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Eastern Pennsylvania

I haven't had this problem in a few years but I'm having it on my 1701 Jutras now. Pumpkins are erupting in huge splits, multiple fractures that wrap around almost the entire pumpkin. Has anyone come up with a good explanation for this? My soil is heavily fertile; I'd say the amount of manure I amended with in the off season was borderline excessive. I don't use any supplemental fertilizer as a result. The only spraying that I've done is for insects and disease (Merit/Bifen and Dac/Eagle). Our season has been extremely wet, as it has for the last two years before this. Only one plant is currently having this issue, aside from a single side vine pumpkin that blew on my 811 plant.

We are thinking about building a new home so I'm not planning on coughing up the $ for soil and tissue tests at this point. If I cannot resolve the issue, I'll just pull the plant and focus on the others.

If anyone has seen this and resolved it, perhaps determined that it is a nutrient issue and added an amendment to fix, I'd love to hear about it. thanks

7/9/2019 9:10:07 AM

Grittyville, WA

Excess potassium? The heavy organics can do strange things. Would counter it with rock dust maybe. Dont add ammonia or potassium you should be all set for those.

7/9/2019 12:22:12 PM

Orient, Ohio

Could try setting multiple at once on main and sides see if that helps. I had a squash do that last year on main vine pollinations too. But ended up pulling the plant due to other issues but couldn't get one to hold together on main either.

7/9/2019 4:19:21 PM

Pittsburgh, PA

One of my 2118 plants kept blowing blossom ends out last year around days 15-20. Finally pulled the plant after blowing up about 6 of them. Have no idea why it kept doing that.

7/10/2019 12:13:45 AM

Central Illinois

If you could limit the water it would probably stop it,maybe a roof over the stump area could work

7/10/2019 7:53:55 AM

Guelph, Ontario

Usually a result of excess water uptake. Some may be more prone then others, but first thing I'd look at is how much water is it getting.

7/10/2019 9:45:44 AM

Honesdale, Pennsylvania

I had the same thing happen Jim on my 1701 at my moms patch last year. That site was not heavily fertilized at all if not under fertilized. I was set to let the squash take up the entire patch and that early set blew apart on me. I only had some late sets take... and they were quite ugly and didn't like the color at all on the 1701.. but that's another issue. Good luck.

7/10/2019 10:41:05 AM

Eastern Pennsylvania

Well I can't turn the tap in the sky off, which is our real problem for the last 3 years here in PA. I'm trying some open pollinated side vines to see if that works. There were other squash on the plant at the time when the mains started blowing so who knows. It started happening once the rain finally stopped for a few days this week. Probably it dried enough that the plants were actually able to use the water and combined with the sudden influx of sunlight... Blam!

I posted a picture of one of them in my diary.

7/10/2019 12:16:25 PM

Honesdale, Pennsylvania

Hope your big maters don't explode as well Jim... that would be a real shame.

7/10/2019 12:42:20 PM

North Pole,Alaska

If you do figure out how to close that tap in the sky, you'll be a hero to a lot of growers

7/10/2019 4:17:27 PM

Bethlehem CT

Many years ago I had a pumpkin do that to all it's pumpkins. I never got one to take hold

7/10/2019 6:45:22 PM

Eastern Pennsylvania

Don’t worry Ned, I can’t get a mega to save my life. No exploding tomatoes to worry about round here.... yet....

7/10/2019 10:44:42 PM

Ontario, Canada

Our 1725 Harp did it to us back in 2012. We thought it might be too much nitrogen in the patch. Pumpkins would grow anywhere from day 5-12 before splitting or even exploding into pieces. We never got anything to grow on that plant & ended up pulling the plant by late July.

7/11/2019 7:30:34 AM

Western NY

I had one a long time ago that shattered all sets, and I've had a couple random ones since then. Never noticed a pattern or anything in common I could fix.

7/11/2019 8:20:43 AM