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i have a question about the vines growers call rear mains..lets say you have a pumpkin growing on the true main ten or fifteen feet out..all the secondaries are pruned as they should be but you've let one of the rear main vines get quite long..my question is will this rear main add to the growth of the pumpkin on the true main or is there a disconnect..should the rear mains be pruned off to begin with...if any one has thoughts on this i would like to hear them..thanks..the crabby lobsta

4/20/2003 7:02:20 PM

Bemidji, MN

lobsta, I always have a fruit set on each of the "rear mains". They can support their own fruit without harming MV fruit in my opinion. Steve

4/20/2003 7:55:20 PM

San Diego

this brings up a question, say you grow one main vine in a christmas tree pattern. How do you know when the main vines stop and the secondary vines begin? Do you cut off every vine in the first 6, 12, 18 inches? Is there a set distance? This would be nice to know. Jim

4/21/2003 2:50:51 PM

syracuse, ny

for clarification, i do believe what Al Eaton said--
there is only ONE main vine--the ones that seem to be
other mains are actually secondaries that are close enough to the main stem to be considered as such--but the term
rear main, or secondary main(s) should be, really,
rear secondary---HOWEVER, my 632.5 of '02 was growing faster on a rear secondary...a secondary of a rear secondary...which would make it a TERTIARY.
WoW--never thought of it that weigh! well, i myself let a couple of rear secondaries get outta control...in fact i think every plant from '02 had rear secondaries with fruit
on them....if you grow your plants Christmas tree style,
the main vine is of course the one, only one, right up the middle....i recommend, for lack of time tonight for me, that you check out a website called Henry's Hole
a.k.a.
the site of Henry Holman just punch in>> Henry's Hole
,,,or variations thereof and heretofore, and so on...there are quite a few growers that each have their own opinions about how to prune and every other detail of this
SPOBBY (sport/hobby) i hope you find it and it helps you and others dramatically--heck, i should go there and brush up as well!!
just look for Henry's rules on....and yer topic! 'pal

4/21/2003 7:54:56 PM

syracuse, ny

http://www.homestead.com/henryholman/pumpkins.html

yah! das' a gooda!

4/21/2003 7:58:05 PM