| I have numerous pumpkin vines and two harvest gold squash vines (each Burpee seeds) growing in two isolated parts of my kitchen garden. For each vine no matter which species and no matter where located, I get only one squash or one pumpkin per vine. All other "proto-squash" buds that form beyond the squash or pumpkin that grows, turn yellow, remain very small, the flower never opens, and the buds soon break off. (1) Why does this happen? (2) How can I get more squashes per vine? (3) If I can only expect one squash per vine, can I cut off the vine beyond the squash that is growing? Thank you. |
| Based on your description I would suspect you are seeing a pollination problem possibly due to wet weather or lack of insect activity. It is also possible that the plants are in need of richer soil -- these plants are very heavy feeders and will not set fruit they can't support. The vine serves to nourish the squash so the fewer the number of squash per vine theoretically the larger they will be. |
