Do you have squash vine borers in your part of the country? If not, then it probably won't hurt to let the vines grow on the concrete, where the vines can't put down roots. Letting the vines root is primarily useful as a back up against borer damage.

Another thing I'm thinking of, if you have a lot of radiant heat (from the sun) where you live, you might put down some large sheets of cardboard on top of the concrete, to cut down on the reflective power of the sun off the concrete. Let the vines sprawl over the cardboard.

George
Tahlequah, OK

Thanks George,

I live in Orange County, CA and I don't even know what a squash vine borer is??!! But the cardboard is an excellent idea and I will do that, thank you! I've been thinking a lot about my pumpkin plants over the past few days (I really should live on a farm) and I think what I could do is try to transplant one of the other 3 regular pumpkins that are growing next to it to another area of my yard. Then train my giant one to grow in the other direction, so it will cross about 4 feet of dirt before it hits the patio on the other side. But if the only reason to do that is to prevent those borer things...hmmm...I better do some research on what they are and what to look for to see if I have them.

There looks like there are going to be a LOT of pumpkins on these vines...is that a good thing? Do you think I should pinch some off?

Thanks for the help!

Vicki

My pumpkins went awol last year, over the fence & covered almost a third of my 2 car+ parking pad (and are trying it again this year). Last year it was one monster plant & I let it grow as many pumpkins as it wanted. I did have squash bugs everywhere, but did not know what they were until this year. I also throw the vines back on top of each other all the time to try to "wrangle" them instead of cutting them off. Good luck!! It's lots o'fun!
ps....My neighbors call me the farm girl in the city :) Who says you have to have live in the sticks to be a farmer!
Katie

Katie, thanks for the funny mental picture of vines covering your parking pad and everything else...i have visions of them growing out the car windows w/ two giant pumpkins sitting where the driver and psgr sit! :)

So...how were the pumpkins? YOu didn't pinch off any of them and did they still grow to be pretty large?

Vicki,

I grew three (medium?) pumpkins weighing 74lbs, 50lbs, and 46lbs on one vine last year. The rest were pinched off. This was without irrigation, and with 20 gallons of hand delivered water a day. With regular water, you might be able to sneak several more 50lbs pumpkins on the same vine. The absolute best way I've seen to grow a big one was to fill a 6'x 30'x 3'deep trench with aged horse manure/ compost and run an irrigation line directly under the length of the vine. They bury the main vine and trim off most secondary vines.

You should probably pinch off some of those pumpkins on the giant plant. My preferred method is to gently twist off the blossom on the females while they are still green. Don't go out of your way to pinch off a lot of the jack o' lanterns.

If you are going to build a raised bed next year, you might also want to invest in quality seed. It will make a big difference.

Here is a link that might be useful: Premium Seed

That is a pretty funny picture...LOL

I watered them LOTS. Almost every day through the heat of the summer when there was no rain. And the vine did really good. I harvested 12 pumpkins. I didn't weigh any of them, but ll were 1.5x larger than a bowling ball. I posted pics awhile back, let me see if I can find them.....

I don't eat them, cause, well, I think I'm the one American who hates pumpkin pie. I love carving them & eating their seeds :) The seeds were very tasty :) The posted pic was taken last 31 July. I let it grow through October, so you can imagine how much bigger it got.

Here is a link that might be useful: previous post

My volunteer pumpkins left out over winter are taking over my front yard and have begun creeping into the driveway and street. I think this was the straw that broke the camels back in regards to the neighbors deciding I have lost my marbles.

I love seeing how many feet the vines grow each day....I spend 15 minutes a day just pulling the vines off of newly planted shrubs and perennials that I hope will live past this experience.

Wow, thank you all so much! This has really helped me 1) relax about where my pumpkins are growing, 2) plan for this year's pumpkins and 3) plan for next year.

Now, I just need to read about how to tell the difference between a male and female flower, how to hand pollinate, and what a "volunteer" is. Did I mention I am a novice at gardening? (but I LOVE it nonetheless!)

Katie and sunshineboy - beeeeuatiful pumpkins!!

Love this forum; thanks to everyone who responded!

Vicki

Nice pictures it really makes me want to just get rid of the lawn and plant pumpkins next year. Those are some healthy looking plants too.

I've grown mine on concrete with a mat of straw for them to settle on. My lawn is wrecked by the hot weather here in Mn. having the straw and vines cover the grass I've been able to start a clover lawn keeping the new plants shielded.