pumpkin update

[greencrystal]

well i went and checked on my pumpkins today, 3 of them are going orange now, but the leaves have now got powedery mildew, so i have been cutting the worst of the leaves off, all this rain has not helped.

me cutting the leaves is that a ok thing to do, dont want to think that i have killed the pumpkin plant. they are not fully orange yet either.....

[LolaLou]

I've got really bad powdery mildew on my Harlequins too. I'll be cutting the worst effected off at the weekend. Did it last year on my courgette plants and left the healthy/healthier ones on and the plant just kept going and still produced more courgettes. I'm going to 'trim' some of the old yellow leaves off some other squash plants too as they are practically dead and of no use anymore to the plant. I don't think (which is part of my problem ) that taking off the worst leaves does any harm to the plant as they are not contributing anything good anymore anyway (but, others may know better?). By the end of the season last year when I was ripening the fruits, nearly all the leaves were off anyway.

[reetnproper]

Cutting the bad leaves of certainly wont harm the plant and may well help your pumpkins ripen, as it will allow more sun through. Just have to make sure you leave the healthy leaves in place .

Reet
x

P.S. I also have leaf removal to do this weekend.

[greencrystal]

yes i went down to the allotment yesterday, and noticed that some of the leaves still need coming off so that is what im doing today........ hoping the rain will lay off a little now.....