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FragileWarrior[_1_] · 07-08-2006, 02:00 AM posted to rec.gardens

(Pat Kiewicz) wrote in
:

Matthew Reed said:

Some of my pumpkins are turning orange already. Is this normal?

Depends on the variety. Some turn orange before they are actually
ripe. (This is a great trait for jack-o'lantern pumpkins, which just
need to look good enough to carve.)

When should
I harvest them, and should I just leave them alone until frost kills
the plants?

The pumpkins will store best if they are left on the plant to get
fully ripe. The stems will be as hard as wood and the rinds will be
too tough to pierce with a thumbnail. Generally, for best eating
quality you want to let the pumpkins stay on the vine as long as
possible. Cover the fruit with paper bags or old towels if light frost
threatens and harvest when the vines die back or before a hard freeze.

My ripe (or at least ORANGE) pumpkins seem to be getting mushy stems
right at the vine and then that's that. The first one that turned orange
turned out to be completely hollow inside due to rot although the outside
looked picture perfect. These are not large ones, either, although there
are a few larger ones still on the vine and still okay, stem-wise.

Any idea why they are going mushy at the stem/vine connection?