From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Waterville, Ohio

Discovered it on 8/24 and caught it early. Minute oozing, small areas of brown mush that were wiped clean and treated with daconil, peroxide and a fan, but it has me wondering, what causes this? This question comes up frequently, last year, Wiz asked the same question and wondered if the fruit wasn't pulling nutrients. Is it a lack of sun and air circulation or a bacterial/fungal issue?

8/25/2013 2:28:51 PM

StillmanValley IL 61084

I am a frist time grower my pumpkin has stem stress should I pick them now I did not know about stem stress till now what would happen if I let it go and is it to early to pick help

9/12/2013 6:49:23 PM

west central IN/East central IL

IMO its a combination of lack of sun, air circulation, and or fungus and bacteria. All fruit I had with stems facing west had no issues, but some with stems facing east had problems. The shade and moister are a good place for both fungus and bacteria to thrive. I had 1 pumpkin that was so bad I had to cut part of the pumpkin on the stem side out. I used peroxide wiped it clean with paper towel several times a day and put a fan on it 24/7(once stem issue/ always issues if no fan is on it). once I knew it was completely dry I used sulfur(I want to be able to see what is happening). I tried to get as much sun to the stem side as I could (nothing better). Also, this works for stumps too. Happy pumpkining

9/12/2013 8:59:03 PM

StillmanValley IL 61084

Thank you Megakin

9/12/2013 10:14:17 PM