Pumpkin Flowers Falling Off?

[Arya28]

Hi everyone! I know this isn't about chickens, but I thought maybe someone would have advice about this!

We have a white pumpkin plant, which has gorgeous big white flowers on it. I noticed some flowers were rotting off, but I read there are male flowers which pollinate the female flowers (which grow the pumpkins) and then rot off. Ok, so that's normal.

However, I noticed today that some of the stems where there are supposed to be female flowers had nothing on them! So I looked at the ground, and low and behold, there are female flowers with the tiny little bumps that would have been baby pumpkins. The stems aren't even brown, they don't even look like they've been chewed. They literally look like someone cleanly cut the flowers off with scissors. Any idea why this could be or how to fix it?? We were thinking maybe a raccoon did it, but it doesn't even look damaged.

 

[Top Rooster]

The plant stem may have been weak and it broke at the main vine joint where it would have made a clean break.

 

[Junochick]

Hi everyone! I know this isn't about chickens, but I thought maybe someone would have advice about this!

We have a white pumpkin plant, which has gorgeous big white flowers on it. I noticed some flowers were rotting off, but I read there are male flowers which pollinate the female flowers (which grow the pumpkins) and then rot off. Ok, so that's normal.

However, I noticed today that some of the stems where there are supposed to be female flowers had nothing on them! So I looked at the ground, and low and behold, there are female flowers with the tiny little bumps that would have been baby pumpkins. The stems aren't even brown, they don't even look like they've been chewed. They literally look like someone cleanly cut the flowers off with scissors. Any idea why this could be or how to fix it?? We were thinking maybe a raccoon did it, but it doesn't even look damaged.

I have crazy stuff going on in my garden too, I had a zucchini almost ready to pick. It got all mushy over night? Good luck growing your pumpkins.

 

[lazy gardener]

Most likely your pumpkin fruit aborted due to high temperature. Or possibly it didn't get pollinated. What has your temp been lately? White pumpkins are not common. Have you had ANY fruit set? Do you have more than one plant? What is the variety name?

 

[Arya28]

Most likely your pumpkin fruit aborted due to high temperature. Or possibly it didn't get pollinated. What has your temp been lately? White pumpkins are not common. Have you had ANY fruit set? Do you have more than one plant? What is the variety name?

It's mostly been in the high 70s- high 80s, sometimes a little warmer. There there are some flowers that still have little pumpkins that haven't fallen off, so fingers crossed. We may try hand pollinating them. We got them from a little vegetable and flower place. The pumpkins are so good, that the seeds for them were willed to someone to keep the variety alive. So they are heirloom. We were just told they are 100 year old white pumpkins from the South, and we are in PA so I would think it would have to be really hot to be too hot for them! But who knows? We do have 3 of these plants, this is the only one with flowers so far.

 

[lazy gardener]

Were there male blossoms open at the same time you had the female blossoms? Sometimes a cucurbit will get out of synch, and there won't be any male blossoms to fertilize the females. It takes two to tango!

 

[Abriana]

Most likely your pumpkin fruit aborted due to high temperature. Or possibly it didn't get pollinated. What has your temp been lately? White pumpkins are not common. Have you had ANY fruit set? Do you have more than one plant? What is the variety name?

I used to have a white pumpkin plant. I loved it. Every year at Halloween I would pick it and when it was done (I never carved it) I tossed it into a corner of my garden and at least one of the seeds would spout and I would get a lovely pumpkin plant with no work at all!