From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Upa Creek, MO

I have had 2 blow on me the last 2 years and never paid attention the blossom prior to the blow. What are blossom shapes etc that worry people?

My 1813 blossom points a bit southeast towards Kentucky while the pumpkin points east towards Illinois. I have nightmares every night about lifting the sheet in the morning and finding the dreaded BES... especially since I just predicted on facebook I'll be taking Missouri top honors this year. lmao! Oh, the irony in my BP screen name.

7/21/2014 9:54:40 PM

Anamosa, IA BPIowegian@aol.com

I have had wheel and round shaped pumpkins with somewhat sunken and very thin blossom ends that split. I also had a football shaped pumpkin that was close to 6" thick at the blossom end split also, so I haven't seen any correlation between shape and splitting. It has been several years since I have seen a BES. I think that the selective breeding that growers do has lessened this problem somewhat.

7/22/2014 7:30:42 AM

Mt.Pleasant,Iowa

Had one go down a few days ago after a cold night then warm day. was more of a wheel shape and orange. It was going to be a looker off the 1432 Northrup.

7/22/2014 8:01:20 AM

Central Minnesota

I worry about a warm day after a really cold night and lots of rain after a dry spell, not the shape of the blossom.

7/22/2014 10:01:48 AM

Hinckley MN

Sudden surges in growth seem to trigger the split. Heavy rainfalls, sudden warmth after a cold night, etc. Wheel shaped fruit seem to strees the blossom more than long fruit and the sunken blossom end seems to be least prone. Just like an S-curve reduces vine stress, the sucked in blossom may reduce blossom end stresses.

7/22/2014 12:24:44 PM

Upa Creek, MO

I appreciate the input. We aren't set to have any cold, and the blossom is flush with the back part of the pumpkin and parallel to the ground. I think my 2 blowouts might have faced down or were lower on the backside.

7/22/2014 1:21:30 PM