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Farmville, Virginia ([email protected])

My biggest pumpkin is developing stem rot. The pumpkin is estimated over 500 pounds and has a huge stem. The problem is the rot is very close to where the stem and vine meet on the running side of the vine (opposite of the stump). So far the the spot is small, maybe 3/16" wide and an inch long going around the stem, not length ways. I've been treating it with Captan powder for the last 4 days but I can see that it is getting worse although very little. I'm hesitant to try to cut it out for fear of weakening the stem/vine junction and causing it to snap. Would I be better of to terminate the vine on the running side flush with the stem to reduce stress and then try to cut the rot out and treat it with Captan? Any input from anyone with experience with this would be greatly appreciated.

8/8/2009 5:02:47 PM

Ohio

Mark, if it was me, Id cut the rot all the way out to prevent it from spreading worse, then use the Tom Beachy trick and paint some Daconil on straight from the bottle. I never did like the Captan to use on pumpkin splits or anything on the vines that is already wet, I never could get it to dry, it always stayed kinda wet and mushy when ever I used it.

8/8/2009 7:31:04 PM

milford, CT,

Mark..scrape it clean....50% bleach rinse..let it dry..paint it with Daconil..then..run a fan on it for a while(few days) until it is scarred over and healed..This has worked for me..Mark

8/8/2009 7:40:04 PM

Farmville, Virginia ([email protected])

Thanks guys!

8/8/2009 8:03:57 PM

Sequim, WA

Scrape it clean, then take your bernz-o-matic torch and cauterize it. Paint it with daconil or dust it with captan afterwards. My daughter had a pumpkin grow into the hotwire fence around the patch several years back. The wire burned a gash across the top of the fruit that was probably a foot long and a couple inches wide. It was never treated with anything and the pumpkin was still sound a month after harvest.

8/8/2009 11:50:36 PM

Murfreesboro, TN, USA

Hey Mark, I was having a similar problem and I used a number of different methods to get it dried out. 1. I used a bleach and water solution. Still rotting. 2. I used some peroxide. Still rotting, better, but not dry. 3. I used a hair dryer to try to dry it out. Nothing. I went to Lowes and picked up a $8.00 bottle of Daconil and used the hair dryer. The wound is almost dry. I have changed out the hair dryer in replacement of a fan. I didn't want to have to buy my lovely wife a new one. She wasn't too happy when she found out where it was this morning. In any event the treatment has worked great.

I would like to thank all of you guys for your chime in on Marks question. Mark thanks for asking the question... Lastly, for those authors out there you may want to consider adding this remedy to your next book, articles, or any other medium used to disseminate information to other growers.

8/9/2009 2:04:17 PM