How are your pumpkins and squash?

[stella1751]

Waterbug, my watermelons look almost identical to yours, well, the ones that survived our bad hail storm. One of them finally began to put out a vine two days ago. I am currently telling (deluding?) myself that if I can get one pollinated fruit by the end of July, I will beat our first frost and have a watermelon.

The same thing happened last year with the one watermelon that survived our wet cold June. It stalled for like three or four weeks. Once it took off, though, it really went to town, and I would have gotten a watermelon off it if I hadn't broken it while trying to trellis it.

Up here, I'm pretty certain cold soil is the problem, but that wouldn't work in Los Angeles. It's interesting how they just sit there and don't do anything.

[sheeshshe]

huh. my watermelons and minnesota midgets are going NUTS! I've tried planting watermelon in the past and they just die after they sprout. I started them indoors this year and they didn't really do anything for like a month and then one day they just went nuts. maybe yours are just waiting to do the same? one day they'll just decide to go crazy?

[stella1751]

huh. my watermelons and minnesota midgets are going NUTS! I've tried planting watermelon in the past and they just die after they sprout. I started them indoors this year and they didn't really do anything for like a month and then one day they just went nuts. maybe yours are just waiting to do the same? one day they'll just decide to go crazy?

Sheeshshe, you are soooo right! I just went out and checked mine, and the one vine grew 6" since yesterday. Hooray! Maybe, just maybe, I WILL get that watermelon I so desperately desire

[sheeshshe]

LOL!!! That is TOO funny!!! now watch the thing, its going to go nuts! I am hardly a watermelon expert as this is my first time but, they all did the same thing so yeah. weeeeeha! watermelons here we come!

[TheWaterbug]

^^
Can you two please get your melons to talk to my melons?

They need some inspiration.

[soil]

mine could use some inspiration too. such tiny leaves it has.

[hockeymom519]

My mother in law and my 4 year old wanted to try growing the Atlantic Giants this year. This has been our first year at growing pumpkins. So far it's been exciting watching the progress. In 5 days the first pumpkin went from a golf ball size to almost a soccer ball size.

Here is my son with our pumpkin plants. We only have 2 plants growing.
[img]https://i1090.photobucket.com/albums/i361/hockeymom519/Mobile%20Uploads/100MEDIA_IMAG0217.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i1090.photobucket.com/albums/i361/hockeymom519/Mobile%20Uploads/100MEDIA_IMAG0218.jpg[/img]

[babeandsweetie]

I planted 12 squash and 12 zuchini this year, did all the proper requirments with each, but I'm still not getting any results. The plants have either died or are getting very big, flowering like crazy, and not producing any fruit. This is so maddening I'm about ready to pull my hair out! I mean they are producing tons of flowers both male and female, but no fruit. Then when I think that I might get lucky and one might be producing a squash or zuchini, the flower and it's stem gets this black spicky, fuzzy stuff all over it and the flower and it's stem both die.
What am I doing wrong? Can somebody PLEASE help me!!!!!!

[Dragonmom]

I think you have wet rot on your squash. There isn't any treatment for it but I was able to slow down some rot I had on my kabocha plants earlier this season by pulling all the black blossoms as soon as I saw them and pulling one of them to give the others some room to spread and dry out a bit. I was able to harvest a dozen kabocha before I finally let it go although there are still a couple of vines that are trying to produce some new pumpkins. Since I planted another patch in another area I don't need to save the one that was over taken by rot. We are in a humid area. It's caused by humid weather or a lot of rain or maybe even overwatering.

[cherishedtiger]

My pumpkins... growing like weeds and trying to take over the rest of the garden. I have to daily go out and trim whatever its decided to grab onto and re-route its growing patterns... yes daily...

[TheWaterbug]

My mother in law and my 4 year old wanted to try growing the Atlantic Giants this year.

I'll have to try an Atlantic Giant next year. I grew Big Max last year, and I got a 60 pounder and a few 40+ pounders, despite my [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=198240#198240]squirrel troubles[/url] and late start.

I've got 6 Big Maxes in this year as well, and 4 of the vines are just starting to take off. The other two are underachieving along with the watermelons and cantaloupes. Teenagers these days . . .

[applestar]

This morning, the Atlantic Giant was limp. I suspect SVB. Although I couldn't find the bore hole(s). I did water hoping I'm mistaken, but it's probably no use.

[sheeshshe]

all my squash are wilty as well but I see no SVB holes either. just eggs. but no holes. I guess they're just hot? my cucumbers are wilty as well

[jal_ut]

My squash are finally taking off. There are some blossoms now. I had a goofy spring and the squash did not germinate well. So later I planted some more seed in between where things failed. I was using up all the old different varieties of seed I had in the box. So, at this point, I don't even know what I have growing. I will have surprises. I am hoping for some banana squash, hubard, butternut, pumpkins, crookneck and zucchini. We will see what survived.

[sheeshshe]

oooh off to google banana squash!

[sheeshshe]

how is the flavor of the banana squash? is it mild like a blue hubbard? or is it very squashy flavored like a butternut or acorn?

[Fig3825]

I was finally able to get home before dark and snap a couple pics of my squash. I got a late start due to some bad decisions, but that's been covered elsewhere in these forums...

Butternuts in the closest row and summer crookneck on the second row.
[img]https://www.jtnewton.com/Images/Garden/07192011007.jpg[/img]

And while I'm here, my watermelons have just started to take off. About 3"-5" growth per day. I should put the timelapse camera on these guys...

[img]https://www.jtnewton.com/Images/Garden/07192011006.jpg[/img]

[gixxerific]

My butternuts are going crazy with several fruit on them. Pumpkins, watermelon, cantaloupe are starting to take off I planted late in hopes of a harvest before fall and after the SVB leave the area.

I can't seem to get cucumbers to grow this year for some reason.

[mmmfloorpie]

Here's my spaghetti squash:

[img]https://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm113/drew4allyou/0719111855-01.jpg[/img]

My biggest fruit:

[img]https://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm113/drew4allyou/0719111855-00.jpg[/img]

I hope they really take off producing fruit now!

[TheWaterbug]

^^
Can you two please get your melons to talk to my melons?

They need some inspiration.

One of my watermelons may have gotten the message, because it's beginning to send out a vine:
[img]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3552590/WatermelonVining071911_web.jpg[/img]

It's not very long yet, but at least it's vining.

It's still got a way to go to catch up to the pumpkins, though. They're starting to put out female flowers:
[img]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3552590/FirstPumpkinFemale071911_web.jpg[/img]

[jal_ut]

how is the flavor of the banana squash? is it mild like a blue hubbard? or is it very squashy flavored like a butternut or acorn?

It has been a while since I grew banana squash. It seems that it is a mild flavored squash. Bright yellow flesh. The variety can sometimes get huge. You cut one and pass it around to the neighbors.

[url=https://www.specialtyproduce.com/produce/Banana_Squash_4587.php]Click[/url]

[stella1751]

One of my watermelons may have gotten the message, because it's beginning to send out a vine:

Way to go, Waterbug! Now it should go really quickly. My first one now has an 18" vine and its first tiny male flower bud. The others have all began vining. Yesterday, I watered them deeply for the first time, leaving a hose on trickle all day long. If I can get a pollinated female flower by the end of July, I will be very, very happy

[TheWaterbug]

One of my watermelons may have gotten the message, because it's beginning to send out a vine:

Way to go, Waterbug!

Thank you, although I must say I can't take all the credit for it. My teammates did a great job getting me the hose when I was open, and I was able to execute and put the seed in the hole.

We did a lot of work in the off-season, and we're just glad to see it pay off. The SVBs are always a tough competitor, but my teammates and I gave 110% like we always do, and I'm grateful that we were able to come away with a victory. Like my old coach used to say, there's no "I" in "vegetable."

Now it should go really quickly. My first one now has an 18" vine and its first tiny male flower bud. The others have all began vining. Yesterday, I watered them deeply for the first time, leaving a hose on trickle all day long. If I can get a pollinated female flower by the end of July, I will be very, very happy

I hand-pollinated my first female pumpkin blossom this morning. It was very satisfying. For both of us. Seriously. Why would she lie to me?

[stella1751]

One of my watermelons may have gotten the message, because it's beginning to send out a vine:

Way to go, Waterbug!

Thank you, although I must say I can't take all the credit for it. My teammates did a great job getting me the hose when I was open, and I was able to execute and put the seed in the hole.

We did a lot of work in the off-season, and we're just glad to see it pay off. The SVBs are always a tough competitor, but my teammates and I gave 110% like we always do, and I'm grateful that we were able to come away with a victory. Like my old coach used to say, there's no "I" in "vegetable."

Now it should go really quickly. My first one now has an 18" vine and its first tiny male flower bud. The others have all began vining. Yesterday, I watered them deeply for the first time, leaving a hose on trickle all day long. If I can get a pollinated female flower by the end of July, I will be very, very happy

I hand-pollinated my first female pumpkin blossom this morning. It was very satisfying. For both of us. Seriously. Why would she lie to me?

This is too funny. Not being a die-hard sports fan, it took me a while to figure out what in the Hades you were talking about when you credited your teammates for getting you "the hose when I was open." Once I got it, I laughed out loud. Good stuff! I can visualize you raising your arm way above your head, slamming that seed into the hole, and doing a TD dance in the side zone. Me, I bunted my seeds in

[SPierce]

Me=Happy!

I went out and looked at my plant today... despite loosing the first set of leaves to powdery mildew (oops!) I have a female flower coming out on my vine! And, to make it even better, I came out today and saw some male flowers open... with a bee on one of them flowers, so I don't have to freak out about having bees down there or not, thank goodness!

Squash wise, my in grounds didn't do as well as my in-containers, so I decided to pull them yesterday. It really is a matter of I got 1 zucchini from each in ground plant (I had 3) and my one container zucchini has given me about 15! I'll just leave the big one to do it's thing, and pulled the others to make room for some fall crops, even though I'm most likely running late!

[stella1751]

I am having an extremely odd pumpkin year, partly because of adverse weather and partly because I did something I think will prove to have been seriously stupid. Just when the pumpkins had really spread out, developing some thick vines and putting on flowers, we had a really bad hail storm. The thick vines got pummeled pretty good and now have deep tan indentations all along them. I think this explains why so many female flowers are aborting before they even bloom. The vines are maybe too damaged to sustain life.

The stupid thing seemed like a brainstorm at the time. I had four tomato seedlings, three pumpkin seedlings, and one 8' x 4' raised bed. It seemed only logical to put the pumpkins in the middle of the bed and two tomatoes at each end. Now, however, the hail-damaged pumpkins are growing like mad, putting out vine after vine and enormous leaf after enormous leaf (everything but pumpkins) while the broken-stemmed, now-bushy tomatoes, which got their tops pounded by the hail, have barely managed to creep above the second level on their cages. There are tomatoes on the plants, but they are so low, they are now obscured by pumpkin leaves.

To make things worse, I swear those pumpkins are shooting out a foot of vine overnight. I try to direct the vines around the tomato cages, but every now and again, a vine rockets through a tomato cage in 24 hours. If worse comes to worse and the pumpkins start to seriously affect my tomato harvest, I'm going to have to pull those puppies. They are sugar pies, but I'm not handy enough to trellis 'em.

Oh well. Live and learn. Had it not been for the hail, my plan might have worked

Update: I tore out the oldest of the pumpkins last night, the one that had the badly damaged vines. It just kept putting out leaves and vines and leaves and vines and no viable fruit. Ultimately, it got into a sun competition with the two broken-stemmed semi-determinate tomatoes at one end, shooting big fat leaves high above the tomato plants and blocking their sun.

Separating it from the younger pumpkins was easier than I thought. Wherever I saw a dark green vine with tan dents in it, I snipped and pulled, revealing two rather pathetic, sun-starved pumpkin plants beneath it. I really thought I had lost one of these in the hail storm; they were both so young then, just seedlings, that I am surprised they survived.

Now I am guiding their vines over the side of the raised bed. I don't really have a yard, not with all the rocks on top of my non-garden areas, so if they are truly determined to produce, they can do it someplace else.

Never again. Pumpkins, tomatoes, and hail do not mix

[TheWaterbug]

I have bees! They didn't all go away! Here's one visiting a male pumpkin flower:

[img]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3552590/LittlePollinator_web.jpg[/img]

It's hard to tell from this angle, but he's completely covered with pollen.

[url=https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3552590/LittlePollinator.jpg]Full resolution, here.[/url]

[Beansie_time]

Sorry if this is too pic heavy, if it is let me know and I'll edit. Still new to the etiquette on this board.

I think I am finally winning the battle with my squash bugs. I have been angrily and mercilessly killing them and their eggs like a Spartan with a toothache.

Here are the Watermelons and Cantaloupes which have grown into a tangled mess but are covered with flowers and tiny fruits:
[img]https://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg40/beansie_time/IMAG0381.jpg[/img]

Here are the volunteer pumpkins that were under my deck. I transplanted them to five gallon buckets. They look like they're doing OK:
[img]https://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg40/beansie_time/IMAG0382.jpg[/img]

Here's the biggest so far of the Big Max Pumpkins:
[img]https://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg40/beansie_time/IMAG0384.jpg[/img]

Here are some spaghetti squash that have spilled into the grass:
[img]https://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg40/beansie_time/IMAG0385.jpg[/img]

Another squash about the size of a nerf football:
[img]https://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg40/beansie_time/IMAG0386.jpg[/img]

A Red Kuri squash a little bigger than a softball:
[img]https://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg40/beansie_time/IMAG0388.jpg[/img]

Here is the squash bed from one angle:
[img]https://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg40/beansie_time/IMAG0389.jpg[/img]

and another angle:
[img]https://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg40/beansie_time/IMAG0383.jpg[/img]
That mess contains 2 each big max pumpkins, acorn squash, delicata squash, and spaghetti squash, 1 each red Kuri, Butternut, and Buttercup squash, 4 zucchini, and 1 yellow patty pan. There is also a row of sunflowers separating the summer and winter varieties.

And here is a patty pan squash that is growing upwards instead of vining or spreading out. Is this normal for patty pans? I've never grown them before?
[img]https://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg40/beansie_time/IMAG0390.jpg[/img]

[stella1751]

And here is a patty pan squash that is growing upwards instead of vining or spreading out. Is this normal for patty pans? I've never grown them before?
[img]https://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg40/beansie_time/IMAG0390.jpg[/img]

I grew patty pans in 2009. I had read that they were an excellent container squash so expected a small, manageable squash. They went crazy, roughly 5 feet tall. I trellised mine in tomato cages, intending for them to grow up, not out. However, I gave up forcing them into the cage after a while.

They grow up, but the leaves start to lie down when they get too heavy. The fruit emerges from the center of the plant and, yes, grows upward at an angle. I had many that were two or three feet above the ground. Following is a picture of one of my beds of patty pans from back then.

[img]https://i801.photobucket.com/albums/yy292/mitbah/squash_1-1.jpg[/img]

I can't remember how many plants I had in there; I think there were seven of 'em. This was the first time in years that I had tried squash. After these guys, I decided I wouldn't grow squash again. (I don't classify pumpkins as a squash, but I suppose I should.)

These patty pans were waterhogs in a moderate summer and constantly kept me running for the hose. Picking them was a pain because I had to fight to find walking room around this bed, squeezing right up next to a wasp nest many a time. I did wind up taking several totes to the local church, which felt good, but they were just ridiculous in terms of growth and production. Never again

[jal_ut]

Woo Hoo! finally got a zucchini. The crooknecks are not far behind.

[TheWaterbug]

Sorry if this is too pic heavy

Heavens, no! I enjoy a little garden p0rn at the end of a really rough week.

[DoubleDogFarm]

Heavens, no! I enjoy a little garden p0rn at the end of a really rough week.

I thought this was

Thank you, although I must say I can't take all the credit for it. My teammates did a great job getting me the hose when I was open, and I was able to execute and put the seed in the hole.

and this

I hand-pollinated my first female pumpkin blossom this morning. It was very satisfying. For both of us. Seriously. Why would she lie to me?

Eric

[applestar]

After nearly a week of heatwave in the 90's (102 today) and nights in the 80's, I found a whole big mess of hatched squash bug juvies and eggs!

The juvies have soft bloated ghostly white bodies with black legs and are easily squished if annoyingly capable of hiding on the OTHER IDE -- of leaf, stem, whatever. The eggs were firmly stuck onto the underside of the leaves, hugging the mid vein and annoyingly difficult to get off near the veins.

It was 85°F in the shade at 7:30 this morning. If I hadn't been watering the area with overhead oscillating sprinkler, I don't think I could have stood the heat in the sun nor the patience to persevere with the task. As it was, I was completely soaked by the time I called it quits. Also found 3 pairs of mating adults that no doubt are responsible. Hendi_Alex ws right in that they are all pretty docile and easy to capture and dispose of when the foliage is being watered.

These bugs with elongated tan bodies and triangular black marking is new to my garden. I've had the Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs bothering the cucurbits but not these. No doubt the extended heatwave and drought is creating the kind of conditions that appeal to them.

[soil]

the squash bugs always multiply a lot about now. but in a few weeks so will the lizards and the bugs will be gone in no time.

on a good note my squash is setting fruit well. some already have 5-6 fruits set.

[bogydave]

Zucs doing well, both types.
Lots of pumpkins forming, 2 are about 8", several smaller.
[img]https://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj269/bogydave/broc7-23-11.jpg[/img]

[TheWaterbug]

I hand-pollinated my first female pumpkin blossom this morning. It was very satisfying. For both of us. Seriously. Why would she lie to me?

It looks like it took:
[img]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3552590/FirstPumpkin072311_web.jpg[/img]
She's about the size of a goose egg or passion fruit right now. Mmmm. Passion fruit.

Anyway, back on topic. We're rapidly vining now, and I've got female flowers popping up all over the patch. I'll post an updated panorama in my other thread, hopefully later today.

[TZ -OH6]

Some of my PA Neck squash are getting some size to them. Lots of funny shapes too. The plants are overflowing everthing around them. The leaves are huge. I'm a bit scared of them actually. They are in soil that is shaded half the day and is in a low spot and staying moist so they think they are some sort of tropical elephant ear Tarzan vine.

I saw some melons today and my trellised Walmart butternuts are puting out fruit.

[SPierce]

my biggest pumpkin plant died today I still have no idea what killed it

[TheWaterbug]

my biggest pumpkin plant died today I still have no idea what killed it

If you lived in CA I'd give you one of mine.

[SPierce]

my biggest pumpkin plant died today I still have no idea what killed it

If you lived in CA I'd give you one of mine.

Aww, thanks! I put a few more seeds in the ground, but.... :/ I don't know what killed it. It's driving me nuts.