Pumpkins may have more to fear than a carving knife and a flaming candle this Halloween.
The vegetable, along with cucumbers and squash, has been the victims of not just a dry summer, but a blight called phytophthora.
Mary Hausbeck, an MSU associate professor of plant pathology, said it is the No. 1 threat to the plants.
She estimates this year 1,000 acres of plants have succumbed to phytophthora, resulting in about $250,000 lost by farmers.
“We have had hundreds of acres turned away because of the blight,” she said.
Hausbeck said the fungus like organism can live in the soil for more than five years.
“It is hitting a vegetable industry that is already struggling with the international market,” she said.
The organism is classified as a water mold and will cause the plant and its vines to break down, sometimes even after delivery to the store, she said.
But others are saying this year is a definite improvement over previous years.
Bernard Zandstra, a vegetable specialist for the MSU Horticulture Department, said while pumpkin crops are lighter than average, there has been some improvement since last year.
“They are a little smaller, but that is a result of a dry summer and a little less efficiency on pollination with the bees,” he said.
Zandstra said farmers still have a chance to make some profits.
“I think they are going to do OK, the total tonnage is down, but the prices are up, sometimes it will even out,” he said. “It is probably going to be an average year,” he said.
But the rising prices have not seemed to scare away people from buying the holiday vegetables.
Sid Middleton, manager for Gorman’s Food Market, 2800 N. Grand River Ave. in Lansing, said the store has two bins of perfect pumpkins.
“I got some of the most beautiful large pumpkins with great stems,” he said.
Anita Goddard, produce manager for Westlund’s Apple Market, 2301 E. Grand River Ave., said the store has not had any problems with the vegetable.
But not every store has had good luck.
Lyle Oversmith, grower for Lansing Gardens Inc., 1434 E. Jolly Road in Lansing, said the blight wasn’t what hurt his pumpkins.
It was the weather.
Oversmith said before the cold weather and the recent rainfall, his vegetable plants were doing well.
But he said he was able to pick the better pumpkins and expects to make some profits despite being unable to grow gourds this year.
“We were lucky to even get a crop, I was really surprised about it, we were really dry and then it got wet,” he said.
