From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Hinckley MN

so my patch is terrible this year. weeds galore, almost nothing buried. vines all over.

fruit are growing well. Monday is "day 20" for the entire patch since everything set between the 8th and 12th of July. Plants are much bigger and growth of fruit seems better than last year.

should I just terminate every secondary, tertiary and quatrinary vine tip I find and pull or hoe the weeds I can reach, so I can find and cull and late setting fruit? I culled a beachball sized fruit hiding on a back main Today.

I've pretty much given up on my patch for the third time this year. I just keep heading back out there and do a little when I can. the biggest thing is I've been dilegent with overhead watering, and additional hand watering of the stump areas. I need to get sand under them while I can still move them and get some sheets on them.

7/24/2012 11:01:44 PM

South Bloomfield, Ohio

Ben,

This a very labor-intensive, competitive, and challenging hobby for even the most experienced growers. Define for yourself at the beginning of the season what you hope to accomplish and be realistic relevant to the time and number of plants you can handle and financial resources you can dedicate to your goals. I sense a little despair here. With the kind of season we are having overall, I can very well understand.

If you're just looking to get some decent-sized fruit at this point, definitely terminate your tertiary and quaternary vines and slowly begin terminating your secondary vines, perhaps two every two or three days so as not to shock your fruit. Don't over-water.

7/24/2012 11:31:16 PM

Minnesota([email protected])

Very well said Joe!
Good luck Ben. I fell behind on my one remaining competition plant, but caught up with weeding and vine burying over the past two days. I feel a little better now.

7/25/2012 12:29:53 AM

Bethlehem CT

I have had a few years like that farmer Ben. I just made sure the chosen pumpkins had plenty of slack vine and room to grow. THe plants were such a jungle the only pruning I did was where the paths were. I had some handsome fruit in the 600-700 pound range those years.

7/25/2012 7:45:28 AM