Big Mac pumpkin vine yellowing please help

11 years ago

I've been growing a couple big mac pumpkin vines from seeds that I collected last year from a big mac pumpkin that we bought at our local pumpkin patch, and for about 2 months I've noticed that the vine and the bottoms of every flower is yellow, and at first I thought maybe it wasn't getting enough fertilizer due to its heavy need for nutrients, so I upped its fertilizer after reading that big mac growers often feed theirs every time they water, but it is still yellow with no improvement, and now I'm starting to see female flowers and the baby pumpkins behind the females are also yellow so I'm growing more concerned that it might affect the quality of the pumpkins. The leaves are a nice green color and seem unaffected, its just the vine and the flowers that are yellow. Does anyone know what could be wrong? Any and all advice is greatly appreciated!

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Comments (6)

Christian
11 years ago
No idea why the vine is also yellow, but i do know that the C. Maxima variety of fruits are usually yellow when immature.
Kayle Kirschner
Original Author
11 years ago
Hmm so maybe its not a problem after all?
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mav72
11 years ago
I've never grown these before but maybe they just look like that. I don't know... As long as the leaves look good and the plant looks healthy aside from the color and not dieing, maybe there isn't a problem.

Is there a reason they call it Big Mac? Is it supposed to look like cheese or special sauce? Just a thought...
StephanieHS
11 years ago
Ha, mav72 :)

Kayle, is the fruit setting okay or is it aborting?
fresc1000
11 years ago
I grew Big Macs 2 years ago and my vines and immature fruits were also yellow, just like yours pictured. I thought for sure there was something wrong, but I do believe it is just how the variety looks. Mine went on to produce 3 of the most beautiful, large, deep orange pumpkins I have ever grown, so do not despair!
Sam
11 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
I have a couple of big max pumpkins that are doing the same thing. But one set a pumpkin last week and it's growing pretty well, about the size of a baseball now. It's still yellow and shows no sign of changing color, but it's definitely growing and appears healthy otherwise.

I asked my father (old gardener) about it, and he thinks that that's just how they're supposed to look. Something about how BIG squash are usually yellow looking and pumpkins are actually squash.