Pumpkins

[Kurt]

I live in Wisconsin and I am trying to grow some pumpkins in my backyard. The plants are growing well and have plentiful blloms however the flowers fall off after blooming and no pumkins have yet started. Is there a specific cause for this ?, we have had quite a bit of rain this year.

[Chris]

male flowers do that normally.

If your female flowers are doing that (you know the females by the middle pumpkins behind the flowers) try hand polinating them. Get a qtip, rub it on the pollen in the male flower, bring it over and rub it on the pistil of the female flower (the bit with no pollen on it that sticks way out).

You don't even need a qtip, you can just remove the stamen and rub the tip of it directly on the pistil.

[lilypotter]

Could be an abundance of male flowers, you don't say if what is left behind to shrivel is what looks like a very small pumpkin fruit (female flower), or just a straight thin stem (male flower)? if so it is then a pollinationa problems, could be due to lack of male flowers when the female flower opens or lack of pollinators.

i generally plant at least 2 vines so that i can tip the balance in favour of having male and female flowers ready at the same time, no gurantees of course. then i do hand pollinating best done as early as possible in the day but generally no later than around 8 am, i do all mine not long after dawn.

this subject has been discussed many times here and on the vegetable garden forum try a search for pumpkin pollination i'm sure you will get all the info' you need.