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Minneapolis, MN

Pumpkin1 @ 15' on main vine... fertilized at the earliest point by hand.

Pumpkin2 @ 18' on main vine... fertilized by luck, cared for as a 'backup'.

No other pumpkins on main vine. (no other female flowers showed up)

Pumpkin3 on secondary vine (5' out on secondary, connected at 5' out on main) ... fertilized and grew 100% by luck.


About 15 days after fertilizatoin Pumpkin1 was the size of a large softbal with hard skin, it rained hard. The next day, it blew open. At that point, I noticed I had Pumpkin3 (with soft, plasticy, shiney skin) seemingly very healthy.

7 days later, Pumpkin2 (on the main vine) was about the size of a softball... but the skin seems in much better condition than the first one - looks soft and shiney, almost plasticy. Pumpkin3, on a secondary vine, is about the size of a volley ball...

3 days layer, Pumpkin2 (on main vine) is growing and the skin seems like the skin on Pumpkin3 ... but it's only the size of a large softball/kittenball... Pumpkin3 has gone from volleyball sized to considerably larger than a basketball in 3 days.

Should I just keep letting them both go, or should I cull one soon? If so, which one?

7/29/2009 1:58:17 PM

Colorado

joe you have time to decide.You want to go with the fruit on the main vine if its set.Let them both go and see if the one on the main grows as well as the other.It will or it isnt set.if the main vine fruit takes off -position it perpendicular to the vine and when its around 20 days old then cut the other off.

7/29/2009 2:26:21 PM

Minneapolis, MN

Right on - that's kind of what I thought. I just didn't want to 'waste plant energy' on a non-main-vine pumpkin... but at the same time, didn't want to waste on a main-vine one if the secondary was going to keep on going gangbusters (plus, it's actually ON a few other vines, so I want to cut it off before it cuts off too much 'circulation', as it were)

So, the recipe is "wait". Right on.

What size pumpkins should we be at by this point in the season, anyway?

7/29/2009 11:59:10 PM

Eastern Pennsylvania

sounds like you will be going with #3. Wait until beachball size to cut.

7/30/2009 1:36:12 PM