RE: Side viners
Vince,
The deed has been done. The side vine fruit was perfect, in shape and
color it was destined to rival the 1233.5 Reiss (well, easy to say that
now...). And I took the knife and cut it off.
This morning I had a nice 4.5 to 5 inch gain on the main vine fruit.
Previously it had been gaining 3 to 4 inches per day.
Regards, Cliff
vince <anaid_tecuod@yahoo.com> wrote: Cliff,
I faced a similar dilemma a few years back. I set a pumpkin on
a side vine and let it go too long. It was about 150 pounds
and growing 20 pounds a day while the one on the main had
stalled out at about 16 pounds a day. I finally had to decide
and wacked the one on the side vine one morning. The next
morning the weight gain on the main pumpkin jumped to 26 pounds
a day and a few days later it was cruising at 30 pounds a day.
The moral of the story is that after a pumpkin on an early side
vine hits 30" or so it draws down the plant enough to slow down
everything downstream on the main. As soon as it is wacked the
rest of the plant benefits. The benefits will be seen
immediately....
The pumpkin on the sidevine is stealling juice from your main
set as I type. What would you rather have - two smaller
pumpkins or a shot at a big one?
That decision is all yours....
vince
ps - The pumpkin on the main in my case ended at 971 pounds...
--- Cliff Warren wrote:
> I've got a very similar dilemma. The 981 Zunino is the only
> plant I have that is worth anything. On it I have a gorgeous
> fruit on the first secondary that is approaching 50 inches,
> while on the main I have a fruit that is approaching 30
> inches and growing as we speak. Now, I WANT to have two
> fruits, one for a fair and one for a final weighoff. I don't
> know what else the rest of the patch will give me. I should
> be able to produce some ugly 300 pounder from somewhere else
> in the patch....
>
> Anyway, I'm faced with the decision, "Should I remove the
> fruit on the secondary and go for it all on the main vine
> fruit?" And then a question to the experts, if this secondary
> fruit is already at 50 inches, have I waited too long? Will
> the main vine fruit get a good benefit if I cull the
> secondary now?
>
> Thanks in advance for any help, Cliff
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