How to Take Care of Rot on Pumpkin Plant

Anytime of the year, but particularly late in the season, you have to watch out for rot on the pumpkin plant.  I'm not in a humid environment, but even still, rot is a problem and it can sneak up on you.  The stump, stem and pumpkin in particular are vulnerable with the amount of water we pour onto these plants. 

This morning I was a little ways from the pumpkin on the stem side and decided I should scan that side because it isn't easy to see and it isn't very accessible with all the leaves around it.  I noticed there were some minor cracks that were forming on the stem, that didn't really concern me, but the color was a little concerning.  So I went around to the other side and leaned over the pumpkin to check it out. 

I found there was a little rot forming around those cracks.   So I wiped the mushy rotted stuff away (it wasn't very deep) and then took a fair amount of sulfur powder and rubbed it into the affected areas and all around it.  After I got done with that, I decided to pour a 10% solution of bleach with a touch of sulfur powder in it and all over the stem area.  There are some places under the stem that there wasn't enough space to get my fingers into that I wanted to make sure got hit because I couldn't be sure what was going on under there.  Now I need to keep that area dry.  Typically when you catch this stuff early and use a little bleach and sulfur powder it will knockthe problem right out.   I lost a pumpkin once because there was a spot of rot under the stem that I couldn't see and by the time I found it I was too late.  Best to check often to be safe.