Hi,
I have grown some pumkins this year and I was wondering when I should
pull them. We are growning them primarily for decorations at halloween
so the bigger they are the better.
My questions are..
Should I let them continue to grow and pull them on the first nite
frost is predicted?
If I pull them now and keep them in a dry place will they keep until
the end of october (or longer?).

Thanks!

Steve

Steve Sagerian wrote:

Hi,
I have grown some pumkins this year and I was wondering when I should
pull them. We are growning them primarily for decorations at halloween
so the bigger they are the better.
My questions are..
Should I let them continue to grow and pull them on the first nite
frost is predicted?
If I pull them now and keep them in a dry place will they keep until
the end of october (or longer?).

Thanks!

Steve


The longer you leave them on the plant, the more certain you can be that
they will stay in good condition long enough. Don't let them get a
frozen spot, of course. I bring mine in when I believe there will be
frost or I throw a cover over some of them just in case if I decide to
wait and see.

Steve (the other one)

Xref: kermit rec.gardens.edible:63229

On 14 Sep 2003 16:51:47 -0700, (Steve
Sagerian) wrote:

so the bigger they are the better.

Should I let them continue to grow and pull them on the first nite
frost is predicted?

They won't grow much larger once they turn orange.

If I pull them now and keep them in a dry place will they keep until
the end of october (or longer?).

I picked them when it was dry out for a fairly long period of time (48
hours) and when they turn solid orange with very little green
remaining. Some of them last until March and are very flavorful as
long as they're kept in cool, dry conditions. Mine usually turn
orange around mid-late August but that's because I start with
seedlings which were started indoors around mid-April. These are the
"triple-treat" variety, only about 10 inches wide but there's a lot of
them (over a dozen for 150 sq feet). A few of them rotted this year
but that's to be expected with 20 inches of rain in the past 3 months.


Dan
nw NJ

On Mon, 15 Sep 2003 21:11:56 GMT, (dstvns)
wrote:


I picked them when it was dry out for a fairly long period of time (48
hours) and when they turn solid orange with very little green
remaining.

Gee. We've scarcely had 48 hours without rain since the
beginning of May! What a year!


ome of them last until March and are very flavorful as
long as they're kept in cool, dry conditions. Mine usually turn
orange around mid-late August but that's because I start with
seedlings which were started indoors around mid-April. These are the
"triple-treat" variety, only about 10 inches wide but there's a lot of
them (over a dozen for 150 sq feet). A few of them rotted this year
but that's to be expected with 20 inches of rain in the past 3 months.


We're in north-central PA, and I don't know how much rain
we've had in the past 3 months, but it's a LOT. And spring
was just terrible, we had one stretch of more than SIX WEEKS
without a sunny day.

It's pouring at the moment (remnants of Tropical Storm
Henri, I believe), and is expected to rain tomorrow and
Thursday, then Friday Hurricane Isabel will be here (unless
it changes course). I hope it changes course, I expect
there will be fairly major flooding here (and other areas)
if it doesn't.

Pat
--
"Rats and roaches live by competition under the laws of
supply and demand. It is the privilege of human beings to
live under the laws of justice and mercy." - Wendell Berry

I am also growing pumpkins for halloween I live in Utah near Salt Lake and
only one of my pumpkins is showing any signs of turning orange. Any Advice?
As a side note I have hundreds of green tomatoes but very few red tomatoes
any sugestions there?

Thank you!

Neil

I have grown some pumkins this year and I was wondering when I should
pull them. We are growning them primarily for decorations at halloween
so the bigger they are the better.

Neil Lawrence said:

I am also growing pumpkins for halloween I live in Utah near Salt Lake and
only one of my pumpkins is showing any signs of turning orange. Any Advice?
As a side note I have hundreds of green tomatoes but very few red tomatoes
any sugestions there?


Leave them on the vine until you are forced to pull them (due to frost/freeze).
Ideally, they will be fully colored by then with hard rinds and extremely hard
stems.

Pumpkins that are partly orange may color up if you are forced to pick them
before they are fully ripe. They'll still be suitable for carving. Pumpkins and
squash picked before they are fully ripe won't be as sweet or flavorful as they
should be.
--
Pat in Plymouth MI

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)