Re: vine burial

Hi Bridgette,


1.  No your growth pattern is not normal.  My guess is that
your burying of the vine ends shocked the plant.  
2. I do not recommend burying vine tips once they are
terminated as I explained before. I've seen fresh cut vine tips
bleed for weeks if buried.  Let terminated vines air dry and
heal.  This will reduce fluid loss.  I use bamboo stakes in a
crossing pattern to hold down the end of the vine at the last
leaf junction to keep the wind from flipping the terminated
vines.
3.  About an hour a day per plant is how much therapy I need to
keep myself evenly unbalanced....

vince


--- Bridgette Antoinette Tojek <honeybempowered@gmail.com>
wrote:

> Here is what happened: I pollinated on July 13th, and once
> the fruit
> looked to be about beach ball size, I started measuring for
> estimated
> weight on a daily basis. I had a few days of 3lb growth and
> the next
> few days had a 5 lb growth and then a few nights experienced
> 12 lbs
> for two days. It was worth looking forward too every morning!
> I could
> visibly see the change- and let me tell you the shoulders on
> this chic
> are wider than my boys and he is a Marine! That day I decided
> to bury
> all the secondary vines and the few tertiaries. I went and
> put plant
> food stakes by each buried vine and I had to feed the
> surrounding
> companion planted sunflowers and grass with a 6-10-10. I also
> removed
> all female blossoms and some male blossoms. I guess I put her
> through
> the wringer! I measured the next two days and there was no
> growth at
> all. I was so discouraged.  I figured the plant was healing
> herself
> and diverting energies to the buried vines, maybe growing tap
> roots.
> Then the leaves started turning yellow- I am guessing I over
> fed it.
> Three days after I culled blossoms and buried vines, I am
> starting to
> have a 3 lb daily gain, that has been for the last few nights
> anyway.
> Its as if I am back at the starting block.
> I also put a smartgrow pad around the base which has a slow
> releasing
> feed as well as a moisture preservation component but most
> importantly
> slug repellent.  I have yet to have to use Sevin- the
> Japanese beetles
> are not too bad and I have not seen the moth that has the SVB
> in my
> area yet. I did buy a 5% dust and make keen daily
> observations. I will
> be ready in case I need to dust. Everything that is there are
> attacking the  12 ft tall sunflowers, not the pumpkin. One
> sunflower
> is being herbiverized from the inside out by the ants but are
> not
> touching the pumpkin. I did not remove the grass- I figured
> just as
> many good things are there as bad. Next year I will remove
> grass but
> plan to keep the sunflowers as companions.
> So I guess the main point is that the pumpkin was
> experiencing
> phenomenal growth and I decided to bury the vines, cull the
> blossoms
> and now I have stunted the growth considerably with only 7
> weeks left
> to weight off.  I was so psyched that at day 30, I had a 
> fruit that
> exceeded 200 pounds and this is my first year growing and now
> it seems
> as if I may have just lost my chance. My fruit is 8 ft from
> the base
> and there is 15 ft more vine past the fruit but all my leaves
> are
> considerably small for being on a Giant.  I think I may not
> bury the
> end of it because I do not want to depress the growth like I
> did the
> first time because if that discouragement creeps back in to
> my life, I
> may just find myself curled up in the corner in a fetal
> position
> calling for my grandma! !:
> 1:Is this growth pattern normal?
> 2: Do you think I need to bury the terminus of the primary
> vine and
> 3: How many hours a week does the average competitive giant
> pumpkin
> grower spend in therapy?
> 
> 
> On Mon, Aug 18, 2008 at 11:51 AM, vince
> <anaid_tecuod@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > I always let the main vine continue to grow until it
> reaches
> > the end of the patch which is about 30 feet.  Many growers
> will
> > terminate it at some point.  I think this is probably
> pretty
> > safe to do at about day 50 or so at which time all vines
> should
> > be terminated.  I have seen significant pumpkin growth to
> day
> > 100.  I like to have some newer leaves on the plant to help
> > support that late growth.
> >
> > vince
> >
> > --- Bridgette Antoinette Tojek <honeybempowered@gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> >> My main concern now is the Primary Vine. I removed all
> female
> >> blossoms, as opposed to the blossom and fruit from the
> >> primary vine.
> >> That was how I culled. Every time I removed the blossom
> that
> >> was at
> >> the end, a new one would grow. This put on three more feet
> >> because it
> >> happened three times. I was trying to divert all energy to
> >> the fruit
> >> but as I culled, each time one more foot of new vegetative
> >> growth
> >> appeared with a new female at the end. What do I do with
> the
> >> terminal
> >> end of the primary vine because once again, a new female
> is
> >> emerging.
> >>
> >> On Sun, Aug 17, 2008 at 11:04 PM, vince
> >> <anaid_tecuod@yahoo.com> wrote:
> >> > When terminating a vine or pinching off a teriary, I
> >> usually do
> >> > not bury the ends but leave them to dry in the air to
> >> reduce
> >> > the chance of causing the severed end to rot.  They will
> >> air
> >> > dry in a few days and I've never had a problem.  I
> usually
> >> > pinch off teriaries when they are very small which
> leaves a
> >> > very minor injury.  When I terminate larger secondaries,
> I
> >> > always cut right   at the far edge of a leaf juction so
> as
> >> not
> >> > to leave a long hollow tube of vine.  The hollow part
> >> narrows
> >> > right at a leaf junction.
> >> >
> >> > I don't believe burying the ends of the vines provides
> any
> >> > benefit and could cause rot problems.
> >> >
> >> > vince
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > --- Bridgette Antoinette Tojek
> <honeybempowered@gmail.com>
> >> > wrote:
> >> >
> >> >> Thanks for that info- I will carefully evaluate what I
> >> have
> >> >> been
> >> >> feeding the plant and try to decide what went wrong. I
> >> also
> >> >> do not
> >> >> know what it means to pinch the vine. Is this simply
> >> bending
> >> >> the end
> >> >> and then burying it? Kind of clamping the end of the
> vine?
> >> I
> >> >> just
> >> >> worry about leaving an opening/ gap for bacteria and
> such.
> >> >> But I need
> >> >> to do this as soon as possible but am reluctant to do
> so
> >> >> without a
> >> >> response from the experts. I am sure it seems simple
> >> enough
> >> >> to most but to me it seems as if I am missing
> something.
> >> >> Sorry
> >> >> Bridgette
> >> >
> >> >
> >>
> >
>
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