What are the causes of yellowing and drying of Hokkaido pumpkin leaves? There are several different causes

Do you grow Hokkaido pumpkins? Many of us do! These great pumpkins offer a lot of benefits and enjoyments. Hokkaido pumpkin cream is absolutely phenomenal, but there are many other interesting dishes of course. Growing pumpkins is very simple, just sow or plant a seedling and water well, but even if you do, you may still encounter certain issues. We shall look at some of them in more detail.

Drying

You know that water may quickly wash away from certain spots causing your plant to suffer. If you notice quickly drying spots you need to add water. But even watering may be tricky, because it is a rather difficult to tell between dried or overwatered plant as in both cases the plant turns yellow and slowly fades away.

Too much water for hokkaido

As mentioned before, excessive watering is often behind leaf yellowing or even browning. People often think that because pumpkins are fleshy and contain a high percentage of water, they also need extreme watering. This is not always the case. We watered pumpkins daily, and over time the leaves began to turn yellow. Then we tried to skip several days and the pumpkin recovered. When you water, never pour water over leaves. A funny fact applicable to tomatoes as well. We do not water compost but obviously compost contains enough moisture because we found a tomato plant growing happily in our composter. We do not water it but is seems to be happy and doing well. We shall see if it produces tomatoes …

Photo: Radek Štěpán

Foto: Radek Štěpán

Lack of nitrogen in the soil

If leaves start turning yellow, even if you water properly, it may be due to the absence of nitrogen in the soil. Try fertilizing your plants with a fertilizer designed for zucchini, cucumbers and pumpkins. Mixtures like that are regularly sold in stores. But if you can get a rabbit manure your plants will love you Place the manure about 20 cm below the soil surface – before planting. One bucket of this manure is enough for two plants.

Photo: Radek Štěpán

Spider mites

Spots on your leaves are often caused by spider mites. These inconspicuous pests attack many plants, forming small yellow or whitish spots on leaves that gradually get bigger and bigger. At the bottom of the leaves you will find small cobwebs that clearly indicate that your plant has been infected by spider mites.

Too many weeds

If you see lot of weeds growing around your plants you need to take care of the problem as soon as possible. Do not let weeds take away the nutrients from the soil and get it out.

Photo: Radek Štěpán