The Pumpkin growing and carving challenge 2015

I pricked out & potted 4 howden today,my jackos and big max not germinated yet and ive also got 5 dills atlantic off ebay to sow ......... il need 4 allotments now plus 6 tonne of muck @Richard360
I hope i can beat my last yrs weight of 6& half stone

 

That's right Joolz,rub it in why don't you

 

Sarah,

Over the last four years I have given pumpkins more and more space, currently (last year and this) I grow two plants in a bed 39ft x 16ft, each plant has a growing space of 16ft long by 19ft wide. I grow the plants so the main vine grows out along the 16ft part and there is then 9.5ft either side of the main vine. The following diagrams will help you manage the growth of your pumpkins vines and plan where they grow and what to cut away.

Main vine.



Secondaries



Tertiaries



Basically, these plants are nutters and grow like stink. The main vine grows out and every 18-24 inches a leaf will grow, where that leaf grows from the main stem is a node, eventually from that node a "secondary" vine will grow. That secondary vine is a "mini-me" of the main vine so every 18-24 inches you get a node, a new leaf and another vine growing out, these third vines are called tertiaries. Study the diagrams above along with this text to get the hang of it. You really want the main vine and the secondary vines only. Cut off any tertiary vines as they just congest the planting area and take growth away from your actual pumpkins, you want to concentrate as much growth as you can to the fruit. The main and secondary vines leaves should cover the area the plant grows in anyway, but later in the season sometimes, areas of leaves can die off, battered by winds or summer hail storms, in that case allow a tertiary to grow to fill that space with green leaf again.

You can lift and move the vines carefully to place them where is more convenient for you, I use short lengths of cane (6 inches) either side of a vine to "peg" it in place as an "X". My main vine grows out straight and the secondaries grow from that at right angles, when the secondaries reach the edge of the growing space, I turn them to allow them to get as long as possible.

Eventually you will see flower buds growing out from the nodes and the first flush of flowers you will get will be all males, approx. 6 inches long stalks with a flower on top, they will flower then start to die back then female flowers will start growing, you will see the difference immediately, shorter stems with a swelling behind them.

You want these females on the main stem really, and as far along as possible so it has more plant behind it. My pumpkins grew on the main stem last year and I removed ALL females from the secondary vines. I allowed two to grow on each plant and when one reached football size, I cut the other off. It grew at approx. 21ft along the main vine so with only 16ft for the main vine to grow along, I had to direct it off to the left to allow it to continue growing, it eventually got to around 24 ft long. Incidentally, the very first secaondary vine so the one closest to where the plant was planted, grow to around 20ft long too.

You will need to be able to get in amongst the plant to remove tertiary vines and female flowers, peg down secondaries and feed and water, and stepping directly onto the soil is a bad idea, pumpkin roots will fill the area to right below the surface of the soil and also a couple of feet beyond the plant, in last years topic you will see in my photos that I used boards or bits of timber to stand on and get in between the plant, this spreads your weight and so keeps root damage to a minimum, later when you remove these boards you will see thousands of little white pumpkin roots.

Once you have a pumpkin growing, be very careful how you handle it, a slight indentation from a fingernail when it is young can be become a gaping wound as the pumpkin grows and swells. I grow the pumpkin on its side with the vine growing past it at it's end and make sure that the vine will raise off the ground as the pumpkin grows by carefully lifting it clear of the ground a couple of times a week to stop that part of the vine rooting, I also place polystyrene under the pumpkin and remove any leaves that might rub on the pumpkin too. If people come to look at your growing fruit, have a strict "no touch" rule as people for some reason want to pat it, which damages it.

At the top I said that secondary vines are "mini-me's" of the main vine and they are, where they grow out from the main vine they will eventually send a root out to help pick up nutrients and water for the plant, IF, that node is in contact with the soil. You can mound up soil underneath a node to ensure it does do that, but don't dig up soil from that area to do it..remember the shallow roots of the plant!

So to recap, grow the main stem off in one direction and train your secondaries off at right angles and peg down at the same time, mound up underneath all nodes so they have soil contact and remove all tertiaries and female flowers except for the ones you want to grow and make sure those are on the main vine.

Sorry Sarah, I know you only asked how big a space they need to grow, I just thought it would be advantageous to write this lot down now while I had a bit of free time as I think it will help avoid some pitfalls.

Steve...

 

Well said Steve very informative
How's your coming along now
What you growing mate you get any patons

 

I've had a second lot in for a week now, none have germinated yet.

I harped on about Patons not being any good to my mind, last year unless you grow them indoors with a very measured feeding and watering approach, as that was how it was grown. And I stand by that until I am proved otherwise.

However, seems my Family did not read that and I received two paton seeds for Christmas and they are currently in to germinate, one I think has rotted already. Apart from that I have a selection of seeds from Dandytown's previous pumpkins that are also in

I'm completely out of seeds for now but I have some more on their way to me across the pond as I speak, no idea when they will get here.

Oh yes I am still hopeful that the 2 x 1840 GHAYE seeds will germinate, even though they got cooked they are not yet rotten and still quite firm so there is a chance.

I believe the seeds on their way to me to have good pedigree although I do not have a clue what they are yet, the words I was given where "I hope your allotment is man enough to handle them" lol.

What are you growing this year Richard?

Steve...

 

@Steve R ...

 

We both know it was pure luck loli xx I did plant it in a 2ft mound of muck so that surely helped and that was all the effort i put into it I will try harder this time ,i will write down steve instructions and put them in my lottie bag x

 

A few questions... How do you maintain its oval shape?mine was a bit on a flat side
And do they benefit from being on a pallet or is that just so they can be moved easier due to their size? Thanks x

 

Hey Stevehey Joolz I put them on something to help with them rotting underneath if they are sat on soggy soil and I think it help stop vermin making a nice home of it lol

Hey Steve will I'm trying patrons again as you say last year Paton seed lacked vigor but I was not shore it was a true Paton seed
This year I'm growing 1649 Paton ,1884 Paton,1840 haye and spent a lot of money getting a 2102 Meier 2014 the second world record last year grown by the world record holder but it looks like it's not going to germinate :-(

 

What a brilliant post, Steve. Thanks so much!
Recieved my seeds today so going to get them sown tomorrow

 

4 more Richard360 Originals sown yesterday no sign of life in the others 'yet'...

I shall no doubt be using a roof tile or small paver to sit mine on...if I'm lucky

 

That's bad luck with the Meier seed Richard, so sorry to hear that.

I got a nice package of seed from across the pond today, this is just some of them.

1674.5 Connolly10 1725 Harp09 x 1596 Wallace09
1556.5 Companion 1596 Wallace x 1286 Daletas
1546 Midthun 1674 Marsh x 1476 Hopkins
1378 Companion 10 1385 Jutras x 1207 Young
1188 Boyce 1428 Boyce x 1789 Wallace

I've sown the first four for now. There are some great genetics behind these seeds!

Steve...

 

Oh no...not aerial growing again...

Steve...

 

Some very good seed there Steve all the ones I'm growing have got 2009 Wallace as perent plants so I'm hoping
Loli you really should try growing pumpkins on the ground I don't think your shed will take this years 500lb kin lol