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Ct

Hi, the stem on my pumpkin has developed some splits which I think may be salvageable by keeping dry, but upon inspecting other areas I found a small hole on the pumpkin just outside the stem base, on the underside. It is leaking a gooey jelly like substance. I took a toothbrush and tried getting all the goo out, then I stuck a paper towel in the hole to dry it off, finally made up a thick captan paste and brushed it in and around the hole. Also took the tarp off so he sun can hit it a bit. Have I done the right thing or is there something else I can do? Is it possible I can save this pumpkin from being doomed?

8/10/2015 11:35:25 AM

Colorado

Keep it dry. Most stem splits will be self limiting. Some will keep getting deeper into the pumpkin and can go through. Running a fan on it will help. Ive seen some extreme stem splits that didn't cause a hole into the pumpkin.

8/10/2015 11:49:53 AM

Ct

I think the lateral stem split will heal but am worried about the hole at the very base of the stem that goes into the pumpkin and is oozing

8/10/2015 1:07:11 PM

Colorado

It will run its course just like the stem split. Stem splits should be called shoulder splits.Its the expantion/split of the shoulder that splits the stem(imho).Again keep it dry and it will run its course in a few days up to 10 days or so.Some never go real deep and some are on a mission to go into the seed cavity. It will scar over when it quits. Ive seen them wide enough for a golf ball to fit in and the same stem had 4 or 5 and it made it

8/10/2015 3:08:40 PM

Ct

Should I keep wiping the ooze off from the hole? Seems every couple of hours more gel like stuff comes out of he hole.

8/10/2015 4:30:09 PM

Springfield, VT

The gel is just sap from the split, nothing to worry about if you keep it dry with a little fungicide for good measure. The split into the pumpkin may require the stem to be split in half from the pumpkin to just near the vine to eliminate stress.

8/10/2015 4:41:13 PM

Ct

The split in the stem developed at a very early stage, when it was softball size it had this extreme curve in the stem where it was just too much to try and straighten it out by moving a little bit each day, so I ended up cutting he main vine just inches from the pumpkin { the main only went about 10 feet past the fruit so no big deal there, plenty of vine before the fruit}, so now this pumpkin is at the very and of the main and can move/grow freely so I don't think the stress is there anymore. I just mixed some captan dust with seven dust and sprinkled around the split and hole. I added the seven dust because there are a lot of these tiny flies feasting around the open hole.

8/10/2015 4:48:18 PM

Ct

...Going to rig up a fan on it soon, won't be easy due to the patch being 100 feet from the house, and rain on the way. Going to be a contraption for sure !

8/10/2015 4:59:44 PM

Tinykinville

If split stays same you should be okay but if it is expanding as Wilber said it may require stem surgery to release pressure.

8/10/2015 7:35:21 PM

East Jordan, MI

pictures?

it really helps us help you.

8/10/2015 9:18:13 PM

Western NY

Hey fisher,
I have 5 fans going 24/7 and they are all 100 ft plus from the house! Just make sure you run a GFI to each plug.

8/10/2015 10:35:36 PM

Ct

Update: Split seems to have expanded just a but but the hole at the base seems to be firming up. Have had a fan going for 2 days which I think helped, especially during all the heavy rains. Sunny today and should begin drying out further. Why is it when I finally have a good pumpkin going, I am just WAITING for some kind of chaos to happen. Kind of like going around a corner inside a haunted house at Halloween time, you just know something is coming...

8/12/2015 10:30:01 AM