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C N Y

Concerning your pumpkin plant, if I had my druthers or whatever or it was my plant, I would:
Pollinate that lone star fruit-to-be and at the same time, remove the tendril, extra leaf,
attached EXtrA vine and slip a piece of ANY suitable material under the fruit to get it in the
right frame of mind. 1' x 1', 2' x 2', with one corner of it directly under the *stem*
itself - this maximizes the area to be 'landed upon', IMHO.
If not already, start utilizing controlled crosses by isolating the feems AnD males from
the environmental pollen sources so that if a pumpkin is one you wanna trade seeds from,
the 'pedigree' is known, even X Self. After pollination, ZipTie it shut and remove the
flower-only about 3-5 days later. Additionally, simultaneously, get ahold of some 15-30-15 or
10-52-10 and foliar feed-only the entire plant, never minding the soil drench until if ever
the plant is filled in enough to justify the expense. This will all bias the plant to KEEP
the fruit that is set and improve its general health and outlook. I've yet to make a point
of it that the plant can have all the N it wants and if it doesn't have enough of something
else, it can still behave as though it's N- or P- or ???-deficient. My Honest Opinion. My
plants are doing extremely well and as every year, once I fine-tune the non-flowering ones
in this manner, it is like magic and I have no worries. I don't care if it's Miracle-Gro or
not and neither should anyone, lol. It is not temporary and must be 'kept after' (every few
days, perhaps using up 2 gallons mixed @ 1 tbsp. per) as it is a 'spritz' method of keeping
the ball rolling. If any of this has helped or not, I hope you grow a Great Pumpkin, regardless.
eric g

[Last edit: 08/26/26 11:40:24 PM]

8/26/2026 11:18:42 PM

C N Y

PS--- It may be a fine line we tread, in that since this may be exaggerating the focus on that
one little fruit-to-be, perhaps a half-strength, transitional period of 'do this until it reaches
basketball/beachball size and THEN go to full strength' would be advisable, as I DID blow up a
2003 Haist fruit in July after a couple days' rain *and* having started in on the 10-52-10;
However, with possibly more feems than ever developing, well, if needed, spin the Wheel again!
eg

[Last edit: 08/26/26 11:43:39 PM]

8/26/2026 11:40:30 PM

Boston

Thank you for all of the feedback. I appreciate it.

I think the basic issue is just being offsite leads to multiple rounds of dry to wet soil can be a cause of blossom end rot for a variety of plants. We saw it this year on some tomatoes too.

8/28/2026 9:47:41 AM

C N Y

Yeah, I'm sure it's nothing to do with plant nutrition or available nutrients. Rain is always good for plants, no matter what. Nature will provide. Good luck. eg

8/28/2026 9:09:07 PM

Boston

@Pumpkin, of course it has to do with available nutrients. My plot soil tests around 3,800ppm calcium and the veggie garden comes in around 3,200ppm of calcium. So there is sufficient calcium in the soil.

Blossom end rot is most often caused by conditions when the soil goes from too dry to wet-it inhibits the plant from fully taking up calcium.

We have seen this a little bit in the veggie garden on just one variety of longer tomatoes where we had some blossom end rot, but the vast majority have been okay. I attribute this to mulch and the veggies being lighter feeders than the pumpkin.

Of course its all speculation without a tissue test.

9/4/2026 11:37:45 AM

C N Y

Please read my rant again and consider trying that; Easy, now, Eric; The plant doesn't look that healthy, since we base a lot on whether our plants are green as can be or not. I do NOT wanna be upsetting and I will gladly remove this add'l rant if you'd like, no problem-o. My sarcasm doesn't come across as funny, usually, lol. I have 4 squash plants that each have exhibited that they need something in contrast to the AGs all around them. Different plants have different requirements, even in the same species/genus/soil/whatever, so I'm finding. I did as I said I would do (or similar, as the result would be the same - Secret Sauce, you know) and in the 2 weeks+? since, by adding to the time I allow each plant to be 'fertwatered', one squash plant was barren of females and soon started having secondaries I knew nothing about and has a pollination on it that I will 'keep after' (like 8 dap, maybe); It has been a challenge to fertilize all 24 of them with the seemingly-daily rain in CNY and not have it rinsed off by the dew and that rain late in the day, once I've gotten them 'all taken care of'.

[Last edit: 09/12/26 10:49:36 PM]

9/10/2026 3:47:43 AM

C N Y

I need to drench them FAR more, I am realizing - spritzing is fine, but it generally feeds the canopy like 90% and the soil gets just the overspray and runoff. Will adjust, lol. For BOTH of us, with SOMEthing done differently, the results could be dramatic. I did NOT expect the 'barren' squash plant to do anything, at all, and I did not add any Calcium nor did I prune anything, etc. The other squashies have each their own stories, but long story short (too late, lol), one is just-starting (was 'barren'), one is the size of an Ottoman and the other two each have one the size of a soccer ball but all that is on me. I also have (BE Y)ellowing on 2 of 4 of JUST the squashies. Note that there is another cucurbit plant there, in MA, that has lightened in color dramatically, recently. I'll be hopeful here until the first frost, lol. In the following, I hope 'blew up' is not a course of events, lol...
Luke trusted in The Force and blew up the Death Star. Had he neither, well, maybe no one ever would have.
'The Empire Just...Strikes', lol---eg

9/10/2026 4:38:03 AM

C N Y

What a difference a day makes - 24 hours' worth, lol.
The aforementioned 4 squashes - One that had 5 polls on it and 1 really taking - that one has a bigger, hidden one that must have said 'See ya!' to the 3 that aborted, so, two on that plant now and that is all that has changed. No further updates and not planning to blabber further. I'm supposed to put that in my Diary, but it's VERY far-behind. Take care and good luck!---eg

9/10/2026 11:37:44 PM