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Ray, North Dakota

My pumpkin on the main vine is 300 + lbs estimated, and the pumpkin the the secondary is 120 + estimated. The main fruit is growing about 20 lbs a day, and the smaller one is growing about 10. If I cull the secondary fruit, will the plant pump that 10 lbs into the big one?

I hate to do this, but it is getting late up here. I am sure the smaller is a safety valve of sorts to prevent splits, but I want 600 lbs total by the end of the month.

Check out my diary for estimated weights.... Thanks again.

8/14/2006 9:41:44 PM

If you want big,,,cull the small one. Do it over the course of 3 days,,make a "v" cut in the stem,,getting deeper each day till day 3 to avoid shocking the main fruit. Only so many days left to grow these things you have to make the decision.

I culled 28 pollinated fruit cutting it to the 6 I have going here,,I didn't do all this work and invest this much time for a midsize fruit.

8/14/2006 10:02:18 PM

Ray, North Dakota

Thanks unkadan, but if I do not get seeds out of the secondary, is it worth it? I am gaining about 20 a day on the main fruit, and this is my first year.

Always a skeptic I guess....

I like the idea of not shocking the plant so much. I may let my kids carve him anyway. And it will be weighed on a state certified platform scale. I have company meetings tomorrow, and the painful process of killing a child will begin... lol.

8/14/2006 10:17:28 PM

[email protected]

Cull the secondary now. The more you wait, the less the big one will gain. The theory behind this is ina term called sinks. A sink is a spot in the plant (secondary vines, multiple fruits, male flowers, tertiary vines, etc) that takes energy away from the plant. If you reduce the amount of "sinks" the energy will have to "drain" into another sink. With all of this in mind, do not forget that too many sink reductions in one day can do adverse things to a fruit, possibly blowing it up or blowing vine tips. Reduce sinks at an even slow pace over time.

As for the secondary fruit, take it off tomorrow morning!

8/14/2006 10:19:46 PM

Minnesota

Herbie, When I read your diary it seems as though I am looking at mine. I also kept a 2nd on my big guy (Which is tracking yours almost Inch for Inch, OTT for OTT and Pound for Pound) I was wondering about my secondary (Same size as yours..) and now know what must be done... Ugh..

8/15/2006 10:38:09 AM

Midwest

Herbie: I know it's painful... I have a small one on a secondary and I started the 1/3 cut this morning! Keep your eye on the BIG PRIZE!

8/15/2006 11:26:24 AM

Anamosa, IA [email protected]

Herbie, your guess is as good as mine. I had one growing close to 30# a day with a smaller one on the vine. I left the smaller one on because we were getting a lot of rain, hoping it would keep the big one from splitting. The big one slowed down a little and then split anyway. I am trying to get mature seeds from the big one and keeping the smaller one as a backup. These things are hard to outguess.

8/15/2006 2:25:09 PM

Ray, North Dakota

First cuts came this morning. It's a shame because the fruit is nice shape and blemish free. My big dog is full of stretching blemishes from hail damage, and it looks pretty rough. Big, but rough. I really get traffic into the yard when people have been hearing how big it is.

I will have it off in the next two mornings, then on to the scale to compare estimated vs. actual weight.

8/15/2006 2:48:34 PM

Delaware, Ohio

Thank you so much for this information. I was having a similar problem. Do I not only cull the fruit on the secondary but do I cull some of the secondary vines themselves. I'm a newby!!!
Chriss
Delaware, Ohio

8/29/2006 11:46:25 AM