Step 1
Harvest pelf pumpkins , other pumpkin type and wintertime squash — all members of the cucurbit kin — whenever they are to the full advanced . Good , uniform orange color is one sign of ripeness and cutis hardness another . When a to the full orangish sugar pumpkin ’s outer skin or rind is hard , mean too problematic to puncture with your thumbnail , it ’s ripe . Vines should also be dry . reduce the pumpkin staunch to a length of 3 to 6 inches , using a sharp knife . Never tear pumpkin from the vine , to void damage the root and introducing bacterium or disease .
Ripening Sugar Pumpkins on the Vine
Many gardeners , pocket-size growers and pluck - your - own pumpkin purveyors await to harvest dinero and other pumpkin character until autumn ’s first light Robert Frost kills the vine , to earmark cucurbit fruits still out in the garden or field as much fourth dimension as potential to get on and also heal outdoors . If mature pumpkin are still outdoors when the first serious halt comes , however , most of the crop will be mislay . According to Maurice Ogutu of University of Illinois Extension , hard - frost injury to the fruit airfoil can cause fungal and bacterial rot that demolish 80 to 90 percent of a crop .
Step 2
Curing Sugar Pumpkins
The bring around operation ripens immature pumpkins , heals wounds and fully harden the rind or carapace , helping preserve the yield during storage . A standard indoor solidification period is 10 days to two week , at temperature between 75 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit and 80 to 85 percent comparative humidity . Good circulation is also a summation . cure Cucurbita pepo outdoors is feasible if stipulation approximate these .
Storing Sugar Pumpkins
Ripe , fully cured moolah pumpkin will keep for two to three months when stack away in a cool , ironical place . temperature of 50 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit and proportional humidity of 50 to 70 percent are ideal . Place your sugar pumpkins on wooden pallets in a storage country with flooring other than concrete . Put the fruits in a individual stratum on wooden pallets with enough space in between the yield ; make certain pumpkins do n’t touch each other . apply a sports fan to disseminate air , and also let in nerveless outdoor air at night . hold back your pumpkins on a regular basis and remove any molder ones to avoid spreading pathogens .
References
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