This pumpkin is growing out of the top of the vine.
The fruit was laying directly on the vine so I placed two blocks of Styrofoam on both sides of the vine to avoid direct contact.
It is the only set on the vine as two more females aborted because they were pollinated during that cold weather period.
So, I definitely have to keep this fruit...
My question is what I should do.
1) I assume one cannot get it to a 90° angle to the vine, right?
2) Can I just cut the vine off about one or two inches after the pumpkin so that I do not have to reposition the fruit risking that it will break off the vine?
I did this in 2002 when the main broke off just about 3 or 4 feet after the fruit. But the problem then was that the vine kept leaking out juice (about 1 to 2 litres a day) for at least 10 to 14 days before drying out.
3) Would it be better to do a "controlled kink" (sharp bend) in the vine directly after the stem-vine connection and train away the vine in a 90° angle?
Or do you have other suggestions?
Please also look at the next picture that shows the situation from another angle.
Thanks and best wishes,
Martin
|