Your comments and tips

01 Jan 18, Mike (Australia - temperate climate)

It says don't grow next to each other. I would think if you had no or little disease with the potatoes then you might have a successful pumpkin crop.

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27 Dec 17, Phil Morton (Australia - temperate climate)

Are pumpkins short-day plants? Mine are spreading all over the yard, but there are still no flowers. I've forced early flowering of other short-day plants by covering them in black plastic every second evening and keeping it on the next morning to create a twelve hour night for them and it's worked well, chokos being a good example, but I can't find anything to suggest pumpkins react the same. If no one has the answer I suppose I'll just get myself some black plastic and try for myself, but with some 40'C days around I'm hesitant.

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30 Dec 17, Mike (Australia - temperate climate)

I think you are on the wrong track with length of daylight hours. I have plants growing now. Just hand pollinated a dozen or so female flowers last week. My vines are 4m+ long. Maybe you have given them too much Nitrogen. 40c would probably cook them under black plastic.

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07 Jan 18, Phil Morton (Australia - temperate climate)

Well I don't know if it was just coincidence and time for the pumpkins to start flowering anyway but after five nights of covering most of the pumpkins with just a light weed mat instead of black plastic, those covered now have 2-4 male flowers on each. No sign of female flowers though! The one I did not cover still has no flowers. I put the covers over at around 7.30 pm each evening and pulled them off anywhere from 8 am to 9.00 am the next morning giving them roughly only 11 hours of daylight.

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24 Feb 18, Phil (Australia - temperate climate)

So I stopped a couple of days later with the black shade-cloth cover as described thinking I had triggered flowering, but those male flowers just died off and I did not seen another flower until yesterday, so six weeks later! Next season I'll try covering for at least two weeks if I can get a cool enough period and see what results.

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23 Dec 17, w watson (Australia - temperate climate)

my pumpkins are growing but reach small size then turn yellow and die

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30 Dec 17, Bob (Australia - temperate climate)

It sounds like they are not pollinating. As soon as you see a female flower (the ones with the fruit behind them), pinch off a male flower and rub them together. Insects are meant to do it, but sometimes prefer to play on other plants, depending on what is growing nearby..

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28 Dec 17, Mike (Australia - tropical climate)

You probably have no bees. Go on the internet and read how to hand pollinate pumpkin. Also read the postings here about hand pollination under pumpkin.

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04 Jan 18, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

When hand pollinating use a couple of male flowers - make sure they have some pollen on them.

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09 Dec 17, Cheryl (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

We have both jap and butternut pumpkins growing but seem to only have male flowers. Do we pull them out and start again. There is plenty of male flowers

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