How to get more butternut pumpkin flowers?

[Ready2go]

last year, my butternut pumpkin vine produced very few female flowers and most of them fell off before they could produce anything- I only got a single pumpkin. the rest of the vine looked healthy and I used a small paintbrush to fertilize the females.

does the lack of female flowers point to a soil deficiency of some sort? I've got a new vine started in the same patch already  

[EricL]

Hello @Ready2go

It could be any number of reasons from not having enough pollen placed on the female flowers, not having enough fertilizer, or perhaps the weather was too warm or too cold. However, in this next round, I suggest fortifying the soil with the necessary nutrients making sure that it is not lacking anything. A balanced watering schedule is critical to avoid oversaturating the roots of the plant. But I believe that waiting for the flowers to bloom and pollinating them at the right time is the key to getting more produce.

Let me call on our experienced members @Noelle and @Adam_W for their recommendations.

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric

[Ready2go]

thanks @EricL 

I have some osmocote, seasol and powerfeed. i've also got some compost I can put on too. 

do you have any recommendations for other fertilizers or products that will help? the soil is decent, raised bed with pea straw mulch 

[EricL]

Hi @Ready2go

Apologies for the late reply. Using a 10-10-10 NPK fertilizer ratio has been mentioned quite often in the gardening forums I've seen. Otherwise, the items you've mentioned are quite adequate to prepare you for the next season of growing. Just keep in mind that it is better to over-pollinate than to under-pollinate with the flowers.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric