How to Prune Pumpkins (for BIGGER Fruit)
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- Опубліковано 7 чер 2024
- Pumpkin plants can overwhelm garden beds and produce little fruit, but easy pumpkin pruning can keep plants under control and produce big, successful pumpkins. Gardener Scott shows how to prune pumpkins in his pumpkin patch. Efficient plants and big pumpkins are the result. (Video #201)
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Check out my other video that shows how to make delicious pie with sugar pumpkins: ua-cam.com/video/C8xMVSSdT-4/v-deo.html
I'm growing only pumpkins. I hope they take over my whole yard! I'll let my nine year old sell them in our driveway. A good experience for him!
That's an awesome 💡
I did this on accident never realized how larg pumpkins could get lol let it take my entire back yard the first year but I still love them
You will get more pumpkins if you do some pruning you don’t have to do drastic pruning Just remove a few vine tips excess of vines will not give you more pumpkins
Haha that's what we are doing
Great idea love it
My mom would take squash blossoms cleaned and dried, dip in a batter with a bit of Parmesan and fry. Delicious!
Life’s a garden dig it!
Wow so clever
I"ve never thought of pruning pumpkins, thanks for this advice - very useful. Last summer (i'm in the southern hemisphere) I grew my butternut pumpkins up a trellis - I was late planting them, and with a very dry summer the fruit weren't big, and when picked (the stems had dried and it was moving towards winter) the one I cut open was still somewhat unripe, not very sweet and pale. Couldn't bring myself to compost them, so stored them inside. Finally cut open another to make pumpkin soup and it was the sweetest most delicious pumpkin - a lesson for me.
I just planted my Small Sugar Pumpkins today and am going to train them up a teepee trellis made of bamboo. Were in hot Northern CA so we have a long growing season. Hopefully I'll get some ripe pumpkins before Decemeber 15th which is our first frost date. :)
@@tamarabonet9438 fingers crossed for luck :)
Tamara I hope you get a good harvest. I love making homemade pumpkin pies and have a video on it: ua-cam.com/video/C8xMVSSdT-4/v-deo.html
Wow! The timing on this video works so well for me!
I planted a pumpkin plant and it is taking over my little garden lol.
I didn't know you could prune pumpkins. Very informative and interesting. Thank you😀
Thank you gardener Scott for the advice on how to prune my wild and overgrown squash. I have learnt so much and it made the job really easy.
What an interesting idea! I've battled pumpkins with vines creeping across the lawn and I'll admit that the pumpkin usually wins... It's just never occurred to me to prune it back. This year I never got my veggies going, but I had 2 pumpkin plants volunteer in my heugelkulture bed! That was a happy surprise! And I managed to build a strong trellis for them to grow on just in time to start training them.
Great video, thank you. We didn't plan on growing pumpkins this year but they appeared one day in the compost and have since taken it over.
Thank you so much for this advice. I had heard about pruning pumpkins, but I had no idea how to do it right.
Thank you. You explain very well. I will definitely prune my pumkin plant and with courage after watching this video.
Thank you for sharing this idea of pruning on vine garden plants, I really do need more information 👍.
MG Scott, thank you very much for this video, which as always is very helpful. I am growing a different type of south Asian pumpkin but no doubt the same principles apply.
This was really helpful. Thank you! With the fires here in Northern CA we have a big cool down.....so.....I got to plant for my Fall Garden (which wearing respirator mask for the smoke!). I planted a pumpkin to go up huge 14 foot bamboo trellis I made :D First time gardening is so fun! Thank you again for your great things you teach!
Thank you - this is very helpful - I've been growing pumpkins for years and years, but have avoided trimming. This year I will use your tips and be more proactive with my vines. This is the first year I have grown pumpkins from last years seeds. So far so good.
Excellent video! I really appreciate it, I am always scared to prune but I know its needed. Thank you for actually showing us what we should be doing it was very helpful.
We eat the young pumpkins like you would a summer squash when we need to prune them, or if one gets accidentally knocked off before it’s mature. They are tender and delicious like a zucchini or patty pan. 😊
What when they're green?
Thank you gardener Scott, as a beginner this is really helpful. I have a few yellow crispy leaves forming and I wasn't sure what to do. I could have watched you trim the whole patch for sure! 😊
Thank you for the pointers, going to try it out with my pumpkins
Thanks, I'm looking forward to using these tips and seeing the results...
This year is amazing. I have 25 mounds and fifty plants. They are growing like weeds with lot of pumpkin. It scary how many I may get and very large.
With that said I think I’m going to choose maybe 25 pumpkin and cut rest.
Great timing, I was just wondering about this, so thank you! Very good information
Thanks for your great tips! I've got some pruning to do now. 😁👍🏻
I didn't know Jeff Bridges can grow pumpkins that good!
Thank you for your video. You make it look easy. I'm attempting pumpkins this year, I'm in the north-west Uk. My late mum was a keen gardener. I thought pumpkins would be good to cover the veg patch and I can give the fruits away to neighbours etc. Some of the people I support with my work will appreciate them too. I think my next step is to put the young plants into individual pots and harden off before I plant them out.
Thank you for all the close up shots! I'm ready to take on my spaghetti squash vines!!
Thanks for sharing,I didn't know all of what you have shared.Very useful information.
Pumpkin leaves are uses as vegetables similar to lettuce where I live, so when growing pumpkins two patches are mostly needed. One for the pumpkin and another for the pumpkin leaves an you need to take the tender leaves. They are thinly sliced then either stir fry them with onions or cook them with a bit of coconut milk/cream.
Definitely going to try this
That's a really good idea. Saves anything going to waste. I did wonder if you could eat them. I've got some really big leaves on my plants.
Wow really I never thought of eating them they don't look or feel very appetizing lol they taste good tho?
hope you cooked all those smaller pumpkins. they make very good squash substitutes. yum!
Excellent. I am planing to harvest pumpkins for Halloween. Great tip. Thank you.
Fantastic tips! Thank you!
Mine are growing on spindly tree branches since I didn't plant pumpkins for years and I assumed the volunteers were acorn squash from last year. Oddly enough the vines are supporting the pumpkins hanging down, even the one approaching basketball-size.
It's a waste of space but it's fun to watch.
Excellent information. Just what I needed to know.
I'm a first time gardener and I've got 3 pumpkin plants that are very long and I never thought about pruning so thank you for this great info. I have 4 pumpkins which seem to be doing well (which I think isn't too bad for a first timer)
Thanks so much! Your advice is thorough and easy to follow. I wanted to know how to increase the size of the fruit, as there is plenty already! This is great!
I didn't know you can prune pumpkins thank you
Thanks Scott. When you cut flowers away I remembered Mexicans cook pumpkin flower soup. It's delicious. 😋
That sounds good.
This looks wonderful! Man, the squash bugs got to my plants before they could even have a chance. I'm starting from scratch but learning more with each go.
Thank you I like how you explained things in your video thank you for helping a new Gardner like me .. I made a oopsie and planted roughly … 16 pumpkin vines and they are all thriving now I have some confidence I will have a handle on these babys 🤣
You are right, the vine will keep growing. I had one vine that went about 10 feet from the bed it was growing in all the way into another section of the garden.
Well done no nonsense video, thank you
great explantion! thank you!!
Very helpful. Thank you!
Great information, thank you for that!
Great advice thanks!
Good information! Thanks!
Excellent presentation. Thank you for sharing. Subscribed.
Thanks! Welcome to the channel!
excellent video . Thanks
Thanks for the video. My pumpkins are just growing rapidly and don't know what to do. Good Tips.
Thank for the video.
Thanks a lot the advice.
I pruned my pumpkin vines in July/August after 3 good sized pie pumpkins emerged and looked like they will mature. The primary vine had 3 long vines running off it through my corn patch. I had already removed tertiary vines. I pruned the 3 vines past where they had rooted... The pumpkins are large for their type and ready to pick. Anyway, now all of a sudden I have more blooms every section and more pumpkins growing before I knew they were there. I'm leaving the blooms for the bees 🐝.
I wish I had room to grow pumpkins. Thank You for your precise information.
Heidi Clark they do pretty well going vertical. Train them up a fence or trellis.
I have trained mine to climb up a series of strings along the wall and now it’s over 10’ tall! Great tips on pruning!
Great info, thank you! Learnt a lot :-)
Why Am I thinking Halloween right now?😊😊
would you do similar to cucumbers this time of year
It may be a bit soon for cucumbers, but they can be pruned too. I plan a video about that next month.
In nepal we use to cook the pumpking side growing branches but keep its growing small part for further. Its taste good if u want to know you can visit nepali videos of pumpking leaf curry.
6 weeks away from frost... I’m probably closer. Where did summer go?
Thanks for all this information. Very helpful. I don’t have pumpkins in my garden yet but someday I hope I will. I do want to grow better fruits and pruning would help.
You don’t have to waste or composite blossoms or premature fruit. You can gather other edibles, rinse gently and slice in half lengthwise. Also, slice premature fruit and stir-fry in a hot skillet. Season with your favourite seasonings and enjoy! They fall into the gourmet category. Absolutely delicious! The pollen that remains in the blossom is amazingly! After all, it keeps the tiny powerhouse worker alive! The reason to slice the blossom in half, is to check inside it and to fit more comfortably in your mouth. 😊
An elderly lady friend was telling me they batter and fry the flower blossoms. In fact they grow pumpkins specifically for the blooms and never let pumpkins grow. ✌️💕
Update: so I Googled frying blossoms and come to find out there are all kinds of yummy recipes to use the blossoms.🤷♀️
@@Tweetheart67 Hey, that’s cool, about the pumpkin blossoms. Also, do they cut them in half to check for bees, or just peek and leave whole?
Please forgive my typos, in the comment previously. I get speeding along and not watching my spell checker…it has a bad habit of inserting words for me!
It gets a lot of people into trouble, (and can surely make us look pretty uneducated. 😏😂.
@@elizabethwatt8131 good question. I just know that they grow them and eat them that's all. I never got into the particulars with her. Don't worry about your spelling I use speech to text and I have vision problems so I don't always catch the errors. I don't trip if other people freak, I don't care, their problem not mine. I'm not here trying to impress anyone, the people that go around correcting everybody are the poor fools without a life and have serious issues about what is important in the grand scheme of life and what is not. Their stupidity is amusing✌️💕
@@Tweetheart67 grow pumpkin s for the flowers, when I make stuff peppers I stuff the flowers too, is a summer dish from the old country that my mother use to do also I make a frittata , the flower is also healthy ❤
This is great. Thank you 😊
Thank you had no idea that this could be done
Very good information as per usual. Thank you. I also like to prune to increase pollination earlier in the season. Because pollinators are attracted to color it's best to prune up to 1/3 of the leaves strategically to expose the blossom. You should just for kicks tell everyone how to prune a pumpkin to encourage extra large fruit (bragging rights pruning) lol
Thanks mate from a novice Downunder, take care, I have subscribed.
Thank you. Welcome to the channel.
I have a compost corner on the property...the grass in that section looks like its on steroids...i was busy...two weeks...ignored the yard..when i checked....one huge pumpkin vine.I was scared....watched this video....now confident to go and trim it....thanks
This is the only video that I have seen on pruning pumpkins 🎃. Thanks for the wonderful work that you put into your videos.
Scott .... Another very informative video. Try small green pumpkins sliced and fried in butter as they are pretty good eating.
Great video thank you
Holy moly you sacrifice pumpkins 😂. Big or small we keep em all! Thanks for the pruning tips. My patch is set up as yours is. So far working out better then previous years. Now I await the inevitable powdery mildew😖. I've tried every remedy out there and over the last 6 years I've just learned that there's no defeating it lol. Just remove as it invades.
Awesome great keep it up pretty good.
thanks
ಒಳ್ಳೆಯ ಮಾಹಿತಿ ಸಾರ್ 💐🙏
Thank you
👍🏼 Thank you
Nice video very informative about the vines very smart pruning techniques. Just a tip Scott you might use or maybe you already do it when the first frost comes turn on your sprinklers at 5 AM and have them running when the sun hits the plant for the first time and it will stop frost damage from occurring. This will buy you a few more weeks to mature your pumpkins
That's a good tip and similar to what many commercial orchards do. Thanks.
@@GardenerScott yes sir It works good if you wanna keep the plants going even if you get 20% damage they will survive and still continue to grow and put weight on the fruit
Thx again!
What crop is covered with netting behind you?
Salad crops for my fall garden. Some turnips too.
Great video, very helpful! I'm going to try growing some smaller varieties up trellis but having second thoughts because i learned they grow roots along the vine a bit, to help feed the plant. Do you think its ok?
Thanks! It's ok to grow pumpkins on a trellis. They can grow roots along the vine when the vine is buried, but that isn't necessary for good growth on a trellis.
Last year was my first attempt at pumpkin growing. I had lots of vines and blossoms nut no pumpkins. I am going to try again this year and was wonder if anything I could try? this video was great.
Thanks. Check your fertilization. Too much nitrogen can hinder fruit development. Also, excessive heat can prevent pollination so if you're regularly seeing very hot days when they flower you might consider shading the plant to get fruit to set.
@@GardenerScott Thanks. That is it then. I cleaned out a sheep barn and planted directly into it. The sheep bedding placed over logs hugleculture style. The nitrogen had to be off charts. The vines and blossoms did well. Thanks and i make changes.
Wow thankyou I did not no . Can you prune winter squash plants to
Yes you can. They are very similar.
Thanks for your help. I've been growing pumpkins for 10 years and this is the first year I have been doing more than just letting them grow all over. I'm experimenting with mulch and pruning. Do you use any mulch around your pumpkins?
Absolutely. Primarily straw.
You must be a gardener!
This video helps alot! Good info. One question tho.. I live in a higher elevation, so of course shorter growing season. My. Plant has 1 pumpkin on it and its about 6ft long overall. Its just starting some secondary vines. Should I cut off the first pumpkin that appears? Or let it be the one to stay?
I have a short season too and the first pumpkin is often the only one that ripens before the first frost in fall. Depending on when other flowers and fruit appear, it is the later ones to prune off so the early ones can benefit from more plant energy.
Thanks for the great information. I'm new to this and had heard about pruning. Unfortunately I cut back leaves. But, I'm excited to see that my pumpkins are around the same size and development as yours. I'm in Evergreen, CO at 7600 feet. Is tenting my tall raised beds with plastic sheeting a good idea for all veggies, including the pumpkin and zucchini?
This time of year, having plastic over the beds can be good for all veggies for overnight lows. Be ready to remove it during the day so the plants don't get too hot.
@@GardenerScott Thank you! I love your You Tubes and information!
I have a smaller yard this is great to know as the space is limited and I want to plant as a beginner Gardener some pumpkins and cantaloupe I live in zone 9B Florida so it's kind of hitting the second season a little late but they're taking so well. One other thing I'm looking into is the possibility of doing an arch or trellis formation so the vines have more room to grow. Do you have any thoughts or recommendations on that?
Melons and squash on a trellis can work well. The trellis needs to be strong. I like to use cattle panel arches. For big fruit you may need to support them with a sling so they don't tear the stem.
A lot of good advice (except throwing away the flowers apparantely). Thanks for sharing. Must admit that right now I'm fixated so all I see is a lot of green manure. Cheers
Thanks for the information. I have a massive amount of pumpkin plants courgettes and watermelon and honey melon growing this year. I upped production as last year my courgettes were rotting on the vine going yellow and mouldy. My neighbor had the same problem. This year I have at least 10 plants to offset the failed ones. So far only a few have turned mouldy and a few pumpkins brown and looking bad like one in your video. Not sure what's causing it. I made the decision to buy a large poly tunnel greenhouse and I'm in France where we can grow tomatoes outside as it's so warm. Best decision ever as this summer has been the worse. So cold and many thunderstorms and rain. Two years ago we all lost our tomatoes as in may it rained every day. As soon as we get the sunshine and it hits 32c along come the government making grid pattern lines in the sky and then it's cold and wet and thunder for weeks afterwards. Makes me so mad what's happening..
Scott, will the Ruth Stout method work for pumkins? How about permeable weed barriers or plastic? I understand the vines need to re root as they grow. Is this necessary, or can you get a good crop from one well established root location?
It will. I don't think a barrier or plastic is necessary and can hinder water getting to the roots. The vines will root if the nodes along the stem rest in soil but that's not necessary to get pumpkins.
Great video, it has been very useful to me. I have a question, if a pumpkin is growing on the main vine, would it be okay to prune all the secondary vines to focus only on the growth of that pumpkin or would it be a mistake?
Thanks. It's usually good to prune off other pumpkins on a vine to direct energy to one fruit, but the secondary vines are still generating energy for the plant. You'll want to keep some of them.
@@GardenerScott Ok, thanks for the quick reply!
Thank you for the helpful tips, a deer ate all of my pumpkin leaves up. Will it still produce a pumpkin?
Possibly. The plant will try to send out more leaves if enough of the plant remains. If you don't see them soon, it probably won't.
Hello. New to Pumpkin Growing here and I have a question for you: If you have one pumpkin on a vine, and it's too late in the season for any other ones to grow and mature in time, is there anything wrong with cutting the vine just past where the pumpkin is (as opposed to cutting further down the vine)?
When I pruned mine, I pruned it past where it last rooted, which was about 2-3' further out. The reason is in case a vine borer gets the main stem, it's still got a root. Turns out I didn't have any vine borer damage this season... but I encourage rooting along the vine to keep it alive, in the event that happens.
Gardner Scott, do these same practices apply to winter squash (Butter Cup)and Musk Melon's ?
They do. The flowers are smaller but the process is the same.
Do you recommend the same pruning method for watermelon? I have three growing successfully (first fruits forming, first frost end of November) and they're all sending vines out from earlier vines. I'd like to focus the energy on the fruits I can see rather than the ones yet to appear.
Yes. Similar pruning techniques can benefit most vining plants.
I am trying to grow a pumpkin. I have 4 plants growing in a raised bed. I have trained the main vines all down the length of the bed. One grew out of the bed approx. 3 feet. My husband weed eated 2 feet of it. I have no blooms yet. Do you think it can bloom and possibly grow a pumpkin on the 7 feet of vine still in the bed?
It can bloom and fruit on a vine that size. Keep growing and training the plants and look for flowers.
I see that some of your pumpkin plant leaves have been slightly damaged. Mine were ravaged, by pests and powdery mildew. My watermelon plants' leaves would yellow, but then recover and I didn't lose any plants. It would appear that watermelons are easier to grow than pumpkins, here at least. Neither were pruned. I plan to give your pruning tips a try with next year's melons and pumpkins.
I’ve decided to try and grow some pumpkins this year for the first time (first time growing anything) but for some reason the female flowers are blooming but no male ones are blooming to pollinate them, not really sure what I’m doing wrong maybe pruning them will help 🤞🏻
How do you keep a pumpkin from breaking off the plant that is trellised? Mine is the size of a large basketball and is getting very heavy. I’m afraid it is going to fall & break. Thank you for your informative video!
The fruit should be supported. A sling made from netting, pantyhose, pillowcase, or something similar can help.
You do know the softball sized one can be cooked like a squash?? It's called Calabasa con pollo(chicken)😋
How does the secondary provide photosynthesis and the tertiary just rob nutrients, i mean theyre both leaves. Am i missing something
I live in south Louisiana and I plan to plant on the new moon in June for a harvest time around Halloween. I'm attempting to grow a pumpkin patch(90' wide x 180" length). I've been preparing my soil for several weeks. This particular area on our property was a cattle feeding area for the last 40 years. I made 9 - 180' rows for spacing. We get quite a bit of rain from the Gulf of Mexico all year long and our winters are very mild. I watched your video on pruning and I was a little concerned because of the massive area I'm dealing with. I have a few questions because I never grew pumpkins before this attempt.
1. What type of disease ( high humid climate) should I look for and when should I begin to prune?
2. I have 750 seeds and 6 different types of pumpkins. Is this enough area for the amount of seeds? (I purchased them from Johnny Seed).
Thanks for any advice. I'm praying for a great harvest this fall so I can invite the local kids to pick their pumpkins for the Holidays. Take care and God Bless.
Check with your County Extension office to see what diseases are common in your area. Depending on your goals, you can begin pruning as soon as flowers appear. That sounds like enough seeds; the plants will spread a lot.
I'm here because I thought it was Gardening With The Big Lewbowski.