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Ohio

Sorry for being a post hog here the last couple days but I been bored because '' I been kinda dieting and quit eating after 600pm and I'm restless!!,lol''


How many of you let your back main vine grow or how many of you cut yours off? I have always cut mine off mainly because it takes the pressure off my stump area. Do you think letting this back main grow takes away from your plant or not?

I have heard Jack LaRue always cuts his back main along with his next two secondaries.(I could be wrong)

Brooks

6/16/2007 7:23:08 PM

Windsor, Ontario, Canada

I cut mine off as well. Dont worry about being a post hog. I try to answer as many as I can, so when I ask too many questions the other growers dont ban me, lol.

I have also heard of clipping off all leaves around the stump to lessen the possible hiding places for SVB eggs. An anonymous person told me burying the stump saves it from SVB as long as you cover it and keep it from getting wet and rotting.

Any comments on this?♦♠

6/16/2007 7:47:30 PM

Mill Bay, British Columbia

Hey Brooks, I normally snip the back mains off but this year I had to train the back main as the new after the squirrels chewed off the main.

Couple of years back I let the back main grow and a few secondaries off of it and got a 511 lb from it as well as my 577.5.

I'd say if you've got main vines, chop the others off.

6/16/2007 8:15:16 PM

Hayes,Virginia

post a reply later Brooks,right now im drinking a mountain dew and chewing on bag of doritos.:)

hang in there Brooks dieting is hard for some of us!

6/16/2007 9:17:16 PM

Ontario, Canada.

I have some plants that have what I would call a small back main. This seams to be normal for most plants that are heated and receive moderate temps. I have been reading a lot lately about cold temperatures causing some plants to have disrupted inter-nodal lengths. Could the cause of strong back mains and double vines be induced by these conditions.

In any case I would want to simple train the back main as side vine and terminate at your regular length.

As mentioned above I too like to completely bury the crown area. However sometimes that pesky secondary main grows off the main at a right angle upwards to the ground. In such cases I might trim it completely off. Also the advent of a double vine makes for a nasty hack job in this area to control the unruly growth.

6/16/2007 9:43:59 PM

"Why hack them off?" I asked myself when I had already chopped a couple early ones thinking I didn't have the room with b to b planting. Since then I have left a few that I am training as secondaries. Just seems to me that I have more roots to push the fruit early on.

I do trim all the extra's at the stump and also cut off the first few big leaves earlier than most folks. I feel this allows sun and air at the stump area for drying. I also have cut off the first 2 secondaries on select plants this year,,,,comparison later will be interesting.

6/16/2007 10:20:34 PM

[email protected]

Drink some water.

Try a back main if you have the room for it.

6/16/2007 10:21:45 PM

Rhode Island

i brooks i caught mine in the zipper once but other than that we always get rid of the back main.

6/17/2007 4:40:43 AM

Santa Cruz, CA

Would the back main you are all talking about really be a secondary vine that has headed back in the opposite direction of the main vine. Wouldn't that growth be feeding the main vine too? I can see that it might have to go if it was putting some pressure on the main vine and looking like it might cause a split.

6/17/2007 10:34:09 PM