[BarryJ]

Y'know...I've never grown my own pumpkins, but I'm tempted. Have had a hard time the last few years finding the really big ones. I'm a bad gardener, though, since I hate weeding and watering.

A good pumpkin patch kills weeds.

 

[BarryJ]

WK, I read the comment about heat and females on a gardening site...I can't remember which one it was now. ETA: maybe gardenweb.com? We have been in the 100s or very close to it (98, 99) for about two months and recently got down to 93-95 each day for the past few days. How hot does it get by you?

I am going to try eggshells again.

Feed nitrogen early for leafy growth and then phosphorus and potassium when things start to flowers. That's pretty much for anything, not just pumpkins. And a lot of plants were set fruit in heat. Where in SoCal are you? I'm inland and between the drought and the heat, have pretty much given up trying to garden. I didn't do pumpkins this year, because they take too much water. My tomatoes have barely set any fruit.