Re: AG problem

Jay:
In addition ot what Wayne said, (trimming some roots, using sand) you can also try to dig out some soil underneath the pumpkin so that it is on roughly level ground, avoiding the tendency to roll back onto the vine. I would NOT roll the pumpkin over to the west side under any circumstances, but you may end up with a situation where the pumpkin grows upside down (stem on bottom, blossom end up). That wouldn't be ideal, but it can be done. If so, I'd do a little digging under the vine/stem area to assure the weight of the fruit is supported by the soil and not the stem/vine...
Good luck...

Frank
Hudsonville, MI

 -----Original Message-----
From: J <steelhanky@yahoo.com>
Sent: Jul 26, 2005 5:10 AM
To: pumpkins@mallorn.com
Subject: AG problem

Think I have a problem, advice requested and appreciated. 

My patch slopes a bit, east end is high, slopes down westward.  One
of my vines crawls north to south, perpendicular to the slope.

I left (vacation) for 10 days.  While I was gone, a thumb-sized
pumpkin grew to a basketball.  Unfortunately, the fruit grew on the
east side of the vine.  In other words (boy I hope I'm explaining
this ok), the pumpkin is tending to want to roll downhill, meaning
it's resting on its vine right now.  As it grows (it's now the size
of a medicine ball, if you had one of those in gym class 30 years
ago), it's probably going to crush the vine, as the vine is being
used to support the fruit right now.

I'm sure I need to move the thing to ensure it survives and grows. 
Do I need to pull the pumpkin OVER the vine onto the other side to
prevent the pumpkin from crushing the vine?  Is it even possible to
move it that much at this point?  

I'm also thinking about inserting a couple shims at the soil line, so
the fruit will use the shims for support instead of the vine ... but
that seems like a lot of weight will then be concentrated on the
shims, resulting on them cutting into the pumpkin.

Thanks for any help.
Jay in TN



... Bartender!  I'll have what the gentleman on the floor is having.

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