Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
Martin Sykes wrote:

I'm growing pumpkins for the kids at haloween this year. The first one is
turning orange. will it keep for another 2 months?

Almost certainly. Don't pick it while the stem is still alive,
unless there is a serious risk of frost.

Even then they are not too inconvenienced by a light frost. Don't keep
so well afterwards but still easily long enough for Halloween.

Also, I thought the first pumpkin would be biggest but the second is now
bigger and still green. Maybe it's better to wait until the plant is really
big before you let the first fruit develop? I guess pumpkins ripen after a
limited time so it's possibly best to wait as long as possible so the fruit
gets the benefit of a bigger plant during its development?

Green pumpkins? Mine always start sort of lemon yellow and gradually go
orange whilst still growing. They seldom ripen properly in the UK.

Er, more than that. They need a longer, hotter, sunnier summer than
we get to ripen properly. Even when you doo pick it, leave it in a
dry, sunny place to ripen, When fully ripe, pumpkins will keep for
a long time, perhaps a year - UK-grown ones will rarely keep that
well.

The ones left on the doorstep as ornaments not surprisingly tend to go
mouldy after the first thaw from a really deep winter freeze. I expect
even a carved one would retain structural integrity for quite a while
too provided it didn't fill with water.

Regards,
Martin Brown