Pruning 101

It won't be long before your patch becomes an unruly tangle of vines in every direction unless you've planned ahead and done some pruning.

First things first - Terminology:
Main Vine - The dominant vine coming from the trunk of the plant. Sometimes there can be two main vines, the second one can be called a "Back Vine" too.
Leaf Axial - The juncture where each leaf meets the vine.
Secondary Vine - The vines that sprout from every leaf axial on the main vine. Typically they grow perpendicular to the main, and extend on both sides.
Tertiary Vine - The vines that sprout from every leaf axial on the secondary vines. These typically grow perpendicular the secondary vines.
Tendril - The corkscrew-looking stem at each leaf axial.

Do you have a visual now of criss-crossed vines in every direction? You'll see.

The goal of pruning is to maintain a patch where you can access your vines and pumpkins to keep them watered, fertilized and healthy.

Some people (myself included) eliminate all the teritiary vines and the tendrils as they sprout. Another good practice is to put a shovelful of dirt on top of each leaf axial as the plant will send down a root to help stabilize the vine and feed your pumpkins.

Here is a link to a diagram of two popular growing patterns that enable you to maximize your patch space.

http://bigpumpkins.com/displayphoto.asp?pid=1104&gid=-18331 and
http://bigpumpkins.com/displayphoto.asp?pid=1104&gid=-18331

Bigpumpkins.com has much, much more on every topic related to raising giant pumpkins - visit this site often.