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Vancouver Washington

Hello everyone,

This is an extrodinarily long winded post....

One of my plants is a 1470 Wallace. Early on in the season - the stump split open and it ended up getting water in it - which caused it to foam and die. I didn't notice the rot until the foaming started. By then - I had to remove about 6 feet of the main to get rid of the rot and to attain healthy main vine. That left me about 6 feet of main before the pumpkin (about 6 secondaries- three per side... pre-pumpkin). Most of the secondaries before the pumpkin are about 12 feet long - except the last two before the pumpkin - which are about 20 feet long and one is still growing

All the secondaries - after the pumpkin were allowed to grow out to about 15 feet long. There are 6 or seven secondaries at that length after the pumpkin.

The pumpkin tapes at about 750lbs and is still putting on 15-20 pounds a day. It is now 60 days old.

So.....finally here is my question...

The main has now out grown the patch and is about four feet out into the yard. Needless to say, the soil is hard and void of meaningfull nutrients. I also have the last secondary before the pumpkin still growing. Now what? Terminate the main? Let it grow out into the yard with out useful roots? Terminate the main and hope the pumpkin pushes in reverse to the secondary that is still growing before the pumpkin?

Or does any of it really matter?

Do you think you can manipulate the plant to flow backwards by keeping a vine growing pre-pumpkin but terminating everything post pumpkin?

Clear as mud?

i would love your thoughts my esteemed fellow growers...
I think this pumpkin will still go over 1000lbs without the first six feet of stump - but how do i maximize the growth with this unusual plant damage and yard space issue...?

8/30/2008 1:20:23 AM

Farmville, Virginia ([email protected])

I would think that at this point of the season and given the fact that your vines are now going into your yard it may be best to terminate the vines. This way all available nutrients are going into your fruit instead of competing with vine growth. Just my opinion.

8/30/2008 2:30:50 AM

Preston CT

Terminate everything and grow the pumpkin....bad weather may come up and stop growth all together...Maybe terminate a vine a day as to not get a rush of growth....

8/30/2008 8:36:29 AM

Rhode Island

agree , now is the time to terminate every vine, also would not hurt to put 2 to 3 lbs of 0-0-50 around under the plant for the final push. ( providing you are not nursing and dill ring/deep rib intersect conditions
you should expect an addition 250 to 300 pounds on the taper down to october

8/30/2008 11:46:44 AM