Cucurbit
Newly Registered
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Jul 05, 2018 10:16 pm

Pumpkins and withered buds

Hi!

I am trying to grow sugar pumpkins and I've noticed that several female buds have appeared but at least two of them have withered and never opened. I can see the difference between one that has opened and one that never has, apart from the fact that the ones that withered (so far) have been very small.

Is this common? It seems strange that the flower never matured enough to open up. In general the plants seem very healthy and they are growing well.

pepperhead212
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 2852
Joined: Wed Oct 15, 2014 1:52 pm
Location: Woodbury NJ Zone 7a/7b

Welcome to the forum!

Given your name, you should know that cucurbits need pollinating, and sometimes, if no insects are around to do this, the best thing to do is to hand pollinate them. I have never grown sugar pumpkins, but I assume that a bunch of male blossoms opened first? And how large is the plant(s)? Sometimes, smaller plants (the reason I don't like small varieties of butternuts!) will get one or two flowers pollinated, then drop the rest of the blossoms, so the remaining fruits will get enough energy and food from the plant. I have some gourds this season which have probably more fruits that didn't form than those that did, but they are still producing more than I can pick! If all of those fruits had formed, the plants probably could not have "fed" them.

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applestar
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Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

Good point about pollination, I usually hand pollinate even though there are plenty of pollinators around because even then, some of the female blossoms don’t set fruit... but if you are really sure the female blossoms didn’t open before shriveling up — Make sure they are getting enough water. If you are watering enough but the blossoms still drop, it’s possible the plant has been infested by squash vine borers.



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