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No Place Special

On one of my state fair plants at about 7’ out on the main vine (main is about 9 – 10’ total) I found a split yesterday. Its about 6” long and runs WITH the vine not against it. Its separated enough that you can easily see inside the vine. Not sure what caused the split but im guessing the extreme temperature changes from hot earlier this spring to cold and wet with no sun this last 7 days. I am wondering what to do about this and if anyone has grown one of these out with success? I can see three options: #1 Keep the main vine and hope that the split has little impact on the fruit potential. (At this point I have no set fruit but was hoping for a June 1st keeper to be set) #2 Train the first secondary before this split into a new main vine. I have grown pumpkins in this manner before and had success but wonder if and how much I might possibly loose from this. And #3 I could pull the plant and replace it with an Anamosa October plant. Any opinions, thoughts or ideas are greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Mike Frantz

5/18/2006 11:26:39 AM

Indiana

no cuts across xylem and phloem mean no nutrient restriction. Dont worry about it, happens to me all the time

5/18/2006 11:38:45 AM

Billerica,Massachusetts

mike in the past i have use twist ties to close the split and then remove them in a few weeks once the plant heals
Glenn

5/18/2006 11:42:36 AM

4th option,,throw in the towel,,send Don the trophy and appologize for packing that mud in last year !!!

sry,,,I saw the opening,,,LOL

Good luck Mike, I hope it heals so we can all watch you 2 compete the rest of the summer!!

5/18/2006 12:07:28 PM

Minnesota([email protected])

I agree with Tom.
He's got a lot of experience behind him ,to back him, up as well.

5/18/2006 12:34:48 PM

Billerica,Massachusetts

yeah, i'd have to admit i am kind of new at this, as this would be only my 18th year growing AG'S

an open vine allows access for insects.

5/18/2006 1:29:01 PM

Minnesota([email protected])

I wasn't trying to disregard your advice Borer. You make a good point.
This is only my 3rd year growing these things, and I've only had one vine split this way; though not as of long a split. Mine healed over, but the opening remained. Luckily, no harm was observed.

5/18/2006 1:36:51 PM

Farmville, Virginia ([email protected])

Wouldn't it be a good idea to cover this split with dirt?

5/18/2006 2:27:24 PM

Picton,ON ([email protected])

My growing buddy, Brian had one split last year only ours was caused by a 95lb golden retriever. The plant grew a nice pumpkin that we lost to rot at 518 lbs est. I wondered if the split didn't contribute to loosing the pumpkin. I would suggest figuring out some way to protect the split from moisture, and coating with fungicide paste. I like Glenn's idea of closing the split with twist ties, or would cable ties work better? We coated our split last year with fungicide several times but did not protect from moisture. It didn't heal very well and I felt it definatly effected the pumpkin. I thought about wraping in shrink wrap but I think the air needs to get at it to help heal. I wondered about building a "little roof" over the split to keep the rain off, plus putting somthing under it to help keep it dry. I wouldn't cover with soil, because this could be a entry method for some of the soil born pathogens.
Good luck!
John

5/18/2006 3:56:17 PM

Indiana

With all due respect, why would you try and close the split after it has been exposed to pathogens, and seal the pathogens inside? Even a bacterial infection can cause decay and rot. The inside of a vine is sterile until split, or entered by an insect or other foreign matter. After that its not strile, and you want it open and dry as fast as possible. Exposure to direct sunlight, fungicides, and anything of the like will cause it to "scab" for lack of a better word. After its scabbed over, its just like the outside of a vine, and the only downfall I can think of is a moisture basin that should be kept as dry as possible.

Tom

5/18/2006 5:39:11 PM

I don't think it's a problem Mike. They heal over and get big scabs like Tom said. And any insect hungry enough will probably eat through an unsplit vine anyways.

5/18/2006 6:30:50 PM

[email protected]

Agreed. A split is better left in the open air to callous over & dry. Any insect or disease that is capable of entering the split is just as capable at entering without the split. Sometimes the less we input the better we are.

5/18/2006 7:04:54 PM

Rapid City, SD

put a splint on er and remove it in a week or so......

5/18/2006 9:45:29 PM

Owensboro, Ky.

Okay, so Mike and Don are the only ones going to the fair??? LOL...Seriously, Tom and all...treat the split with captan or something??? or just leave it alone and let it dry and heal??? I have had lateral splits every year...yes both of them...and have dusted lightly with captan and tried to keep dry, and plant kept right on growing like nothin ever happened. See ya at the fair!!! Peace, Wayne

5/18/2006 10:08:41 PM

Woodburn, Indiana

I have heard a little roundup will help.

5/19/2006 12:08:03 AM

Ohio

Mike, I know you have a million ways of your own how you would fix this but I like "THE BORERS" idea with the bread ties. I had about a 4 inch split at about 8 feet out on my 845 I grew last year,all I did was paint a really really light coat of deconil mix with water(Not straight from the bottle) and then used two bread ties to put the splits back together.After about 2 weeks in grafted back together and had a narley looking, thick looking knot where it grew back together. I probably didnt even need the deconil but I used it anyway. I caught this split that was running long ways as soon as it happend also. I also did this on a 572 pumpkin I grew, I split the main against the grain almost 40 percent in half trying to do the S pattern to quick, It also grew back together the same way. I made sure I kept it dry though.

Brooks

5/19/2006 5:18:15 AM

huntsburg,ohio

put a fan on it keep it dry it will heal up and be fine.Jerry

5/19/2006 9:01:03 AM

[email protected]

Jerry & Tom are GROWERS!!! Together they've produced more tonnage than all the rest of BPs posters combined.

DO NOT wrap stuff around a vine unless it is in danger of snapping ACROSS a vascular tube. Bread ties, etc wrapped around the vine will constrict the vascular tubes. So this repair is likely to CAUSE the problem we are trying to prevent but don't yet have.

Think about a lamp cord. If we split the 2 wires apart current still flows right? Try to think like those 2 wires are vascular tubes in the vine. Bread ties are not elastic. If the vine expands with a non-elastic wire wrapped around it what's going to happen? Same as if we cut the lamp cord. No flow.

Leave the splits open to dry. Use fans like Jerry said. Dust with a fungicide IF it is wet. But don't wrap stuff around the vine or bury it. The vine will rot or snap clean in half in most cases.

5/19/2006 9:28:45 AM

Ohio

OK! OK! NO MORE WRAPPING STUFF AROUND SPLIT VINES,LOL!! ill keep it simple like Tom and Jerry does and it does seem more reasonable.

Your right, the vine did have the deep dent marks from the ties after it healed, Didnt realize that about the circulation I was cutting off.

Just a thought, what about that wrap that is used for healing broken tree branches, it expands,has holes for the break to breath, and disolves off in time doesnt it? Just a thought on breaks that goes across the vine.

Brooks

5/19/2006 7:31:24 PM

Owensboro, Ky.

Starting to sound like a cat and mouse cartoon...Tom and Jerry!!! LOL Peace, Wayne

5/19/2006 9:55:11 PM

canal winchester ohio

It happened to me last season,I just put some fungicide on it & kept a fan running on it till it dried out & it grew out of it fine.
here's a pic
http://bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryViewOne.asp?eid=39061
.....Huff

5/19/2006 9:56:44 PM

No Place Special

Thanks everyone. Sounds like things should be just fine. I plan to go with the main and keep it dry. So far so good. I see what I hope is my keeper pumpkin out at the end of the main. I get several emails from HH's and along with most here they felt that this was not a major problem. Thanks again and best of luck to everyone.

Mike Frantz

5/22/2006 3:30:17 PM

Billerica,Massachusetts

well the idea is noty to leave the ties on forever which was in the original post.

5/22/2006 4:36:54 PM

Canada

I just found a foot long split in my 781.5 Frantz main vine today, rightabout 6" out from the stump, Man I wasnt impressed at all. Today I'll apply some fungi to it and allow it to dry in the sun and hope for the best

Dave

6/15/2006 3:27:34 AM