Pumpkin is green but stopped growing. Why?

[reetnproper]

Hello,

We have 7 rapidly spreading pumpkin plants and, until just a few days ago, we had 2 lovely pumpkins growing on seperate plants. One of these pumpkins is dark green and has stopped growing. It's about the size of a cantaloupe (sp?) melon. It's actually on one of the healthiest looking of our plants (a couple are looking a little pale) and so it's a bit of a surprise.

Has anyone any ideas as to why this has happened and if there is anything we can do to encourage it to ripen/grow. The stem is intact and thick, the leaves are lushious and green and so there is no apparent reason why this has happened.

We have given them copious amounts of water and some feed and they are in a bed specially prepared for them.

Any suggestions as to the cause would be gratefully recieved. Many thanks.

Reet

[Paul mabbott]

When you say 'pumpkin', exactly what type do you mean? Some pumpkins stay green when they're ripe and edible. On the other hand it may just be slow in developing?
Have you got a name of the variety?

Originally Posted by reetnproper

Hello,

We have 7 rapidly spreading pumpkin plants and, until just a few days ago, we had 2 lovely pumpkins growing on seperate plants. One of these pumpkins is dark green and has stopped growing. It's about the size of a cantaloupe (sp?) melon. It's actually on one of the healthiest looking of our plants (a couple are looking a little pale) and so it's a bit of a surprise.

Has anyone any ideas as to why this has happened and if there is anything we can do to encourage it to ripen/grow. The stem is intact and thick, the leaves are lushious and green and so there is no apparent reason why this has happened.

We have given them copious amounts of water and some feed and they are in a bed specially prepared for them.

Any suggestions as to the cause would be gratefully recieved. Many thanks.

Reet

[Jez]

It could be down to cold nights? We're having similar probs too this year.

[reetnproper]

Thankyou both for replying.

Paul, the variety is Aspen F1 Hybrid. As far as we can tell (the picture on the packet) they should very definitely be the traditional Halloween type fruit, orange. The second pumpkin(also the younger fruit) is growing quite happily on the same side of the bed and next plant along.

Jez, would protecting from the night air (i.e. covering with old plant pot or fleece) help then? Or would the ground temp be more of an issue. The pumpkin bed is covered with bark anyway which I would have thought should act as some form of insulation?

Reet