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Re: Vine Size

Pumkinguy@aol.com wrote:
> 
> Stewart,
>    Most , but not all, world class pumpkins are set on the main vine. The
> gentleman with the gardening show is correct when he says that pinching
> growth will stimulate side vines, branching and flowering. When you pinch
> growing tips you are altering the hormonal balance in the plant which creates
> the branching. This may be O.K. for flowers or ornamentals but would not be
> wise on a giant pumpkin. I can't imagine terminating a nice 2 inch main vine
> before it has flowered, to set one on a skinny side vine. If you are having
> trouble setting fruit, by all means, try to set fruit on side vines or
> anywhere you can.....virtually all top growers, if given a choice, would set
> fruit on a main vine. I have seen Atlantic Giants branch so severely that
> they lost their main vine and just had a mess of skinny branched vines. I
> believe this garden show man is trying to apply a proven technique for
> African Violets to the Atlantic Giant.....some horticultural techniques do
> not apply to everything. Keep your main vine and try to set fruit on it and
> terminate main and side vines when the plant is big enough. Most everyone
> feels that 500 to 1,000 square feet is a good sized plant. 500 might be the
> minimum. Bernard Lavery is a good grower, but if he said that a 128 square
> foot plant is all you need, I think he is way off the mark. If you set a
> fruit 10 or 15 feet out, you would have to terminate the main vine right
> after the fruit and have 4 foot side vines....there is no way that is big
> enough. Leaves are the source of food for the plant and it doesn't make sense
> to limit them , that severely. If you grew a 600 pounder on a plant that
> small, maybe it could have been 750 pounds with more leaves. To each his own.
>                                              pumkinguy@aol.com

I'm a little confused about the side vines - just when should I
terminate them? Should I cut off some of the side vines?  I have 3 side
vines.  My main vine is about 7 ft long & doing fine.  I just found my
first female flower about 6 ft out on the main vine. I'm thinking about
pollinating this one when the time comes.  I have little boy flowers all
over the place.  Should I pinch some of these off? Hmmmmm. A little lite
bulb just went off in my head - I should pollinate a few girl flowers at
strategic locations & let the plant grow big so that it can supply the
pumpkin/s. Then remove the lesser pumpkins - only keep 1 or 2?  of the
larger/hardier pumpkins. Am I headed in the right direction?  Also, I've
noticed that my main vine growth has slowed down some since the side
vines have appeared which makes sense I guess.

Ohhh! I've been thinking about the discussion this past winter about
what to put under the pumpkin to keep it off of the moist soil so it
won't rot.  There was a "Coke" truck pulled up at the gas station today
& I was daydreaming as my hubby was pumping gas & I glanced over at the
truck & watched the guy unloading Coke bottles - & there it was!!! A
plastic pallet! with drainage holes. Wouldn't that make a perfect
pedestal for a pumpkin!!!



Bev from NC
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