowers start blooming. If your plant is not at least that big, it may just not be big enough to support a pumpkin yet.

Other reasons that this could be happening could be stress, nutrient imbalance, or even plant sterility.

Good Luck

7/21/2012 3:59:39 AM

survival mode( reproduce) plant has little or not enough roots

7/21/2012 8:45:33 AM

Nsw

Thanks for all your help guys - I *may* have a viable Honeybear Squash male opening in the next few days, im just hoping a female pumpkin will be open the same time and I believe I can use that?

7/21/2012 12:02:20 PM

Nsw

also I was going to ask, how later is too late for plants to pollinate? we are near the end of july now, but I see some on other plants which look about a week or so away from opening.

7/21/2012 12:03:38 PM

Upa Creek, Mo

Do it when you can. Typically, July 10th is the magic date when the window closes, but when you get lemons, make margaritas and have a party.

7/21/2012 8:47:40 PM

East Jordan, MI

My first year (2010) I set a pumpkin Aug 12 on a plant that had vine rot, had lost the stump and about 1/2 the plant, on a spring up tertiary (the plant had been fully terminated).

We got it to 327 lbs by the Oct 11th weigh-off date. I learned a whole lot about keeping a plant going and treating disease with that plant, and still got an amazing Jack-o-lantern and my first weigh-off experience.

You still have time.

7/22/2012 5:07:58 AM