Re: Group Questions

Scott -
welcome to the group.
do you have internet access? if so you can find lots of good stuff on
Duncans pumpkin page:
http://www.eskimo.com/~mcalpin/pumkin.html
then go to:
"my secrets" 
"How to Grow ATLANTIC GIANT PUMPKINS"
"FAQ on Atlantic GiantTM Pumpkins" 


1. Does the AG's have just ONE main vine or many
mains?
generally AG's just have one main vine - but a few have two. 
it sounds like you have such a plant. 

2. If I didn't get to hand pollinate a female and it
appears to be growing a nice little pumpkin, do
I assume that the bees did their thing O.K?
probably- all you can do is wait.  people like to pollinate themselves
to make sure that it gets done and also so they can control what pollen
is used. pumpkins that are under pollinated can be misshapen and are
smaller than they could have been. 

3. Can I do away with some of the secondaries
and tertiaries once I have a good fruit set to channel
that growing energy to the pumpkin?
(Some of the secondaries also have pumpkins on
them. What do I do about those?)
 pumpkins: you want to have about 5-6 set pumpkins on one plant. the
main vine pumpkins are better than the secondaries.  ( although people
have grown big pumpkins on secondaries too).  pumpkins with stems
growing perpendicular to the vine are great- ones with angles close to
the vines are less ideal but still ok.  also you want pumpkins on an
outside curve of the main vine. you can train the main vine carefully
as it grows to do this. you want to keep track to the growth rate of the
set pumpkins by measuring them around the middle (also from stem to
blossom end if you want) you need to compare them from the same starting
size.  after some of them are the size of a beach ball then it is time
to cut back. (pumpkins can abort when they are the size of a basketball)

decide which ones are growing the fastest-  if you want the one big one
and have one clear leader then cut back to one pumpkin. if you have 2 or
3 that are close then you might want to leave those one and cut the
rest.  then cut back to one in a couple more weeks. these plants are big
and have lots of energy so some people are letting 2 or 3 pumpkins grow
on one plant. last year i heard of a grower that grew 3 large pumpkins
on one plant. once the pumpkins are growing and about the size of a
volleyball you want to slowly, a little every day over a couple of
weeks, move them to try and get the stem at the 90 degrees to the vine.
when the pumpkins get large the grow back towards the vine and put
pressure on vine.  then the vines can break. also you want to cut the
tap root on the vine where the pumpkin is growing and also the one on
either side too when the pumpkin gets bigger.  this allows the pumpkin
to lift the vine off the ground as it grows. 

 vines:  
most growers pinch off the tertiary vines when they first appear. this
helps to keep nice looking well shaped plant that grows well, allows
access to the plant and avoids a big tangled mess.  a good shape that
growers shoot for (depending on the size and shape of their patch) is a
Christmas tree or triangle shape.  the main vine growing straight out
from the stump with the secondaries growing perpendicular to it.  the
older secondaries are longer that give the triangle shape to it all.
if your plants are big now you might just want to try this from here on-
if the tertiaries vines are not to long then i would trim them off.
most secondaries are pinched at end and buried when they are 10 to 12
feet long.  some growers do less other do more.  if you have longer ones
i would not cut them shorter.  many main vines are pinched off and
buried about 10 to 15 feet past the pumpkin.  other just let it keep
growing all season. 
one more thing.  if you cover your vines with dirt at the intersections
of the leaves a new root ( the tap root) will grow there. on the top and
the bottom of the vine. so bury you vines - stay away from where your
pumpkins are though.  like 5-6 feet on either side. 

keep asking away with the questions- we don't mind answering them.  we
all still learn new stuff too. 

lots of luck-
Gordon Tanner
Maple Valley, WA
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