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South East

This should be a funny thread. Share your "Don't Do That Moments" the moments that you have really done and that you don't want others(new growers included) to make the same mistake you did....

Mine was when I was a first year grower and I was told to take off the extra growth on my plant, so I did, but it turns out it wasn't EXTRA at all...It was the Sidevines...Took off about 4 that day...."DONT DO THAT" :)

5/19/2010 11:36:33 PM

Boise City, Oklahoma, USA

Do not spray your pumpkin plants with 'green raid'. You can get away with light fogging of your fall hanging baskets before bringing them in to get rid of the buggy wildlife, but. It will toast your pumpkin plant right now! There are other ways to deter buggies on your new under six-leaf plants.

One another grower here did, came back from two weeks of me tending vines, and had a lovely crop of females to bloom in next week, but. They decided they'd all been pollenated because of the base bulb swelling and picked them all off. [I ran Bloomology 101 for them again]

Bag wrong flower in dark. Use Skeeter-B-Gone in enough quantities to not be distracted when ID'ing the bloom you've waited for three weeks for. Got up, went out, cut the boys still in bags, brought them over, and pulled off the bag on a... male. The female was on the other side of that stalk, wide open and raring... and a bee reunion in progress.

Check your main set BEFORE cutting the backup set off. [almost did this in reverse last year, would've been painful since I know what I got for not having done it]

5/20/2010 12:59:20 AM

Middle TN

Using wooden skewers to pin down secondary vines. I let the skewer ends stick up too high, when the wind blew the ends ripped the leaves to shreds.... "DONT DO THAT"

thats a lesson I just learned this week! lol

5/20/2010 5:09:19 AM

South Finland [email protected]

Dont do anything that I do and you will be fine;)

5/20/2010 5:58:02 AM

Honeoye Falls New York

Dont set your heat lamp to close to your new freshly planted plant. Luckily I think I caught it in time. Looks alot better this morning that last night

5/20/2010 7:28:59 AM

[email protected]

Just this week I got my new power-chair tangled with Bandit's leash, the coil hose & a potted plant.

Yepper. Snapped the main

5/20/2010 9:38:37 AM

Pocatello ([email protected])

Don't drive your pickup through the patch and run over your main vine.

Don't continue to lift a pumpkin with the strap lifter if it "doesn't look quite right."

Thank you, thank you, please, don't applaud, just throw money...

5/20/2010 10:10:07 AM

Somers, CT

Keep the Round-up in the garage until the day after weighoff.

5/20/2010 11:34:57 AM

[email protected]

Round-up is OK on still days even on the vines. Don't hit the leaves.

Watch staking vines down on variably cloudy days.

Vines bend well in the sun. But they snap loudly when a cloud burst passes.

5/20/2010 12:21:40 PM

Hurdland USA

First year figured maturity date so pumpkins would be ready just before Halloween lol never took into account cold weather in Sept.
Second year Planted too early hard freeze when plants were young.
Don't do this and if you do I hope you have a better season then the ones I had.

5/20/2010 1:37:53 PM

Massachusetts

don't take your eye's of of your 1662 stelts when transplanting to the patch, if your bag of (pumpkin pro)
decides that it does not like your plant, it will tip over
in the wind and snap off your only 1662 at the neck, i'm
hopeing that the pumpkin pro gets along with my back-up plant a 1446.5 werner!!!

5/20/2010 1:47:09 PM

Glosta

don't drop the block that props open the coldframe top, It goes through leaves quite easily.

5/20/2010 2:16:56 PM

Long Island,New York

You don't seriously think I'm going to tell you how stupid I am do you?

5/20/2010 10:04:18 PM

Owensboro, Ky.

Early on in my growing years...(pre Skunk Cap days)...I trimmed every secondary on a 600sq ft plant, burried all those trimmed secondaries, removed all tertiaries!!! Watered, fed a little!!! The next day,(1" of nice soft rain overnight) I was examining all of my fine efforts, when I actually heard a pkn split!!! Go slow!!! LOL Peace, Wayne

5/21/2010 12:04:57 AM

Deer Park WA

Dont be to hard on yourself if you dont win, you still are one in how many thousands with the biggest baddest pumpkin around!

5/21/2010 12:41:51 AM

Gold Hill, Oregon

don't snip all the male flowers. thought it would help plant growth last year then i got a female and had no males to pollinate. lol.

5/21/2010 7:54:21 AM

Johnston, R.I.

humor us glenn

5/21/2010 9:21:15 AM

Southeast

Never pivot with a shovel 180 degrees without looking.( My second year)

5/21/2010 9:27:49 AM

Lake Elmo, Minnesota

Never cut a branch on a nearby tree thinking it's too far away to land on the pumpkin (last year)

5/24/2010 2:07:04 PM

Redmond, Washington; U.S.A.

I hereby promise to never let my plants get too leggy before I put them out, like I did this year.

5/24/2010 2:12:14 PM

Middle TN

dont lean a hoe against your wind break.. the wind *might* blow causing it to billow outward and knock over the hoe.. which *might* make the handle land on the vine and snap it. ouch!

5/24/2010 2:50:58 PM

New York

Don't assume your seeds are rotted when they're taking a little longer to germinate.

5/24/2010 10:38:47 PM