Pumpkin plants

[Billk]

hi. I am new to the forum and have some questions about pumpkin plants. I am growing two varieties, Cinderella and long island cheese planted in two hills about five feet apart. There are three good sized fruits on the cinderellas and four smaller fruits on the long islands. Both hills were doing well but now the plants are showing signs of distress, wilted leaves, small whitish spots on some of the leaves, and yellowing on leaves and vines. Can I cut off the affected leaves and vines and if so how do I do this so as not to harm the plants? I use a 8-16-8 liquid fertilizer on the roots once a week. Should I water and fertilize the leaves and vines as well? I have read where a high nitrogen fertilizer should be used in the beginning to stimulate leaf growth. Can I use a different fertilizer on the leaves and vines to encourage more foliar growth? The pumpkins look healthy enough but the long islands do not seem to be growing as well as the cinderellas and I can't figure out why. I have grown butternut squash before and usually don't have any problems but I've never grown pumpkins so some of this is new to me. My wife is thrilled to actually have pumpkins on the vines so I'd like to keep them healthy. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[headfullofbees]

Don't water directly onto the roots, cucurbits don't like it; they tend to get root rot.
You may have got away with it in the past, just, but it's a disaster waiting to happen.
If drip irrigation is impossible, water at a radius of 1ft from the plant stem, and let the water gradually seep into soil and thence the roots.
It's a bit of a pain, because they like so much.
Another solution is these:
http://www.thompson-morgan.com/garden-supplies/watering-and-irrigation/water-wizard/p9800TM

You can screw them onto 2l plastic bottles with the bottom cut off, and pour into them from your watering can/hose.

The best fertiliser is comfrey tea.

 

[Chuck]

As @headfullofbees stated. I worry about the little white spots-----sounds like the beginning of mildew. I would start treating for that immediately with a copper based fungicide and try to give each plant more air circulation. It is a very strange year here in the US with all of the rain and extreme heat.

 

[Corzhens]

I wouldn't advise in cutting off the weakening leaves and vines. Just let it be for now. I would suggest that you water the roots moderately and avoid getting the leaves wet. When the sun is hot, wet leaves tend to go brown because they are somewhat seared by the heat of the sun. By the way, I am speaking of squash since it is a close relative of the pumpkin (which we don't have here). And don't apply fertilizer when there are fruits already for it may spoil the small fruits.

 

[remnant]

In order to stimulate good foliar growth, you should make sure that the pumpkins have an adequate supply of magnesium. This can be applied as foliar feed in the form of Magnesium sulphate. You should also spray with organic pesticides in case the abnormalities are caused by aphids or spider mites.

 

[headfullofbees]

Spray the leaves with 10% milk in water to make sure that powdery mildew does not get hold.

 

[Billk]

Thank you everyone for responding!