Broken tip on pumpkin plant - Will it stop from growing any further and producing fruits>

One of two pumpkin plants which I managed to germinate was doing quite well and is now around 6 feet long (an italian variety, Marina di Chioggia).
In an attempt to keep it off the grass my wife accidentally broke the stem just at the tip. It is not compeltely severed but I think it will fall off.

I understand the vine normally needs to grow very long before starting producing fruit.
Is there any chance it might produce some anywyay or anything I could do to give it a chance to?
It looks otherwise quite happy and healthy.

Also, do I need to hand pollinate it?
I put one in a patch in front of the house and the other in the back garden, so the two plants are definitely too far for pollinators to make it.

 

It will produce new shoots and should go on to fruit, it might delay it slightly though which is not good as pumpkins do like a long growing season.

As to pollination they produce male and female plants on the same plant and I find they are self fertile, so you dont need one plant to pollinate another, just a male flower to fertilise a female one.

Of course two plants growing together would mean there is a greater chance of having male and female flowers open at the same time would be better.

Hand pollination is best but you can leave it to the bees.

 

Thanks Pete, very useful advice.
Fingers crossed then, it might make it. I will keep an eye open for flowers and try hand pollination just in case, and if it produces several fruits I will perhaps remover some, leaving just one or two.

 

I'm guessing that you are just wanting pumpkin for eating rather than gigantic ones.

 

Yes, I would rather have several small ones that just a few enormous ones.
And I like the fact that they mature quite late in the season, when tomatoes and the rest will be done already (I do not have a green house, just a few tiny ones).
This said, it is all quite theoretical for now, I cannot see any flowers yet and I never grown pumpkins before.
I understand that varieties producing smaller pumpkins can support many, but with larger ones it is better to limit them to three or so.
I am not 100% sure where Marina di Chioggia falls, but I think it produces middle sized fruits, so perhaps I should not allow more than 4 pumpkins per plant, and maybe only two with the one which got damaged.
I see that the next few days will be "proper Summer", hot and sunny, but I am not necessarily counting on that to last, so perhaps I should play it safe and go for less pumpkins.

 

Apart from watering when dry and pollinating the flowers when you can there is not much else you can do. Flowers do often come a bit late but there is plenty of time yet.

A good mulch helps with the moisture but keep it away from the stems.

 

Will do, thanks Pete!

 

Hi aldo your plant will be ok they are pretty strong
last year i grew one in a grow bag and the vines spread up to 6 -7 ft long and ,found that they need a lot of water in fact as it was very hot last year everday i my pumpkin needed 2- 3buckets of water sending you a pic,of my grown pumpkin
It had lots of male flowers on it . I had 2 female , but only one female produded a pumpkin so not always many flowers turn out to bear fruit
I the flowers look almost the same but soon you reconise the difference ,male flowers come first from july onwards and there is no swelling below the stem and flower unlike the female they have a shorter, thicker flower stalk and a small, round swelling just below the flower base. This is a miniature, immature pumpkin waiting to grow .Pumpkin s always produce a good number of male flowers before they produce their first female flowers, male flowers produce nectar and pollen where as females have higher quanities of nectar but no pollen so the best way to pollinate is leave it too the bees, but in some cases you can do it especially if you havent many bees around
when you come to harvest leave some stalk on otherwise it will go rotten quck but the stalk protects it so you can store it and it will keep fresh up to 6 mths
I am not growing one this year maybe next year idecieded to grow courgettes instead

All the best with your pumpkin let me know how you get on also looked up some info for you
Marina di Chioggia squash is medium to large in size, averaging 10-12 pounds in weight, and is round, short, and squat in shape. The dark green to gray-blue skin has slight, vertical ridging and is almost completely covered in bumps known as sugar warts, which are created from the buildup of extra sugars in the squash’s skin and flesh. When mature, the skin will be hardened to the point that it cannot be dented with a fingernail and the stem at the cap will be rough, rigid, and brown. The thick, dense, and dry, yellow-orange flesh surrounds a semi-hollow fibrous cavity with many large, flat, cream-colored seeds. When cooked, Marina di Chioggia squash is tender and sweet with nutty flavors.andgood for your health