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New Berlin, PA

New grower here with a question: With pumpkins set and growing, and the vines trained out of the way, what should I be looking for/doing to make sure the vine and stem are positioned correctly and that stem stress is kept to a minimum? I think I have the S curve but what about supporting the vine and stem? Any advice is appreciated. thanks

7/8/2015 9:03:20 PM

Lesson learned the hard way - make sure vine is not confined, buried or anchored to the ground as the stem grows. Stem should be as parallel to the ground as possible. For this, I needed to free up the vine and sometimes lift the vine if anchored into the soil by roots. Wet the soil and place underneath the vine two fingers before and two fingers after the root and very gently lift. I saved old styrofoam and broke it into pieces positioning the stacks under the vine until the height was just right and the stem was parallel with the ground. Stem should be as close as possible to 90 with the vine, but that is not always easy to accomplish. Try movements very small and during the hottest part of the day. Hope this helps! I found this out from PAP! Thank you!!!

7/8/2015 9:17:44 PM

New Berlin, PA

Thanks, BiddyGoat. I freed up some roots today, but didn't think to support the vine as it lifts up over time. Thanks again

7/8/2015 9:29:11 PM