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Kutztown, PA

Having tried to do justice to 4 plants last year I can honestly say the most intense work growing giant pumpkins is done in June. I literally spent every spare hour I had that month burying the vines of the four plants. My technique was simple: Once an unburied vine had about 4 leaf nodes on it I trenched in front of it using a hoop hoe and, cut off flowers, tendrils, and tertiaries, then shoveled dirt from the surrounding area over the oldest of the four nodes. What's your technique? Do you unbury vines later in the season? If you do, when do you do that?

12/9/2022 8:58:54 AM

Ironton, ohio

I bury nodes once it lays on the ground and I have enough vine/growth tip beyond to control with a bamboo stick. I use heavily saturated bagged topsoil, probably softball size handful, it keeps its shape and stays in place better than my native soil. Secondaries stay covered thru the season, I uncover my main vine nodes around dap 25-30. I had great secondary rooting from both top and bottom using this strategy. My main rotted on me costing me quite a bit in ‘21 leaving them covered so lesson learned!

12/9/2022 11:57:53 AM

valtierra/spain

Pruning and then burying is a big mistake, I have checked it. Soil pathogens will enter the plant in the areas you have pruned, both in tertiary, as well as flowers, as tendrils... I recommend pruning in the morning, or the day before, and burying in the afternoon or the next day. If when you prune, you give a little peroxide with a sprayer to the areas you have pruned, and you wait to bury in the afternoon would be ideal. That is, do the pruning before, and when it has dried well bury. I don't know if it will be right, but I think it's the best way to bury.

12/9/2022 3:49:35 PM

Western NY

For the most part, I've switched to Ruben's method - prune and position everything ahead of time, then bury later.

Also - I now keep 90% of the tendrils attached, although a lot of them get crushed the same way Paton's deal with theirs.

Gary - if it's a major time crunch, what you can do is stagger your start times. Start one two weeks earlier than normal if you can get away with it, and maybe another later on. It spreads the workload out a bit.

12/9/2022 4:42:00 PM

Whidbey Island

I agree not to prune and bury. I had an infestation of Agrobacter that attacked the nodes and destroyed the roots. I have even gone to far as to not prune the tertiaries until after they emerge from the soil, but that is a major hassle as the vine has usually grown so much as to make reaching the tertiaries very difficult. Pruning and letting dry is the way to go, IMO.

12/9/2022 10:34:45 PM

Auburn California

Ruben is that straight peroxide or what dilution rate do you use. Thanx in advance

12/9/2022 11:43:21 PM

valtierra/spain

I prepare a 9% peroxide sprayer, but I reduce it with water by 25%, it is approximately 2% peroxide. With 2% I think it's enough. But you can use the disinfectant you want, it can also be reduced alcohol, or some mild solution of ecological fungicide, something that dries the wound and does not allow fungi to penetrate those areas. Although it seems that it is a lot of work, it is not so much, because in the morning in half an hour you can do the pruning, and then when you bury it faster, not having to prune anything. The Ducks do not remove the tendrils, the more they prune the more danger there is some disease to the plant, but I don't like the tendrils, and neither do the flowers. Male flowers when they rot are also dangerous. That's why I only leave the male flowers of the main guide, which I sometimes use, or else I use the pollinators of the pots.

12/10/2022 1:31:38 AM

Syracuse, NY

So, what I'm hearing is that if you cut off a vine and it has a gaping hole that extends back a few inches or more, the severed secondary vine or tertiary or tendril is gonna allow pathogens that otherwise would not affect the plant TO affect the plant by entering the severed appendage(s) through the severed flesh of it (eeewww);
As far as I recall without researching it, anything attached to any vine can be trimmed down to nothing up against whichever part it was severed FROM.
Else, we'd be able to inflate the plant with...whooooaaahhhh....

With this in mind, when I prune off the end of a vine I leave the last leaf on it as a 'stopper' to allow the last leaf to grow huge at the end of its permitted 'run' and I have not yet graduated to burying practically ANY vines butt when I do, I will do the pruning one day and the burying the next or later - just to be safe.

However, just so that these ideas are mentioned in a proper venue, here, I had thought for awhile now that using a small propane torch to cauterize the tips of whatever appendages are pruned off would not only be effective but also a virtually-insane way to do it if it were to work effectively;
It is frequently done with a laser during may types of surgery to stop bleeding and of course, to finish up an operation. Maybe pruning is an operation. Hmmmm...
Yup! SO, consider it.

12/10/2022 6:18:46 AM

Syracuse, NY

Also, if anyone thinks of:

A. A biodegradable, sealing sleeve or tip of some sort that could go over the tip of the severed appendage, if it's a concern that some illness will be getting back into the plant (will it not bring the plant down anyway?) - I'm thinking of whe a baby gets socks put on by a parent for the day - "there you go, Baby!" and therfore protected from any dirty floor or circumstances thereafter;

and/or

B. A method of merely folding over the vine itself or the pruned end of it, without breaking and damaging the capillaries that MAY be enroute back to the plant itself.

Fold and clamp -Isn't that what British Petroleum had to do and it was the simplest idea
EVER to stop that oil 'Spill'? Wish I had put ANY time into thinking about a solution to that. They wouldn't have listened, butt at least I'd have thought ABOUT it, lol---eg

PS---I enjoy pruning off a vine at the last leaf I intend to leave (lol) on it, cutting the trailing vine off as close as possible to the leading vine's last leaf's curvature upward and this allows a supportive side 'shoot' from the secondary or main vine to become a support sticking out that itself doesn't get buried fully, butt is still there and will dry naturally as well, with a leaf still on it.
I don't THINK there is any route (lol) inward to the main plant in this fashion;
Hope I've helped, lol! later---eric g

12/10/2022 6:19:08 AM

Torrance, Ca.

Rmen and Andy Wolf are spot on. If you spend the little extra time to bury this way, disease will have a much harder time getting into the plant. This with the proper chemicals for the diseases you deal with in your patch, you'll have a much healthier plant later in the season.

The longer we keep the disease away ( we all get disease if you're watering the way you should be to get a big one ) the bigger that fruit will be come weigh off day.:)

Also, once the top tap root has made its way into the soil, I clean off that buried vine so it can get air circulation. I have terrible disease issues and still grew well over 1700 this year.2023 will be a year off just working on pushing disease back for 2024.

12/11/2022 1:44:26 PM

Syracuse, NY

I think we all pretty much said the same thing;
I think there were some growers weigh back that even didn't prune anything
OFF of the plants and allowed all vines to grow no matter what, but buried them also.

Rmen - I just bought some H2O2 for other reasons tonight and it is 3% -
This can go right onto a cut or anything on a person and I also use it to soak seeds suspected to have residual bacteria/fungus on them from when they were dried and have no problems with it -
If it were to be more convenient for you, 3% might even be cheaper.
Good Luck in '23---eg

12/11/2022 9:50:00 PM

Kutztown, PA

Thanks for all of that! So, this year I'll spray everything I cut with a solution of hydrogen peroxide. Let the wounds heal for a day, then bury. I guess I'll leave most of the tendrils. I may stagger the planting dates like Andy suggested or just continue to suffer and work on my tan :).

12/12/2022 2:54:15 PM

Syracuse, NY

'Where did Garwolf go?'
'I dunno, but we haven't seen him in days and yet,
his plants are looking great! Look at the color on
that one fruit...'; Ha ha eg

12/12/2022 3:04:06 PM

Stanwood, Washington

I don't wait for the vines to grow to prune. I pinch my tertiaries off with my fingers while they are very tiny and still out near the tip of the vine. By the time the vine has grown out far enough for the node to lay down and ready to bury, everything is healed up and you can't even tell there was ever a vine there.

12/12/2022 3:41:24 PM

Kutztown, PA

pumpkinpal2 - GPC may have to ask some of the weigh off sites to change weigh dates to February :)

12/12/2022 3:51:36 PM

Syracuse, NY

1 - Thanks for mentioning that, Captain, as I get going doing that as well butt need to make it a full-on process in MY case;
I've had a lot of half-pruned plants in my time (usually only on the side where the walking boards are, so far, lol) and pinch-pruning really gets us 'in touch' with our plants more than anything else---eric g

2 - Okay, SNOWkin!, lol---eg

12/12/2022 5:44:56 PM

Diamond, Ohio

I do like Captain 97 says. Are there times when I get behind yes, but when I’m burying I pick off everything out to the tip and sometime in the tip.

12/12/2022 6:54:24 PM

Spring Hope, N.C. - USA

in south dont bury, use wheat straw use because it cools soil reduces disease increases growing area in soil, because microbes need cooler soil in south,tendrils help protect new growth until leaves develop.wheatstraw carbon to nitrogen 80 to 1 want breakdown to fast causing bad microbes. Hope this helps southern growers.

12/18/2022 8:35:27 AM