Pumpkin ponderings - will they ripen? What's wrong with the leaves? (etc)
January Man
Posts: 212
Hi all
Not sure what to do with my pumpkin plant... Just to clarify, I don't do Halloween so these are strictly for eating 
They are the "Racer" variety.
1. At the moment there are two reasonably sized fruits on there (see pics). I'm presuming at this time in the season it would be too late for any others to grow, so I'll only get these two. Is that right?
2. Are they likely to ripen and turn orange or is it getting too late for that? Are they edible/usable as they are now?
3. A few leaves have powdery mildew (I think) and I'll remove them today. I'll also treat the other leaves so that they do not get it. But a lot of the leaves also seem to have another problem whereby there are losing their greenness, mottling, and crisping up a bit. Not sure if it might be rust? Can anyone tell from the pics, and what should I do about it? The leaves at the far end of the plant look much healthier.
4. As the photos show, the plant is in a bed with a couple of a courgette plants and a butternut squash. It's all a bit tangled and overcrowded in there! (Our first year so we weren't aware how big the pumpkin would be). On the one hand, I want to persevere with the pumpkin and would loathe to pull it up. But on the other, if it is unlikely to produce anything useful on account of the dodgy leaves, and or on the ripeness of the fruit, the I guess I'll have to consider sending it to plant heaven (aka the compost bin) so that the courgette and butternut have more room to flourish.
So any thoughts on that or any other pumpkin gems of information would be most welcome.
Many thanks
Max
Posts
Pumpkin looks fine to me - plenty of time for them to ripen between now and the first frosts - patience is the most important thing in gardening. The leaves of squashes always go a bit manky around now - mine are worse than yours, but the plants are still performing. Don't Panic!
And I wouldn't treat any plant I'm going to eat with anything - a bit of mildew is almost unavoidable, particularly in a dry season like this one. Give the plants plenty of water - take the end of the hose and put it by the roots and turn it on gently for 20 minutes once or twice a week, rather than watering little and often.
I'd be perfectly happy with those plants
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I agree but I would also "stop" the plants by cutting off the stems beyond the ripening pumpkins so the plant concentrates energy on those and doesn't waste its time trying to make any new ones.
That's great new
Many thanks for the speedy replies (as always).
OK, I'll stop them. How far away from the pumpkin should I cut the main stem. I'll do it at both ends.
Is two pumpkins about right for a Racer plant or would you usually expect more?
Should I remove the mildew leaves to stop it spreading? In terms of treatment, I was - if anything - going to use something natural (like a bicarb solution for example).
Thanks again
Absolutely agree Obelixx - good point
Stop the stems two leaves beyond the pumpkins 
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Haha - you beat me to it!
Two or three pumpkins per plant is the most I'd expect from this type as the pumpkins are quite large.
If you want to grow pumpkins/winter squash for eating, have a look at these - I think you'll find they grow to more reasonable proportions and have a better flavour than the bigger 'pumpkins' which tend to have been developed to grow to impressive sizes, sometimes losing their culinary qualities along the way.
http://www.realseeds.co.uk/wintersquash.html
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
These are my favourite winter squash for flavour, size and fruits per plant. They store well too - http://www.seedaholic.com/squash-winter-uchiki-kuri.html
Crown Prince and Blue Hubbard also have excellent flavour but are bigger fruits and, in my experience, don't ripen well in an average summer.
Thanks for those recommendations - I'll take note for next year.
And thanks also for the help and re-assurances....
Unfortunately the pumpkins aren't in the sun for much of the day at this time of year. It's quite a small garden and there's a lot of things causing shade. Fingers crossed they'll still fully ripen though.
Last edited: 06 September 2016 23:45:58
Pumpkin update! They have - as you all said they would - turned to a lovely orange. Not quite there but pretty close. However, I've noticed that the stems are rotting and wondering whether this is normal and/or whether I should remove them from the plant because of it? Here's some pics:
Btw, the plant you can see is a courgette, the pumpkin plant has died off.
Many thanks
Max
Last edited: 08 October 2016 15:41:37
Yay! The stalks have finished doing their job - have you got a greenhouse or conservatory you can put the pumpkins in to finish off? Otherwise I'd bring them indoors and put them by a sunny window
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.