PumpkinTryHard
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Pumpkin Flowers not opening?

This is my first year attempting to grow pumpkins. I have JackOlanterns and I live in Florida (I live in West Palm Beach right along the ocean for reference.) Anyways the flowers don't seem to be opening up fully and they just fall off. I haven't been out in the early morning so maybe I am just missing the part where they open or something. I am putting a picture of one of the female flowers. I don't know if it has been pollinated or what so let me know. I water them a lot and they have had full sunlight on them. If anyone has some advice or knows what is happening please let me know. :(
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applestar
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Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

I haven't been out in the early morning so maybe I am just missing the part where they open or something.
I think you guessed it. I've noticed that pumpkins/squash bloom very early -- as soon as it's light and bees start to fly and melons tend to bloom later in the morning.

Another thing... I tend to get outside when it's light -- sometimes before sunrise, and I used to see the squash blossoms not opening yet all the time during the summer. We're talking 5:30-6:30am. Lately, the sun doesn't rise until almost 7am (6:45am this morning) so I don't get outside until 6:30-7:30 or so at earliest and the blossoms are already open. Sometimes, if I don't get out until 8-9am and the squash blossoms are sometimes already closing.

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rainbowgardener
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but if the flowers just fall off without setting fruit, they may not be getting pollinated. Do you see bees visiting them. It takes several visits from a bee for one flower to be completely pollinated. You can try hand pollinating them, which is not difficult.

PumpkinTryHard
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I see like wasps but again I haven't been able to see the flowers in the morning so I'm not exactly sure if they are even opening or not. I will go out early tomorrow morning to see if they are opening or not. But yes they do just fall off.

valley
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This year I had ZERO germination from the pumpkin seeds planted.



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