What could be more rewarding than eating a pumpkin pie or carving a jack-o'-lantern from a pumpkin you grew yourself? Pumpkins grow in any of Sunset's Climate Zones, making it easy for anyone to grow their own. You can grow bush or vine pumpkins. Vine pumpkins can encompass 500 square feet of garden space. Although a vine this large is impressive, leaving the foliage to grow untamed reduces the quality of fruit production. When vines aren't pruned, the plant's energy focuses on vine growth rather than developing large, healthy pumpkins.
Put on a pair of leather gardening gloves to protect your hands from the prickly vines.
Cut secondary vines that grow from the main vine with hand pruning shears. Make your cut 10 to 12 feet along the secondary vine, measuring from the point where it joins the main vine. Allow the main vine to grow until pumpkins begin to develop.
Cover the cut end of each secondary vine with soil to prevent disease from entering the plant through the wound and reducing water loss in the plant.
Cut off tertiary vines -- the vines that grow from secondary vines -- as soon as they develop. Cut the shoots close to the intersecting secondary vines with hand pruning shears.
Cut the main vines with hand pruning shears 10 to 15 feet beyond the last fruit on the vine. A pumpkin may have two or three main vines and can produce one healthy pumpkin per vine. Wait to begin pruning the main vine until you can determine which fruit is the healthiest on each vine, and then remove any later pumpkins as they develop. Continue to cut the main vine as it grows to concentrate the plant's energy on fruit development instead of vine growth.
Bury the cut end of the main vine in a layer of soil. This helps protect the wound, preventing disease and retaining the plant's moisture.
Reposition the secondary vines to a 90-degree angle from the main vine. This trains the vines to grow without overlapping each other, providing more room for fruit development, better air flow between vines and better access to the vines.
Things You Will Need
- Gardening gloves
- Pruning shears
- In addition to training secondary vines away from main vines, it's important to make sure that pumpkins do not grow on any vines in a way that cuts off vine growth.
- Place a large stone or other form of support under each developing pumpkin to keep it off the soil, where it is more susceptible to rot. Check the pumpkin stems regularly, and adjust the pumpkins as needed to reduce the strain on the stems.
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