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Iowa

I was wondering if anyone would like to share any off the wall growing tactics (that they have actually done). I once had a fruit that had a short stem, and big shoulders so at about 450lbs I pulled out on the vine and carved out some flesh about 1/4 inch deep and 2" by 5". In time it healed and the fruit never grew much in that area, and it never popped itself off the vine. I also have used that black pruning spray for trees on stumps and fruit that have bad or soft spots or even animal damage that is deep into the flesh. It seems to work better for pumpkins than trees. In 2002 I mounded dirt up under a young set and main vine about 9 ft long by 2 ft tall and 2ft wide, the idea was not cut any roots from the vine where the fruit was. The fruit grew and had a natural lift to the shoulders and I never did cut any roots, just had to pull up on the vine for a while and let them roots reset themselves. Anyone else care to share anything they have done with success or failure?

3/3/2009 3:50:03 PM

Boise City, Oklahoma, USA

Starting tactic? Don't like the way peat pots never disintegrate for me so tried lining my cutaway gallon start pots with a layer of newspaper. Transplanted the rootball with paper on it, gave enough protection that the roots were fine and that DID dissolve in my soil. I have all the old newspaper I want for free, and the nursery pots were free too off a boneyard pile at one nursery (haul all I wanted).

3/3/2009 4:51:36 PM

Cornelius, Oregon

If I have a fruit that is bellying under (blossom rolling under the fruit) I have actually rotated the fruit on the vine so that the bottom of the fruit became the top. It took a week of slowly turning and scooting the fruit and proping it so it wouldn't roll back. The end product was a fruit that was bellying up and an unbelievable looking main vine. No I didn;t just flop the pumpkin over so that it sat on the other side of the main, I actually twisted it over.

3/3/2009 5:28:26 PM

Ohio

One tactic I always liked was one Tom Beachy told me to use about five years ago on splits, stem rots, or anything that looks extremely bad, and thats use straight daconil right out of the bottle, using a small paint brush and paint it over the bad areas. Always worked great for me, dries quick. I have found for me that its a lot better then using that gewy captans that never seems to dry.

3/3/2009 5:36:42 PM

milford, CT,

Along the same lines as Brooks...I use straight Cleary's 3334 on splits and stem rot. Easier to use than the paste..
I had a rotting blossom end ..cut off the rot..painted with Cleary's..saved the fruit.

3/3/2009 10:20:38 PM

Pleasant Hill, Or

Something I did last year that I thought rather extreme; I was standing next to a pumpkin in the morning, taking the blanket off, when I heard it split! It was an unmistakable juicy crack, very much like when you split a ripe watermelon that continues to crack along the cut. I found the crack on the stem, just where it meets the meat of the shoulder. As I was accessing it, it let go with another split, widening the split further in to the shoulder.

Here's the extreme part, I got my fillet knife, sterilized it, then split the stem more. I would never have thought of this if not for some advice from Bob McKenzie because of a fruit I lost the year before. You insert the knife in the existing split, then cut the stem towards the main vine. He explained that the growing fruit will build pressure there, and you give it a place to go, and relieve the pressure, away from the fruit. As I cut, it popped and cracked three more times, each time widening the split, but the split quit going into the fruit. By the time I was done, the split was already over 1/2" wide.

I put a fan on it for the rest of the season. It made it and took first place at the Harry and David's weigh-off!

Thad

Thanks Bob!

3/3/2009 11:57:05 PM

Iowa

WOW Thad,and all great info.... anyone else?

3/4/2009 9:32:47 AM

Ham Lake, Minnesota

I'm not sure if this qualfies or if anyone else does this but I've had problems in the past with vine borers sneaking in around the base of the main stump under the vine closest to the soil where it is hard to reach them. I used a dentist kit that has the small mirrors and different twisty hook ends they use and found one that works prefect for going in the borer waste hole and hooking them and draggin them out without having to cut the vine. Without the little mirror and unusual hook, I would have had larger problems.

3/4/2009 11:20:37 AM

[email protected]

How about using a rear view mirror to get underneat a main vine stump to remove a vine borer my second year out. I evenutally lost that pumpkin at over 200 plus pounds, but I think the surgery saved the plant. It was where the main stump came out of the ground and curved, the borers got into the vine undeneath, hard to get too.

Also how about, moving your main vine almost a full 90 degree angle back when your pumpkin was growing so fast and it curved around the pumpkin stressing the main vine. Burried all the main vine and it continued to grow, lost a few satellite vines, but, I think it saved that pumpkin from extreme vine stress, and it grew my 802.5 this year. Cool! Had help in moving those vines, boy was that scary. Two to grab the main vine, and me pulling all the satellites behind it. Scary stuff.

3/4/2009 11:24:54 AM

Topsfield, Ma.

Hee Hee...some years ago I trained the ends of the secondaries up 5-6' tomato stakes to gain vegetation in my small patch. Leaves got big, really big...and then one day it got windy...fun experiment...LOL!

3/4/2009 8:33:15 PM

Iowa

OK....this isnt to crazy but i think there is some value in this!
once i get far enough out the main where i am trying to set a pumpkin i take the 3 or 4 secondary's on both sides of the pumpkin and let them get about 1 or 2 feet long. At that point i use a couple of bricks or may be a couple of 4X4's and lay them under the secondary's near the main. I drape the vine up and over (about 6-8 inches up)and back down to my trench and bury them. As soon as the vines lengthen out and take hold i remove what ever it is i'm using. later when it comes time to cut tap roots and raise the main for your pumpkin you will have plenty of slack built into youe side vines.

3/4/2009 8:48:04 PM

Marion,IN

Petey,
some of the simple things that are right in front of our eyes are still hard to see. i think this is some sound advice. this makes good sense to me, but yet, never thought about it until now. grear topic

Mark G.

3/5/2009 9:25:40 AM

Windsor, Ontario, Canada

Alex, bury your stump. If its all under dirt, they can lay eggs on it!!

I keep a plastic roof on my hoop house to keep it dry. Never had any problems (rot of SVB)

3/6/2009 10:41:52 AM

if stump and vines are all buried svb will lay eggs on under side of leaf or leaf stalk and bore hole in stalk and fall down inside and chew thru inside main vine anyway.
extreme things to mention i have alot. but more and more its becoming the norm

3/6/2009 1:26:50 PM

Iowa

(extreme things to mention i have alot) ok Don please share or maybe we will all wait for the (norm) booklet to come out..

3/6/2009 10:38:12 PM

Gold Hill, Oregon

jordan i'm not sure what an svb is. thad i saw your pumpkin it blew me away. i couldn't figure out how the stem was split and not have a hole in it. now i know. believe me i looked really close. that was the first pumpkin i have ever saw with a stem split.

3/9/2009 3:07:30 AM

Windsor, Ontario, Canada

I should have said, rot OR svb. SVB is squash vine borer....and if you don't know what they are...thank the pumpkin gods.

3/9/2009 11:38:14 PM

Boise City, Oklahoma, USA

Exactly, Jordan. Nothing can ruin your day like seeing one of those little b*tch*s and they are FAST, and nothing is so satisfying like smashing her little *ss. SVB's... East of the Rockies they seem to have the address of every patch before you even plow it. West, doesn't seem to have them. Pray it stays that way, Dreamer.

3/10/2009 1:27:52 AM