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Grittyville, WA

Keep pushing fertilizer... or back off? What is optimal? I'm tempted to push, push, push, all the way through September dont know how much good it will do at DAP 70 hence growing slow is normal.

It seems difficult to tell the difference between "good/normal" and "sub-optimal" this time of year. Are there ways to tell the difference?

9/3/2023 11:55:00 PM

Torrance, Ca.

September had always been the moth and really back off on water. I continue light ferts and maybe a spray for pm but that about it. Its all about making it to the end at this point, all our hard work has done its job.
Fans where they need to be, inspecting the main and secondaries every few days, wiping down the fruit and stem with some type of zerotol, alcohol, daconil or whatever you use to keep things clean and keep mold or rot away.

Some guys are pushing K around now and I'm more about keeping things balanced those last few weeks.

Good luck!

9/4/2023 12:07:18 PM

Grittyville, WA

I might throw some dolomite on the plant, Im a believer that a higher ph should help keep the plant in fruit mode rather than switching itself back to veg mode. Good luck next year SoCal, really show us how its done!

9/4/2023 1:41:35 PM

valtierra/spain

If the pumpkin is not ripe, it may be possible to feed it with some fertiliser that helps to fill and mature.. ripening fills the pumpkin with brix, denser pulp. some product based on polysaccharides, and glycine betaine, and some calcium and very little nitrogen, which accelerates the effect of ethylene, matures the pumpkin.. but perhaps it is better to add them 15-20 Days before the weigh off.

9/4/2023 3:57:13 PM

Grittyville, WA

I am sensing that the pumpkin is "ripe". I will put it on a no-more-nitrogen diet as you suggest. Thanks!!!!!

9/4/2023 5:17:56 PM

Bethlehem CT

Yes thanks for the tips, I had no idea that nitrogen did that.

9/5/2023 6:58:26 AM

Upa Creek, Mo

I just cut a vine borer grub out of a small variety plant yesterday. It was over an inch long so must have hatched a while back. Point is, keep an eye out for the insects still and keep doing what you did all summer to prevent them from infesting the plant.

I have also noticed over the years is all animals really get more aggressive with feeding habits this time of the year (fish too!). Keep your eye out for the squirrels and mice, they might have left the pkns alone all summer, but might try taking some bite now.

9/5/2023 8:13:14 AM

Mead, WA

World record Travis did he water 12 times a day and lightly fertilize think I read that somewhere

10/11/2023 12:49:37 PM

Mead, WA

World record Travis did he water 12 times a day and lightly fertilize think I read that somewhere

10/11/2023 12:49:37 PM

Syracuse, NY

As I've been saying, lol! I just used up my fertilizer the other day and yet I am still watering TWO or THREE pumpkins for people who usually buy one each from me, and ALL my remaining are still growing - PM has been unusually weak this year! eg

10/11/2023 3:08:33 PM