Volunteer pumpkin.when to harvest?
Question:With all the rain in Texas this year, I had a small pumpkin patch come up where I tossed the seeds from last year's jack-o-lantern. There is a very nice pumpkin growing that I would like to use for this Halloween. It is already orange and (I assume) ripening. With four months between now and then I am wondering if I should harvest it or leave it on the stalk. If I do harvest, how do I keep it until October?
Answers:
The indicator I've always used for picking pumpkins/winter squash is brown stem (vs green while it's growing). I'd keep an eye out for that to help decide when to cut it off the vine. I don't think I'd recommend leaving it on the vine too long after it starts to look ripe - better to get it up off the wet dirt (and out of the rain if it's still raining) to prevent mold and bugs from getting a hold of it.
Keeping a pumpkin until October might be tough, but if you have somewhere cool and dry you can put it, it should be ok.
Good luck!
Pumpkins will continue to grow as long as they are still on the vine. One thing you could do is get rid of all the other pumpkins on the vine and see how big your one pumpkin will grow. You will have to keep an eye out for the dreaded squash bug because it can kill your pumpkin vine with one diseased bite. Although I'm typically opposed to chemical treatments, a weekly spray of Sevin should stop them.
wait until the vine dies down, you should have time for halloween,being from australia we don't have your problem.
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