My pumpkin is ripe?

Question

I am not sure what to do. I planted a pumpkin for my daughter and it is a little bit bigger than a bowling ball and has already turned orange. Can I leave it on the vine for longer or should I pick it now?

Answer 1

Yes! You can leave it on the vine longer.
Pumpkins are ready to harvest usually by the end of Sept. Here's a chronology of the pumpkin's life cycle:
http://www.pumpkinnook.com/howto/cycle.htm
Put a board under your ripening pumpkin to deter bugs, moles and rotting from underneath.
Some wait til the vines have withered to harvest their pumpkins. Then they are left to cure in the field for 10 days. They can even remain in the garden through a light, vine-killing frost. However...all mature pumpkins should be harvested before temperatures drop into the mid to low 20's.
http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews/1997/9-12-1997/harvpump.html

You'll know your pumpkin is fully ripe when the stems are dry and the skin resists penetration by a thumbnail. Don't harvest it until the skin has reached full color and has hardened. Another sign that a pumpkin is ready to be harvested is that the stem starts to crack.

You can also check with the type of pumpkin you planted & how many days it grows to maturity. Then calculate when your pumpkin should be ready to harvest.

When determining the maturity of pumpkins, keep in mind that it won't get bigger or oranger once it's off the vine. When you cut, leave a 3-5 '' stem on it. After cutting you'd have to cure it in the field for ten days & then clean it with bleach water & store it in a cool place.

Harvesting your pumpkin will signal the vine to keep producing... and you may find more pumpkins forming.
Good luck! Hope this helps.

Answer 2

Ohh my, a pumpkin, that was a big hole you had to dig! Juuuust kidding ;-)