Could Anyone Tell Me The Problem With My Pumpkins?

[Edward Lindner]

I live in Nothern Florida and planted several pumpkins early June. The plants did fantastically until a week or two ago. I was out of town three weeks ago so the plants didn't get water during the heat of the day for about five days (which, from my understanding, is very important when garden with the FL sun). Once I got back, the leaves for a few of the plants had turned a whitish colour and, soon after, turned brown and yellow. Shortly after, they whole plant just looked terrible and then gave up on living. I have pictures included of a few of the surviving plants that don't look very healthy. I would greatly appreciate if anyone could tell me what is going on with my plants. (I built the slow drip irrigation system today)

 

[Chuck]

I live in Nothern Florida and planted several pumpkins early June. The plants did fantastically until a week or two ago. I was out of town three weeks ago so the plants didn't get water during the heat of the day for about five days (which, from my understanding, is very important when garden with the FL sun). Once I got back, the leaves for a few of the plants had turned a whitish colour and, soon after, turned brown and yellow. Shortly after, they whole plant just looked terrible and then gave up on living. I have pictures included of a few of the surviving plants that don't look very healthy. I would greatly appreciate if anyone could tell me what is going on with my plants. (I built the slow drip irrigation system today)View attachment 14358 View attachment 14359 View attachment 14360 View attachment 14361 View attachment 14362 View attachment 14363 View attachment 14364 View attachment 14365 View attachment 14366

Plants do not like to be watered in the heat of the day, especially every day. What has happened is two things. They have been overwatered and were unable to transpire the excess water from the roots to the leaves and the leaves were then scalded. Watering too often kills more plants than all the diseases combined. Just think, does it rain every day? Of course it doesn't, so why should you water every day? You should water only when the plant needs it. Stressing a plant with lack of water is actually a good thing. It forces the plant to want to reproduce (produce fruit). Plants will tell you when they need water. They will be wilted in the MORNING hours. They will also wilt in the heat of the afternoon sun but wilting in the hottest part of the day is normal and has NOTHING to do with the plant needing water. Water only in the morning or late afternoon, preferably in the early AM. When you water, water slowly and deeply, thus encouraging deep root growth. One deep thorough watering per week is more than enough for most in ground plants although in sandy soils probably about every 5 days. You cannot over water a plant but you can and will kill a plant by watering too often

 

[priticious]

Plants do not like to be watered in the heat of the day, especially every day. What has happened is two things. They have been overwatered and were unable to transpire the excess water from the roots to the leaves and the leaves were then scalded. Watering too often kills more plants than all the diseases combined. Just think, does it rain every day? Of course it doesn't, so why should you water every day? You should water only when the plant needs it. Stressing a plant with lack of water is actually a good thing. It forces the plant to want to reproduce (produce fruit). Plants will tell you when they need water. They will be wilted in the MORNING hours. They will also wilt in the heat of the afternoon sun but wilting in the hottest part of the day is normal and has NOTHING to do with the plant needing water. Water only in the morning or late afternoon, preferably in the early AM. When you water, water slowly and deeply, thus encouraging deep root growth. One deep thorough watering per week is more than enough for most in ground plants although in sandy soils probably about every 5 days. You cannot over water a plant but you can and will kill a plant by watering too often

Beautifully explained !

 

[priticious]

I did this mistake and got in to trouble of brown leaf tips and blossom drop this summer. Lesson learned..and understood well after reading Chuck reply.

 

[headfullofbees]

Actually, there are places where it does rain every day, but that is irrelevant.
The best way to grow plants, any plants, is to take 10 mins exploring their NATIVE environment, then trying, as much as possible, to replicate that climate.
Climate is considerably more than temperature.
Even that is not infallible.

 

[remnant]

I have seen that these whitish and yellow colourations develop in the late stage of plants in the pumpkin family. So I cannot vouch for the fact that water stress is the main culprit though it could be a significant contributor. This is a manifestation of premature aging or leaf senescence. I attribute this to mineral imbalance in the soil due to accumulation of organic acids. Foliar sprays are a good remedy to approach the problem.