Like all things in giant pumpkin growing, there are many ways to accomplish the same thing.  Some ways work better in certain situations, some just work better, and some don't work at all.  You've all hear me say that before, and vine maintenance is certainly no exception!

The purpose of pruning and training the pumpkin vines is to find the balance in a plants size that yields the greatest fruit growth.  It is widely believed that after a plant reaches a certain size, a considerable amount of that plants energy is used just to maintain plant health, and fruit growth is lost as a consequence.  Though no formal tests have been done to conclude this, it is a valid observation when you look at the relationship of plant size vs. fruit weight over the last decade.  Plant sizes were much larger, with average sizes ranging from 1200-1500 sq ft.   The world Record Pumpkin in 2001 was 1262 pounds, which is not a large fruit by today's standards.  Literally dozens are grown this big and larger today in patch's that average 650-750 sq ft.  Pumpkin weights have soared as patch sizes have gotten smaller.  In fact 2 of the worlds largest pumpkins, both well over 1500 #'s were grown in patches of 400 sq ft or less!

To complicate matters, the are different training patterns and variations of each.  The most common by far is the "Christmas Tree".  It is called that because that is the shape it closely resembles as the plant is growing.  Others include "the spider", "flag" and "snake". It is very difficult to say which pattern is the best, because it is impossible to know how the plant would have reacted to a different pruning pattern.  Suffice to say that most, if not all the largest pumpkins have been grown with, or some variation of the Christmas Tree.

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All side vines (secondaries) are trained outward or slightly outward and upwards to the edge of the patch and terminated.  Because the secondaries towards the back of the plant are the oldest they are the longest.  The secondaries towards the top of the plant are the youngest, so they will be shorter.  Eventually the entire plant will fill in and all secondaries will be the same length after termination.  Now your plant will more resemble a rectangle.

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My Training Pattern

I use a variation of the Christmas Tree Pattern.  How I came to this pattern is a funny story and needs to be shared to appreciate the odd shape!

I am fortunate to have a very accomplished grower living within 1 mile of me.  My first season I bombarded Steve Daletas with many questions, and lucky for me, he was generous and gracious enough to patiently answer every one of them.  One of the big unknowns for me was how to grow these, and which training pattern to use.  At the time, Steve used the Christmas Tree pattern exclusively.  He convinced me that most, if not all of the largest pumpkins were grown this way.  Assumed was that a Christmas Tree is a Christmas Tree.  I grew up in Eastern Oregon where the White Fir dominates, Steve lives in Western Oregon where the Douglas Fir is the common tree.  There is a big difference in how these trees grow, I didn't know it at the time, and this difference is what determined the vine pattern I developed. 

White Fir bows grow gently downward, where Douglas Fir bows grow upwards.    I just assumed that to train the vines in the shape of a Christmas tree, I would curve the secondaries towards the back of the patch.  After I had the first few sides vines trained backwards, I noticed that I would still have a lot of the patch, dirt that I payed a lot of money to amend and improve, sitting idle not growing anything.  So I curved them more aggressively backwards until I could fill as much of the patch as possible. What happened was I was able to pack an incredible amount of plant into a very small area.

I discovered using this unique training pattern that the stump of the plant had to be placed further into the patch to allow roots and vines to grow behind it.  Also, the further away from the stump, or the closer to the fruit, the longer the vines were allowed to grow.  The secondaries near the fruit are upwards of 30 feet long.  Many people have said that after they set a pumpkin, the vine growth stops, but I have never experienced that.  The growth will stall for a week or two, but it will pick back up.  Maybe not at the speed that it was before pollination, but back to the point you will have to manage them.

Some other notable differences in the way I train my vines: The vines are only about 12" apart. This means that you need to be very diligent in terminating any and all tertiary growth as it will be very difficult to get into the plant later to clean it out.  Collecting male flowers for later pollination is harder.  I use an extension pole with a clipper that has a clamp to retrieve the flowers.  You will lose some air flow in the plant, increasing susceptibility to disease, so adjust your spray schedule accordingly.

Please note that most of the details on the drawing are for illustration only.  The dimensions of the patch are correct, and that about it!  The number of side vines shown and the number kept on each plant vary are determined by how the plant grows.  I keep all side vines possible, terminating them only if the future of the fruit is in jeopardy.  Each vine is curved back and within 12" of the next vine, but the exact position and distance is also determined by how the plant grows.  Look at this as a "game plan" and allow yourself the flexibility to adjust and compensate as you plant needs.

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Your plant will take on a very narrow appearance, don't let this bother you!  It really bothered me at first after seeing these huge plants others were growing.  I looks like something is wrong with your pant and it is way behind.  It's not, it just looks that way because of the tight training of the secondaries.  You have the same sized plant, just packed much tighter.  And remember, when the other growers plants have grown to the end of the patch and are terminated, yours still has plenty of room to grow.

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