There ’s nothing more thwarting than watching your beautiful pumpkin works produce gorgeous flush but no chubby orange gourds . Over and over , they blossom with nothing to show for their work .
You want them to be ready in clip for Halloween , or maybe for a fun dinner party where all your guests clean their own homegrown pumpkins to take home with them .
So what ’s going on ? How can you further your plant to produce fruit ?
In this photo, one male flower is open, signaling to bees that there’s food here. The other male flower on the plant bloomed two days before the open one. Photo by Laura Melchor.
In this clause , I ’ll bring out the top 5 reasons why your pumpkin is n’t producing fruit — and how to limit them .
Why Isn’t My Pumpkin Fruiting?
1 . No Pollination
2 . Too Much Heat
3 . Overly Moist Soil
In this photo, one male flower is open, signaling to bees that there’s food here. The other male flower on the plant bloomed two days before the open one. Photo by Laura Melchor.
4 . Drought Conditions
5 . undue Nitrogen
The most likely reason why your healthy vine are n’t producing yield is that the distaff bloom are n’t being pollenate .
So let ’s talk about the bird and the bees of the pumpkin world for a second .
The very first blossom you see on the vine will be male .
These miss an ovary , which distaff bloom have : a distinctly seeable bump or nodule behind the petals .
Male flowers , called staminate blossom , start to bloom about 55 days into a pumpkin ’s overall growing cycle , and they ’ll be the only flowers you see for one to two weeks .
This is because the male flowers are there to essentially yell out to the bee in the country that there ’s pollen and nectar for the taking .
That path , when the female – or carpellate – blossom bloom , the bees will already know where to get their solid food .
They ’ll transfer pollen from the male prime ’ stamen to the female flowers ’ stigma , ensue in the ovary at the base of the female flower turn into a nice , fatty pumpkin .
Both manly and distaff flower open at dawn and close by the terminal of the twenty-four hour period . The window for pollenation is short !
If you mark that you only have manful flowers , this might be the key to why you do n’t yet see fruit : the distaff flowers may not be quick to open yet .
If , on the other hand , you see female and male flower exposed at the same time but the ovary never flesh out and instead shrivel up and pretermit off , you’re able to probably fault a lack of pollination .
A shortfall of bee in the region is a likely culprit . While other insectscanpollinate pumpkin flowers , bees are typically the good pollinators , allot to Alex Surcica of thePenn State Extension Program .
If you do n’t have many bees because locally - used pesticide are harming them , or parasite or poor nutrition have taken their toll , you canplant bee - well-disposed plantslike lavender in your pumpkin vine patch to improve pollenation charge per unit next season .
Keep in mind that introducing pollinator - friendly flowers may still be deficient .
You may need to hand - pollinate your pumpkins by breaking off the open male heyday and brush the pollen - filled stamens over every part of the female flowers ’ segmented stigmas , one at a clip .
If a lack of pollination is what ’s keeping your gourds from forming , handwriting - pollenation should greatly increase your chance of seeing those ovaries ferment into squash .
understand more about helping hand pollenation here .
Pumpkins love the sun , but theydon’tlike sweltering heat .
I imagine a female pumpkin under heat stress to be like me , on the Fourth of July in Oklahoma , at nine months pregnant .
For some understanding I had decide to tromp around town with friends and watch a fireworks show in 92 - grade weather with 60 percent humidity . I could scarcely breathe .
When flowers or baby gourd vine get too hot – with several days in a row of temperatures 90 ° F or above and nighttime temperatures of 70 ° farad or above – the heat stress can cause them to drop flower , or the developing fruits .
If they do n’t in reality fall off the plant , heyday may shrivel and cease to grow .
Under that type of tenseness , the plant life simply does n’t have enough energy to do the arduous work of grow fruit .
In improver , high temperature around the time of pollenation can prevent thepollen from germinating and fertilizing the female flush .
So keep an eye on the weather in your country , and if stressful conditions are in the forecast , provide your plants with shade .
Old sheets marry over hoops work well , as dorow coversor some other type of shade material from the gardening store .
Be sure to provide adequate irrigation during hot periods as well , and operate the wet in with a light - colour mulch that turn away sunlight .
Like other members of the Cucurbitaceae family , pumpkins require lots of water because they ’re made up of a lot of water system – around 90 percent .
But too much weewee , especially in the case of waterlogged roots , can do issues with yield yield . It ’s important that the soil is well - draining .
Too much water can induce roots to become accented and discontinue make flower , especially female flowers . It can even get youthful fruit to shrivel and die .
Not coolheaded !
If it ’s going to rain ( and rain and pelting ) in your area , protect your pumpkins from excessive moisture by covering them with a plastic words cover song , at least until the rain stops .
The industrial plant demand about an inch of water per calendar week . To check the moisture level , stick your finger into the dirt .
If it feels damp ( even if soil looks dry on the surface ) , there ’s no motive to add piss .
you may alsomonitor local rain with a rain gauge .
On the insolent side of the too - much - moisture job is the not - enough - wet issue .
Drought conditions can cause a plant to produce many more virile bloom than distaff efflorescence , which does n’t necessarily carry off the maturation of yield , but usually reduce it .
When a plant does n’t have the nutrients and energy it needs to bring out many female flowers , it wo n’t produce as much yield .
If drought conditions bristle in your expanse , verify you give those pumpkins enough body of water .
Maybe your plant is n’t suffer yield because you ’ve got lots of vines and leaves but no efflorescence . In this suit , the soil might bear too much nitrogen .
While your gourd plant by all odds needs this nutrient , it does n’t need excessive amounts — especially if there ’s a shortage of available phosphorus , which direct contributes to flowering and fruiting .
Switch from fertilizing with a balanced 10 - 10 - 10 NPK fertilizer and instead sum a 5 - 10 - 10 product , or fish bone meal , which is high in phosphorus .
In a week or two , you should see flowers start to form .
Read more about fertilizing pumpkins here .
Orange Delight Is On the Way
Now that you cognise the top five reasons why a pumpkin is n’t producing fruit , plus how to fix them , you’re able to look forward to anabundant harvest home of orange beautiesin a few month .
And you ’ll finger all the more proud of your efforts if you ’ve act through a problem like lack of yield and come out triumphant .
And remember to turn back out these articles ongrowing pumpkinsfor more tips :
Photos by Laura Melchor © Ask the Experts , LLC . ALL right RESERVED.See our TOSfor more detail . in the beginning publish July 6th , 2020 . Last updated : May 7th , 2025 . Uncredited photos : Shutterstock .
About
Laura Ojeda Melchor
