Both my plants look good, and are huge plants, covering plenty of ground.
But. If the flowers don't drop off before developing into anything, the baby pumpkins go yellow and drop. (at about the size of small egg).
Why oh why could that be please !
malone4,
Jan 14, 10:53pm
what I do with my pumpkin is once the fruit starts to form I tip all the ends so that the growth goes into the fruit and not the plant. plus you can take off the smaller ones and wont hurt the plant.
And besides we are only into the first month of summer yet so plenty of time to get a good crop yet.
lozzaqtn,
Jan 15, 2:20am
January is the second month of summer, its half over
maclad,
Jan 15, 4:04am
Flowers are more than likely dropping as they are not fertilized, (pollinated). You may find it necesary to do this by hand as bees are quite scarce now. It is really getting a bit late to expect pumpkins developing now to mature fully, but you could still get some good produce from them.
malone4,
Jan 15, 4:17am
lol. is the glass half full or half empty.that has always been the argument amongst the clan but myself, me as a gardener I go by the moon of which the first day of summer is the 20th-22nd December. And Harvest moon in April. hasnt let me down yet. So in my view we still have plenty of growing time for pumpkin yet.
gardie,
Jan 15, 4:20am
I agree with maclad - you'll need to pollinate the flowers yourself.Rub your finger over the yellow centre bit of the male plant and then rub it onto the centre of the female flower.You can use a paintbrush but I find the finger does the trick quite well - just be gentle.Try to do this each day as flowers don't stay open long.I have had success when the female flower has just started to wilt though by tearing off the petals and putting the pollen into the flower.
dagon1,
Jan 15, 6:38am
i to am giving it ago got 2 plants growing does any1 have a good website explainingthe tipping part etc what to take off.how to care for them let them go up a fench or keep them on the ground etc . im more of a visual person need to see pics cheers for any help :)
dagon1 just pinch out the whole growing tip, back to the first open leaf.
canz,
Jan 15, 7:47am
oh BTW thse tips you pick out off whatever are good to eat, just steam them gently add a bit of butter and eat.
malone4,
Jan 15, 7:53am
mmmm interesting. cheers for the tip.
harrislucinda,
Jan 15, 9:21am
make surei doget apumpkinitake the maleflowerpeelback thepetalsandpaintthepollenontothefemaleflower Just incasethebeemissed
tex-tickle,
Jan 15, 5:36pm
How do I distinguish between male and female flowers !
Boy, pumkins are more involved than I thought .
exfish,
Jan 15, 5:49pm
Male flowers are the ones on a long skinny stalk, females have the small roundish part below the petals.
tex-tickle,
Jan 15, 5:57pm
Makes sense :)
Thank you
minana,
Jan 19, 9:55am
Does the same go for rockmelons! I have my first plant in the glass house and no fruit setting on the rockmelon or the egg plant yet. Tried the finger and paintbrush trick but no luck yet. Ta much
tex-tickle,
Jan 20, 5:41pm
Bump for minana. Thanks to all who replied, it's been full on pumpkin sex at my place since.
milkybar4,
Jan 31, 2:15pm
mine have done this and mum says it's either not enough water or not enough nutrients. they need HEAPS of food. last year we only got 2 pumpkins on our vine whereas the year before we got about 6. but last year apparently even growers had trouple.mine grow next to compost bin so there nutrients are there waiting for them : )
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