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accomack, Va

Hello,
I read on another website about pruning vines to create bigger pumpkins. I think the idea was to remove parts of the vine that didn't need to be ther for the sake of reducing competition with the fruit. Is this a good idea? If so, what do you prune and when? I plan on having some pupkin vines going around the edge of my garden, and I could grow twice as many vines if I can head them back to about 25'. If not, then I'll just have to dig a new garden for pumkins! By the way, I'm groing big max pumpkins, not the giant type (next year!).
thanks,
kurt

3/24/2005 12:06:09 PM

Topsfield, Ma.

Some AG growers will prune every other or every third secondary vine off the main vine to keep the leaf canopy open and allow for access for spraying or weeding. One usually finds that leaves make up for this added space by growing larger. There's usually not any competition for plant energy as we typically grow only one fruit per plant!
Hope that helps!

3/25/2005 7:57:46 PM