![]() Leaving them on the vine compromises the keeping quality of the fruit. It is important to pull the fruits before the fungus or frost kills the leaves. ![]() When the mildew sets in the ripening process is halted permanently. The fungus is a problem with all cucurbits once the weather turns cool and humid. We are in the race for ripening time, trying to get the fruit as close to mature as possible before the inevitable powdery mildew hits the vines. Afterwards no more nutrients pass between the plant and the fruit. Rarely in our maritime climate do we see the stems dry up and turn brown, a signal it is time to harvest the pumpkin. For those who want to cut water consumption in the vegetable garden, in another book, Water-Wise Vegetables for the Maritime Northwest Gardener, Solomon goes into detail about alternative dry gardening, fertigation, and foliar feeding for greater yields in our maritime climate.Īfter September 1st, remove all the smaller fruits and any that form after this date, to help the ripening of the remaining ones left on the vine. When sowing the seeds or transplanting, add one cupful of complete organic fertilizer to each hill and fertilize every two to three weeks. Don't pull the weaker seedlings out of the hill instead, cut them down to ground level with scissors or small pruners to prevent disturbing the roots of the chosen one. After the seedlings sprout, thin them to the most vigorous plant per hill. Space hills four to five feet apart and plant four to six seeds per hill. Give the vines plenty of room to grow since overcrowding them will reduce fruit yield. Once the seed sprouts, the pumpkin vines can endure harsher late spring to early summer conditions than cucumbers and melons. However, if starting seeds indoors is not an option, Solomon wisely advises you to sow weekly until something sprouts. That way I don't have to worry about seeds rotting and having to start over. Since my late spring weather predictions are as poor as our weatherman's, I start my seeds in the greenhouse and carefully transplant seedlings soon after they sprout. , recommends sowing at the beginning of a long spell of warm weather and not to water until germination. Steve Solomon, author of Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades ![]() The main problem is circumventing our typical wet, cold spring soils. Pumpkins aren't difficult to grow, although it may take persistence to coax them to germinate early enough so the fruits have an adequate growing season.
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