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Oakland,Maine

Just curious what you folks would do with a plant that put out two secondary vines at each leaf node for the first four or five feet of main vine. The main itself is shaped fine and it isn't putting out double leaves or blossoms so it isn't a double or ribbon vine.
Wondering mainly because I have a female sitting about five or six feet out. With double the number of secondaries would this be the equivalent of a female sitting ten or twelve feet out? Think I've figured a way to train them and not end up with a jungle of vines.
Thoughts?

6/25/2011 5:24:52 PM

Upa Creek, MO

I think that you might have some crowding issues. My leaves are packed pretty tight on the 2ndaries and they are every other node. Another way of putting it is each row of leaves are right up next to each other. Maybe the plant would adjust with smaller leaf size? I'm new myself, but i can assure you that overcrowding plays a huge factor with disease like powdery mildew. I also don't think it would be the equivalent of 12 feet since it is about the square footage in 5 vs 10-12 feet.

6/25/2011 6:42:07 PM

Oakland,Maine

Good points. What I had in mind was some thing similar to what I've heard called the spider pattern: the secondaries coming off the vine at a 20ish degree angle from each other instead of perpendicular to the main. What I was going to do differently was spider-out the first three sets and then train the remaining sets out parallel to the main, which I would deadhead at the pumpkin.

6/25/2011 6:51:22 PM