I hope someone can help me. i have pumpkin plants grwing in my garden. They have started to sprout curly feelers if thats what they are called. Are they needed? can I pluck them off? they are starting to attatch to my other plants in the garden. thanks.
The "curly feelers" are tendrils (I love your description). Like its distant relative the wild cucumber, the pumpkin loves to climb trellises and trees, if given a chance. The tendrils help it to get a "foothold."
The tendrils should not prove harmful to the other plants in your garden, if these plants are sturdy enough. On level ground, attachment to other plants will just help the vine to anchor itself. Pumpkin vines may also send out little roots along the length of the vine where it touches bare earth.
-- dkra
Do not pluck the feelers off. Those are secondary root systems. When the vine is laying on the ground those feelers will bring nutrients directly into the vine. They also help anchor the plant, without them you can end up with a shredded plant the next time a big wind blows. You should gently unwind them from the other plants and lay the vine on the ground.
Randy
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the tendrils, not the secondary roots. The tendrils (IIRC) are a modified leaf (or is that a modified stem? I forget which) that reacts to shade by growing toward it, thus wrapping itself around anything it touches because the point where it touches blocks off the light.
Roots are good. Leave them alone.
If tendrils wrap around other plants and threaten them, remove the tendrils. I usually unwrap them but if there were too many to do this with, would probably nip them off with a knife or garden shears.
Bill
Are you a member of BP or Mallorn? do I know you?
korney19
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