need more pumpkin advice

[snake the squadie]

i have just read a good thread on pumpkins. it had plenty of advice apart from the one bit of advice i needed. my plants are are ready to go in. now i know they take up a lot of room snakeing all over the place but the question is which direction do they roughly snake in. do they just go there own way, do they head in a certain direction or can i guide them. many thanks snake

[indigox]

They go their own way!
I think it depends on which way they face when you plant them, I have heard that they grow in the opposite direction from the first true leaf, but I have had ones that grow up a bit and then flop over where they want to.
You can train them in a biggish spiral around the main stem if you are short on space.

Or, I guess you could guide them pretty much where you want, depending on the area. They take up loads of room though.

[AndrewC]

i have just read a good thread on pumpkins. it had plenty of advice apart from the one bit of advice i needed. my plants are are ready to go in. now i know they take up a lot of room snakeing all over the place but the question is which direction do they roughly snake in. do they just go there own way, do they head in a certain direction or can i guide them. many thanks snake

hi mate im new to this but what ive read up on this they do go there own way but you may be able to guide them with wire, can i ask how long have you been growing them? because ive started this year and mine havent got 4 leaves yet do you know if this is normal? i hope we can bounce things off each other

cheers

AndrewC

[snake the squadie]

this is the first year i have grown them aswell i got mine from walmark they are called BIG MAX and aprantly thet grow to 100lb some have two leafs and some have four but they have been in since late march early april

[indigox]

Four leaves is ok for this time of year.
Soon they will start getting properly established and romp all over the place, those little plants will be a distant memory.

[zazen999]

I'm assured that:

look at the 2 seed [first big] leaves.

Then, look at the leaf that grew out of these. [Ie the first real leaf]

Whichever way this points, is opposite to the way the pumpkin will grow.

Apparently.

I am using this guide this year. If it is wrong, I'll let you know.

ETA: I grow mine on the plot along the paths - so I plant at the corners, and they grow and grow and grow and are kept clean by the weed fabric. I'll stop their growth when I have just a few on each plant so enable them to mature before the frosts hit.

[snake the squadie]

well i dug some pits and filled with compost etc at the north end thinking they would grow south towards the sun but i think i will just plant them right in the centre and hope for the best

[AndrewC]

thanks i feel alot better now lol. ive netted mine due to the daugters rabbit eating the leaves. so has anyone got any tips for growing pumpkins?