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Eastern Pennsylvania

In order to have an efficient plan for this upcoming year, I need to know how big I should expect a good prizewinner to grow (the plant area). How have they been pruned in the past? How many fruit should I expect to set and keep per plant assuming I am looking for 50 to 100 lbs per pumpkin?

I grew a few 50lb or so 2 years ago, by dumb luck mostly. I just let the vines go wherever. Any input would be appreciated!

Oh, tomorrow I finally get highspeed internet installed at home so maybe you all will see me in the chat rooms soon..
Jim

3/3/2006 4:52:13 PM

Eastern Pennsylvania

yes I do all this posting from work, I love my job lol

3/3/2006 4:55:34 PM

Long Beach, CA

I did grow a Prizewinner last year; the entire plant took up about 50 square feet and it produced one 101# (est) pumpkin. I was unable to get any successful pollinations after the initial fruit set, but given a larger growing area the plant would have probably produced more fruits....

Oliver

3/3/2006 9:23:45 PM

Mastic Beach, New York

back in 99 ,i grew a 160lber..planted 7plants and ended up with 14 pumpkins all over 75lbs..i let them grow wild(because i didnt know anything back then)hell i didnt even cover them from the sun!

3/4/2006 3:44:55 PM

Eastern Pennsylvania

wow, that's encouraging. thanks!
Jim

3/5/2006 3:23:01 PM

Jericho Vermont

Jim
We usually plant one prizewinner each year and let it grow about 6 feet in the dirt and the rest on the lawn. Last year we only pollinated one and ended up with an almost perfectly round 200 plus pounder. You can see pictures of it on our steps in my 2005 diary. The only reason it seemed to stop at 200 was that the stem started to pull away. We didn't do a thing to it. I kept the plant to about 12 feet wide and 20 feet long. The seeds were store bought nothing special. Probably plant again from same seed pack. John

3/5/2006 5:10:39 PM