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Buffalo, New York

do you want to cut and bury the mina vine and all the secondary vines before pollinating so all the juice is going to all the female fruit?

lets say i am ready to pollinate on july 4th and my main is only 12' out at that time with secondary vines at 8', i should pollinate and continue allowing the vines to keep growing?

6/17/2008 1:38:11 AM

Rhode Island

jeremy
you vine bury to help the roots get started and also to anchor the plant. later around august 1st go back nd unbury the main and the first couple ft of sides vines.
( so you can inspect for any possible problems during the stretch run )
yes if you pollinate at 12 ft out on main and sides are 8 ft allow the sides to continue growing to a min-max of 10 to 12 ft

6/17/2008 5:29:48 AM

Dexter, OR

Pap, why do you say a max of 12'? It seems like the bigger the plant the more roots and solar panels you have to grow the fruit.

6/17/2008 8:54:01 PM

Rhode Island

its a matter of personal choice vs what you have been successfull with Aboush.

we go 12 ft on all sides before the fruit because this is the size plant we want going into the pumpkins growth cycles. if a plant should not throw as many sides as we expect we might loop a side or two back into the plant once its out 12 ft.

we dont want to be growing salad when its time to grow fruit. thats the reason for a particular size side vine length.

once all sides before the fruit are dead ended all the juice will need to pass by that pumpkin before it can get down stream. thats getting the maximum out of the plant.

if your still growing sides then some of the plants energy is being wasted on additional side vine growth.

6/17/2008 9:57:45 PM

Dexter, OR

So Pap, what do you do with your main after the fruit? Do you cut that too? Otherwise aren,t you are still putting energy into the plant rather than the fruit?

6/17/2008 11:55:17 PM

Farmville, Virginia ([email protected])

The growth on the main will tend to slow dramatically after the fruit starts to take off. I think most growers terminate the main a few feet past the final fruit set.

6/18/2008 1:55:44 AM

Rhode Island

we allow the main to grow after the fruit. kinda like a small christmas tree after the pumpkin. ( if space is a problem just allow the main to grow after the fruit and cut off all the side vines, loop the main around the side of the plant as well if need be )
depending on space we will sometimes terminate the main in mid september
once that main vine pumpkin is going (if its a good one ) the main growth will slow way down as the fruit is grabing all the juice

6/18/2008 6:44:47 AM

Clarence, NY

This is a great post & follow up by all.

Thanks for the guidance.

6/18/2008 8:29:22 AM

Dexter, OR

Will the secondaries slow like the main if you don't cut them?

6/18/2008 10:47:44 AM