How To Determine The Maturity Of A Pumpkin?

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Pumpkin is a healthy, nutritious and always in demand culture. Its unpretentiousness and impressive volumes of juicy pulp invariably make these bright fruits one of the most desirable on the site! However, in order to enjoy not only the volume of the pumpkin, but also its excellent taste, it is important to have time to harvest the crop on time, and for this you need to learn how to correctly determine the maturity of the pumpkin. How to understand that it is time to remove the fruits?

Caring for pumpkin before harvest

A pumpkin that is about to ripen and will be ready to be harvested must be protected in every possible way both from attacks of various pests and from possible rotting, because, lying on its side right on the ground, juicy fruits in damp weather can easily begin to rot and become unsuitable for addicting. And a big mistake is made by those who are trying to somehow process the already rotten pumpkins, because irreversible changes in their cores occurred even before visible damage appeared on the fruits, and it is categorically not recommended to eat such fruits!

In order to avoid decay, it is recommended to place each pumpkin on mounds specially equipped for these purposes, while it does not hurt to put a small plank of plywood or wood down. And when the time of autumn rains begins, it is recommended to cover the ripening pumpkins with a strong film on top.

In the last month preceding the harvest, when the fruits are already actively gaining sweetness, all watering should be stopped, and you should not worry that the pumpkin will experience a moisture deficit - the length of its roots going up to three meters deep will be quite enough to provide each fruit with the required amount of water!

When to Harvest?

The first cold snap is a sure sign that an urgent need to harvest the crop: the fact is that even minor frosts can make the harvested fruits unsuitable for storage. But in dry weather without frost, it is quite acceptable to hold the fruits for some time in the beds, however, on cool nights they will need to be covered.

At the same time, it is important to understand that it is realistic to get a finally ripe pumpkin only in hot areas, since it takes up to four months or even more for these beauties in the beds to ripen naturally. In all other cases, the pumpkin will ripen already in storage (these amazing fruits are also good because they continue to ripen even during storage, and they can be stored for several long months!).

How do you know when a pumpkin is ripe?

To understand that the fruits are ripe, as well as to determine how much more time to give them in order for them to lie in the beds, it is possible for a number of signs. Firstly, the leaves on the pumpkin bushes begin to wither and dry up, gradually changing their color to yellow. The natural process of dying off of healthy leaves is a sure indicator of the end of the growing season, of course, in the absence of signs of infection of plants with anthracnose. Secondly, the color of the fruit becomes more saturated (and regardless of the color of the pumpkin, be it yellow or even gray), and the pattern on the fruit becomes much more noticeable. Thirdly, the stalks become very stiff, their top layer is corked, and they begin to lignify along with the stalks supplying food to them. That is, in this case, it will not be possible to transfer the fruits on the beds to the other side! And, fourthly, on the crusts of the pumpkin, when scratching with nails, there should be no corresponding marks! Fruit covers noticeably harden and no longer spring when pressed with fingers, and ripe pumpkins respond to the claps with a characteristic ringing. Also, ripe fruits are covered with a specific matt bloom, and their stalks begin to separate without much effort.

In general, it is necessary to focus on when the time has come to harvest, not only by the state of the plants and by the weather, but also by the biological maturation of a particular variety - each pumpkin variety will have its own, and it is usually always indicated on the bags with seeds! And, of course, when harvesting pumpkins, you need to treat them as carefully as possible, trying in every possible way not to scratch them. If such an occasion does occur, the damaged areas should be sealed with a bactericidal plaster, or instead of storing the valuable vegetable, send the valuable vegetable to the kitchen for appropriate processing. In addition, the fruits sent for storage should not be disturbed in any way by the density and integrity of the adhesion of their tails to the bosom, since infection easily penetrates into the cracks formed, and the pumpkin begins to rot. As for the ripening of the plucked fruits, on average this process takes about a month, provided that the pumpkins are stored in dry and cool places!