Why are my 7 acres of pumpkins wilting?

Question

We have 20 acres of pumpkins doing great in one of our feilds. But our other feild of 7 acres of pumpkins are wilting. They are pretty early and have not even begun to flower yet. We cannot find any sign of bugs, beetles, or powdery mildew.

We are doing the exact same watering as in the other feild.

Does anyone know what might be causing this?

Is it possible that something is wrong with the soil in this particular feild?

Should we hurry and fertalize?

Any advice would be very appreciated!

Answer 1

I would listen to Robert S. I truly believe something in the soil is the problem. Fertilizing may be right or the wrong thing to do. the extension agents will tell you

Answer 2

You should have planted only 6 acres.

Answer 3

Pumpkins usually wilt because of lack of water. Sometimes the wind will split the vines and cause them to recieve less water and wilt. One of my largest pumpkins came off one of these damaged vines. So you never know. The water does deliver nutrients. You may have poor soil. I would say have it tested but my pumpkins took all the fertilizer and water I threw at them. It's hard to over-fertilize these things. Skip the test...just add more of everything!

Answer 4

Contact your soil conservation district, run by the state university. But don't wait, do it as soon as possible. They should give you needed information. That is their job providing information for farmers. Good luck on your crop.

Answer 5

Squash Borer: it gets into the stems and kills the plants from the inside.  The first signs are a sudden wilting.  

Look for "frass" ... a sawdust-looking stuff ... at the base ofthe vines.  You might be able to save some plants by slicing the stem open (slice the length of the stem) and removing the caterpillars.