Only one lone sunflower is standing; but the pumpkin plants are continuing to spread out. I am wondering about the leaves on some of the plants, they are more yellow than green. It is the middle plants that have the yellow leaves. Maybe, I should have thinned out those plants.It seems odd to me that there were,
and still are, many blossoms; but only 3 small pumpkins are beginning to swell from the base of a few blossoms. Most of the blossoms just seem to dry up and fall off. I wonder how pumpkin pollination works. Are some of the blossoms male and some female; so that once the male blossoms are used up… they wither and blow away?I googled "pumpkin plant pollination" and my guess was right about male and female flowers. Now, I wonder if those little green bulbs will make it. It's true, "the more you know… the more there is to worry about."
3 comments:
Patch looks a little dry. Try extra watering and a touch of fertilizer? Beware the dreaded yellow vine.
As I went out this morning to look for new female blossoms, I noticed "powdery mildew" on the leaves. I was surprised. The location of the plants gets a lot of sun. I only add any extra water at the roots of the plants. It may be because of the over-spray from the lawn sprinklers in the morning. Adding some fertilizer may help too.
With the cost of my labor and now $9 for fungiside spray, it may have been cheaper just to buy a Halloween pumpkin in October.
Just walking down the aisle in the hardware store with the fertilizers and plant sprays makes my nose run and my skin itch.
Yes, but if you bought a pumpking, you wouldn't have all this blogging fodder.
Uncle Ernie needs to start a compost pile for next year's naturally nutrient-rich pumpkin patch soil.
Hats off to all the organic farmers of the world. It's an under-appreciated vocation!
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