Re: looking for CA sun

Lyle,  Sounds like your plant has matured and most likely won't go into a
huge growth spurt.  I would leave the side vines and plant size where it is
and watch the pumpkin grow.  
Now about the every other side vine theory.  I prune off every other side
vine from the beginning.  My thought on this is it limits the plant growth
and promotes fruit growth.  Yes, the leaves do tend to flatten out and they
actually grow a little larger in surface area.  The leaf index to plant
size is about the same as a plant that hasn't been  pruned in this manner.
I've toured many patches in the last couple of years and found huge
pumpkins on plants half the size of mine.  That's when I decided to try the
every other vine method.  Last year it worked for me and I'm having a
successful year again this year.  My pumpkins aren't as big as last years,
but they're young and waiting for a little warm weather to mature out.

Jon





At 08:47 PM 8/31/00 -0400, you wrote:
>Cant help you there Jon, but I do want to ask you a question I remember
>you ( I hope it was you) address in the CA Growers video. Someone
>mentioned cutting every other secondary off, but I cant remember why..
>Was this a late season trick to keep the pumpkin from splitting , yet
>keeping it viable, or was this a season long thing? I amhappy where my
>pumpkin is at right now, and dont want to lose it, but with a verywarm
>spell coming up, and already having a split stem, I dont want to lose
>her toa late season growth spurt. The outter skin is cantelouping very
>nice right now, having a hint of green in the webbing. Please elaborate
>if you can on the cutting of every other secondary and its purpose.
>Would you , if you were in my shoes, cut every other one to try and slow
>down the possibility of a growth spurt, or leave the entire thing go? I
>have a very heathy looking plant , over 500 leaves, and I attribute that
>to Warrior T for the bugs, daconil for the diseases, and Ironite from
>the soil. I have completely stopped fertilizing, except for fish
>emulsion... 
>
>I open this up to the list, but address it to Jon, since I recall him
>talking about this a while back.. 
>

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