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vancouver canada

can someone help me. on my pumpkins i have large yellow balls (i think this is where the flower came out??) what are these and should i remove them as one 6" from base. thx

6/21/2001 4:28:43 AM

Mid Michigan

Hey North......i'm a 1st year grower myself, but it sounds like you have/had a female there. The females have the pumpkins at the base of their flower buds. Did the bud ever open? 6 inches from the base is too close according to what i've been told, but i'll defer to the authorities here.....i'm sure one of the monster masters will reply too.
Good luck.

6/21/2001 6:09:11 AM

Lake Stevens, WA, USA

Those are females, which(if properly pollinated)will grow into those giant pumpkins you are working so hard for. Take a look in the photo gallery and you sill see a few pictures that look similar to what you described.

Yes, you should remove any females that are within the first few feet of the base. "Ideal" distance from the base would be somewhere around 6 feet from base (closest)or out as far as 15 feet from base (10 feet from base being optimum). You want a good 10 feet of vine after the pumpkin also. These numbers are not written in stone, but they are good averages of what most growers try to achieve.

David

6/21/2001 10:47:02 AM

Lake Stevens, WA, USA

And before anyone else mentions it......there are some very big pumpkins that have been grown as close as 4 feet from the base, but doing this would obviously require a great deal of skill, and some luck as well. People have also grown them out farther than 20 feet from the base.

David

6/21/2001 10:50:46 AM

Ga.

why is it bad to grow a pumpkin so close to the main plant??Newbie to pumpkin growing!!

6/23/2001 12:55:19 PM

Commack, NY

its not necessarily "bad" persay. its just that what happens is, when a pumpkin grows, it lifts the stem and the vine with it off the ground. if you are close to teh stump, there's not much lifting room. also there tends to be alot going on at that end of the pumpkin, vines, various leaves, and what have you, an expanding pumpkin takes up room, and quick. it can and has been done, but i think theres alot of work involved.

scott

6/23/2001 1:08:09 PM

Ga.

thanks for your answer

6/23/2001 4:24:41 PM