2007-09-06 14:28:24 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Home & Garden ➔ Garden & Landscape
Before midnight...that's for sure.
2007-09-06 14:31:16 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
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.
Pumpkins are ready to harvest usually by the end of Sept. Here's a chronology of a pumpkin's life cycle:If planted April 24...Germinated May 5... then it would be fully ripe by Sept 30:
http://www.pumpkinnook.com/howto/cycle.htm
Leave the fruit on the vine as long as you can.
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
Putting a board under your ripening pumpkin is a common practice to deter bugs, moles and rotting from underneath.
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 10 -20 days & then clean it with bleach water & store it in a cool place.
Here's a site with a chart of 'Days to Maturity" that includes several pumpkin varieties:
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/Pubs/Garden/07609.html
Small fruits (1 to 4 pounds, 80 to 100 days to harvest)
Intermediate fruits (6 to 12 pounds, 110 days to harvest)
Large fruits (15 to 40 pounds, 120 days to harvest)
Good luck! Hope this is helpful.
2007-09-06 15:53:20 · answer #2 · answered by ANGEL 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
When its big and orange, and isn't turning yellow yet, or isn't starting to get wrinkly. I'd say if you planted at pumpkin planting time in the spring, then its time in about 3 weeks!
2007-09-06 14:33:37 · answer #3 · answered by Gershom 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I had ONE pumpkin, I clipped it just before the plant died
2007-09-06 14:32:27 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
why do you need to pick up your pumpkins
2007-09-06 14:31:12 · answer #5 · answered by bobble head 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Just about any time now. you can either pick your pumkin from a vendor or a pumkin patch. I usually wait until about the middle of October though.
2007-09-06 14:46:45 · answer #6 · answered by Michael C 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
October is the best month for them, when they are nice and orange, just before Halloween is the prime time for them.
2007-09-07 01:36:58 · answer #7 · answered by trey98607 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Just when the stem is dry (Brown in color)
2007-09-06 14:37:57 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋