Marianne's Response

Squash and pumpkin fruit and flowers keep dying

Hi Marianne. This is my first year with a garden. I have a few pumpkin, butternut squash, and watermelon plants and I’ve been having a hard time keeping the fruit alive. I have got one baby pumpkin so far and it’s been about 6 weeks since I picked that one. And I have a squash almost done now. My watermelon isn’t producing anything. Every time the fruit starts to develop on the squash and pumpkin plant they end up dying and the flowers on the watermelon do too. they ended up getting powdery mildew on them from a bad monsoon this year and I’m treating it and treating an aphid infestation now as well. It seems every time I trim the squash and pumpkin to remove any infected stems the flowers or fruit die that are on the same stem. Can you tell me what I’m doing wrong? Should I not be trimming those ones specifically? I’m in central Az

Posted by Amanda Rossier on September 13, 2021

Marianne's Response

Melons do love warm weather but I suspect your climate in Arizona is too hot for even melons during the summer season. Powdery mildew often attacks after overhead watering so try to keep the foliage dry. Blossoms need to be pollinated to develop fruit and when the heat is excessive the bees and other pollinators are not out in full force. The solution may be to wait until the weather starts to cool in the fall or to plant in very early spring before the weather becomes too hot. Your best advice on planting in your area is going to be a local garden club or master gardener. Ask at a local nursery on how to contact garden clubs in your area. Every climate is different and the successful gardeners in your area are the ones that understand best what varieties and what planting schedules work best.  Don't give up as with just a few trial and error experiments you can have a great time gardening even in the desert climate. Keep growing, Marianne Binetti