I searched the internet for a few hours looking for how to prune a pumpkin plant. All I could find was the same mumbo jumbo gardening speak of secondary, tertiary and blah, blah, blah with no pictures or visuals of what the hell people were talking about.
The reason for looking on how to do this is because my pumpkin plant is starting to get some powdery mildew and pruning your plant to allow for better circulation is supposed to help prevent that. Makes sense to me especially since I am growing them vertically in a container.
Based on what I read, I think I figured out how to prune a pumpkin plant. What I did was remove the leaves and stems that were most infected with the mildew. I cut them at the point where they met the vine. This was done for all of stems that had the dead leaves.
When I was done I had more than a handful of dead and powdery leaves. There are still some leaves left on the plant and much more room for circulation.
What are some other tips you have for taking care of pumpkin plants?
Hi,
First: I really love your blog. I’m from East Flatbush/Canarsie but now I live in Barcelona. Your videos are inspiring and motivational. This is my first time growing vegetables and I’m doing it on my terraces, which definitely impresses the neighbors and of course, me, as well.
I’m growing zucchini, marrow and cucumbers, which are all in the pumpkin family. When I first see powdery mildew I wipe the mildew off with a wet cloth because I hate the sight of it. Then I spray the leaves with a mixture of half milk half water. This changes the Ph of the leaves so the mildew cannot thrive. Doing this once a week works pretty well.
Try it out so you can save some of your leaves. If you don’t drink milk, “borrow” a cup from your neighbors like in the old days 🙂
Canarsie represent. Thanks. I’ve heard that a water and baking soda mixture has the same effect. Need to give that try as well. Appreciate the tip.
I don’t know about pruning, but bith my pumpkin and my pickling cucumbers got powdery mildew this year on the first leaves. I did nothing, and the mildewy leaves died on thir own, and the next leaves were fine. Any leaves that wer exceptionally offensive I just pinched off. Seems I have 3 pumpkins now. (Cheese wheel squash variety) I don’t know if I would have had more or not if I pruned. The pickling cucumbers produced like mad, even with the problem.
That’s good to know. I’ve seen a bunch of different ways to deal with powdery mildew.