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Portland, Oregon

A few pruning questions for the group:

1. When the fruit is out on the main primary, what vine contributes most to its growth - a regular secondary off the main primary or one of the more aggressive secondary primaries that comes off the main primary near the stem? (Is there really any difference between a regular secondary further down the main primary and those secondary primaries? Seems like the answer is no, except for the aggression of the "primaries.")

2. Due to the configuration of my patch, there is an area where a bunch of secondaries are crowded together. Should I leave the mass be or prune out a couple of secondaries?

3. I often read here that when a secondary gets to the edge of the patch you cut it off and bury it. Is there any reason not to let those primaries keep going through flower beds, across the lawn, and over the fence? They won't be able to root but it seems like the extra leaves would help the fruit out on the primary.

Thanks!!

8/1/2010 4:49:57 PM

Farmville, Virginia ([email protected])

1. Not really sure about.

2. The only problem with leaving the "mass" is that it restricts air flow to that area and breeds disease.

3. Once you have a chosen fruit set on the vine you should begin the process dead ending the vines. You want ALL nutrients feeding the fruit at this stage, not the plant. Nutrients = weight

8/1/2010 6:03:08 PM

Upa Creek, MO

1) You lost me at "when"

2) Like Mark said, keep an eye out for diseases especially like powdery mildew with restricted circulation. I have a few that are very close together as well and selectively remove a few leaves to reduce competition and to let them really grow full.

3)Everything I have read says to cut the 2daries at 10 to 15 feet for the sake of feeding the fruit.

8/1/2010 6:13:32 PM

Midwest

1) don't know
2) Like smallM said, select leaves to prune off from each of those secondaries so air flows easier? A couple of leaves don't matter much over the next 60 days. But, PM will destroy all of them.
3) Like Hoots said, any vine rooted down will feed the fruit. They DO root down in the lawn. I let vines grow along my chain link fence. I don't see them as giving anything to the pumpkin. If it aint rooted, it aint helping.

8/3/2010 1:33:49 PM

Portland, Oregon

Thanks all. We had a very cool spring and early summer so things are several weeks late. I've not selected a fruit (or two) yet and have not started dead heading. I think Mark's advice makes sense to start dead heading once the fruit is selected. That may also affect how I open up the crowded area.

Does anyone agree with christrules statement that if it isn't rooted, it isn't helping? I'm not sure I agree with that. Obviously it is better if the vines have all rooted, but I suspect that leaves play an important role even if the vine they are on is not rooted. Isn't that where the nutrients get converted into food to make the fruit grow?

8/4/2010 12:16:18 AM

Midwest

Jeff
Since nobody's replying, I'll give you my reasons for saying what I said... First, I see what you are saying about having more leaf canopy in which photosynthesis occur. Therefore, more 'juice' (or protiens/carbohydrates) is generated for the fruit. Scientifically, the plant needs to sustain both leaves and fruit. I believe that the leaves also take a certain quantity of food to live. There is a point that they become productive for the fruit. This occurs probably after they have stopped growing. So, eventually they become useful but up to that point, they are robbing the fruit of nutrients because those vines, unrooted, are bringing juice from parts of the plant that are mature.

8/4/2010 7:59:04 AM

Midwest

I have a friend who thought it would be easy to grow an AG. He had a 8x10 garden where he grew other vegetables. He found out that 8x10 is absolutely too small. Once the main grew past the edge of the garden, he started to put it up on the small fence that surrounded the garden and, by the end of the season, it grew around that fence 3 times! By the end, it was over 40ft long but no pumpkins got going. In my opinion that vine didn't root down so there was nothing to give to a pumpkin. I also have had years that I just could not keep up with the tertiaries (like this year). Somehow, there's got to be a benefit in more leaves if there are enough roots already. I don't know where you find the balance.

8/4/2010 9:02:51 AM

Portland, Oregon

Thanks for your thoughts on the matter.

8/7/2010 12:51:16 AM