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Rhode Island

HOPE THIS HELPS MAKE YOUR SEASON A GOOD ONE

MOST NEW GROWERS TEND TO EITHER OVERCROWD THEIR PATCH OR HAVE A SMALL AREA AND CAN ONLY GROW ONE OR TWO PLANTS. IF SO THEN ID ADVISE LEAVING TWO PUMPKINS ON YOU PLANT/PLANTS FOR THE ENTIRE SEASON.
ONE WILL BE YOUR BEST SIZE FRUIT ON THE MAIN VINE ( FOR EXAMPLE IF YOU DO THREE POLLINATIONS ON THE MAIN YOU NEED TO CULL TO THE BEST ONE WITHIN A COUPLE WEEKS FROM NOW).
I WOULD ALSO ADVISE GROWING A SECOND FRIUIT OFF A SECONDARY VINE THAT GROWS FARTHER DOWN THE LINE AFTER THE MAIN VINE PUMPKIN ( I WOULD ALSO DEAD END THE SECONDARY RIGHT AFTER THIS FRUIT ) THIS PUMPKIN IS YOUR "OH SHIT" PUMPKIN.--JUST IN CASE.

WHEN RESEARCHING OR PURCHASING FUNGICIDES AND/OR INSECTICIDES TRY AND PURCHASE SESTEMIC PRODUCTS ( THE PLANTS TAKE IN THE SPRAYS,THEY DO NOT WASH OFF LIKE SOME WILL DO)
TOM PRIVITERA HAS QUITE A FEW SESTEMIC PRODUCTS IN HIS STORE.YOU CAN CHECK WITH HIM ON AVAILIBITY.
REMEBBER, WHEN IT RAINS IT SPORES. NOTHING KILLS A SEASON LIKE DISEASED PLANTS.

DONT OVER WATER YOUR PLANTS. YES THEY LIKE WATER AND YES THE SOIL NEEDS TO BE MOIST FOR IT TO DO ITS JOB, BUT REMEMBER AS IN ANYTHING WE DO ? THERES A LIMIT. IF YOU SHOVEL DOWN A FEW INCHES BELOW THE SURFACE, THEN MAKE A BALL IN YOURE HAMD THAT HOLDS TOGETHER UPON OPENING UP YOU PALM? YOU WET ENOUGH.

IF YOU HAVE THE SPACE AND ARE GROWING SEVERAL PLANTS ? AND DO NOT HAVE A LOT OF EXPERIENCE POSITIONING PUMPKINS,RELIEVING STEM STRESS, ETC? ID ADVISE POLLINATING AT 15 FT ,THEN TERMINATE THE MAIN JUST AFTER THE FRUIT.
(SAVE YOURSELF A LOT OF POTENTIAL GRIEF AND DISAPOINTMENT WHEN TENDER STEMS GET SNAPPED WHILE YOU ATTEMPT TO POSITION THE FRUIT)
ALLOW ALL SIDE VINES UP TO THE PUMPKIN TO GROW OUT A MINIMUM OF 10 FT ( WE DO 12FT )

IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION PLEASE POST IT HERE AND I OR RON WILL ADVISE AS BEST WE CAN

BEST OF LUCK
psp

7/4/2009 7:10:11 AM

Boise City, Oklahoma, USA

Pap really hit it with the backup, that is often the pumpkin that saves your bacon! :) Also, he didn't mention but I will, if you don't have it, buy a copy of Dicks Tips II (DT2). It is well worth the $ and the profit goes to a good cause (Orange Angels, the coats for kids)

7/4/2009 8:20:35 AM

Hamilton Nj

hi pap i got my first pumpkin set at 9ft, about the size of a base ball. i got one more at 12foot im gonna polinate this week, that gives me two got side vines around 5 ft. with pumpkins for the oh shit one!!! lol!! and growing!!! im turning my vine in the other directon cause of space by then it will be 15-16 feet!!!gonna polinate one more then probably pick the 9ft. off!! why do i cut the vine after my last fruit ?????? i know it will give my pumpkin more energy but bein a smaller plant than u guys have would it be better to let it grow for more leaves cause of size????? pizza ps. my mom is now calling me peter the polinater!!!lol!!! thanks again pizza

7/4/2009 8:58:23 AM

Hamilton Nj

ps. my pics are in my grower diary!!!!

7/4/2009 8:59:03 AM

norway , maine

thanks pap you have already helped me a ton.

7/4/2009 9:40:40 AM

Rhode Island

pete
i looked at your diary. i want to be truthfull and not blow any smoke.
your plant is really small. im sure next year you will want to dig up a much larger area.im not really sure if a plant that small will support growth for one pumpkin much less a second.
if you plan on running the plant out over the lawn then id suppose you could get two to grow.
you asked about why cut the vine after your choosen fruit?
it is not a practice that is as widly used at the conventional tree/box then fruit---then more vines forming another growth pattern after the fruit--- you need to know how to allign the fruit amd plant ahead to resolve any future stem stress (ripping of ) issues.
many very good growers will upon making their final main vine fruit selection dead end the main right at the stem where the trailing main is connected to the stem.
then they will take the last few sets of sides before the fruit ( that are not already straight out to the side of the patch and dead ended ) and turn these up toward the same direction as a main would have traveled.
in my case i will have 8 to 9 sides ( ON EACH SIDE OF MAIN )out to 12 ft and dead ended. then three to fout more (ON EACH SIDE OF THE MAIN JUST BEFORE THE FRUIT) that i will train as mentioned above.
i will run them out toward the edge and then turn them down the patch in the same dorection as the main would have gone.( i leave a path to walk upto the fruit of course. i call this the pitch fork.
this type of plant design eliminates any and all possible stem stress except for the occasional cutting of a main tap root or two if you have a tall fruit. thats the reason it is done.
im doing four plants this year. two in the conventional box,pumpkin,box method and two with the pappy waldo pitchfork.lol vpap

7/4/2009 5:55:51 PM

Hamilton Nj

thank you for being straight with me !!!! i love all the advice i get hear and all the people are cool!!! im not giving up going for it all the way and what i get is what i get and thats cool too! im having a blast growing theese pumpkins no matter what happens!!! making some new friends and learning alot !!!111 see ya at the weigh off! lol! pizza

7/4/2009 6:33:34 PM

Farmville, Virginia (mfowler@hsc.edu)

Pap, if you dead end the vine right after the chosen fruit do you treat it with Captan or something like it? Cover the tip or just let it dry?

7/4/2009 7:34:13 PM

Upstate S.C.

Pap, Question. Lets say my set pumpkins is 16 Feet out on the main. Are you saying to terminate my main at 17 Feet. Im trying to follow here but im just alittle confused. I thought I was suppose to let the main keep growing for 20 or so feet. Please help.

7/5/2009 12:30:43 AM

Winston Salem NC

If you terminate the main right after the pumpkin you dont have to worry as much about stem stress and having to put the curve in the vine to keep the pumpkins shoulders from breaking the stem off. It also helps with the fruit being able to raise the vine up as it grows. With a conventional method you would have to pull the vine up on both sides of the pumpkin and cut the tap roots off so the vine is allowed to move up with the pumpkin. If you were to not get enough "slack" in the vine then the tension of the fruit trying to pull the vine away from the ground as it gains height would most likely break the stem from the pumpkin. The same is true for putting the curve in the vine so that the fruit isnt pushing the vine away from the pumpkin which leads to broken stems also.

7/5/2009 12:41:31 AM

Rhode Island

mark
when you dead end at the fruit you are cutting the vine right at the stem. (always cut by leaving a few inches of vine first ,then immediatly go back and trim as close as possible to the stem.-- its safer than cutting it all in one shot. do not leave any pocket of left over vine that can act as a cup to hold moisture or water on the stem.
a little spray of any fungicide or a one to nine parts bleach spray, even a simple couple of sprays of hair spray on the cut will do.

sc
ricks reply is well put and well explained. if i may just add.
if your keeper pumpkin is 16 ft out? and its the one you want to grow with? then you could cut the main off right at the area where it exits (grows out ) of the stem ( yes you have to trim the vine off right at the stem )--- see my explaination above please. ps ----any side vines off the main from base to the fruit that are not dead ended already ( out to the edges of the patch ) could then be turned up to run toward the same direction as the main. this pattern also allows for a walk way up to the fruit when you want to inspect or hug it -lol.

vines are vines, health of the plant is much more important than how you train the vines, i suggested the terminating the main after the pumpkin style only because newer growers
(and some very experienced as well ) have a great deal of difficulty adjusting the fruit for stem stress and possible stems being ripped or broken off due to stress or inexperience.
if you ever get a pumpkin to put on close to 40 pounds a day you will see what im talking about.

ill see if i can get ron to post some pictures of these plant patterns once these longer sides have filled and been dead ended.that way next season you and others will have a better understanding.

pap

7/5/2009 9:33:55 PM

Covington, WA

I'll state the obvious here and add that when you cut the vine at the stem, make sure the cut is past the fruit on the vine and not before it. Don't ask, I'm not gonna say.

7/6/2009 10:11:33 PM

Pimpama Australia

Do you only start terminating secondaries after you have set a keeper pumpkin on the main or do you prune these earlier.
If you prune after the fruit has set do you limit the pruning to one or two secondaries per day or is it ok to do the lot. Does this stimulate the wanted pumpkin to grow faster?

7/7/2009 8:44:03 PM

Rhode Island

we have a set pattern that we use for forming and shaping of the plant growing before the fruit.
we allow the side vine to go out to 12 ft on each side of the main ,then terminate. we do this system for usually the first 8 to 10 sets of side or until of course we start pollinating on the main.
at that time we start training the main either away from the pollinated fruit ( to eliminate future stem stress ) or if we are terminating the main at the fruit we start to train the sides out and around the fruit.
if you are just terminating secondaries because you have your choosen fruit the you are correct. i would suggest just do two sets on each side of main vine every day until you are at the fruit.
pap

7/8/2009 10:06:00 AM

Pimpama Australia

Thanks pap.

7/13/2009 2:27:20 AM

Owensboro, Ky.

Pap, thanks for this thread, and the chance for us newbies to ask questions!!!
Rick, great exp. of why slack needs to be in the vine!!! I guess it is hard for some, that have never see a giant in it max size stage (still attatched to the vine) to realize that they need their main vine to be 1.5 to 2 feet or so...up in the air. What do you guys use to prop up the vine before and after the stem? Peace, Wayne

7/14/2009 12:48:03 AM

King,nc

Pap, Thank You for taking time with us Rookies. What to do about the side vines on my side vines? We have a good looking plant with a nice pattern but when those third vines start growing the plant becomes a mess. Do I cut those third vines as the plant is developing? Thanks Again, Von

7/14/2009 3:21:21 PM