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I have noticed people talking about sq ft behind pumpkin and others talking about number of vines behind pumpkin.
Which do you think is better because you can have as many or more side vines in less sq ft depending on how far apart they are?
Any and all opinions are welcomed.

6/18/2013 3:10:34 PM

43.841677 , -79.086692

Ill take a shot at this. Lol. Square feet is a definitive answer. It's measurable. All square feet are the same size :-). Whereas you could have 100 vines at 1' long , 10 vines at 10' long or 4 vines at 25'. How about 8 vines @12.5'? You see where I'm going with this? It's just more practical to talk in terms of area. Sq feet or Sq meters for our friends across the pond. :-).

6/19/2013 2:14:38 AM

Rhode Island

we only remove a secondary vine if its in th eway of our pumpkin or because of a curve we had to put in the main vine. the more sides the better food factory you have for the pumpkin.
our plants will fill a 7-800 sq ft area with main allowed to wrap around the edges of the plant once the area is filled.
depending on length down the main we will have around 300-350 or so sq ft before the first pollination.give or take depending on where our final choice is located.
that growth after the fruit is just as important as the growth before it. especially later in the season when early growth gets old and less productive.(kinda like me --lol)

pap

6/19/2013 7:00:06 AM

Germany

@pap: As long as you don´t get powdery mildew (and as long as you don´t turn from green to brown) you can´t serve as the appropriate comparison ;-)

@spudder: Many people prefer to have at least 6 (better 7, 8 or some more) secondaries on each side before they call it a position for a potential keeper. Then it will be up to you (and to the size of your patch) how long you want to let these secondaries grow...the longer the more square footage...basically what Chris had said already.

6/19/2013 10:26:21 AM

Colorado

I like the side vine # method.It parallels the plants maturity well.Minimum size 7 secondaries per side.I like to factor in what the date is.If its early july I'd go with a seven side vine plant.If its june 20th I wouldnt go with a plant that size,I'd let it get bigger.

6/19/2013 1:49:21 PM

My plants are 6-8 per side and at least a week away for the first one.
Thanks for the input.

6/19/2013 7:25:49 PM