pumpkin question

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I am raising some competition pumpkins. There are so many blossems! I would rather have ten giant ones than a hundred little ones. Dare I mess with the plant? Can I pinch off some blooms? And, it is making so many runners. Dare I break or cut them off. I don't want to do anything that would kill my plants, but I would like to raise some really big pumpkins.

-- homestead2 (homestead@monroecty.net), June 26, 2000

Answers

From what I understand you should definitely pinch all but the two strongest female blossoms. Don't trim the runners. All those leaves are what put the energy into the fruit. Make sure that you leave all the male blossoms, they are necessary for polination. You can tell the male from the female easily. The male have no little fruits attached. The female always have a tiny fruit attached to the flower. This info came from my reading on this very subject. I hope it helps.

Little Bit Farm

-- Little bit Farm (littlebit@calinet.com), June 26, 2000.


Read the book Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder. She tells how her husband when a little boy grew a prize pumpkin.

-- R. (thor610@yahoo.com), June 29, 2000.

Yes, you are supposed to determine which is the main vine, which are the best located blossoms, and pinch off the rest. To ensure that these will produce pumpkins, you should also go out early in the a.m. while the blossoms are all open, and pick a couple of male flowers, and rub them into the female flowers where you want your prize pumpkins.

-- Rachel (rldk@hotmail.com), June 29, 2000.

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