[Lady Lottie]

..I planted some pumpkin seeds about three weeks ago in some paper pots.  Had no room inside so put them in a wooden bulb crate on the patio and covered them with bubble wrap and a layer of fleece.  They are in the sunshine for most of the day (but still under the bubble wrap and fleece - I haven't been taking it off) and I am watering when they look dry.  Checked today and the biggest seedling that has popped up looks rather sick and I don't want the rest to go the same way - I planted 20 in total!

The edge of the leaves are pale and yellowy and I haven't got a Scooby why.  I REALLY want to grow pumpkins.  I thought I would start some off in pots and plant some direct at the end of May.  What am I doing wrong to the ones in pots?  Any advice gratefully received.  Thanks.

(could take a pic of it tomorrow if that would help...)

Oh - and - no idea if it matters - they are in the crate with some nasturtiums in paper pots - which all look very happy and healthy.

[gobs]

Picture would help, but if the leaves were touching the cover material, that could be a reason.

[Lady Lottie]

Picture would help, but if the leaves were touching the cover material, that could be a reason.

Nope - not touching they are a mile off.  The seedling is probably only about 5 days old since it peeked out of the compost.

[Lady Lottie]

here are some pics to help with diagnosis....have to confess I think the pots might be rather too wet.....   so is the yellowing as a result of over watering do you think?

[Lady Lottie]

'nuther pic

[paintedlady]

those look like seed leaves so I wouldn't worry too much about those, but definitely be careful about over watering.  You might find that we recently had a very warm sunny spell, and now temperatures have dropped - they probably don't like that (even with fleece & bubble wrap) so they might have been better indoors on a windowsill.   And they might need more direct sunlight as the layers could be diffusing it too much.  Pumpkins are right fussy summer squash 

[Lady Lottie]

Helloo!  I was hoping you would see my thread oh pumpkin guru:D  I have taken the covers off them today and plonked the crate in the middle of the patio in the sunshine - hopefully that might help.  The two poorly ones are on the window sill right now - might leave them there just to see how they get on compared to the rest outside then.

I am determine to conquer pumpkin growing!

Thanks!

[Oliver]

here are some pics to help with diagnosis....have to confess I think the pots might be rather too wet.....   so is the yellowing as a result of over watering do you think?

Yes, probably a bit on the wet side.  Paper pots can also be a problem as they often harbour fungi and other stuff which some seedlings can't cope with.

Make a bit of space between each one so they dry out a bit. Don't over water. They will recover and will be fine as soon as the true leaves appear. Don't be tempted to plant them outside until the frost is over, unless you are prepared to cover them with fleece to protect them from the frost. Frost will kill them and they will not recover (unlike some stuff which can get a bit clobbered by the frost, but manaae to recover).

what variety are they? 20 plants is a hell of a lot of pumpkins if they are biggish ones. One 10inch pumpkin of the Silver Prince variety (the ones I grow, and I ussualy have 6 plants with 2 fruits per plant) can last 2 people for about 6 meals! However, they do store extremely well, so you will have pumpkin all through the winter months if you store them correctly. Good luck.
(I also grow butternuts and 'Delicata' - Which also keep very well).
Oliver

[Trebor]

I would agree with the over-watering and lack of light being the problem.

I start mine off in the airing cupboard and when they first come out the leaves are yellow. The colour comes back once they dry out a bit and get full light on the windowsill.

(Growing 14 varieties this year and two types of courgette – got a bit carried away and also thought it would be an easy thing to do at the back of the plot before I get around to sorting it out properly!)

[Yorkie]

Quite often with larger seeds, the seed coating stays attached to a leaf after it has started developing.

The plant on the right in the first piccie looks just as though that's what's happened - the seed stayed attached to the bit which is yellower, and it's not yet greened up but should do so.

Echo everyone else's remarks about watering, though

[Lady Lottie]

Thank you all.  Hmm...I did notice a little bit of white furry mould on the side of the pots actually...I will go and space them out a bit now as they are rather cramped in the crate.

The variety is Hundredweight..lol.....yes, I did get carried away, but I love pumpkins to eat and to look at (thinking halloween you see).  And it'd be nice to give some away to some children I have in mind too..   and one for me of course!

My plot is new to me and was derelict for 10 years so I am going to plant pumpkins on the half that I haven't tackled yet, through some black plastic - I suppose the area would be 25m² absolute max I would have thought...I just thought if started off twenty it would give me plenty of room for failures and I thought it would be something fun to grow and look far nicer than a sea of bare black plastic.  I may give a few seedlings away and plant some courgettes instead.

You are right Yorkie1 some of the seed coatings did need a little bit of "help" to come off, I will keep an eye on the ones that have done that and see if they green up as you say.

Thanks for the advice all.  I will lay off the watering can for a few days (over watering is a very bad habit I seem to have...)  Anyway, I hope I will end up with a huuuuge pumpkin patch come October.