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Colorado

I was checking my 1409 miller plant and found that the stump and a foot of vine had rotted.I know, from how the plant acted and fruit growth changed, that this happened when the pumpkin was around 28 days old.Anyhow the fruit put on appr. 800 lbs since then (which was around july 23rd).Fruit is a estimated 1150.Any other "who needs a stump" success stories.

9/17/2012 4:49:48 PM

Clinton, Iowa

Marc and I are the professional stumpless growers..as we or have been over the years terrible at keeping them healthy......Biggest stumpless wonder for us has been 1241 i do believe.. BUT what I consider one of the most impressive things and something I learned at just how powerful these things really are was when I pollinated a fruit on the first side vine.....about 9 feet long.....right after I pollinated I walked back and cut that vine free from the main.....it had 7 or 8 leaves before the fruit and one leaf after the fruit.....That one vine became it's own entity so to speak.....it ended up weighing right at 300 pounds....go figure.....pretty amazing for 8 leaves and one vine...

9/17/2012 8:15:55 PM

Rhode Island

you definately need that base in th early going. once your sides and a fruit get established? if you loose the base its not really a big dealbut -------------- you must keep the rest of the plant healthy and productive if you expect good groeth to continue.
ps--when terminating a rotted or badly foaming stump be sure to cut away far enough down the main until you reach clean (no rotting signs) inside the main.
pap

9/18/2012 7:36:19 AM

Gig Harbor, Wa

Lost the stump on our 1272 barker a little over 2 weeks ago around day 58 and have still put on about 170 more lbs since then. I did not know what to expect and have been amazed by what it has continued to do that many days after polination. Last time I measured a few days ago I was still getting over 10 LBS a day.

9/18/2012 9:41:19 AM

San Diego

some plants don't need them. Dan Carlson remembers this one, he helped me a lot in 2005. Lost the stump on my 950 boyton and first secondary before I polinated my pumpkin. Plant size was only 275 sq foot after loosing stump and vine. Fruit got up to 359 ott, 950 lbs on old chart. She grew so fast she split and was harvested day 55, weighed light at 861. Amazing plant.

9/18/2012 11:16:37 PM

Rhode Island

rons 1409 miller pumpkin is a wonder in itself.
at 300 pounds we removed the entire plant up to the pumpkin. just left a one ft piece of main and two side vines (one on each side to grow around the pumpkin)

the first week there after the daily weight gains dropped from 38 per day to 13 pounds per day.which is not surprizing considering what we chopped off.

eventually those two side vines grew and also threw off third stage vines. each week as the new growth appeared? the daily averages (per weekly measurement) also crep up.
14-16-17 per day at its max.
the fruit is now taping 1,100 pounds and still doing 5-6 pounds per day.-----and there is a new 400 square ft plant that grew from those two side vines.
dont ever count these plants out.
pap

9/18/2012 11:25:42 PM

Minnesota

1451 removed stump and 8 secondaries at day 30, growth curve didn't even seem to notice

9/19/2012 1:34:08 AM

Zurich, Ontario Canada

This was interesting to read. So I made a decision today. I have some new leaves growing on the stump and noticed a bunch of new roots coming out of the stump. Knowing that these roots will dry up if they don't get burried. But if I bury the stump I risk stump rot. There is only 11 days to weigh off so I buried the stump in compost. If it rots it is no big deal. If the roots take, I guess I made the right choice!!! Thanks for the interesting stories guys!!!

9/19/2012 9:19:32 PM