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Attleboro, MA

Hello!

I'm new to the site and new to pumpkin growing in general. everything has been going along very well up until about Tuesday. Sunday I went out to check my patch as I do about every day and everything was looking great. I went back out Tuesday afternoon and noticed a significant change in my plants. A good number of leaves from one hill, almost all at the bases of the vines, were curling up at the edges, brown and a bit yellow as well. I felt my soil and realized we hadn't gotten as much rain at home the day before as I did at work. I watered and waited for the next day and did not see much improvement, probably some more worsening. I've been trying to figure out what is going on. I removed some of the worst leaves but this didn't make any difference. I've done some searching and wondering if it could be potassium deficiency? My plants are beginning to fruit and I've been told this is when they really start to super pull nutrients from the soil around them. While it looks like the issue is spreading through the patch, I traced it down and it's only effecting plants from one specific hill. Please help, any and all advice would be greatly appreciated! I am new to this but have become very attached to my pumpkins and want to keep them as happy as I can. Thank you so much! Pictures included of progression.

https://imgur.com/a/0SvPkja

8/16/2019 10:17:36 PM

Attleboro, MA

I forgot to also mention that over the last week we've had more drastic temperature drops over night, as low as 58 a few nights, corresponding with the beginning of the leaf change. Any chance that's related as well?

8/16/2019 10:21:09 PM

Walhalla, ND.

From what I see in your pics is that your vines aren’t buried. You should at least bury at the leaf nodes. So it appears as though it’s mostly your stump trying to supply water and nutrients to the vines to make them grow. 58 degrees isn’t causing this. Try to get some soil on your leaf nodes and water them.

8/16/2019 10:36:46 PM

Grittyville, WA

When the soil dries the plant take up less nutrients and it will begin aging. I think the soil drying will also make the ph swing farther away from 7.0. I'll post a thread on this in fertilizing and watering board... The good news is your leaves may be more affected than your pumpkins.
Drought stress is a pretty serious stress to the plant and while its easy to supply some water its usually hard magically renew the plant late in the year. It may be hard to stop the aging and push new roots with pumpkins drawing most of the plants extra resources.

8/16/2019 11:43:24 PM

Walhalla, ND.

pumpkinnewbie, Your first lesson on this site is to not listen to any advice from Glenoma Kin’s. Almost always he doesn’t know what he’s talking about, and he gives advice on guesses. I don’t know why they haven’t even blocked him yet. I guess they don’t care if he ruins someone’s growing season based on bad advice. We don’t try to help new growers with guesses. Case in point he thinks you have pumpkins growing already. Pumpkins don’t start taking away from growth till they get around 20 days old and are a hundred pounds or more.

8/17/2019 12:38:48 AM

Walhalla, ND.

pumpkinnewbie, Your first lesson on this site is to not listen to any advice from Glenoma Kin’s. Almost always he doesn’t know what he’s talking about, and he gives advice on guesses. I don’t know why they haven’t even blocked him yet. I guess they don’t care if he ruins someone’s growing season based on bad advice. We don’t try to help new growers with guesses. Case in point he thinks you have pumpkins growing already. Pumpkins don’t start taking away from growth till they get around 20 days old and are a hundred pounds or more.

8/17/2019 12:38:55 AM

Walhalla, ND.

Look at his post on fertilizing and watering. Here he tells you your ph goes down if your soil is on the dry side, then after his post here to you he posts in the fertilizing and watering section asking if he’s right or not. I repeat again save yourself and don’t take any advise from Glenoma Kins.

8/17/2019 12:46:26 AM

Central Illinois

it's a disease or defieciency of some kind possible Downy Mildew

8/17/2019 8:48:27 AM

Grittyville, WA

Well Hobbit I knew that would stir the pot. I may not know everything but you old guys are so stuck in your ways. Maybe I am right. A little shooting from the hip is not going tn hurt anyone but yes keep your eyes open and always trust yourself more than me. I am not looking to be a trusted source of info I just want to stretch their brains in new ways they have never been stretched before. As far as I know I am correct.

8/17/2019 11:10:49 AM

Grittyville, WA

Their are people smarter than me but we need to get them active on here. There are some geniuses. I might take the year off. End of August you all may get a much needed break from me. Love you guys tho...:)

8/17/2019 11:21:15 AM

Central NY

Yea hobbit, you old guys stuck in your ways growing 2000lb pumpkins...you third year veteran you..

8/17/2019 12:53:27 PM

Walhalla, ND.

Glenoma, look where all your knowledgeable bullshit and advice to yourself got you this year. You need to stay completely away from giving advice to new growers so you don’t stretch their minds and end up with a season like yours. All your guessing games like you have in your diary about how big this pumpkin or that one should be X amount of pounds by season end and you have nothing. I don’t know why you want to get big hitters actively involved because you don’t listen to anyone. You think you have all the answers. Just look at your results.

8/17/2019 1:20:39 PM

Walhalla, ND.

And, your not bullshitting anyone you aren’t going to take next year off. Your a troll type, you couldn’t manage to take a day off from this site. If you put the same amount of time your on this sit into growing a pumpkin the proven way almost everyone here grows. You would probably have a 3000 pounder.

8/17/2019 1:34:33 PM

Oak Grove, Mn

Porkchop, don't give Hobbit too much credit...he has not broke 2K yet....Kent is barely over the Minnesota record with a 1921.5. Maybe this year, he will bring ND to the 2K level. Go Kent...i want to take another picture. My theory, listen to everyone...follow the advise of only those that seem to make sense. Ph dependent on water level...I can see the reasoning behind that thought. I will have to mix up some hydro solution and then evaporate 1/2 of it to see what changes there are. I know that soil ph is more stable. Something about buffering agents. I don't think that ph is the issue here. Burying the leaf nodes...is probably the biggest issue. More roots..more water for the plant.

8/17/2019 1:50:20 PM

Central NY

Yea, yer right bob...breaking 2000lbs is pretty easy...buzzkill can tell ya all about it...(sorry for messing up your thread pumpkin newbie...and welcome to the site..yes there are still people here that know what they are talking about...hobbit is one of them..)...best of luck to you, keep the questions coming, and join a club near you!!...some very cool people doing this out yer way...!!

8/17/2019 2:18:55 PM

Central NY

Oh- and they don’t “super pull” nutrients til they hit 3-400 lbs...but that would just mean supplemental feedings during that time period...nothing too crazy..

8/17/2019 2:21:52 PM

Eastern Pennsylvania

Tough to see in the pictures. A closeup of a newly impacted leaf would help a lot to diagnose. I do agree that downy mildew is a likely suspect. If you are not using any fungicide I suggest starting with Daconil which is cheap and generally considered one of the best all purpose fungicides. Not sure exactly how great that is on DM specifically though. Again without closeup I can’t say for sure but on the insect side of things it could possibly be spider mites. In that case bite bifenthrin is highly effective and also a good choice for most other pumpkin pests. I don’t suspect that your issue is related to nutrient deficiency. Another observation- mulching with heavy straw or hay will draw rodents. This is from personal experience. Good luck.

8/17/2019 4:06:51 PM

Upa Creek, Mo

I thought Spider mites as a possibility as well, but hard to tell. You can tell by looking under the leaves and a neem oil spray would work.

If Downy Mildew, Daconil works as an on the spot fungicide, but getting a systemic one in there will help too.

8/17/2019 6:46:21 PM

Walhalla, ND.

My apologies pumpkinnewbie. I shouldn’t have aired my grievances on your post but beware of bad advice. I hope you find a solution to the problem your having with your plant.

8/17/2019 9:16:56 PM

Mill Bay, British Columbia

It’s all good Kent, there is no room for “the guessing game” that is often applied by the grower you are taking grievance with. New growers need to find a proven mentor to guide them through the first couple of years growing giant pumpkins, not someone just throwing out their best guesses.

It’s a fun hobby pumkinnewbie, join a club, find a mentor. Better yet check out the diaries of people offering you advice, and choose whether or not to take that advice based on what you see in their diaries.

Good luck, hopefully you can get that plant in order and growing you a nice fruit.

8/17/2019 9:47:44 PM

Mill Bay, British Columbia

And Kent, just block him so you don’t see the nonsense being posted, and dude, what are you doing looking at his diary...there is nothing for you to learn there.

8/17/2019 9:49:27 PM

Attleboro, MA

Thanks for the advice everyone, and the entertainment at the very least. Leaf nodes buried, a nice long, low and slow soak, and a downy mildew treatment were accomplished today. I checked for pests and didn’t see anything obvious but I’ll continue to keep my eyes peeled for them in case. Now I wait and watch and I’ll see how it goes!

8/17/2019 11:47:49 PM

Lexington, Ky

Thank you Hobbit!

8/19/2019 6:52:22 AM