Life is full of surprises, this fruit is one of them. We did not expect a pumpkin vine to form, but after tossing some old pumpkins in the yard after the season they popped up the following year. At first we had no idea what they were, but as they grow they look more and more likely they are indeed pumpkins. The shape of them tells me this, along with knowing where we tossed out some previous pumpkins. It all makes sense the seeds took and are growing now where the old pumpkin was tossed.
They are now in a race against time to form before the frosts show up. Around October is when they are expected, probably later in the month than earlier.
But they are indeed growing very fast now, this picture is just from a week ago. We can see how much its has grown already. If they can ripen up in a month they should be good. But much longer and I worry the winter will set up in before they ripen.
PlantNet is pretty sure its a pumpkin or gourd.. one is 35% confirmed and the other is 32% but since these plants grew exactly where I threw the pumpkins I think its easy to say they are indeed pumpkins. Plus the shape is more pumpkin like.. the gourds have a peanut shape more like.
So far I have only found one fruit, but maybe those other flowers will form more. I kinda hope not, so the winter will not kill off some unripe pumpkins.. I hope it puts all its effort into one big one.
Speaking of the flowers, they are really pretty.. Large orange/yellow colored buds. I have yet to see any bugs visit it, but since we have a fruit it must have happened at some point.
Many flowers on the plant, but they all appear male. So I do not see any more potential fruit forming flowers right now. I guess that is good, as winter is on the way and more fruits may not make it in time.
It seems to be yellowing, mostly the old growth.. Hopefully its doing okay. Maybe I should give it some fertilizer soon.
Some of the buds have fallen off.. probably male flowers.
Amazing how quickly the vine has formed, just a month or so ago I noticed it and now its forming into a big plant.
I will keep an eye on the flowers to see if any females form, they have a large pod at the base of the flower.
Wonder if I should prop up the fruit, so it wont rot. We place cantaloupes on rocks and bricks so maybe that should be the same for this plant.
I will come back and check on it again soon, maybe give it some fertilizer once the soil dries up a bit. We just got a bunch of rain recently so I think I should wait a bit. Once plants start producing fruit they can rot if given too much water so I must be careful at this stage not to overdo it.
