Hi -

I'm growing a pumpkin and it has been growing fairly well. We've been having a heat wave for a week or so, so the leaves have been wilting throughout the day, but perk back up at night and the vines have been growing like mad, so hopefully no problems there. However, the past couple days, I've noticed the main vine, which is at about 7-8 feet now was browning at the end. Examining it more closely, it seems pretty "soft", all the baby leaves and flowers are a grayish/brown, including the stem. The leaves right below (and on the rest of the vine) are fine and growing. There are a couple female flowers on the vine. I'm worried whatever it is will spread down. Should I just chop off the tip? How will that affect fruit development (From searching around, the prevailing advice seems to leave a few feet of vine after the pumpkin to help feed it? I'm not trying to grow giant pumpkins, though) The lateral vines are still growing as far as I can tell (tips are green and more rigid). Should I spray something on the rest of the plant for preventative measure? What could it be?

Thanks!!