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Chicago

I purchased pumpkin seeds from Howard Dill (Dill’s Atlantic Giant) in Nova Scotia and planted then in a 12 x12 patch in my yard (Chicago). I tilled the patch last fall and added manure. In March, I panted seeds in pots and started them in my house where they grew quite fast. In late May, I tilled the patch again and transplanted the pumpkin plants in my back yard where they continued growing.

I was told not to fertilize them for a while so I’ve just waited and let them adjust to the new surroundings. We’ve had an unusually wet June. We had 4” of rain in one day alone and it has rained just about every other day this month. I planned to water them every day but the area by the patch is low and the ground has been saturated and still looks wet back there.

I’ve read about male and female flowers. I’ve had about 20 male flowers this season but have not found one female flower that I could manually pollenate. I was wondering if you have any suggestions that may help.

I ordered a soil tester today to check the PH level. No idea if that's the problem.

I have pictures but don't see a way to attach them to this posting.

Your suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

6/28/2015 10:40:14 PM

Eastern Pennsylvania

Hi tony, based on the info you've shared, there could be several things that are impacting your plants and inhibiting female flowers. But a simple answer may be that they just aren't ready yet. The males always show up a couple weeks before the females, and there are a lot more males than females in general.

I am sure we would all unanimously agree that if you have more than one plant in the 12x12 are you should thin it out to a single plant. Otherwise they compete with each other and these plants can get very big. For instance in my patch each plant has an area 30ft x 25ft to fill. You can get a big one in 12x12 but you should have just one. Best of luck!

6/29/2015 9:13:22 AM