newbie pumpkin questions

15 years ago

These are relatively simple minded things, please excuse me. My 'super gardener' neighbor came over to investigate how my plants are doing, since I have planted some of the same things he's been growing... and he's filled my head with confusion. Here's what he said about my pumpkins:

I know that the yellowing of the older leaves is normal, I've been leaving them alone to let nature do what it will. He said that I need to cut them off when the slightest bit of yellow starts showing. "the plant is wasting energy on them, etc etc", I thought maybe the fact that there was still some green meant the leaf was still aiding the plant in obtaining said 'wasted energy'.

He also said that I shouldn't let my vines grow straight out...? 'They're too far away from where you're watering, that's too far for the nutrients to go.' He said I need to make sure my vines don't take root and when they're long enough to bend them back around and have them take root up by the base of the plant.... where I'm supposed to cut all my leaves off.

I can understand a little where the first suggestion might be realistic, but the second makes no sense to me what so ever. Anyways, thank you in advance for your time... this seems tedious enough to me, but I can't seem to get it out of my head.

mickandkairi

High Springs, FL

Comments (3)

nick123
15 years ago
I've been growing squash and pumpkins for market for 30+ years, so I have a little bit of experience, if you want to take my advice.

Personally, I would only cut off leaves if they are diseased, not just old. If there is still green on the leaf, then it is still collecting sunlight and respirating, both of which the plant needs as much as possible.

For the life of me, I can't understand why he would say to make sure the vines don't take root away from the base of the plants. The more roots that are spread out, the more water and nutrients get into the plants, and the better the plants grow. In fact, I will occasionally straighten the vines when they are growing too close to the base.

It makes me wonder if maybe your neighbor is giving you bad advice on purpose.
mickandkairi
Original Author
15 years ago
Heh, quite a funny thing actually... his pumpkins and cukes have completely died off, while mine are growing wonderfully. His wife comes over on a regular basis asking for my radishes for his salads. I pretty much knew the second bit of advice was garbage, I wasn't so sure about the first. Thank you so much!
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weirdtrev
15 years ago
Does your neighbor grow Atlantic Giants (AG)? His advice sounds similar to the AG growers at Bigpumpkins.com, they love cutting of leaves and pruning vines because of "wasted energy." Curling the vine is a new one to me. I think he is assuming you only water the base of the plant and the rest of the plant is in very dry soil that lacks nutrients.