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Hi there,  my pumpkins are looking great ~~~they are turning orange~~~but the leaves are looking awful. What should I do ? Should I cut the leaves off and burn them ? Or should I wait till the pumpkins are ready for cutting?

Duke

Plants have Downy Mildew, common at this time of the year.. it likes warm days and damp nights.

Remove ALL your fruit, wash down with 10 % bleach solution, put them somewhere warm to cure then store in a cool place .  The fruit will be OK.

Remove and ideally burn all the foliage, it will overwinter in plant debris.

The fruit cannot get any more goodness from the leaves now, nothing to be gained by leaving the fruit on.

When cured store you mature fruit, any small or immature fruit use as summer squash now.

XX Jeannine

Thanks Jeannine!~~Will the pumpkins continue to change colour once picked? They are not totally orange. Do they continue to change colour once they are picked ?

Duke

Thank you Jeanine, about washing the fruits. Had never heard that and some of our vines are now mildewed.

Cut back the mildewed vines. Then spray the plant with  20% milk and 80% water solution.

Don't  even bother trying to save the plants, not in the UK and especially this year, the milk thingy will not work here now.

Yes they will continue to change in storage if they are almost there, keep them in a warm place until cured then move them to a cool one.

XX Jeannine

Quote from: Jeannine on September 01, 2008, 10:54:32
Plants have Downy Mildew, common at this time of the year.. it likes warm days and damp nights.

Remove ALL your fruit, wash down with 10 % bleach solution, put them somewhere warm to cure then store in a cool place .  The fruit will be OK.

Curious about the bleach. Why do you wash them with a beach mixture? What does it achive? Am growing pumpkins and squash for the 1st time this year and the fruit are looking fine and still ripening but I do have some plants that are affected by mildew.
Thanks

Thanks for the info so far Jeannine .. and hello  ;)

I've got a few squashes that have suffered because they haven't had enough sun on their backs.

Will they ripen on the vine if I leave them or should I take them off?

Will they ripen elsewhere if I take them off?

Lots of our courgettes/pumpkins/squash have grey powder all over leaves (mildew? mould? dunno!).

Have lifted one plant because the leaves had gone crispy and washed off all fruit - trying to cure it in the (minimal) sunshine whilst dodging rain showers!

Leaving the others so far until they get too bad (courgette fruits at least are still growing).  Butternut squash has mildewy bits all over it but is still setting small fruits........ hoping to get some sun on them (lol).

Is this sensible of should we clear the beds and get burning now?? What's the risk if we leave the plants then clear/burn ruthlessly later on?

The point of wiping with bleach is to kill any mould/mildew spores on the surface of the fruit that might damage them in storage (ref. Jeannine's post in another thread - can't remember which one - please correct me if I've got this wrong).

Yes that is what the bleach is for. I also do it now and again in storage too..not much but itdoes help to store especially if yor storage place can be a bit damp.

Trixie, if your squash are close to maturing, eg the right size, they will continue to mature in storage but if they are undersized thay won't so use them quickly, you can use them as summer squash but they won't keep. Leave then as long as you can and as long as the plant is OK, but keep an eye open for an early frost. It is still early but I don't trust the weather this year. Don't pull them unless you have to.

1066, the plants will continue to give nourishment to the fruit with a bit of mildew but once it takes hold it won't. You can leave  the fruit out if thr weather is good though as it will cure, but bring it in if  it turns cold.

Duke they will change colour in storage if full sized when picked but not if baby ones.

XX Jeannine

Thanks for the info re the bleach Jeannine and nittynora. I decided to cut my squash and pumpkins this weekend and have given them a wipe. But I don't think I'll be storing them for long  - too tempting to eat soon and not a bumper crop!

ok - it's time for the dopey question.............curing?   What and why and how long?  I've taken my butternuts and given them their diluted bleach wipe and they are now sitting on the shelf in the greenhouse.  How long do I leave them there?  Sorry to lower the tone of the thread... :-[
twinkletoes

Thanks for all your answers

Duke  ;D

Curing them allows them to store through the winter. Couple of weeks in the warmth of the greenhouse will do it. Press yout finger nail into the skin. if you don't leave any mark or very little they are cured. Remove them to a cool  place, store without touching, a slatted shelf is best.They will store  till Easter with a bit of luck. Sometimes more. XX Jeannine

You're lucky I had a beauty of a pumpkin growing nicely until I came down one day to find a nice badger sized claw had ripped through the hardening skin exposing the flesh. 

Only took a week for the whoel thing to be reduced to a pile of pumpkin seeds on the ground.

Others now cloacked in chicken wire protecting them now... A valuable lesson learnt!

John