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Mill Bay, British Columbia

At the point where the female flower shows up on the vine, there is always a tendril and a secondary vine in the same area. Sooner or later...these need to be removed.

When do most growers remove this tendril and secondary? Prior to polination, after the fruit is set or right away when they are small.

The reason I ask is that I usually remove them very early on when it appears that the fruit may be a keeper. This year, however I noticed that due to early removal, it may leave a scar area or perhpaps an area of weakness very close to the pumpkin stem that could cause issues later.

What do most growers do when and why?

Thanks in advance/Glenn

6/12/2009 12:29:16 PM

Ohio

Glenn, if all possable, and if I can, I'll always 'TRY' to leave that leaf grow if its not going to get in the way of the stem or pumpkin.
But sometimes you cant do that because the leaf is in a postion to where your pumpkin cant lay down right. If that happens I cut it off.

6/12/2009 1:05:27 PM

Boise City, Oklahoma, USA

I take the tendril at a pollenation site as soon as I decide I want to try 'knocking that one up'... I leave the leaf if it's not in the way until I banish the chair and build the shelter and put the mill fabric underneath.

6/12/2009 1:31:52 PM

milford, CT,

Tendril goes as soon as I can...the leaf and secondary stays until I decide it's a keeper.... UNLESS..they are a problem. Mark

6/12/2009 3:21:35 PM

San Jose [email protected]

I chop them both ASAP the scaring is a lot less when you get it early

6/12/2009 9:21:36 PM

Jefferson Me

Cut all tendrils off. They are a waste of energy. In fact I'm cutting all males off beyond the first 5 rows of secondaries.Once you have pollinated the rest of the males only attract cucumber beatles.

6/12/2009 11:32:16 PM

Port Alberni, BC, Canada

Glenn, I remove all tendrils as soon as posible. Along with the tendrils on the secondaries, I also remove the tiny tertiaries right away. The leaf at the pumpkin is only removed if it becomes a problem later on. The secondary at the pumpkin usually goes opposite so it stays on until it becomes a problem. Each pumpkin set needs to be looked at individually. No two sets act the same.

6/12/2009 11:48:49 PM

(rocky) Bonney Lake Wa.

I agree with Jake and Mark. I leave the leaf on until it gets in the way or it close to scratching the pumpkin

6/14/2009 12:51:31 AM

Joliet, IL

last year for the first time i left the leaf on and looped the secondaries around the pumpkins with some planning ahead on secondary spacing. in the areas around prime keeper pollinations i angled the closest 2 secondaries on each side of the pumpkin out a bit and made room for the secondary at the pumpkin to loop around. it wasn't as hard as i thought. the key latter on to leave the leaf on or the secondary can change if there is any stress on the stem. by the end of the season all the leaves were removed at one point or another and only one looping secondary made it to the end of the season with out eventually becoming a bother of one sort or another.

6/14/2009 1:43:47 PM