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Arcola, IL, USA

I have looked in a lot of posts, but no one seems to ever answer this question. How much of the vine do you bury with dirt? The Whole Vine, or just at the leaves where the roots come out? Also how far away from the stump should you start to cover the vine, etc. Can anyone clarify this? Thanks!!

1/26/2006 11:14:44 PM

Whidbey Island

You will get a lot of opinions. Mine is first, but that does not mean it is best.

I dig a trench in front of the advancing main vine or secondary vine, gently lay the vine down into the trench as the vine grows, and then I backfill with the soil over the entire vine. To keep the vine buried until the rootlets grow, I put an old brick on top of the soil over the vine. After a few days I advance the soil covering and move the brick. I bury the main vine about 2 feet from the stump out to about 6 - 10 feet and I bury all of the secondary vines. When all is done, I have a smooth surface with nothing but leaf stalks coming out from the soil. Once the final pumpkin is growing, one must slide a knife under the vines near the kin to cut the rootlets and to relieve root-stress.

1/26/2006 11:45:58 PM

Paradise Mountain, New York

I bury every vine......

1/27/2006 12:51:52 AM

Warwood

I bury every vine, the entire vine with at least 2" of soil over the top of the vine. I keep them buried due to the SVB moth. If it's buried they have a harder time finding egg laying area. If I see any leaf wilt at all I gently uncover the vine and look for the culprit. A hole bored in the vine undoubtedly means the SVB borer is at work and I need to step up my pesticide program and dig out the borer in the vine. Don

1/27/2006 7:17:19 AM

Joliet, IL

i have completely buried the vines in the past, but i had some rot trouble on a main that went un-noticed due to being buried. i have now decided to only bury at the leaf junctions to make sure every tap root gets in the soil. demand cs (same as warrior)insecticide alternated with talstar one keeps the svb in check for me with enough assurance that i am not worried about burying the vine completely for protection against the bastards. 3 years ago i had svbs like crazy and i have witnessed first hand their behavior while stalking them with a fly swatter. their favorite place to lie their eggs is in the corner of a leaf junction, but they will also lay eggs on leaf stalks from the vines and up to 6 inches. the grubs enter through the leaf stalks too and then travel down into the vine. once i saw this behavior, burying the vine completely may deter them somewhat, but not completely. good insecticide is the only solution in my eyes. they still arrive every year, but i haven't had any damage in the past 2 years. burying vines also helps keep the plants anchored from wind damage in storms. since i will only be burying at the leaf juctions, i will be leaving in bamboo stakes a little longer this year until i am certain the the tap roots are deeply rooted.
this is going to be my approach, but i would also like to hear more responses as to what method others use and why.

1/27/2006 9:05:36 AM

huntsburg,ohio

only sides for me never the main.Jerry

1/27/2006 9:20:26 AM

Taber, Alberta

Jerry, what's the reason for not burying the main?
Alan

1/27/2006 9:24:30 AM

Montoursville, PA

I burry all and cover all with mulch as the secondary vines advance from the main.

1/27/2006 9:26:20 AM

Rhode Island

heres my take on vine buring
we bury main and sides early on to encourage better tap growth and stake the ends of each vine. once we have set our pumpkins we go back and uncover the main for two reasons.
1. if pumpkin vines were meant to grow underground nature would have developed them that way. when you bury the vines you are actually burying part of the plant.( with borers so vicious in our neck of the woods burying early on is almost a necessity).if your vines lay down properly then you can get away with just covering the tap root areas and anchoring the tips
2. also,if we dont vine bury its very difficuly to anchor the plant early on. winds can put you out of business faster than any animal could. to bury or not to bury is a trade off consideration.

uncovering the main once your fruit is set is a good practice, you can observe the main daily and spot any potential problems. also i believe the main stays much healthier when it can receive more air,sun light and better drainage.
pap

1/27/2006 10:59:31 AM

Mill Bay, British Columbia

No vine borers here but I do dig a trench like Lee does in front of the vines (secondaries only)and bury them about 3" down. I keep an extra pile of compost in the ready just to help the cause.

I don't bury the main vine for several reasons like pap mentioned, but mainly because when I was first starting out, one of my mentors told me not to. Mainly so you can raise the vine gently along as the fruit grows.

1/27/2006 11:12:16 AM

Ray, North Dakota

Should a person bury the vine even if my yard is well sheltered against wind damage? My vines won't blow in my yard.

1/27/2006 12:55:33 PM

Eastern Pennsylvania

can you mulch with hardwood chips, or does the material have to be compost or dirt?

1/27/2006 2:18:05 PM

Montoursville, PA

Mother nature covers all her vines with the fall leaves plus warm weather weeds that go their course and fall over in place. They pretty well rot away by the end of the following summer.In nature there is a continual blowing and falling of organic material on top of any vine or other plant that happens to be there. We like to till the nearly rotted mulch materials into our soil, in the fall prep.

Wood chips make a fine permanent mulch material. They may not decompose enough to be tilled in the following fall. I would not use wood chips unless there were a permanent mulch program in place.

1/27/2006 5:16:54 PM

Norton, MA

I bury all secondaries at leaf nodes with compost. Need to make sure you put on enough or the wind, as mentioned, will take em away. Warrior T takes care of all my bugs and I've never had a single problem with it (as long as I'm good about using it!). I'll be using a wind fence this year too to help. AleX Noel.

1/27/2006 6:29:39 PM

Syracuse, NY

herbie--follow NorthShoreBoyz' and pap's instructions, and
YES, bury youvines as much as possible---it is not just for wind support and SVB protection.

1/29/2006 3:11:36 AM

Mocksville, NC

Just side vines for me this year

1/29/2006 12:02:55 PM

Mn

I leave my vines above ground. I may burry them this year though.

1/29/2006 4:31:26 PM