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Santa Ynez California

Hi, I am noticing my plants are starting to look pretty beat up. The leaves are starting to brown and stuff like this. The bigger the pumpkin on the plant the more beat up it looks. Is it just the energy taken from the plant to put into the pumpkin. Is it normal. One of our pumpkins hits 1000 lb tomorrow and plant is really starting to show some wear. Also is there anything I could or shoud to to liven the plants up a bit. Thanks. Steve

8/17/2009 8:00:27 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Steve,

Congrats on hitting the 1000 lb EST mark!!!

Aged leaves aren't going to be very productive now. Hence we should always strive to keep the chemical input rates as low as possible to minimize collateral damage. Nothing we do now will make old leaves new again but some folks will start letting tertiary growth fill in the most decrepit areas. Young tetiary growth might not produce a lot of growth but it will look better & might make you feel better. Plus, it can't hurt.

Keep the soil damp, watch for extremes & keep that fruit dry & rot free.

8/17/2009 8:35:43 PM

Fresno, CA

Wow. Way to go estaban on the 1000 pound threshhold. You are giving me inspiration for next year.

8/17/2009 8:43:19 PM

Boise City, Oklahoma, USA

Around the main the oldest leaves look the crappiest first, and it can go down the main and out to any really wind whacked others... as the vine ages it tends to show it in really lousy leaves that start curling, crisping, and dying. I remove those as I want to keep things around the stump nice and clean and dry about then anyway as I have shifted to growing fruit instead of leaves.... think of it as middle age on the vines.

8/18/2009 12:19:04 AM

Santa Ynez California

Hi. Thanks for all the input. This is sort of what I was thinking - it is showing its age lol. I posted a photo with some of the plant to show the leaves. some look quite good still. Others are browning around the edges. I'd say about 50 percent of leaves look good and 50 look like they have seen some serious use. The pumpkin looks amazing though but I just wanted to make sure all was okay. Oh and I lost the stump on this one about a few weeks ago but it has averaged about 2o something pounds a day since then so I think we have been very lucky. Thanks again for all advice. Steve

8/19/2009 11:34:34 PM

Ohio

I have heard from Dan Kirts who has been to Doc Liggetts patch at the later part of the season, since he grows his plants in less then 500 sq ft area his leaves dont last as long as the guys that grow in a bigger area like the average 700 to 800 sq ft.
Dan told me that Docs leaves will be all worn out,completly dead and brown looking, and he still gets his huge gains a day. I really dont understand how it works for him but it does, maybe the key thing in the later part of the season is keeping the roots healthy.

8/20/2009 8:37:21 AM

Santa Ynez California

Thank you. That certainly sounds feasible. I am going to just leave well enough alone then. I was just wanting to make sure it wasn't some sort of lack of an element or mineral or something like this. It is hard to see them look so rough after looking so healthy a month ago lol. But a month ago the pumpkin was only 300 or so pounds. I can only imagine it is a lot of work for the plant to do this and really by the end of the season the health of the plant won't matter much i guess when the pumpkin is removed lol. Thank you again. Steve

8/20/2009 11:20:01 AM