ripening a pumpkin

ChooksAway! · Post by **ChooksAway!** » 03 Sep 2008, 21:49

I've grown some pumpkin plants this year for the first time, the plan being that the kids could take a couple of pumpkins in to school for harvest festival.

On one plant there are two pumpkins, but one is enormous, the other still small. Neither is ripe, both still green. I wondered whether I could harvest the enormous one to give the small one a chance to swell, but wasn't sure if it will still actually ripen once it's been removed from the plant?? My trusty gardening book says "allow to mature on the plant" but I don't really know what that means!!

Anyone any advice? I suppose if the sun doesn't come out again nothing's gonna ripen anyway, but that's another issue.

Thanks

CA!

Post by Mo » 04 Sep 2008, 07:49

Never grown pumpkins, but your post brought back childhood memories of staggering down the aisle of our local church holding a marrow I could hardly see over, from Grandad's allotment.

ChooksAway! · Post by **ChooksAway!** » 04 Sep 2008, 09:29

Aww, that's lovely! With our family it was always tins of fruit and (rather bizarrely) packets of jelly. Which is why I'm determined my kids will take things we've actually harvested! If only I can get them ripe in time......

CA!

seahorse · Post by **seahorse** » 05 Sep 2008, 08:42

our pumpkins are not ripening either. There just isnt enough sunshine and we have to keep removing the mouldy ones. Fingers crossed we will get something edible but we wont be taking them to the harvest festival. Maybe we can carve one for hop tu naa. Thats the halloween festival over here, which they make a lot of.
Good luck with yours, lets hope for some sun (f+