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Grittyville, WA

If the vine kinks near the pumpkin, would the blossom end bend possibly bend towards the side that the kink was on (because the side that was not kinked would grow at a faster rate)?

Can too much pruning "shock" a vine and lead to, well... shock. Like, less growth. I pruned along a vine I was moving in a dozen places, removing tendrils and medium sized tertiaries. Is there such thing as an excessive amount of pruning? Is all pruning a shock to some degree?

Raising the bar here hopefully... Not posting anything really stupid cuz you guys will be on me if I do.

6/4/2019 9:32:10 PM

Upa Creek, Mo

I'll bite on question 2. From my experience, as long as you are not pruning the secondaries and they AND the main are well rooted, I don't see cutting terts and tendrils as a problem. When the plant is rooted everywhere, I find it hard to control the growth of terts and even quads until I get a pumpkin set and start taking the fuel. Lift up a board in the patch and see if you find a mass of roots on top of the soil like a cob web, if not then the plant is still trying to set.

6/5/2019 1:09:00 PM

Eastern Pennsylvania

In regards to the kink, I don’t think there is a direct relationship between the vine symmetry and the pumpkin. Like if you cut a chunk of the vine out, the pumpkin wouldn’t be lopsided. I’ve had to chop some stem due to rot or whatever many times in the past but never noticed an impact on the shape, just slowed growth to some degree.

For the pruning shock, not sure. Any pruning introduces some additional disease pressure. The more cuts, the more taxing on the plants immune system. Also, any pruned vine causes a change in the plants hormones. A vine tip is generally delivering a growth inhibiting hormone to the vine below it. Does the inhibitor continue from tertiary to secondary and from secondary to main vine? Not sure. Drastic changes in the hormone levels could cause confusion in the automated growth systems. One would expect this to actually increase growth in other areas of the plant. But a major shift could perhaps cause unexpected problems. Like how global warming can make for abnormally cool temperatures in some areas instead of hot. Not looking to debate global warming, but you know what I’m saying. Disorder and chaos from drastic man made changes. Good question.

6/7/2019 1:48:34 AM

Grittyville, WA

Thanks. Plant appears to have recovered but in the future--if there is a big pumpkin in my future-- I will try to be conscious of all disruptions to the plant's well-being/ stress free growth. In the future, I think stressing the plant for a couple days at that critical time of fruit formation, is something I should remember to avoid.

6/7/2019 4:29:21 PM

Grittyville, WA

My thinking is that ideally, it shouldnt have to recover, it should just be fast & smooth sailing. If anyone has further thoughts about what shocks em and what doesnt... please comment.

6/7/2019 4:37:59 PM

Central NY

With all due respect I’m still sticking with stank environment..no sense driving yourself nutz thinking about what’s wrong if it wasn’t right to begin with...for the garbage you start yourself out in, I think your doing great...ya know...beside Dickin around with bends on a piece of string and not weeding the garden that is...but lookin relatively good, it’s just not gonna get you anywhere close to the 1500 lbs you were talking about early in the season...im with hobbit...till an area for next season this season...till it a few times this summer..work all that stankness out...then add a few inches of good compost...not some nasty junk recipe you read on the internet...go to the town barn..or find out where Holland’s get there’s...test it early fall...plant your mustard seed crop to fumigate that area ...make adjustments to get you a lot closer to where you need to be...don’t mean to be nasty it’s just that your making this a lot harder then it needs to be...

6/7/2019 9:44:06 PM

Central NY

And no on the kink...(or the fake news global warming)....;)

6/7/2019 9:49:56 PM

Mill Bay, British Columbia

Lmao @ Porkchop...I had to google stank & stankness...

6/8/2019 12:54:26 AM

Grittyville, WA

I am just trying to deal with some issues not trying for 1500 on this plant. You guys are too competitive for me... Thanks though.

6/8/2019 5:55:23 AM

Grittyville, WA

I pretty much hear you & agree. Not totally giving up but u can see my patches are a mess. Guess I am not trying for 1500 this year...

6/8/2019 6:18:46 AM

Westmoreland, KS

It's not really about being competitive or about hitting 1500 pounds. It's the fact that you write pages and pages of notes but all of what you write won't do you any good if you are starting with bad dirt. I would take porkchops advice as he is spot on. Basically start completely over and then keep your notes. Then what you are doing year after year will actually help. As for this year worry less and just hope for the best.

6/10/2019 11:14:22 PM

Grittyville, WA

Yeah... I have issues. Not discouraged really. I am totally fine with where the AG's are at but yeah if I could fast forward to next year I probably would... I'd like to grow a really big one....

6/11/2019 1:05:48 AM

Grittyville, WA

My plants aren't that bad. But I would like to grow some really monster plants in the future. I agree--I will have to make some changes.

6/11/2019 1:20:06 AM