From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada

Hi Everyone,

I'm a first timer growing in a relatively small space (~400 square feet). Our spring has been cold so my plant is still on the smallish side but has mostly been growing well. I have a flower ready to pollinate June 29 that has about 15 secondaries behind it. There's another flower forming in the tip that is about two weeks away. I'm a better off waiting to pollinate a flower until I have a bigger plant even though it pushes my pollination date back by two weeks or should I go ahead with this one and continue to push growth until the plant fills my space? I know there is a trade-off with plant size to support the pumpkin and growing vines while the pumpkin is developing but I don't have a good sense of whether this is worth the two weeks I will lose from pollinating later. Thoughts?

6/29/2022 1:27:23 AM

East Sussex, UK

I always have the same predicament. Most growers will probably recommend to pollinate both flowers but most likely keep the second. It also depends a bit when your weigh-off is.

6/29/2022 4:47:37 AM

Bethlehem CT

Like Plummy says your weigh off date is a concern and also your climate will help in your decision. i.e. How long your season is and how hot and sunny it gets where you live will affect how big your pumpkin can get in a certain amount of time. (heat and sun make them grow fast)

6/29/2022 6:21:39 AM

I would pollinate the 1st one because you don't know what the 2nd pumpikn coming on will do. Than you'll be further out to the next pumpkin if that second one don't happen. If they both take pollination than compare the growth rate of both and than make a decision on which one to keep.

6/29/2022 7:36:29 AM

Benson, MN

Definitely pollinate the first one. 15 secondaries behind is just fine, granted we all hope for more. As far as the plant size, you will have 20 days after pollination to grow your plant before the pumpkin hopefully takes over and slows plant growth.

6/29/2022 7:53:02 AM

Kutztown, PA

A related question:

When the pumpkin takes off slowing plant growth is it better to dead head everything and let the pumpkin take the wheel or let the plant grow. Scenario: If you have 500 sf of plant and a basketball size pumpkin do you continue plant growth until you've got 800 - 1000 sf or terminate all or some portion of the secondary vines?

6/29/2022 8:49:19 AM

Benson, MN

I usually try to have most secondaries behind the pumpkin terminated by DAP20-30. But I don't terminate everything. I find I need some vines to grow to the end so I have continuous supply of fresh foliage. Last year I let 2 secondaries on each side before the pumpkin and the main continue to grow around and past the pumkin until the end of the year, and filled in my space with added tertiaries. I had everything terminated by mid/late September.

6/29/2022 9:49:08 AM

Grittyville, WA

It just depends when you want to harvest it. A nice thing about late pollinations in the maritime climate is they may still be growing in October... And a younger faster growing pumpkin is less likely to be a rotting one? (A minor downside of the early pollinations is they need to be babysat longer to make it to Halloween.) If you do go with a later pollination it may be worthwhile to devise some frost protection and keep the plant alive healthy well into October. The advantage of an earlier harvest is you can rip the plant out, avoid late season disease, and get a cover crop in!

6/29/2022 11:30:37 AM

Kutztown, PA

Instead of hijacking this thread I'll post a new question that's related - a little.

6/29/2022 1:13:24 PM

Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada

Thanks guys - weigh off is first weekend of October. I figured I would probably pollinate both but then the question is how to choose which to keep. Our summers tend to be dry and mild (daytime highs 70s and low 80s F, low to mid 20s C). Usually in early September our weather turns noticeably cooler and wetter. I'm not sure I'll be putting on many pounds in September, especially if vine health goes downhill because of rain.

6/30/2022 1:17:37 AM

Mill Bay, British Columbia

http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryViewOne.asp?eid=332116

7/1/2022 9:24:00 AM