Pumpkins dying even after hand pollination!! What's going on?

17 years ago

Ok...I I tried to let mother nature do her thing the first time. Well that pumpkin didn't get pollinated. We have been having lots of rain so no bees. So it eventually aborted the vine.

My 2nd pumpkin I din't want to do the same, so I hand pollinated it with the pollen from 2 male flowers. I thought this was going to be it. That I would have a pumpking growing. Everything looked good this morning, only for me to come home from work to find the bottom of the pumpkin sunk in & brown. I then gently feel the bud and it is soft to the touch & it is starting to lose the nice green color it once had. I am afraid that this pumpkin is also a loss.

So my 3rd pumpkin (these are all opening within 1 week of eachother)I hand pollinate as well...same old rain. (BTW The pumpkins are covered by a rain guard I put up so they don't get too much water)I won't know if it took or not. I just pollinated it yesterday.

What am I doing wrong #1 & #2 why are they dying?

How can I tell if my pumpkin got pollinated before it starts to die...is there any signs to look for?

Please help!!

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Comments (7)

weirdtrev
17 years ago
If you pollinate the pumpkin it will begin to grow immediately, there is no mistaking a pollinated pumpkin. It grows as fast as a summer squash when it is little. The flower buds will fall off very soon after it opens this is normal. Do you have any pumpkins forming on the vines?
jenlemoine
Original Author
17 years ago
Yes, I have a ton of little buds & two that have aborted.(1 did this even after hand pollination)
Now these are good size pumpkins that are aborting. Larger than big grapes Included is a pic...

A: BABY BUD NOT EVEN CLOSE...ABORTED ON IT'S OWN

B: NOT 100% SURE IF THIS IS NORMAL...THIS PUMPKIN WAS JUST HAND POLLINATED 2 DAYS AGO, BUT LOOKS LIKE THIS INSIDE.

C: IS A PICTURE OF THE ACTUAL PUMPKIN IN THE B IMAGE

D: IS THE 2ND POLINATED PUMPKIN THAT WAS ABORTED. I PULLED IT OPEN TO INVESTIGATE

E: ONE OF A FEW MORE BUDS ON THE VINE...I AM SURE I WILL SEE MORE.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:853968}}
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weirdtrev
17 years ago
Okay so let me clear something up for you. Most of your female flowers will not form fruit. Some will open and fail to get pollinated, others will shrivel turn yellow and never open. But a few will make it. Also you should leave your pumpkins alone after you pollinate them. The way image B looks is completely normal. The flower hangs on for a little while but eventually rots away. Do NOT attempt to take the flower off because you think it looks bad just let the pumpkin do what it wants. Just give it some time and all will be fine. There is certainly no reason for concern after only two aborted fruit! You will have many more than that.
Bob (Seattle, Zone 8a)
17 years ago
Yes it's disheartening after waiting for those female flowers to see it wither, isn't it?! Don't worry though; I notice that when my winter squash plants start to produce their female flowers, they tend to abort the first few as the vines gain vigor. Sometimes I'll get one that doesn't quite develop fully but still opens; it doesn't have a chance. Then finally I'll get some good robust female flowers and they'll take. After several fruit are set and growing, depending on how big your vines are, they may start aborting again because the vine can't support more fruit. One thing you can do to increase vigor is make sure you water all along the vines (doesn't sound as if water is a problem just now though!) so that they'll root in at the nodes. You can also encourage it by heaping a little soil over every 8th node or so if it isn't happening on its own. Good luck! I just did a post on squash flowers on my web site by the way.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bahcehastasi
Macmex
17 years ago
Weirdtrev wrote: "Most of your female flowers will not form fruit. Some will open and fail to get pollinated, others will shrivel turn yellow and never open. But a few will make it. Also you should leave your pumpkins alone after you pollinate them. The way image B looks is completely normal. The flower hangs on for a little while but eventually rots away. Do NOT attempt to take the flower off because you think it looks bad just let the pumpkin do what it wants. Just give it some time and all will be fine."

When I hand pollinate for seed I usually do a good many fruit because one never knows when a fruit will abort, even, sometimes, after it begins to grow a bit.

Surely this is along the order of those sayings like, "A watched pot is slow to boil...." Seems the more we want those squash to mature, the more it SEEMS that they don't. Yet, if we're not paying much attention, then they produce and mature very well! The difference is mainly in our perception.

George
quillsd
17 years ago
are you having any better luck? i've had a few that looked like picture a but i can say that i'm now growing 5 pumpkins with more females getting ready. you won't have any doubt when they take and start growing they grow fast, my first one was pollinated on friday and is almost baseball size today.
Erica_23
12 years ago
My baby pumpkins are dieing before the flowers even open to be pollinated! They are turning brown and get squishy and just fall off we've got alot of rain recently also can someone help me out??!! I've been so excited and do everything I can for my garden I'm in it constantly and this happens.