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Buffalo, New York

i have been posting alot lately due to partly being new to this whole A.G. pumpkin thing.

mine is vining good now, the main vine is about about 5 feet now which i had to slowly curl back down the batch due to me not knowing which way the main vine would go.

my vines perpendicular from the main vine coming out of the stump are at about 3-4 feet long each.

i have my first secondary vines coming out of the main vine at about 6"-1' from the stump....and roughly every 12" after those, i have others starting.

my questions are:

1. how soon do i cut off the extra vines coming off the secondary vines and how and where do i cut them?

2. it is late june now and i live up in western New York. about what month do i harvest pumpkins which makes me wonders the end of september is only 3 months away, since my main vine is about 5 feet long, when should i start looking for female pumpkins to start growing and which one should i leave growing and which ones should i prune off?

sorry for all the questions, i just want to do everything i can, and since this is my first year growing these beasts of plants, i would be happy with a 100 LB pumpkin until i do this next year.

thanks.

6/26/2007 9:28:19 AM

1. cut off all the vines coming off the secondary vines. They are called tertiary vines and your plant will be a jumbled mess if you let them grow.

2. Lots of people say that seeds need about 50 or 60 days before they are mature inside the pumpkin. But with an early July pollination, some pumpkins are close to 90 days old by the weighoffs in early October, and even older than that at Halloween.
Your plant could start producing females at any point. There's no set "length" that they start producing females. at. They will look like little peas on the growth tip when you first spot them.

6/26/2007 6:26:01 PM

Rhode Island

jeremy

first of all is your real name RON JEREMY? and if so your plant should be bigger. LOL JUST KIDDING. WE DO THAT A LOT ON THIS SITE

QUESTION 1. WE CUT OFF THE THIRD STAGE GROWTH WHEN ITs AN INCH LONG OR WHEN VINE BURYING SECONDARIES ( WHICH EVER OPPORTUNITY PRESENTS ITSELF ) no need letting energy be taken away from the rest of the plant to grow sometthing thas not needed

QUESTION 2. YOU SHOULD START TO SEE SMALL PUMPKINS IN THE VERY TIP OF THE MAIN VINE ONCE THE MAIN GROWS ANOTHER COUPLE FEET. ONCE YOU SEE THE SMALL PUMPKIN YOU ARE LOOKING AT 9 TO 10 DAYS BEFORE THE PUMPKIN WILL BE LARGE ENOUGH TO OPEN HER FEMALE FLOWER AND BE POLLINATED. SAME GOES FOR SIDE VINES. BEING A NEW GROWER ID LEAVE ONE PUMPKIN ON THE MAIN AND ONE ON A SIDE VINE SO YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO SHOW FOR YOUR EFFORTS.

COMMENT --- GET YOURSELF SOME BOOKS ON THE SUBJECT. SOME GREAT ONES TO ALSO HELP GET YOU STARTED.

WHERE DO YOU LIVE IN WESTERN NEW YORK? I WAS BORN AND RAISED IN SILVER CREEK NY

PAP

6/26/2007 7:36:11 PM

Buffalo, New York

i had a baby pumpkin on the tip of the main vine a couple days ago when the vine was 3 feet long, i pulled her off though.

now almost 6' long, will leave the next one

north tonawanda, new york

6/27/2007 8:49:59 AM

Southeast

I dont know if anyone caught that Pap, but it is disgusting

7/2/2007 9:54:05 AM

Cornell, Wi

Pap , it sounds like pumpkins are not the only thing you guys like to grow big in Rhode Island. LOL

7/4/2007 9:11:36 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Jeremy,

Leave the rest of the females now. They might not be as far out on the main as you'd like but they'll make for good pollination practice for you. They can always be cut off later. Plus you might end up needing them.

The way Pap talks about Alan I'd say the RI boys are envious of the CT stock. Not everything grows big in RI. LOL

7/4/2007 11:52:57 PM