pumpkin advice please

[Ian_5]

Hi all

I'm growing 2 varieties of pumpking (jack o'lantern and rouge d'etamps) and have 1 fruit on each plant. The jack o'lantern is very much green - is there anything i can do to help it ripen up? should i consider just harvesting now and keeping it some place warm? was hoping to use it for carving but not convinced it'll be ready by the 31st at this rate...

the rouge d'etamps is bright yellow still, am i right in thinking it'll go a deep orange once it's ripe? it sounds hollow when i tap it but not sure it's ready yet.

thanks for any help.

ian

[Two_Sheds]

Rouge means red, so I'd expect it to be a very dark orange at least.

It's only going to be damp and darker from now on, there's not many good warm days to be had now. I've cut all foliage off, lifted the fruits off the soil (on bricks) and turned them to the sun.

As soon as the first frosts come, they're all coming home, ready or not

[Ian_5]

Thanks Two Sheds, i'll get to work on that tomorrow!

[Jeanied]

I have the same problem with the pumpkin on the school plot - lord knows what variety it is as the label got 'lost' in the gardening club melee! It has two largeish fruits on it and they are showing no signs of turning yellow or orange. I am waiting till the last minute before harvesting and bringing home to convert into something the kids can all share.

[Feral007]

Our Big Green Things turned into Big Yellow things after they sat on the table on the deck for a month or two. They couldn't have got any bigger on the vine, but didn't change colour for quite a while so I'd say if there's nothing much happening in the garden it's time to harvest.