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Kutztown, PA

It seem like at some point after pollination you might want to have less energy going to plant growth and more going toward pumpkin growth. To get a plant that's much bigger than say 600 sf it seems like you definitely be letting the plant grow for the entire season. At what point do you dead head secondary's or do you?? If you want a 1,000 sf plant, how much of that growth do you want completed by a certain stage??

7/2/2024 10:33:26 AM

Grittyville, WA

Here's a theory for you to ponder: maybe when you dead end the secondaries, that energy goes into more root growth first, and then later on more root growth translates into more pumpkin growth. On these hot sunny days, # leaves might not be the limiting factor, instead, quantity of healthy roots might be...?

7/2/2024 4:49:50 PM

Fullerton, California

I think some like to be done by day 20.

7/2/2024 10:14:01 PM

Colorado

A couple of very good growers have told me that they like to have three or four secondaries terminated on each side b4 fruit set.So if theyre in 1000 square feet they probably have 500 to 600 square ft of plant at pollination.

7/3/2024 1:18:21 PM

Kutztown, PA

I think I can get to 600 before 20 days. Not sure if I should stop everything at that point or continue a few secondary vines past the pumpkin. What I'm hearing here, is that growth past the 20 DAP detracts from pumpkin growth. ????

7/3/2024 2:17:11 PM

Grittyville, WA

A leaf weighs 1/4 lb at most. I cant imagine it would detract much, but later in the fall there's a chance it could add lbs.

100 large leaves = 25 lbs. A normal good conversion of leaf energy to pumpkin growth would be .1 lbs per leaf per day.

So you lose 25 lbs but gain as much as 10 lbs per day. If my math is right, the answer is the extra leaves will (re)pay for theirself within 3 days... Thats kinda nuts. Maybe someone else can throw their brain at this...

There's an exception though if your plant is stressed or your roots are struggling or the nutrients are limited then yes in that case I think there would be no added benefit to a bigger plant, but for a healthy plant... the math seems to give those extra secondaries a very bright green light.

7/3/2024 6:49:02 PM