I have some pumpkin starts that I am putting in a planter. They've started to produce a number of buds. Should I be pinching them off at this stage (only 4-5 leaves on them) to encourage growth or should I grow them out.

Thanks.

I've never "pinched" any of my squash or pumpkin plants, just let them grow. (someone else might have a different idea about that, though)

Where are you located, @maxcaviar?

Usually the first buds are the male flowers, they only produce pollen, I'd leave them alone, the plant most likely knows what it's doing.

tveguy3 said: ... the plant most likely knows what it's doing.

But they didn't evolve to be started in a tiny handful of soil. Are the cells root-bound or close to it?

It might be saying to itself: "Ohmygosh, somehow my seed germinated in some TEENY-TINY pocket of soil that might wash away at any moment! I only have days to live before I exhaust the soil. I had better hurry up and MAKE SEEDS before I DIE!"

But I'm not a pumpkin psychologist, so what do I know?

I think plants "know" what is good for them in conditions similar to those they evolved under, or the conditions where they were selectively bred by people maintaining heirlooms, or companies breeding for maximum profit.

Once we put them into new, artificial, situations, their genetic programming interacts with the situation almost randomly. I think plants tend to do things that would have tended to be successful where they were evolving (or being bred through severe selection).

LOL, Rick ! If those plants have 4-5 leaves, I'm thinking they must be in something bigger than a plug or cell...

@Maxcaviar, help us out here!

My main concern is that -- depending on where the OP lives -- there isn't enough time for "starts" to grow out.

(if I don't start squash in April in the greenhouse, to plant out in June, there's no way they would ripen before we had a freeze)

They had 4 leaves while still in the cells - - medium sized cells. I live in Southern CA so I thought I could get away with the late season transplanting. Thinking pumpkins around Thanksgiving time but that's a guess from a guy who doesn't grow pumpkins. Will update when there's some pic's worth posting. We've had 95-100 degree days for almost a week and it has held up fine so far.

Southern CA -- well, that would certainly be much different than where I am! It sounds like they should have a good chance of doing well for you