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Re: also need help

Hi Teri,

I would give them all a shot.  Don't cut any of them off until it is clear which of them are growing the fastest.  Only cull those that are growing deformed or have clearly stopped growing.  When several clear winners emerge then I would cull down to the best two or three.

Also it is possible to grow Atlantic Giants on the blossom end.  However, you must protect the blossom stub which protrudes from the bottom of the pumpkin.  If it gets crushed, the pumpkin rots from the bottom.  I experimented with growing AG's on the blossom end this year to get a nice shape.  I placed the pumpkins on 2" thick insulation board and cut out a circle in it for the blossom stub.  I have four pumpkins on my 789 Zunino growing this way.  The top three are 350, 300 and 250 pounds.  All have grown into a nice shape:


Olivia poses by "Cyndi" just starting to turn orange and approx. 350 pounds
(note the 2' insulation under the pumpkin)

I have just started another three pumpkins on this amazing plant which now covers about 1,200 square feet and is still going strong.  I have grown a total of 1,750 pounds of pumpkin on this plant so far.  Unfortunately, the two biggest split and went to that big pumpkin patch in the sky.

The three I just started should go orange before halloween and push the total to over a ton.

Never give up. Never surrender!

vince
 

--- Therese Dillon <terid@optonline.net> wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> We're here in southern CT and had written about
> losing a nice pumpkin
> (our first) in early August due to the blossom end
> rotting out.  With
> encouragement from other growers we kept the plant
> going and now have a
> baseball-sized pumpkin on the other end of the
> plant.  This is a small
> raised-bed situation, but a healthy plant
> nonetheless.  The fruit is
> growing on one of the smaller (thinner) vines that
> shoot off the main
> right where it goes into the ground.  It's about
> eight feet out.
>
> Should we cut off some of the other vines to give it
> a better chance?
> Should we bag it entirely?  At this point we would
> just like something
> resembling a pumpkin by Halloween.  We have learned
> to lay the pumpkin
> on its side this time to avoid the rot.  There are
> also lots more
> fertilized females but they are smaller.  Can't
> decide to whack 'em or
> not.  Anyone out there doing late pumpkins  Any
> advice appreciated.
> Thanks.  Teri & son Garrett
>
 

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