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Powhatan,virginia

to be able to plant my pumpkins at the edge of the patch an let the vines grow away is there any way to determine which way the vine will grow by looking at the new seedling when im ready to plant it

2/26/2008 8:57:04 PM

Farmville, Virginia (mfowler@hsc.edu)

Doug, rule of thumb is to place the seedling in the ground with the first true leaf pointing opposite of the way you want the vine to run.

2/27/2008 2:12:17 AM

Powhatan,virginia

thanks mark

2/27/2008 10:16:27 AM

Adams County

what if you put the seedling in the ground before the first true leaf ?? Bill

2/27/2008 6:07:48 PM

Utah

Then you won't know which direction your main vine is going to go.

2/27/2008 6:16:23 PM

Powhatan,virginia

i start mine indoors an set in ground after the first true leaves appear so this shouldnt be a problem

2/27/2008 7:39:01 PM

Adams County

GPH, So far I've planted my seedlings as soon as they pop thru the dirt, and so far they all seem to grow towards the morning sun . so maybe " just maybe " the direction of the plant growth, depends on the position of the lite source wene the true leaf apears. even wene putting seeds directly into the patch they all seem to grow towards the morning sun. Maybe there is somthing to this , and maybe not.. Just Bill

2/27/2008 8:22:18 PM

The County of Berkshire, UK

I did notice a tendancy to grow towards the early morning light source on my two plants last year.But only for the 1st few true leaves then was fine after that.Infact as the sun tracks east to west through the day the young plant ie pre main vine growth stage arcs with the sun..So there could well be something to do with the morning sun and the direction of growth!!

2/28/2008 3:58:15 AM

Farmville, Virginia (mfowler@hsc.edu)

Ok, maybe just maybe if you want to be technical enough about it the sunlight does for sure have a draw on direction BUT...if you want the vine to run a certain way by all means point the first true leaf away from that direction. Yes the sun may draw it to one side alightly but the vine can be trained back in the direction you want it to go without haveing to do a 180 degree turn with it. The much experienced heavy hitters on this sight have all told us this rule of thumb, I don't see a good argument for second guessing them. And by the way, one of plants for the last 3 years has been planted pointing directly AWAY from the sun and the above mentioned technique has not failed me yet. Results speak for itself.

2/29/2008 6:16:03 PM

Garden State Pumpkins

Remember guys it's "rule of thumb" ...many times even though you plant it in the ground this way the plant will turn by itself and leave you with the first true leaf pointing the wrong direction..the vine will start opposite the first true leaf in most cases...You can only give yourself a good shot at what you want to happen...believe me if the way the plant starts is your worse problem of the year your doing great! GrowEmBig! Chuck

2/29/2008 7:32:48 PM