When to harvest a pumpkin: how to understand that it is ripe in the garden, when to harvest

When to Harvest a Pumpkin

A mid-season pumpkin variety ripens in about 4 months. Harvest in mid-September. A prerequisite is to have time to cut all the fruits before the onset of frost. Otherwise, the pumpkin will quickly freeze and spoil.

The harvest is harvested on a dry, fine day. If fruit harvesting occurs during a rainy period, the fruits are dried and left for several days in a dry, dark place.

What determines the timing of ripening?

There are early-ripening, mid-ripening and late-ripening varieties. Each of them differs in the speed and conditions of maturation.

Climate plays a key role in plant fruiting:

in the southern regions, it is customary to harvest on open ground when all the leaves have dried up;
in the northern regions, the fruits do not have time to ripen; they are picked ahead of time and sent to ripen indoors.

How to understand that a pumpkin is ripe and it’s time to harvest it

How to determine the ripeness of a vegetable in the garden? For beginning gardeners, it is especially important to know the signs that fruits are ready for consumption or storage. Be guided by external manifestations. Do not break the integrity of the fruit or try to pierce or cut it, otherwise it will quickly spoil.

Important! You can remove vegetables only with a knife, carefully cutting it off from the stalk. Do not pick the pumpkin or leave ragged ends on the tail - this will cause pain in the fruit and plant.

Individual signs of fruit ripening

You can check the ripeness of a pumpkin without removing it from the garden. Depending on the variety, each plant signals the ripeness of the fruit differently. Just take a closer look at the bark of the vegetable:

bush varieties are distinguished by clear light yellow stripes;
a large-fruited pumpkin has a dark, dense network;
the bark of muscat varieties becomes brown with light round spots.

External manifestations

External criteria for pumpkin maturity:

The stalk is dried out, hard, tough. If it is still green, you should let it ripen.
The leaves and vines on the plant are yellowed and dried out (at least partially).
Pumpkin has a rich color depending on its variety - yellow, gray-green or dark orange. There are some varieties to which this rule does not apply. There are plants whose fruits remain white or gray even when fully ripe.
The fruit's crust is hard and dense. There should be no dents left when pressing on it.
The shell of ripe fruits has a pronounced pattern. The exception is green-fruited varieties.
Dense pulp structure.
Hard seed skin, with the exception of gymnosperms.

Reference. Some gardeners recommend focusing on the sound when tapping. If it is ringing, the pumpkin is ripe.

With this simple knowledge, you can easily find out when to harvest your garden. Wherever it is, in the Kuban, in Siberia, in the Leningrad, Moscow regions or in the Urals - these criteria are universal.

Harvest only ripe fruits. If you still need to harvest ahead of time, leave them to ripen in a warm, dry place.

For the convenience of gardeners, manufacturers write harvest dates on the back of the seed bag. Sometimes the description indicates the color of the ripe fruit.

Important! The period indicated by the manufacturers will be accurate only if the summer was warm and sunny.

When to Harvest a Pumpkin

How to determine pumpkin ripeness and harvest time

Pumpkin varieties are divided into groups according to ripening period: early, mid-ripening, late. Early ripening varieties (Freckle, Gymnosperm, Hokkaido, Smile, Medicinal) are ready for use within 100 days after sowing. The maturity of later ones (Vitaminnaya, Provencal, Volga gray) will have to wait up to 5 months. The latter variety in temperate climates is often grown by seedlings.

A gardener can determine whether pumpkins are ready for harvest by the appearance of the vegetable:

the leaves on the vines turn yellow and dry out;
the stalk (the tail behind which the fruit is attached to the stem) becomes hard and dry;
the skin becomes hard and cannot be scratched with a fingernail;
when you tap on a vegetable, you can hear a booming echo;
the seeds of a ripened pumpkin are full-bodied and large;
in yellow-skinned varieties, the surface of the fruit is painted in a bright shade.

The speed of vegetable ripening is affected by the weather of the summer season. In hot and dry summers, pumpkins ripen faster, gain more sweetness and are stored better. Cold, excess moisture and nitrogen fertilizers in the soil prevent ripening.

Often weather conditions force the vegetable grower to harvest before the crop acquires the indicated signs of ripeness. It's not scary. Having reached technical ripeness (the fruit has the weight inherent in the variety), the pumpkin is able to gradually ripen during storage without losing its taste.

Harvest calendar dates

The calendar dates for pumpkin harvesting depend on the local climate and plant variety:

in Siberia, the harvest begins at the end of August;
in central Russia and Ukraine - in mid-September;
in the Krasnodar Territory - until the beginning of October.

Pumpkin should be picked on a clear, dry day. It is desirable if it coincides with the collection date according to the lunar calendar.

Cleaning according to the lunar calendar

Experienced gardeners carry out all work on the site according to the lunar calendar. It turns out that even harvesting has its favorable days - during this period, all the juices of the plant move to the fruit, saturating it and imparting taste.

Every year the lunar calendar changes. The most favorable dates for collecting pumpkins will be the days when the Moon is in Gemini in its waning phase, Scorpio in its waxing phase, Sagittarius, Capricorn and Aquarius in any phase.

What days to carry out pumpkin harvesting work: the lunar calendar will tell you

For a long time, people have been guided by the change of lunar phases in a variety of events. It is no coincidence that it is of great importance for gardeners and gardeners, since the dates that replace each other every year indicate a favorable or negative day for harvesting. It is best to cut pumpkins for storage in 2022 using this method:

in August . Favorable days are considered to be the numbers from 1 to 14, then 17-18, 24-26, 28-31 August. Unfavorable dates - you should not collect on August 15, 16, 19-23, 27;
in September. The warm beginning of autumn is an excellent period for pumpkin picking, but in 2022 there are few good days for this business. You need to do it in 13 days: September 1, 4-8, 20-21, 24-28. Days with negative energy are considered in September 2022: September 2-3, 9-19;
in October . But the coming October can boast of dates on which pumpkin picking will be successful: October 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 21-25, 28-31. It is worth postponing pumpkin harvesting on October 13-20, as well as on October 26 and 27.

Remember! You should not use only one lunar calendar to harvest mature pumpkins. It is best to navigate the timing comprehensively, taking into account the region in which the crop was grown, as well as weather conditions.

Pumpkin varieties and ripening times

There are many varieties of pumpkin, but there are universal harvest dates:

Early ripening ones - Mozoleevskaya 49, Golosemyannaya, Almondnaya 35, Biryuchekutskaya 27, Vesnushka, etc. They ripen within 3.5 months, and are harvested in mid-late August. The fruits are quite tender, have a thin crust, so they can be stored for no more than a month. Early ripening varieties are often grown in cold regions: if frostbitten, they are not stored for a long time.
Mid-season varieties - Smile, Winter sweet, Kroshka, Volzhskaya gray, Stofuntovaya, Lebennaya, Rossiyanka, etc. Ripening period - 4 months. Pumpkins are harvested in mid-September before the first frosts.
Late-ripening (hard-barked) - Muscat, Pearl, Vita, Testi Delipe, Intercept, Vitamin and Butternut Ponca. They can be stored for up to six months due to their thick crust. The training camps take place in mid-late September. The ripening period is about 200 days, so the pumpkin matures during storage.

Pumpkin harvest time in Siberia

Siberia can boast of climate instability, as severe frosts or prolonged rains can suddenly occur due to territorial features. Therefore, it is better to grow early and mid-ripening varieties in this climate. The early ones are harvested in the second half of August for winter storage (or processed immediately, consumed fresh or as part of dishes). Varieties with medium ripeness are harvested from the beds until mid-September.

Storing the harvested crop

Before leaving the harvested crop for storage, it is advisable to sort the pumpkins by volume into large, medium and small . Experienced summer residents advise leaving fruits only of medium and large sizes, without damage.

How do you know if a pumpkin will rot during storage? If certain conditions are met, it will remain fresh all winter. At a temperature of 25-28°C and a humidity of 80-85%, unripe pumpkins will ripen, the skin will harden, and scratches that can cause rot will heal. If you do see damage, try to heal it by treating it with 3% potassium permanganate.

After a week, it is advisable to move the pumpkin to a cool, dry place, preferably with good ventilation. Favorable storage conditions for the remaining time are temperature +4...+9°C and humidity - 70%.

Owners of private houses can use cellars to store crops; residents of megacities have adapted to storing vegetables on the balcony or in the basement.

In addition, there are a few more recommendations that will help you preserve your crops for the winter:

arrange the pumpkins so that air circulates between them;
It is most convenient to store pumpkins on racks, placing straw under them;
by looking after the storage twice a week, you can immediately notice rotting fruits and protect the rest;
Do not store pumpkin near fruit.

Reference. Gardeners note better preservation in such varieties as Almondnaya 35, Mozoleevskaya 49, Premiera and Gribovskaya Zimnyaya.

Advice from experienced gardeners

Growing pumpkins has its own tricks:

The last time to water the vegetable is 3 weeks before harvest.
In rare cases, you can check the ripeness of the pumpkin by pressing on it with your fingernail. If the peel is pressed through and is green inside, then it is not ripe. But such a test is fraught with rotting of the entire fruit.
If you don't have enough space to store vegetables, you can cut the pumpkin into pieces and freeze it. This preparation is used for preparing all dishes except pumpkin juice. Drying and drying vegetables is also popular.
Pumpkin should not be kept until spring. In this case, it begins to stale and become “cotton,” losing its taste and juiciness.
If the season has been cold and rainy, the harvest time has come, and the pumpkin is not yet ripe, you can speed up this process. 3 weeks before the first frost, all flowers from the pumpkin should be removed and the tops of young shoots should be pinched. To speed up the ripening of large fruits, all small pumpkins are removed from the bush.

Unripe pumpkin and what to do with it

If the vegetable is not a variety that ripens during storage, and after it has been ripe it has become clear that it is still very green, do not worry, because you can always use it for tasty and healthy dishes, such as juice, for example. It contains more useful substances than the juice from a completely ripe pumpkin. The pulp can be used as a base for pancakes by mixing it with zucchini and potatoes.

If the pumpkin is still left in the garden and cannot ripen due to its size, you still should not wait for frost. You can remove smaller fruits and shoots, as well as flowers, in advance. then all the nutrients will flow into the largest fruit, which really helps it ripen.