What a ripe pumpkin should look like. How to correctly determine the ripeness of a pumpkin in the garden

The benefits of pumpkin for the human body can hardly be overestimated. However, its taste qualities are not recognized by everyone - it has both devoted admirers and adamant opponents. People who love pumpkin treats really appreciate the fact that this crop is low maintenance. But now the time comes when land plot becomes covered with huge yellow balls and agronomists have a question: “ When to Harvest a Pumpkin?»

To guide you in this matter, you should pay attention to two main factors:
varietal affiliation,
appearance.

Harvesting pumpkin depending on the variety

In order to correctly determine the time for harvesting this crop from your beds, you need to clearly know what variety you are dealing with. Pumpkin varieties are usually classified as follows:

Early ripening. Such a pumpkin is considered ripe 92-104 days after planting, so harvesting is usually done in the second half of August. Varieties in this category are distinguished by their special tenderness, thin skin and short shelf life - no more than a month.
Mid-season. These varieties of vegetables ripen in the garden for 110 to 120 days. Pumpkin of these varieties can be stored longer and has a coarser structure. It is harvested from the second half of September until the first frost. Once frozen, it will not store well.
Late ripening. About 200 days must be given to late-ripening pumpkins to fully ripen. However, it cannot be exposed to even slight frost, which means it should be removed from the beds before the end of September. It turns out that it is necessary to pick an unripe vegetable, which will reach its peak ripeness during storage. Late-ripening pumpkin varieties are the most fragrant and sweet, but have a rough skin.

Only late-ripening pumpkin varieties can be stored for several months.

External signs of pumpkin ripeness will tell you when to harvest it.

The ripening dates for a particular pumpkin variety are indicated on the packaging for general guidance only. In reality, they may vary depending on the climate zone and weather conditions in a particular year. So how can you tell if the yellow beauty in the garden is ready for harvesting? The following signs will help with this:

The stalk has become dry and hard.
The leaves of the bush turned yellow, and some even dried out.
The color of the pumpkin became especially bright.
The skin became dense.

A dried stalk is the first sign of pumpkin ripeness

Pumpkins should only be removed from garden beds for storage in dry weather.
If it rains at a suitable time for harvesting, the vegetable should be thoroughly dried before storing.

Yellow fruits should be removed especially carefully, avoiding damage, otherwise it will not be possible to store it for a long time.
After harvesting, late-ripening varieties need to be warmed in the sun for a day, and then dried for about another week. better storage.
Minor scratches it is necessary to immediately lubricate it with brilliant green.
Fruits with serious damage should be used in cooking first.

When harvesting a pumpkin, you need to leave 3-4 cm of the stalk

When to remove a pumpkin from the garden, knowing it will help determine varietal affiliation. But it will be more accurate to establish that the vegetable is ready for consumption or storage. certain signs maturity. Growing pumpkins in general and determining when to harvest them in particular is not particularly difficult. To have such a valuable food product on your desk without much labor.

For every summer resident autumn time- This is the time to sum up and evaluate the results of the labor invested. Very important at the final stage garden work avoid mistakes and collect fruits on time, carefully nurtured throughout the whole season.

In the symphony of the harvest season, pumpkin is one of the final chords. Its cold resistance and unpretentiousness allow you to leave the vegetable in the garden until frost, especially since the fruits ripened on the vine are the healthiest and tastiest. As a rule, the timing of pumpkin harvesting depends on two main factors: the ripening period of the variety and the climatic conditions of the growing region. Moreover, the second point is often decisive, especially for the middle zone and more northern regions.

Signs of a ripe pumpkin

You can easily understand that a pumpkin is already ripe by visual signs that are common to a variety of varieties.

First of all, you should pay attention to the stalk. When the pumpkin is fully ripe, the place where it joins the stem dies, gradually becoming hard, like real wood.
The bark of most varieties acquires a shade characteristic of the variety, changing green color to yellow or orange. When paying attention to this sign, it is necessary to keep in mind that there are varieties that do not change color upon reaching full maturity. These include pumpkins with white or gray bark, butternut or waxy varieties.
In addition to color, the ripeness of the pumpkin is indicated by the increased hardness of its bark. It is made so dense that it is almost impossible to leave a scratch on the surface of the fruit with a fingernail.
At the end of the growing season, the pumpkin, ripening, sucks all the juices from the plant. As a result, the lashes and leaves begin to turn yellow and dry out until they finally die.

All of the above signs are a guarantee that the fruits are fully ripe and will be perfectly preserved for several months. If circumstances force you to remove pumpkins from the garden before they are fully ripe, then such specimens must be ripened before storing.

Pumpkin ripening time

In addition to visual signs, the declared duration of the growing season of a particular variety will help you navigate the harvesting time.

For regions with short summers, planting is most relevant early ripening pumpkins. Most often these are hard-barked varieties that ripen after 3 months of growing season. Their pulp is not particularly tasty and is not at all rich in substances valuable to our body. Therefore, most often such pumpkins are grown for their wonderfully tasty and very healthy seeds.
Harvesting of hard-barked fruits usually occurs in the last ten days of August. It is not recommended to leave them in the garden until September, as the flesh of overripe specimens becomes loose.
The most popular among gardeners are: mid-ripening pumpkins. Usually this large-fruited varieties, which differ from their hard-barked counterparts in having more tasty pulp and excellent keeping quality. They reach full ripeness after 4–4.5 months. Such fruits contain high concentrations of carotene, sugars, macro- and microelements, vitamin C and B vitamins.
Long-term storage of a large-fruited pumpkin is possible only if it is removed from the garden before the first frost. Therefore, in the Siberian regions or in middle lane Harvesting is usually carried out until the end of September, and then the pumpkins are ripened for two to four weeks in a warm place with low humidity.
Among the late varieties, the most common are muscat varieties. They are the most delicious, but the most whimsical and heat-loving. Fully ripen in the garden late pumpkins can only be found in southern regions with long summers, because their ripening period exceeds 4.5 months. In more northern regions, nutmeg varieties are picked before frost and ripened for one to two months, and then eaten as quickly as possible, since they are not stored very well (4–5 months).

How to properly collect fruits?

In warm regions, pumpkins ripen directly on the plant, becoming as tasty and healthy as possible. In regions with short summers, it is necessary to harvest fruits ahead of time, without waiting for all signs of full ripeness to appear. But in both cases, it is very important to properly clean the pumpkins to ensure they have maximum shelf life.

For cleaning, choose only fine and fairly warm days. Keep an eye on the weather forecast so you can harvest your pumpkins before frost. Fruits touched negative temperatures, will not be able to be stored for long.
Transportation and storage should be done as carefully as possible so as not to leave wounds and cracks on the bark from falling. Any damage is a gateway for pathogenic microorganisms and viruses, which over time will lead to the development of various fetal diseases. In addition, bruises cause areas of the flesh to become deformed, which also leads to early spoilage of the pumpkin.
When separating the pumpkin from the vine, use special tool(knife or pruning shears). After all, by unscrewing or tearing off the fruit, you damage the pulp area in the area of the stalk, which increases the likelihood of it rotting. It is recommended to leave the cutting at least 5 cm long. But remember that you cannot use it as convenient device for carrying. It is especially important to adhere to this rule when harvesting large-fruited pumpkins, as well as dessert varieties.
The surface of the pumpkins, separated from the rest of the plant, must be dried in air, and then, having been cleared of soil and plant debris, removed for ripening in a warm place with low humidity. The period depends on the degree of maturity of the fetus and can vary from a week to one to two months.
Ripe pumpkins are sorted, removing diseased, damaged and too small (up to 14 cm in diameter) specimens. Only full-fledged and healthy fruits can withstand long-term storage without loss. All substandard items are immediately sent for processing.

How to save the harvest

To be able to for a long time feast on pumpkin dishes, you should create the maximum harvest comfortable conditions storage

Choose a place with a consistently low temperature, the optimal values of which are in the range from +10 to +13 °C. At the same time, the thermometer in the storage can drop to +4 °C, but not lower. It is allowed to keep pumpkins in an apartment, provided that the temperature does not exceed +20 °C.
Additional conditions for long-term storage – no daylight And good ventilation in room.
The fruits are laid out on wooden surfaces so that they do not come into contact with each other or with wet surfaces. It is important that the harvest is stored as far as possible from fruits that emit ethylene (pears, quinces or apples). This gas accelerates the ripening process and leads to premature spoilage of pumpkins.
During the winter, do not forget to periodically audit vitamin reserves, promptly removing rotten specimens, as they are a source of pathogenic fungi and bacteria.
Please note that hard-bark varieties are stored the shortest (no longer than a month). Other varieties, especially late dates ripening, can lie even until the next harvest. However, over time, their pulp increasingly loses its taste and aroma and becomes unpleasantly loose. The exception is butternut squash, which becomes even more appetizing when stored for a long time.

The timing of pumpkin harvesting depends on many factors. Climatic features, unpredictable weather and the nuances of the varieties themselves leave their mark. Large-fruited, nutmeg, hard-bark and other types of pumpkins include individual approach which is important to consider. Some varieties are more capricious, some are more resilient. Since pumpkins sometimes do not have enough summer to ripen, they often have to be picked unripe and ripened on their own, which complicates the picking process. However, with careful handling of the fruits and proper storage, all the vagaries of pumpkins can be easily overcome. We’ll talk further about how to understand that the pumpkins are ripe and it’s time to move on to harvesting the fruits.

When picking a pumpkin, you should first of all rely on its variety. Of course, all pumpkins, without exception, should be harvested before the first overnight frost, but harvesting times can vary significantly. The difference between some early-ripening and late-ripening varieties in ripening time reaches one hundred days.

Particular care must be taken when collecting late-ripening pumpkins, whose harvest often coincides with a sharp cold snap. If subzero temperatures do not destroy the vegetable, they will take away many of its taste qualities, so valued by many gardeners. Let's look at the main types of pumpkin depending on their ripening time in the table.

Table 1. Types of pumpkin

Type	Description	Varieties
Early ripening pumpkin	Early ripening varieties require 90 to 105 days to fully ripen. These pumpkins are harvested towards the end of August. Fast ripening has its own characteristics - pumpkins can only be stored for one month. They must be processed or consumed immediately so as not to be lost	Bush orange; Medical; Kustovaya Gribovskaya 189
Mid-season pumpkin	Mid-season varieties ripen within four months, so the fruits are not collected before the middle September. Mid-ripening pumpkin is stored longer than early-ripening pumpkin, and if the conditions are met, it can survive the winter. Such pumpkins are most common and are planted in the regions of central Russia.	Blue Hubbard; Volga gray; Kherson; Winter sweet; Russian; Sweetie;
Late ripening pumpkin	U late varieties It takes up to two hundred days to ripen, so the harvest is harvested closer to mid-autumn. With late-ripening pumpkins, the gardener needs to be as careful as possible in order to have time to harvest before the soil freezes, even if the fruits are not ripe. Late-ripening pumpkins can be stored frozen, rolled or processed. In their raw form, they can be stored for no more than five months.	Nutmeg; Vitamin; Pearl; Winter sweet; Gribovskaya winter; Testi Delipe; Butternut; Interception

Signs of a Ripe Pumpkin

Regardless of whether it belongs to a particular variety, the degree of pumpkin ripeness is recognized by universal characteristics. If you're not sure you can recognize a ripe vegetable, dig up one pumpkin first and examine it carefully. When inspecting, refer to the following details:

In addition to all the above characteristics, it is useful to focus on more specific ripening dates declared for specific varieties. Of course, there is no change from year to year, and if the summer is very warm or very cold, the moment of ripening will inevitably shift, but knowing the approximate time values allows you to prepare in advance for harvesting.

Ripening pumpkin in different climatic conditions

Every experienced gardener When growing certain plants, he relies on the climate in his area and knows what to expect from each season. For example, late-ripening pumpkins are completely unsuitable for those regions where cold weather sets in sharply, and the gardener runs the risk of simply not waiting for the vegetable to fully ripen or not being able to extract it in time.

Regions with short and/or cold summers

For those gardeners who are unlucky with warm summer season, it is advised to focus on early-ripening pumpkin varieties. As already mentioned, they will take about three months to ripen. By planting an early-ripening pumpkin, you can be sure that at the end of August you will have time to harvest a full harvest. Keeping such a pumpkin in the ground is not only pointless, but also dangerous. A stale vegetable will become loose and fibrous.

Early ripening varieties do not have outstanding taste and require quick consumption. Their pulp is not as rich in nutrients as the pulp of later variations of the vegetable. But such pumpkins have their own advantages - they are grown to produce tasty and healthy seeds.

Regions with temperate summer climates

Most gardeners in the middle zone focus on mid-season pumpkin varieties as a kind of compromise. Therefore, if above-zero temperatures do not last in your area until the end of October, but the climate is gentle enough to allow you to keep vegetables until mid-September, a mid-season pumpkin is optimal choice. Four months after planting, mid-season varieties are ready for harvest.

Unlike early-ripening pumpkin, the pulp of mid-ripening pumpkin is more pleasant to the taste and can be safely used in cooking. Mid-season varieties have a whole set of vitamins, since they contain:

Carotene;
Macro- and microelements;
Vitamins of group C;
B vitamins.

Among mid-season pumpkins, you should pay attention to large-fruited varieties that can be stored in cellars for several months. However long-term storage Such vegetables are only possible if you have time to pick them before the first frost. Otherwise, the expiration date mid-season variety is significantly shortened.

The most suitable time for harvesting mid-season pumpkins is the end of September. Harvesting is carried out regardless of whether all the fruits have reached a ripe state. Those pumpkins that still need time are sent to the cellars for ripening. For the final ripening of the fruits, a dry and warm room is suitable.

Regions with long, warm summers

Only the southern regions, which are not afraid of cold autumn, can afford late-ripening pumpkins. Of all the late-ripening varieties, it is recommended to choose nutmeg, as they are the most tasty and healthy. Butternut squash are difficult to care for and incredibly heat-loving, but careful care for them is worth the results.

To mature butternut squash it takes more than four and a half months, so the collection of some specimens may fall at the beginning of November. When stored in the cellar for a long time (longer than five months), the pumpkin pulp breaks down into fibers and loses its taste.

If they really want to, the northern regions can also try to cope with fragile late-ripening pumpkins, but you should prepare in advance for the need to ripen them yourself within a couple of months. Immediately after ripening artificial conditions, pumpkin should be quickly eaten or processed.

In order for the pumpkin to give good harvest Regardless of climatic conditions, it must be cared for throughout the growing season. About the basics correct handling with pumpkins and proper feeding fruits read below.

In addition to climatic conditions, the timing of the pumpkin harvest is influenced by the condition of the soil in autumn period. The more saturated it is with useful microelements, the faster vegetables form inside it and the better they turn out as a result. You can read about how to do it on our portal.

Pumpkin harvest

Gardeners living in southern regions, harvesting a pumpkin harvest is easier because the pumpkins have time to ripen directly on the plant. In colder regions, gardeners must harvest pumpkins before they are ripe and put in extra effort to care for the vegetables. In both cases, it is necessary to correctly remove the pumpkin from the soil, avoiding damage and other unpleasant consequences.

To maximize the shelf life of the fruit, follow these instructions:

Ideal weather conditions for harvesting there will be a lack of precipitation and high (for autumn) air temperatures;
Moving the pumpkin must be done very carefully. Even though mature vegetables have very hard bark, if they are dropped on the ground or other rough handling scenarios, the pumpkins will be damaged and will last much less. The tender pulp is prone to deformation and rapid rotting. In addition, pathogenic bacteria easily penetrate into scratches, after which the vegetable can only be disposed of;
When separating the pumpkin from the loop, you must use a knife or pruning shears. Attempting to pull out the loop with bare hands is unacceptable, as it can injure both the fetus and the hands. If you open the pumpkin while tearing off the loop, it will soon rot;
When processing a pumpkin, you need to leave a stalk at least five centimeters long. At the same time, the handle should in no case be perceived as a convenient “handle” with which you can carry the pumpkin. If the stalk comes off, you will end up with a spoiled fruit. The heavier the pumpkin, the more likely it is that the stem will come off;
Even if detected unripe fruits, the entire harvest must be harvested at once. Leaving single immature specimens in the garden is unacceptable;
Cleaning the fruits from soil and vegetation residues is carried out after the vegetables have dried. After washing the vegetables, they are distributed according to maturity. Those that have ripened are sorted depending on the gardener’s goals; those that have not yet ripened are sent for ripening. Ripening can take from a week to a couple of months, depending on the variety of pumpkin and its growing conditions;
In the process of sorting mature pumpkins, the gardener selects infected, damaged and too small ones, then discards them. Healthy fruits (if desired) are sent for long-term storage, and rejected ones are immediately processed.

Video - Features of pumpkin harvesting

Pumpkin storage

Subject to proper conditions, pumpkin can be successfully kept not only in cellars, but also on apartment balconies or even in refrigerators. Of course, apartment conditions are less suitable for laying out pumpkins, if only because of its impressive dimensions. General terms, allowing the pumpkin to retain its vitamins and rich taste are as follows:

Packaging chopped pumpkin

When using pumpkin for culinary purposes, the urgent question is how to store the opened pumpkin. The refrigerator will help save the cut fruit from quickly becoming unusable. Before moving the pulp into it, you should wrap it in cling film, removing all the air if possible. The pulp can be stored in film for up to two weeks. When using foil, the shelf life increases to one month, but the wrapper must be changed periodically.

How not to make a mistake and choose perfect time for harvesting pumpkins - so that the harvest is tasty, ripe, and stored longer? In fact, there is nothing complicated: to determine when to harvest a pumpkin, you need to know a few rules. This is what our article is about today.

Just like most other fruit-bearing plants, pumpkins are divided into three types: early-ripening, mid-ripening and late-ripening varieties. Certainly, optimal time Harvest time is mainly determined by which variety you planted.

Early ripening

For full ripening, early ripening varieties need approximately 3.5 months: due to various factors, this period can vary from 94 to 104 days. Harvesting of such varieties is recommended in August (from the second half to the end). They are distinguished by their thin shell and tenderness. After harvesting, such varieties are stored for about a month.

Mid-season

Mid-season varieties require approximately 4 months (110 to 120 days) to ripen. IN in this case It is better to start harvesting pumpkins in mid-September, and you need to do it before frost - otherwise it will worsen the shelf life, and the crop may quickly begin to rot. In general, such varieties are stored longer than early ripening ones.

Late ripening

Late-ripening (or, as they are also called, hard-bark) varieties reach maturity in about 200 days, but they, like mid-ripening ones, should be harvested before frost, that is, around mid-to-late September. It turns out that you have to harvest unripe fruits, but there is nothing wrong with that - they can ripen even in the plucked state: depending on the harvesting period, this will take from 20 to 60 days; at proper storage they will continue to gain sweetness and useful substances. Most often they are distinguished by tasty pulp and pleasant aroma. Often they can even be eaten raw. They have a rich color. These varieties can be stored for up to six months.

How to determine fruit ripeness

There are characteristic signs that can easily help you determine the ripeness of fruits.

Firstly, some of the leaves on the plant should be faded, yellowed and dried out; There should be dry areas on the fence as well. Secondly, there should be no green or juicy areas on the stalk; it should be hard and completely dry. Ripe pumpkin has a bright, rich color: yellow, orange or gray-greenish, depending on the type. Here, of course, you need to take into account the characteristics of the variety: some, even when fully ripe, remain white or gray. Finally, the pumpkin skin should become dense and hard enough to make a dull sound when tapped.

Most often, the collection dates are written on bags of seeds, which also makes the task easier; however, due to weather, this value may fluctuate slightly.

When and how to clean

It is better to harvest pumpkin in dry weather, without frost; if the weather is rainy, the fruits will need to be dried thoroughly. For large fields, it is better, of course, to use a pumpkin harvester; If you do the picking yourself, please note that the fruits must be cut off along with the 4-5 cm stalk. If the pumpkin is cut without the stalk, bacteria will get into it, it will quickly rot and may infect other fruits. You need to cut it with a sharp knife or pruning shears, without soaking the tail, and do not break it off with your hands. Pumpkins should not be dropped - impacts may cause internal rotting.

All pumpkins intended for storage must be intact, without dents or scratches. It is better to send damaged fruits for processing by making pumpkin juice out of them, drying them or putting them in canning.

Video “Pumpkin storage”

From this video you will learn how to properly store pumpkins.

The most wonderful time for any gardener is harvest time. And if beautiful pumpkins are pouring under the rays of the sun on your site, then everyone can’t wait to harvest them - to evaluate the result of the work, enjoy the delicious fruits, and prepare a huge number of different dishes. How do you know when to remove pumpkin from the garden? How do you know when a vegetable is ripe and it’s time to harvest? The questions are not idle, since a pumpkin harvested on time will be better stored, its pulp will not lose its properties and taste, and the gardener’s work will not be in vain.

Features of harvesting

Like many other crops, pumpkins are harvested in late summer or early fall. You can determine whether a pumpkin is ripe both by external signs and by the characteristics of the variety. But other factors must be taken into account:

climatic conditions of the region in which the area where the pumpkin grows is located;
the weather of a particular year (hot or rainy summer, early cold spells, etc.);
agricultural technology.

In the southern regions, gardeners are in no hurry to remove pumpkins from the garden, since there is no threat of early frosts and even the late-ripening varieties can ripen on the bushes. Pumpkin season starts later there.

In the conditions of Siberia, the Urals, and the regions of the North-West of the country, the situation is different; pumpkin ripens slowly, sometimes you have to remove the unripe vegetable, and then ripen it in the pantry.

Pumpkins must be harvested before frost, otherwise the fruits will not store well.

In such regions, as well as in the middle zone, pumpkin is usually grown through seedlings, therefore, when calculating the time to collect pumpkin, they take into account both the seedling period and the growing season of the crop in open ground.

Pumpkin ripening time: understanding the varieties

When selecting pumpkin varieties for cultivation, gardeners should always pay attention to the ripening time. And it is advisable not to throw away the packages with the characteristics of the variety after sowing, but to store them, so that later you do not have to look for information about how many days this pumpkin ripens.

So, there are varieties of early ripening, medium ripening and those that require long time- late ripening. On a daily basis it will look like this:

in the first group there are varieties and hybrids of pumpkins that ripen in approximately 90-105 days (Volzhskaya gray, Rossiyanka, Vesnushka, Sugar mace, Medicinal and others);
in the second group there are pumpkins that require a little more time - from 105 to 120 days (Autumn Pie, Graceful, Zorka, Children's Delicacy, Honey Tale);
the latest varieties - from 125 to 180 days (Gribovskaya winter, Mramornaya, Stofuntovaya, Vitaminnaya, Atlant, Vita).

Declared by manufacturers pumpkin seeds timing is a good clue for determining when to harvest crops in open ground.

When to harvest pumpkin in Siberia, the Urals, and regions of the European North? Growing pumpkins in these areas is a lot of work. Early ripening varieties are most often cultivated here. Summer there is short; cold snaps and frosts can begin at the end of August, and therefore the harvesting season will always begin earlier.

Early ripening varieties ripen in about three months, that is, from about August 15, you can harvest. They are usually of little use for lying down, so they try to use them as quickly as possible.

ON A NOTE!

Even if the weather is warm, the fruits early ripening varieties pumpkins should not be left in the garden. Overripe pumpkins become tasteless and their flesh becomes coarse.

Mid-season pumpkins ripen longer - up to 4-4.5 months, but their flesh is sweeter and their skin is denser. These varieties are suitable for longer storage, and this is why gardeners prefer to grow them.

When to harvest pumpkins in the Moscow region, middle zone? Usually the harvesting period occurs in the first ten days of September, but again, you need to be guided by the weather. If frosts are coming, it is recommended to remove unripe pumpkins so that they can then ripen at home.

Late-ripening pumpkins, the majority of which are nutmeg varieties, take the longest to bask in the open ground. They are distinguished by their tender, juicy and delicious pulp, dense shell, and richly colored skin. These are some of the the best varieties pumpkins, but, unfortunately, they can only ripen in the garden in the south of the country.

When to pick late varieties of pumpkin? Harvesting time is the end of September, or even the beginning of October, and for most of the territory of Russia this is the time of the onset of real autumn with sub-zero temperatures, rain, bad weather.

Therefore, most often such pumpkins are harvested unripe in order to be stored for ripening and storage. It happens that it takes up to a month and a half for the vegetable to ripen and for its flesh to become juicy, aromatic and sweet.

A little about the beauty or external signs of pumpkin ripeness

Having dealt with the timing, we will try to determine the ripeness of sunny beauties by external signs. For those who have been growing pumpkins in open ground for several years now, this will not be difficult, but for beginners the information will be useful.

ON A NOTE!

Focus only on external signs and you shouldn’t always wait for ripening. If the weather worsens and it gets colder, the pumpkin will have to be removed.

So, how to determine the ripeness of a pumpkin in the garden?

If the pumpkin has taken off its nondescript “outfit”, and the color of its skin has become bright, saturated, acquiring a color characteristic of a particular variety, the pumpkin is ripe. The color of the fruit can be different, not just orange: gray, greenish, yellow. The skin may have spots, mesh, stripes, specks, and patterns. If pumpkin fruits have segmentation, then when ripe the relief becomes more pronounced (see photo).
An indicator that the pumpkin is ripe will be the plant itself. Most of the lashes and leaves of the bush turn yellow and dry out. The ripening fruit takes everything from the plant nutrients, and it dies.
The stalk, which was previously green and soft, begins to acquire a darker, richer color, becomes lignified, and becomes hard.
You can determine the ripeness of a pumpkin by the skin: it hardens, the fruit, as they say, “rings.”
In many varieties, the fruits are covered with a characteristic matte coating (in some pumpkins it is pronounced, in others less so).

If such signs appear, then it’s time to remove the pumpkin from the garden. If there are no signs, but in favorable and warm weather, you can leave the vegetable in the garden to ripen.

Pumpkin harvesting

Both ripe and unripe pumpkins in open ground must be removed, observing certain rules. Often, even experienced gardeners make mistakes and then wonder why the harvested fruits were not ripe or were poorly stored.

To harvest pumpkins, choose only a clear, sunny day. If it starts to rain, it's better to wait it out. If there is no time, then the fruits picked in the rain will need to be dried, and only then figure out where to put them - for ripening, for cooking or storage.
Use pruning shears or sharp knife. Do not twist the stem or pick the pumpkin! It is necessary to cut carefully, always leaving a stump of up to 4-5 cm. It is also not allowed to carry pumpkins from the beds under a canopy or to the cellar, holding them by the stalk. Firstly, it is too unreliable; the fruit can be dropped and damage the skin of the pumpkin. Secondly, the stalk itself may come off, then this cut pumpkin will be unsuitable for storage.
When harvesting, you must try to prevent damage to the fruit, the appearance of dents, scratches, and cracks on them. If there is already one, then these fruits are the first to be processed; they are not suitable for storage.
Cut fruits must be very carefully cleaned of soil and debris, and if the weather permits, lightly dry them. fresh air. You can spread a thick cloth on the garden bed and place pumpkins on it.
After this, the pumpkins are carefully sorted and removed for ripening and storage. Everything that cannot be stored goes to the kitchen.

ON A NOTE!

It is advisable to immediately process all damaged pumpkins - for stews, side dishes, bake, stew. They can only be stored for a few days, then the pulp will begin to deteriorate.

When sorting pumpkins, take into account varietal characteristics, since some copies can be stored for a month or a month and a half, while others when created optimal conditions will last until spring.

How to Preserve a Pumpkin

So, the fruits have been collected and now we need to send them for storage. The pumpkin should be stored for storage only if the fruit is fully ripe: with a dense and intact skin, with a long, rigid stalk, without deformations and without cracks. Unripe pumpkins are ripened at a temperature of +25-30ºC, in a dark and dry place. Ideal - shelves in dry pantries or in the room, under the bed.

A room where the air temperature will be in the range of +13-15 ºC, with a humidity level of 60-65% and no more, is suitable for storing pumpkins. It is convenient to store pumpkins on shelves so that the fruits do not touch each other.

ON A NOTE!

Quinces or apples should not be near pumpkins, as these fruits emit substances during storage that are harmful to the pumpkin.

The room must be dry and ventilated. It is important that condensation does not form, otherwise the fruits will rot. It is also necessary to protect the storage from rodents, who always know and find where they can profit.

Often the pumpkin harvest is stored in cellars and basements, but it can be very difficult to ensure a normal microclimate there. In such rooms it is usually observed high humidity, and this is detrimental to vegetables.

Therefore, if there is no cellar or suitable basement or dry pantry, it is recommended to store the pumpkin at home (in the hallway, corridor, kitchen). The main thing is that it is not too hot and there is no daylight.

During storage, it is necessary to periodically check the condition of the pumpkins, promptly removing those that begin to deteriorate. And again, do not forget about the shelf life of certain varieties, first of all, when using early and mid-ripening pumpkin for food.

We must try to use the fruits according to their shelf life, since further the pumpkin’s taste may deteriorate, the pulp will become coarser, acquire an earthy taste, and the seeds may germinate.

Correctly chosen timing of pumpkin harvesting will not only allow you to get a high yield, but also preserve delicious fruits for the whole winter.