Hiw Di You Repair A Pumpkin?

With hundreds of types of pumpkins y'all can grow in your garden, it'due south hard to option just one variety. No matter what blazon you choose, information technology's and then much fun to watch your plants grow, especially when you lot see the first tiny pumpkin forming! Nosotros're sure you want your plants to alive long, healthy lives, which is why yous should learn how to keep your pumpkins from rotting. There are a few things to keep an heart out for which can help preserve pumpkins and make them last longer equally they grow and after you lot harvest them.

"There are several reasons why pumpkins rot," says Nate Gorlin-Crenshaw, trial technicians for pumpkins and winter squash with Johnny's Selected Seeds. "Disease, environmental conditions, and pests that introduce impairment to the fruit are the most common issues."

While that might sound bleak, all is non lost! There are a handful of ways to relieve your pumpkins from these factors that can crusade rot. Ahead, we'll walk you through the best ways to grow your pumpkins in order to prevent them from rotting.

How practise I go along my pumpkins from rotting on the vine?

One reason your pumpkin might outset to rot is from powdery mildew. "This a fungus that looks like it sounds," says Gorlin-Crenshaw. "Information technology's a whitish, powdery substance that appears on leaves beginning, and so spreads to the vines and stem." If possible, select varieties that are disease-resistant, which volition exist listed on the seed label or institute tag. Older heirloom types, such as Howden, tend to exist more susceptible. Newer types, such as Gumdrop and Pipsqueak, are more than resistant.

Apparently, it'southward too late for that footstep if you lot've already planted. Just at that place are other preventative measures you tin can take. The disease generally appears in mid to late summer. A few weeks beforehand, start applying a preventive spray containing potassium bicarbonate, copper, or sulfur. Follow the label instructions exactly. Basically, by doing this yous're stalling for fourth dimension so the pumpkin produces fruit earlier the fungus kills the plant. "Prevention is way more constructive than treating, because you won't finish it once it starts," says Gorlin-Crenshaw.

Docbombay Getty Images

You'll as well want to sentinel out for black rot. Also called gummy stem blight, this disease is every bit nasty as information technology sounds. The fruit gets a large, black bruise and rots speedily. Past the time yous run into it, it's already likewise belatedly to save the establish. Your best bet is to plant illness-resistant types next time. You should also avoid planting pumpkins in this same area again next year considering it's primarily a soilborne mucus. The pumpkin is also more vulnerable if insect pests have damaged the fruit.

How practise I protect my pumpkins from affliction?

The xanthous and black-striped cucumber beetle, which is about the size of one-half a lentil, is the culprit for introducing a common pumpkin illness known as bacterial wilt. This disease affects the plant more than the fruit. You may see the beetles crawling around, or they may swarm up effectually the plant. They chew on the tender new growth, fruit and flowers, and their saliva carries the disease. And yes, the leaves will wait wilted.

You can protect plants with floating row covers when they're newly transplanted. However, once flowers appear, you lot'll need to remove them and so the flowers tin exist pollinated in order to ready fruit, says Gorlin-Crenshaw. If you spot these bugs, the best control is a contact insecticide. Employ an organic insecticide early in the forenoon or tardily evening before or later pollinators are active for the day so you won't hurt them. Await for products containing neem oil, azadirachtin, or pyrethrin, and always follow the characterization instructions.

jeffbergen Getty Images

Sometimes you can prevent rot with environmental controls, such as gently lifting pumpkins off the soil when they're small and placing them on a clay pot, straw, mulch, or a piece of landscape cloth. "You lot're creating a bulwark between the fruit and the soil to prevent disease or keep them from getting also wet," says Gorlin-Crenshaw.

When is the best fourth dimension to choice pumpkins to avert rot?

If you wait likewise long to harvest, you lot might cease up with a mushy pumpkin. Option your pumpkin when you like its appearance, and it's nigh to the color for the specific variety. The establish should be starting to brown and dice back. It's okay to pick when your pumpkin is a little green if it's an orange pumpkin as it normally keeps developing some color. Merely don't wait to choice until after a frost or its shelf life is reduced significantly, warns Gorlin-Crenshaw.

How do I make pumpkins concluding longer?

Once you lot've harvested your pumpkin, rinse it clean. Many people also swear past a mild bleach launder, which may (or may not!) extend your pumpkin'south lifespan. Mostly, yous'll want to keep it out of freezing temperatures or direct sunlight in order to get in final longer. You lot can effort the bleach solution with carved pumpkins too, but basically, one time you cut upwards your pumpkin, it will only last a few days. Later, bring everything full circle past tossing your rotting pumpkin into the compost pile!

Everything You Demand to Keep Pumpkins from Rotting

Want more than recipes, blueprint ideas, and fun updates from Ree? Follow The Pioneer Woman Magazine on Facebook for all of that and more!