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Simi valley, ca

When we bury our vines- we get roots coming out of top of vine & curl down into soil ! But if we don't bury -we don't get them! How necessary are they to getting the monster pumpkin ? Have many huge pumpkins been grown without burying ? Reason is i have had problems with diseases and feel i have better chance without burying vines , Yes i know i could bury them and after awhile un-bury them . Main Question is , Anybody grown giant without burying vine ???

4/12/2011 11:57:20 AM

Simi valley, ca

Can anybody list the weight of a monster pumpkin that was grown without buried vines ! Thanks Glenn !

4/12/2011 12:02:04 PM

Williston, VT

My limited experience, the first three years I grew I did not bury vines, biggest pumpkin was 847 lbs. Have buried the vines the last two years and upped that to 1158 lbs, but other things were also done. To truly answer your question you'd have to do an experiment, plant two seeds from the same mother in the same soil with the same care, one with, one without burying the vines. I'd be curious to know the results myself.

4/12/2011 12:09:20 PM

Ohio

Fish, take a close look at Chris Stevens diary, he buries his entire main vine as soon as it lays down, and grows monsters every year, not counting his WR 1810.

On the other hand though, some growers cant bury their main like that because of their type of soil,if I buried my main when then main was that young my chances of having a mushy main vine before the pumpkin was set would be pretty good.

I have to wait untill my main vine matures enough then cover the top with dirt to get that top tap roots going then I uncover them once they have started good.

Im not not exactly 100% sure, and just guessing, but Chris might uncover his main vine also once his top roots get started.

http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryView.asp?season=2010&grower=35869&action=L

4/12/2011 4:26:26 PM

Wi

Generally we don't worry about vine rot here so we can bury. Last year was the acception as we had some rot in main vines.

Revier 1367 was grown off zero burried vines.

4/12/2011 5:59:49 PM

Rhode Island

we take every tap or root we can get.we vine bury everything but do go back and uncover the main as soon as squash vine boarer season has passed.

actually though with the sprays we use the boarer is a thing of the past.
we still like to uncover the main late july early august however because we like that vine to get fresh air flow over the exposed top half.

4/12/2011 6:13:27 PM

Cincinnati,OH

So bury the vine until the top roots start growing and then uncover them ?

4/13/2011 7:56:35 PM

Ohio

Yea Ron,
I just bury the main vine at each leaf node
(top and bottom) and leave the rest of the main vine uncovered, then like Pap does, I uncover it once the top tap root has started growing good into the ground.

4/14/2011 9:26:47 PM

Ohio

sorry Fish, I mis read your post saying ''no'' burried vines.

4/14/2011 9:41:06 PM

Cameron

The top tap roots are very important, as are the bottom roots. Like Pap said, any roots are good roots & we try to promote as much root growth as possible.

Getting rid of your soil diseases would be my 1st route. Find out what the problem is & then treat it. Then use good sound organic gardening practices to help keep your soil as healthy as possible. You will need to do some research & testing to find out your problem, but the big ones will come once you do. We went through the same thing with our patch a few years back & finally figured out our problem by sending in tissue & root samples to be tested. Now we know what it was & how to prevent it from coming back. Good luck.

Jane & Phil

4/18/2011 9:15:49 AM

Bristol R.I. USA

I bury the entire Vine I try to get the vine a bit higher due to the flooding that can happen in my patch. I think that this year I'll be uncovering some of it to get the air to it.

4/18/2011 12:53:49 PM