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Sandyutahusa

tb42here, Wouldn't it be wise to trim off the first and mabey the second side vine on the plant to insure one strong main instead of two or three. Then let the next ones grow to feed your future prize winner on the main vine. Also,what about the secondary that grows from the same leaf axil as your pumpkin? I have always trimmed that off. It seems to me now that it could become an assembly-line type food factory backfeeding directly into the pumpkin. Just thinking out loud terry bear 42

3/17/2008 9:41:13 AM

Cincinnati,OH

Most growers keep all of the secondaries and terminate them when they reach about 12' long. The pumpkin will quickly grow over the vine from the same leaf axis as the pumpkin. Leaving it grow will likely cause stem stress issues.

3/17/2008 6:18:41 PM

Owensboro, Ky.

tb42, no expert here, but in my limited experience growing these monsters, the plant has always had ONE main vine!!! It was obvious which one that was. I do (sometimes) clip off the first secondary to allow the MAIN to lay down properly, to avoid stress. The secondary at the pkn you are gonna let grow would be a nice source, but I have yet to be able to train it so that it does not conflict w/ pkn growth. It almost has to go!!! Hope this helps. Peace, Wayne

3/17/2008 7:42:43 PM

Sandyutahusa

Good answers Ron and Wayne. I think I'll keep those secondarys and clip the pumpkin axil secondary also. I have usually cliped off the tendril and the leaf there just to keep them from scratching the new fruit. You know what happens to a little scratch as the pumpkin grows. lol. TB42

3/18/2008 9:51:55 AM

Minnesota([email protected])

I might be wrong tb42, but I think I heard that Jack Larue trims off the first two sets of secondaries, as you suggest. I've pruned off the first set of secondaries in the past.

3/18/2008 5:58:28 PM

Sandyutahusa

Wayne, two years ago I grew the hopkins 1176.5. The first and second secondary were equal in size to the main vine. I set a fruit on each one and grew three nice pumpkins but I didn't get a prize winner. Thats why I asked. I want the main vine to get ajumpstart on the first secondary. TB 42

3/19/2008 1:39:35 AM