Hello,
>
> Here's the scenario: I have 3 hills of pumpkins (a mix of
> jack-o-lantern and small sugar), 3 plants each, spaced 3-5 feet apart (I
> can't tell anymore!). On one side of this row there was about 5 feet before
> other vegetables, on the other side there was 5 feet and then open grass.
> They were transplanted there around June 1st. Since then they have
> proceeded to launch an invasion against every other plant in my garden, the
> corn, the tomatoes, and the peas are all under attack.
>
> I put a board up between the pumpkins and the tomatoes, but the damned
> things just climbed over it! My question is, can pumpkins be trimmed
> without causing harm to the remaining plant? If I trim it on the one
> trouble side, will it encourage more growth on the other side where there is
> tons of room? Someone has also told me that pumpkins can be trellised, has
> anyone ever seen or done this?
>
> Next year, the pumpkins are going out and away from the rest of the > garden. :) >
> Thanks,
>
> --- Steve
We have that problem, too. We thought we left plenty of room for the pie pumpkins this year, but we were wrong. Trimming off the ends of the vines will send more energy to the remaining pumpkin fruit so that the pumpkins will grow larger. You will end up with fewer pumpkins, but they will be bigger.
Another thing we've tried is turning the vines so that they grow in a different direction, such as along the edge of the garden rather than covering up anything in their path.
We've never tried growing pumpkins on a trellis, but last year, our Jack-o-lanterns started climbing the sweet corn. We had pumpkins (small ones because they were at the end of the vines) hanging in amongst the sweet corn stalks. I would imagine that if you had a strong trellis, and it wasn't a very large variety of pumpkin (like Big Max or Atlantic Giant), it might work to give them a trellis to climb.
Good luck with your pumpkins.
LeAnn
Share the view from Rural Route 2. . . Christmas In Dairyland
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