From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Rhode Island

when pumpkins are young say small childs basketball size up to beach ball size there are a few things you can do to change the pumpkins position on the main and usually this will help change the shape a bit.

bagel or table top
problem -- pumpkin will grow on its stem- blossom pointing to sky
solution -- take out the tap root directly at the stem plus two to three additional taps on each side of the fruit along with a tap or two on sides directly across from the pumpkins stem area.
raise the stem up (carefully ) use a couple pcs of stacked short 2x4 say six inches high.
at he pumpkins blossom end grade the soil downward a few inches so that as the fruit grows she will want to be forced back down at the blossom area while at the same time lifting the main keeps he up at the stem
this wont be a cure all in all cases but it does help keep the fruit growing in a more likeable shape

short (tinnie winnie ) stem
problem -- even with a perfect 90 degree angle short stems can get ripped off once the shoulders start to press and pressure at the stem area
solution -- place a piece of plywood say 3 ft x 4 ft or 4 ft x 4 ft under the fruit. cut a couple tap roots on each side of the stem (plus the stems tap root )
raise the plywood at the blossom end of fruit up 8 inches and block up to hold in place while you fill under the plywood with what ever type fill you want to use.
this forces the stem to stay close to the ground and helps eleminate any down the road problems with shoulder stress on the stem.

best advise? try not to pick pumpkins that look like this. unfortunately sometimes our choices are few and we need to improvise

pap

7/15/2007 7:42:01 AM

Ohio

yea but what about them keg beer breaks in between , when do you usually raid the beer keg refrigerator,do you do that before you move the pumpkin or after? isn't that another important point? How do you expect these growers to move there pumpkin with out this information, I cant believe you didn't mention one thing about this, what is going on here Pap?

7/15/2007 3:50:55 PM

Rhode Island

brooks always make your moves first --- then celebrate with a couple frozen mugs of draft beer ---- lol

7/15/2007 8:15:58 PM

Santa Cruz, CA

Thanks Pap for the info. I have a very short stemed pumpkin on one of ours and I will put the info you gave here in place when the pumpkin gets basketball size. Our other plant, Ron's 1502, has the longest stem I've ever seen on a pumpkin. Wish they all looked like that.

7/16/2007 1:07:38 AM