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Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada

Hi Everyone,

I'm a first timer growing in a relatively small space (~400 square feet). Our spring has been cold so my plant is still on the smallish side but has mostly been growing well. I have a flower ready to pollinate June 29 that has about 15 secondaries behind it. There's another flower forming in the tip that is about two weeks away. I'm a better off waiting to pollinate a flower until I have a bigger plant even though it pushes my pollination date back by two weeks or should I go ahead with this one and continue to push growth until the plant fills my space? I know there is a trade-off with plant size to support the pumpkin and growing vines while the pumpkin is developing but I don't have a good sense of whether this is worth the two weeks I will lose from pollinating later. Thoughts?

6/29/2022 1:24:35 AM

Mill Bay, British Columbia

Pollinate them both and make the cut done to 1 once you have an idea of which has better location on the plant, which one is growing better etc…

Welcome to the madness, what part of BC?

6/29/2022 2:00:32 AM

Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada

Abbotsford - with the spring we've had, I picked a heck of a year to make my first serious attempt. I'm learning a lot though.

6/29/2022 10:54:18 AM

Mill Bay, British Columbia

Here is my example,

http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryViewOne.asp?eid=332116

6/30/2022 10:18:00 AM

Grittyville, WA

The amount (health?) of the roots... is probably more important that the square footage of the foliage. Lots of growers are counting secondaries, which is fine, but thats helf the picture. Its probably more accurate to also try to think of it in terms of the size and effectiveness of the root system.

As a beginner you cant know everything ahead of time, just keep your eyes open. For example, I have had times when moles have damaged my plants roots, and while this doesnt reduce the size of the plant, it does reduce the readiness of the plant to grow a pumpkin. In other words, sometimes its not the foliage, its the roots that need an extra week or two to be at the correct size & strength.

6/30/2022 2:27:28 PM