Autumn time is harvest time. In the bed and on the balcony, the bright, plump pumpkins promise delicious enjoyment and creative decoration ideas. The following lines explain how to determine the harvest maturity and how to harvest properly.

This is how the knock test works

If the summer was warm and dry, there are best chances of the start of the harvest from the end of August. A ripe squash will present itself with a smooth, unbroken skin. Green spots should no longer be found on it. Also check the fruit stalk. If it is firm and lignified, this is another indication of its maturity for harvest.

A practiced hobby gardener can get the last word of certainty with the traditional tapping test. Just tap on the bowl and listen. If it sounds hollow and dull, the pumpkin is ripe.

Harvesting pumpkins requires a sure instinct

Faced with a mighty pumpkin, nobody would think of handling it with kid gloves. In fact, proper harvesting requires a good deal of finesse. Even the smallest damage to the shell can cause rot. You should be particularly careful when handling the fruit stalk.

  • cut the squash off with a sanitized, freshly sharpened knife
  • a piece of the stalk remains on the fruit
  • leave dried flowers on the bowl

If the first frost is just around the corner, you can harvest the pumpkin early. Even the strongest pumpkin variety cannot survive a night outdoors in sub-zero temperatures. Carry the fruit into a warm, bright room with temperatures around 20 degrees Celsius. Here the pumpkin will ripen wonderfully within 2 to 3 weeks without losing any of its quality.

Tips for proper storage

A successful harvest should always result in suitable storage. As long as a pumpkin is not cut, it can be kept for many months under the following conditions:

  • the deposit is dry with temperatures around 12 degrees Celsius
  • an airy basement room or a cool, frost-free garage is exemplary
  • each pumpkin lies on a base made of styrofoam or wood

If it is an ornamental gourd, drying is considered an efficient method of preservation. Since real ornamental gourds are not suitable for consumption anyway, you create a shelf life of months in this way.

tips and tricks

Impatient hobby gardeners use the following trick to speed up the final ripening process. The pumpkin is no longer watered. In addition, all roots are cut through with a spade at a distance of half a meter.

Category:

Vegetable garden