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Cucurbita maxima
Growing calendar
Typical timing for central Japan (Kanto region). Shift it for your own climate, and record your actual dates.
Guides
- Training Pumpkin Vines: Laying Out Runners and Pinching Tips
- Growing Pumpkins Vertically: Trellis, Slings and Small-Garden Squash
- Hand Pollinating Pumpkins: Timing, Technique and Why Fruit Abort
- Pumpkin Growing Calendar: From Sowing to the Curing Shelf
- Pumpkin Pests and Diseases: Vine Borers, Squash Bugs and Mildew
- When to Harvest Pumpkins: Ripeness Signs, Curing and How Long They Store
Common problems
Start from what you can see on the plant.
Pests and diseases (43)
Problems recorded for this plant, most serious first.
Powdery Mildew
MajorDisease
White patches appear scattered on the upper leaf surface at first, then the whole leaf is coated in a white powder. Leaves later yellow, brown and die back, and reduced photosynthesis cuts growth and yield.
Cucurbit Leaf Beetle
MajorPest
Circular and arc-shaped feeding scars, as if drawn with a compass, line the leaves. On young seedlings the leaves can be eaten away entirely, badly setting back growth.
Watermelon Mosaic Virus
MajorDisease
Leaves show a yellow-green mosaic, crinkle and stay small. Vine extension is poor and fruit shows faint color mottling and deformity.
Zucchini Yellow Mosaic
MajorDisease
Strong yellow mottled mosaic appears on the leaves, which become narrow and shredded in shape. Fruit is knobbly and lumpy, twisted and bent.
Vine Overgrowth
CommonDisorder
Leaves grow large and dark green and the vines keep running vigorously, but no flowers or fruit set. In sweet potato the tubers fail to bulk up.
Late Blight
OccasionalDisease
Dark green water-soaked lesions appear on the leaves and expand quickly into brown dead tissue. White mold forms on the underside and at the lesion edge, and dark brown lesions spread to stems and fruit.
Gummy Stem Blight
OccasionalDisease
Gray-brown lesions form at stem nodes and the crown, exuding brown gum and splitting lengthwise. Round to V-shaped brown lesions form on leaves, dotted with small black fruiting bodies.
Bacterial Wilt
Disease
Leaves wilt while still green during the day and recover in the morning and evening; after a few days of this the plant dies. Cut the stem and stand it in water and a milky white bacterial ooze streams out in threads.
Cucumber Mosaic Virus
Disease
New leaves show a yellow-green mosaic, crinkle, and the whole plant becomes stunted. Fruit colors unevenly and grows misshapen.
Sclerotinia Rot
Disease
The crown, stem or head rots in a water-soaked way and is covered in white cottony mycelium. Black sclerotia later form inside and on the surface, and the plant wilts and dies.
Black Spot
Disease
On roses, dark brown lesions with radiating edges form on the leaves, which yellow around them and drop. On pear, sooty black lesions appear on leaves, fruit and the calyx of young fruit, deforming the fruit.
Southern Blight
Disease
The stem rots at soil level and white silky mycelium spreads over the crown and the surrounding soil surface. Brown sclerotia the size of rapeseed then form and the plant wilts and dies rapidly.
Anthracnose
Disease
Light brown to dark brown round lesions with sharp margins form on leaves and fruit, slightly sunken in the center. In wet weather salmon-pink slimy spore masses ooze out on the lesions.
Fusarium Wilt of Cucurbits
Disease
Part of the vine wilts during the day and eventually the whole plant dies. The stem splits lengthwise near the soil and exudes gum, and the vascular tissue is browned when cut.
Damping-off
Disease
The stem pinches in at soil level, turning water-soaked to brown and thin, and the seedling topples over. Infection before emergence makes the stand uneven with missing plants.
Bacterial Soft Rot
Disease
The crown or the head becomes water-soaked and soft, then collapses into a slimy mush. The rotting tissue gives off a distinctive foul odor.
Root Rot
Disease
Fine roots rot brown to blackish brown, growth stops and the lower leaves yellow. The plant wilts easily in the daytime and eventually dies outright.
Root-knot Nematode
Pest
The plant wilts in the daytime and does not recover with feeding or watering. Pull it up and the roots carry beaded chains of galls of varying size with few fine roots.
Gray Mold
Disease
Water-soaked brown lesions form on flowers, fruit and leaves, densely covered by a fuzzy gray mold. Fruit rots and drops, and decay continues in storage after harvest.
Bacterial Spot
Disease
Small water-soaked spots appear on the leaves, later turning brown with yellowing around them. Fruit develops water-soaked or scabby spots from which rot spreads.
Leaf Spot
Disease
Small round brown to gray-white lesions appear on the lower leaves, the centers turning gray with tiny black specks. As they multiply the leaf yellows and drops early.
Downy Mildew
Disease
Pale yellow to yellow-brown angular lesions form on the upper leaf surface with a gray-purple mold in the matching spot underneath. Lesions merge, the leaves die back and the plant declines early.
Ring Rot
Disease
The bark of branches and trunk becomes rough and warty, serving as the inoculum source. Fruit develops round brown lesions that soften and rot in concentric rings.
