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Oak Seer
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Location: Rural North Florida

Pumpkin sprouted! But leaves are yellowing?

As a disclaimer, I'm very new to this- I could very well be doing something wrong. I know they like full sun (or so I've read) and moist, but well drained soil (two standards I believe I've met) but it just sprouted a day ago, and the leaf tips are yellowed! Is this normal? Sign of over watering or disease? Not enough sun? It's a hardy little sprout. No signs of wilt or lethargy; it stands very well on it's own!

edit: I thought I should mention I planted the seed directly into the ground (if it isn't obvious!)

here's an image of the sprout
Image

imafan26
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Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

Did you do anything to the soil before you planted the seed, like fertilize, add compost, loosen up the soil? My guess is a little too much water. Melons actually come from dry places, they like a deep water but don't like the soil to be poorly drained or stay wet all of the time. Back off on the watering and check the soil to make sure it is just barely moist. For me this is every day but my soil drains and dries in a day.

If you did not amend the soil beforehand and the sprout survives you will need to start fertilizing after the true leaves come out. Choose a complete fertilizer and follow the label instruction. Liquid fertilizers are easier to use. Granular fertilizers should be worked into the soil and that might be harder since you don't want to disturb the roots.

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Oak Seer
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Location: Rural North Florida

imafan26 wrote:Did you do anything to the soil before you planted the seed, like fertilize, add compost, loosen up the soil? My guess is a little too much water. Melons actually come from dry places, they like a deep water but don't like the soil to be poorly drained or stay wet all of the time. Back off on the watering and check the soil to make sure it is just barely moist. For me this is every day but my soil drains and dries in a day.

If you did not amend the soil beforehand and the sprout survives you will need to start fertilizing after the true leaves come out. Choose a complete fertilizer and follow the label instruction. Liquid fertilizers are easier to use. Granular fertilizers should be worked into the soil and that might be harder since you don't want to disturb the roots.
I didn't amend the soil (followed instructions of back of seed packet which only instructed where to plant/sun needed/water etc. did a little research after and found that I should have indeed prepped the soil, so my fault! Still learning!)

It has been rainy here for about three days- which may be the cause of the yellowing leaves, now that I think about it.. I didn't think much of it, because the soil seemingly dried quickly, but three days of constant rain and my unawareness of soil condition/drainage may be the cause.

Do you think it would it be safe to move the sprout into a pot so it drains properly? I'm afraid the soil may not be as well drained as I initially thought, and with the unpredictable weather in Florida I'm afraid it may "drown"

Thank you so much, by the way, for responding so quickly and helpfully! :- )

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applestar
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I wouldn't recommend moving it at this point. Is this in a particularly low spot?

Something you could do is to dig a drainage moat for it -- I would say about one foot out -- so a 24 inch diameter circle with the seedling in the middle. Make the moat at least 6 inches deep and 4 inches wide (28" outer diameter) this should drain the moisture from the central plateau and allow it to dry out faster. What you can do is add fertilizer and compost to the moat, then as the plant grows, fill the moat and hill/pile rich compost/soil mix up around the stem until it's buried about 8 inches to one ft and the vine is growing from the to of this mound.

This won't work if the area is too low -- or it rains so much -- that the moat AND THE PLATEAU gets flooded under water.



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