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On top of Brush Mountain, Pa.

Some of the ends of my vines are reaching for the sky. Why won't they just behave and lie down. Once in awhile one of these astronaught vines just breaks right off. Is this genetic, the weather or fertilizers or what?

7/19/2005 8:13:59 PM

Topsfield, Ma.

Got two different plants going here...one grows up and the other lays down...go figure! LOL Best wishes, Duff

7/19/2005 8:27:19 PM

Ohio

Im waiting for Doc to reply to this one.LMAO

7/19/2005 9:30:35 PM

Thornhill, Ontario, Canada

My guess is that they are reaching for the sun.

7/19/2005 11:25:20 PM

Riverton, WY

I'm having a few secondaries growing up and at the same time the distance between leaf nodes has shortened. This began after some windy days in the upper 90's & low 100's with very few clouds in the sky and about 10% humidity. I think what's happening on my plants is the vines are getting mild sunburn on the tops. The bottoms of the vines then grow just a little faster than the tops forcing them to grow up instead of out.

7/19/2005 11:31:15 PM

Indiana

the dang things always do that after clouds and rain, they grow straight up, and then go snap.....

7/20/2005 12:24:50 AM

Oz

Pile up the dirt in front of it,and add guide sticks.

7/20/2005 12:29:33 AM

White Bear Lake, Minnesota

Maybe to much Viagra

7/20/2005 12:42:21 AM

Back of Beyond

LOL - Granda got to it before I could.

7/20/2005 1:06:24 AM

Canada

Yup my 721.5 vincent is the same way, growing a foot a day I place an water bottle under the main and every day continue to add peatmoss under and over the main as it falls and I move the bottle roughly 8" every mourning

man this plant has been allot of work so far this year hopefully she pays off in the later season

Dave.

7/20/2005 1:11:45 AM

Puyallup, WA

I believe that it is a genetic disposition to specific weather. Mr. Beachy might well be correct when he noted that it gets worse in cooler rainy weather....that's usually when mine go "bonkers". Nothing is so upsetting as going out one morning and seeing your main vine blown apart laying on the ground! Two out of seventeen plants did that this year!

7/20/2005 1:32:06 AM

Napa Valley, CA

AG's grown in shady areas tend to do this frequently.
As Crammed says.......they are reaching for the sun.

7/20/2005 2:33:56 AM

[email protected]

How often does Mother Nature leave open freshly cultivated soils lying around? AG vines are genetically programmed to grow up & over whatever happens to be in their way.

7/20/2005 5:04:35 AM

Berlin,mi.([email protected])

I have three plants doing this. the 915.5 dieff is the worst. The one thing they seem to have in common is they have huge vines. the 845 nesbitt does it and the 976 swarts does it. I have had a few vines snap off from the weight.I don't know what causes this but in my case they are not shaded and the other plants in the same area lay down and run fine. go figure.

7/20/2005 7:10:20 AM

New Jersey

The cloudy day theory sounds like it has potential, appears like the same inspiration as leggy seedlings...
Someone's gotta tell these plants that getting 2 inches closer to the sun isn't really helping much!

7/20/2005 10:22:38 AM

Utah ([email protected])

I see it in my sunniest and hottest areas. I think the tips rais off the ground so the tip doesn't get burned from the hot groung. So, there are probably multiple reasons.

7/20/2005 11:41:21 AM

Western PA

I have battled this problem for several weeks now...Thick vines with about 2' growing nearly straight up. I lost at least 8 secondary ends, not only tips but at times over 1'.
I was told that the heat has a lot to do with it. I also feel that my high levels of Nitrogen play a big part. When I geared the feeding down about 2 weeks ago to avoid aborts, I was just able yesterday to lay the main completely down as well as other vines. I tested this on my normal pumpkin plants, giving high doses of Nitrogen.....they are straight up now...

7/20/2005 11:53:56 AM

Saegertown Pa.

I allways have one or two plants out of ten that do that and there right next to the ones that lay down flat to the ground. I think most of the time it's genetic.

7/20/2005 11:55:10 AM

Utah

I have some that do that ... you just have to keep up with them. everyday stake them down about a foot from the tip, during the warm part of the day.

7/20/2005 12:16:41 PM

ipswich, ma usa

Another reason for this is people have a tendency to bury vines right to the tips. An AG grower with a world record told me once to wait till you have about 5 feet of vine from tip to the burried spot before you bury again. Always leave 5 feet of unburried. And it does work. They do grow up more too when clouds seem to be the nature of the day, the heat of the sun helps them lay down also. But like Quinn says there is always one that grows straight up. Out of seven plants this year 2, 1157 Daletas and my own are straight up, thickest vines also.

John (5150)

7/20/2005 1:22:32 PM

addison Il

me and sisters vines always grow up there reaching for the lite and being newbies we grab them and unhook there tendrels from everything and gently lower them to the ground as long as we catch them in the act of going up then its staking down time and all is well never had one break off on us.

7/20/2005 1:38:38 PM

Lake Elmo, Minnesota

Same thing here. I stake them down with hooped wire cut from coat hangers. Place it about one foot back from the end of the vine and keep moving it forward everyday. Eventually, the vines own weight brings it down.

7/20/2005 3:43:47 PM

Nashville, TN

Haven't had any mains do it seriously... But I 'nip the tip' on at least 5-7 uprights every morning. They seem to fall back down the next morning.

7/20/2005 5:02:40 PM

Follansbee, Wv

I think it's just some plants do and others don't. My 905 was doing it the entire time it was growing (before the vines were terminated), but the 1367.5 stayed close to the ground, as is the 658 Lovelace (after it finally decided to lay down). It's hard to believe it's the weather with two plants grown side by side and acting so differently.

7/20/2005 8:37:25 PM

New Jersey

On some level the plants will climb onto surrounding items be it a tree, fence, pole, or whatever.... Not that having an AG up in the air would be a good idea, but they are on some level, climbers. And climbers go up eh?

7/20/2005 10:42:02 PM

Springfield, IL 62703

Pumpkins are a vine plant that seem to do well climbing. I have several plants growing on a trellis, 6 foot above the ground, they are doing well and are very easy to control, just guide the vines to where you want them. Too soon to tell on how large a pumpkin can be produced this way.

7/20/2005 10:46:05 PM

Joliet, IL

i think it is a more of a genetic trait, but certain conditions like Tom B said will cause them to go up instead of out. a couple cloudy days followed by a bright sunny day will get them going up. my 2 885 plants i am growing grew straight out along the ground and never lost a main or a secondary this year due to straight up growth and snap. but my other 2 plants were more trouble training and i lost mains on both of them along with several secondaries. all plants receive the same amount of sun. the 885 plants would have a tendency to reach up in cloudy/sunny conditions, but the main tips themselves on the 885s always had the last 4 inches hanging bent towards the ground. so as the plant grew out, it would always lay down even when reaching up somewhat. it is those plants where the main is straight up all the way to the very tip that give me problems snapping off.

many times a leaf stalk 1 to 2 feet back is bridging against the dirt pushing the vine upward. go back and dig a little room under these supporting leaf stalks and the vine lays down considerably.

7/21/2005 11:37:25 AM

Montoursville, PA

I agree with all, of the above. So now that settles that!

7/21/2005 1:41:51 PM