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Charlotte, NC

My fruit aborted this week. I have no idea why. I had some damage from a critter on it very early after I set it but it healed up and was growing like crazy so I am not sure if that had anything to do with the abort.

I had two set about 10 and 12 ft. The 12ft was a bit bigger then started really growing and the 12ft had more or less slowed to a crawl. So i decided to cull this one. I culled over 3 days last weekend which were days 15-17. Day 13-15 on the 10ft OTT grew 15in. It slowed to 2in growth in OTT from day 15-16.

I figured it had just had a growth spurt and wasnt concerned. Well i notice a depression in the top of the fruit on Monday and it felt a bit soft compared to the rest. I measured and it hadn't grown at all. I laid off measuring again until today, day 20, and it had actually shrunk an inch. Also, the skin was soft over a lot of the fruit and the shine from the skin was gone so I knew that was it......

This is my first year growing an AG and I am just sick over this. I culled 3 total on the main vine after setting the first 2 so there aren't any backups currently on the main. I noticed this morning there is a female just appearing on a side so I guess I am going to try to set that one but I obviously would rather have one on the main.

I didn't terminate the main so its still growing, though very slowly. Maybe i can get one on the main? Also, what do I do about the abort? Do i just cull as normal, over a couple of days? Any help/advice would be appreciated.

6/28/2012 7:07:11 PM

Mass

I would say if it has aborted you could just cut it. Energy has obviously stopped going to it, and if you have nothing after it set, you have nothing to blow up. DONT cull anything until after day 20 or even after. I culled on day 20 last year, Guess what? Day 21 pumpkin went to hell, lost shape and barely grew for half the season. Theres plenty of time, I think I just read about letting 1st get to 100 lbs. Or let the last set get to day 20, then compare numbers. You still have time to get one set on main if it comes. Pollinate some on sides for insurance. You will learn from mistakes, I do!

6/28/2012 7:56:14 PM

Charlotte, NC

Yeah, i was planning on not culling until day 20 but when #1 started growing a ton and #2 essentially stopped I went ahead and did it. Obviously a mistake looking back.

6/28/2012 8:43:00 PM

Nottingham, UK

I made some mistakes last year in terms of culling females with seeds in the flower or just damaging them. I ended up going for one set on a secondary vine. It was the third secondary and the pumpkin was 5' out from the stump so all in all, far from desirable! The pumpkin grew to 494 lbs but just think what it could have been on the main vine. If you follow sweets advice you could set the side vines, wait 20-30 days etc by which time you'll have an idea about pollinations/keepers on the main. Best of luck!

6/29/2012 5:30:17 AM

Kansas

I am kinda having this problem but just on my secondary vine they bloomed great got pollinated then just died a few days later. I guess mother nature culled my AGs for me. My main vine bruiser is growing about 3in every day and is about 26 days old. Looks like he's is a keeper!!!

6/29/2012 10:44:21 AM

Hinckley MN

if your main vine is slowing down something may be wrong. I'm a new grower but my main vines last year never stopped even out to 50+ft. I just curved them around the plant. is your soil dry? have you had rain recently? have you had too much rain recently? are you shading the plants from the SC sun? high heat/ humidity can cause polinations to fail. is there another local grower you can call? Joining a club can be really helpful at times like this. I can't tell you how many times I emailed Chad Revier in a panic last year only to find out he has the same issues and how he handles it.

6/29/2012 10:08:18 PM