Shrivelling Pumpkins

[Florence Fennel]

There's plenty of green foliage and the plants are setting lovely little yellow fruits, but when they get to golf ball size they are shrivelling up and falling off. I didn't have this problem last year - what's up?

[rustylady]

Sounds as though they've not been fertilised Flo. Have you got mummy and daddy flowers?

[taff]

get your paintbrush out and poke around in the male and female flowers, use some from male courgette flowers if you haven't any on your squash.

[chris]

Same issue here - not been pollinated were my thoughts too - last year I hand pollinated - but still had loads anyway, so just leaving them to get on with it this year.

[taff]

it's getting on a bit though...I'd probably have been better off hand pollinating the first squash instead of the now precariously balanced ones on the frame...you live and learn....

[chris]

True. I did have some squash that were pollinated in August reach a fine size last year mind. fingers crossed! If not, they're great at weed supression

[horticultural_hobbit]

::breaks off from Eric Bana marathon::Same problem here, Flo. I've done the whole paintbrush/cotton bud thing as well, so I'm not sure what the deal is. Don't know whether it is over or under watering, either.

[Florence Fennel]

Doh! Of course, I should have realised. Better get out there with the paintbrush. Thing is, I didn't have to last year and got beautiful big fat pumpkins!

[reetnproper]

Hi Florence,

I looked back to last August in my journal and I had noted that 2 or 3 of our pumpkins were pollinated mid August and they went on to be decent sized fruit, ripe and ready for Halloween. So get dabbing with that paintbrush

Reet
x

[SarzWix]

Might be worth feeding them with tomato feed as well. I had a few falling off mine, fed them with organic tomato food and now have 2 fruits swelling. I didn't do any hand pollinating though as we've plenty of bees, hoverflies ets around at the mo.