Pumpkins survive and continue to produce but fruit went rotten after some development

Question

I seeded some "atlantic giant" pumpkins in april, in a big lawn at full sun for all day long.

They started to grow and to flower, and after some time they started to produce some pumpkins. They grew until they became as big as a football. Then the plants started to produce some more fruits. While the first fruits were continuing to grow, the second set become as big as football. Then their skin became wrinkled and they just "collapsed" due to rot.

I've been removing fruits as soon as they start to rot, and the plants remain alive. Their first fruits became bigger and continued to produce some more pumpkins after some time.

What could have been the cause of those fruits rotting? Is it possible to avoid it next time?

Notes: I've been supplying water every morning and every evening to the plants (about 2 liters per plant each time) until the first rotten fruits appeared, then I stopped. I didn't noticed any particular desease on the leaves.

Answer 1

If you left the fruits in contact with the soil as they matured, it's possible that rot has set in because of contact with damp soil. It's best to insert something under the pumpkin to provide a barrier between it and the ground as they ripen, usually a piece of card or cardboard which you replace frequently, and when you water, water the central part of the plant, where the main stem is, rather than broadcasting all over or around it, to try to avoid the soil being too wet beneath the ripening pumpkins. This does not mean that the plant itself has a fungal infection, merely that the fruits have started rotting, in the same way that strawberries do if they're not sitting on straw or something to keep them off the soil.