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Chicago il.

This is kind of a dumb question. But, please humor me.

If you bury your vines wont the prevent new leaves and flowers from growing under the dirt? Also, what do you use to cover your vines with do you just use regular topsoil or do you need to use compost?

6/15/2008 10:52:03 PM

Joliet, IL

hey bloop,
glad to have another illinois grower on board. i am using a half compost half garden soil mix this year. brooks bosworth gave me some great heads up advice on not to use straight compost to avoid problems of many kinds that can arise. a lot of growers trench in front of the vines and place vines in the trench and use the same soil taken out of the trench to bury the vines. i try not to bury any small new male flowers, but even if you do accidently, they should pop back out. along the main vines, i definately avoid burying the male or female flowers and the secondary vines and just get the soil nice and snug around and over the vine at the leaf junction to help get the tap root started and anchored. on seconday vines, remove all tertiaries before burying and try not to cover the flowers. do not bury the vines all the way to the tips and this way you will not be buring any new leaves from forming. let them grow just long enough on the secondaries to be able to pinch the tertiaries and then bury without burying the male flowers if possible. all females on my secondaries get pinched with the tertiaries before burying. i usually bury only at the leaf junctions, but with all the chances of hail we have had this season, i cover most everything except the stump (crown) area i leave exposed due to past rot problems when buried. some do not bury the main at all to keep an eye on it all season and some remove the dirt later on to protect against svbs early and then prevent rot later. different strokes for different folks. hope this helps. no question is a dumb question, and you can email me at [email protected] for any questions throughout the year.

6/15/2008 11:24:44 PM

Ohio

I got my info about burying with straight compost from a former world record holder Larry Checkon, he saved my season one year (about 5 plants) from me burying my secondaries with straight compost. I did lose 2 very good plants due to that mistake.

http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryViewOne.asp?eid=53790

Even though I thought the compost was done cooking, I found out the hard way when Larry told me to uncover the vines immediately, I found that the compost was starting to cooking my vines and turn them a brown orange color. If I wouldn't have uncovered them I know it was only a matter of time before I lost every plant.

Brooks

6/16/2008 4:53:47 AM

Cincinnati,OH

In 2006 I buried my vines in manure and lost every pumpkin.
Now that I think about it the only pumpkins I got were from plants that i didn't bury the vines in manure.

6/16/2008 10:11:19 AM

What are terateries? Are those the vine like things that wrap around things to hold on similar to a cucumber plant?

6/16/2008 11:47:54 PM

Farmville, Virginia ([email protected])

Those are the actual vines that start on your secondary vines. Prune them all off. What you are describing are tendrils.

6/17/2008 2:15:41 AM