From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Sacramento, Ca USA

I have three plants in the patch that I need to cull down to one. I only have about 200 sq. ft in the patch but the plants can grow on the lawn as much as they need. All of the seeds are Atlantic Giants of unknown genetics. Plant 1 has a main vine of 36", very robust and growing at about 5" per day at this point. the stem is average size and a bit yellow. Plant 2 is much like plant one except the stem is bigger and greener but it is growing 90 degrees in the wrong direction. Plant 3 has a main vine of only 21" but has bigger greener leaves than the rest. The stump is also bigger. As a rookie I may be wrong but Plant 3 may have been a double vine. It had many leaves close together, about 15, before it vined. I pinched off two vines that started from about the same place as the much longer main. Any suggestions as to which plant to keep and which should go.

6/11/2003 12:37:33 AM

Garden State Pumpkins

Hey Tim, Got some good questions and pictures always help. Yellowing of the vine is genetic some are green some are yellow/green so that is not a concern. Stump thickness is a good sign but if it's a mutation might be a problem. Not sure but Sacramento sounds like a hot place to me. Watch the plants and look for the one that seems not to wilt in the sun. It already sounds like one plant is telling you it wants to stay with a good growth rate. I reccomend the you get a copy of "how to grow world class pumpkins II" by Don Langevin and reading as many as the back posts using the site search engine for specific questions you have. You won't need extra slack til you get near the area of fruit set so get that vine pointed where you want it to go as soon as you can and worry about slack 10-12 feet out. Good Luck and Grow em Big! Chuck

6/11/2003 8:33:00 AM

Sacramento, Ca USA

Thanks for the response Chuck. You gave some good answers. With most good answers they bring more questions to mind. My choice is getting harder, not easier. Both of my larger plants are gaining about 4" per day. Both up to about 42" mains. The plant going in the right direction has a secondary vine of 9" while the one going 90 degrees off has a secondary vine of 19". I have started redirectioning the vine. It will be easy to get going in the right direction if the other plants are culled. The third plant is now 29" with leaves 2 or 3 inches bigger than the other plants. I'm tempted to keep the smaller plant due to the larger stump and leave. At this point in the game is 1' difference that big of deal? Help Please!

6/12/2003 9:36:45 PM