Storing pumpkin
Pumpkins are easy to grow and just as easy to keep in the winter. Many varieties are able to lie until spring right in the room, but still some points must be taken into account.

Storage conditions for pumpkin

Pumpkins can lie for a very long time if 3 storage conditions are observed:

  • dry room – with high humidity, the fruits rot;
  • darkness – in the light, the pumpkin is stored much less;
  • cool – the temperature should be between 5-8°C (1).

The storage time of pumpkin also depends on harvesting. The ideal option is when the fruits are fully ripe. You can determine the degree of maturity by 3 signs:

  • the crust is hard;
  • the pattern on the surface of the fetus is clear;
  • the stalk is dry.

But there are exceptions – late varieties and all others, if the summer turned out to be cold (in such conditions, even early pumpkins do not have time to ripen) can be harvested in an unripe form. It’s not scary, they will ripen during storage, but they will lie a little less than those ripened in the beds.

In central Our Country, pumpkins are traditionally harvested on September 1-15. But here you need to follow the weather forecast, the fruits must be picked before the first frost (2). A cold snap below 0 ° C will reduce the shelf life of pumpkins.

In any case, it is desirable to carry out cleaning on a clear, dry day, before the cold weather. The fruits are cut with a stalk about 10 cm long – without it, pumpkins rot faster. It is most convenient to cut with secateurs.

Before storing pumpkins, they need to be dried for a week, preferably in the sun. If the weather allows, during the day they should be taken out into the yard, and at night, so that the fruits do not damage the frost, bring them into the house or barn. If it’s cold or it’s raining, you can dry it indoors.

Pumpkin storage temperature

The optimum storage temperature for pumpkins is -5 – 8 °C. Such conditions can be in a dry basement, shed, garage, on a heated veranda or on an insulated balcony.

You can store a pumpkin in the apartment. In Our Country, the peasants, by the way, did just that – they put them under benches or in secluded corners. But at temperatures above 22 ° C, the fruits will lie for no more than 2 months.

Ways to store pumpkin

There are 3 options.

In the cellar. Everything is simple here – the fruits must be laid on wooden shelves upside down with their stalks so that they do not touch each other. This is important because if one pumpkin begins to rot, the mold will not be able to spread to the others. The optimum humidity in the cellar is not higher than 75 – 80%.

By the way, if possible, it is useful to lay straw under the pumpkin.

On the balcony. Ideally, if it is insulated. If not, then each pumpkin needs to be wrapped in a blanket or something similar to protect it from frost. It’s winter. In autumn, while there is no cold weather, it is enough to cover it with a thick cloth to protect it from the sun. And, of course, the balcony should be glazed so that rain and snow do not fall on the fruits.

In the apartment. The most popular option is to put the fruits under the bed. Fruit stalks up. So they will not interfere, and it is quite dark there. But at room temperature, the fruits are stored for a short time – about 2 months.

You can put the pumpkins in the pantry, it’s always cooler there. Or at the balcony door, where the temperature is also lower than in the room.

If pumpkins are scratched during storage (houses where people live, this happens often), cover the wounds with brilliant green – they will tighten.

By the way, the longer the pumpkin is stored, the sweeter it becomes – the starch that has accumulated in the fruits over the summer turns into sugar during storage.

Popular questions and answers

We talked about storing pumpkins with agronomist-breeder Svetlana Mikhailova.

Which varieties of pumpkin keep the longest?

The keeping score looks like this:

– large-fruited – 175 days;

– nutmeg – 140 days;

– hard-core – 100 days.

What varieties of large-fruited pumpkins are stored longer than others?

The longest lie:

 

– Muscovite – 300 days;

– Baba Martha – 240 – 300 days;

– Crown Prince – 220 – 240 days;

– Iron Cap – 200 – 220 days;

– Savior – 180 – 200 days.

Which varieties of butternut squash keep the longest?

Well kept:

 

– Autumn crown – 240 days;

– Irishka – 180 – 230 days;

– Amati – 190 – 220 days;

– Stradivari, Candied – 210 days;

– Ariel, Atlas, Pluto – 180 – 200 days.

What varieties of hard-skinned pumpkins last longer than others?

The longest lie:

 

– Golden seed – 120 – 140 days;

– Dachnaya, Dimka – 120 days;

– Sweet fairy – 90 – 120 days;

– Manyunya – 90 – 110 days.

How to store pumpkin in the refrigerator?

It’s simple: you need to cut the rest into portioned pieces and put in the refrigerator – they will lie for 10 days.

 

You can keep the cut pumpkin even longer if the slices are tightly wrapped in foil, so they can be stored in the refrigerator for a whole month without any problems.

Can washed pumpkin be stored?

In no case should whole fruits be washed before storage – they will quickly begin to rot. Even if they were removed in the rain and soiled with earth. In this case, they need to be dried indoors and gently clean off the dirt with your hands.

 

Portion slices that will be stored in the refrigerator should not be washed either – they will begin to deteriorate ahead of time.

Is it possible to freeze a pumpkin?

Yes, you can – cut it into cubes and send it to the freezer. And then add them to cereals, main dishes, cook soups.

Sources of

  1. Romanov V.V., Ganichkina O.A., Akimov A.A., Uvarov E.V. In the garden and in the garden // Yaroslavl, Upper Volga book publishing house, 1989 – 288 p.
  2. Fisenko A.N., Serpukhovitina K.A., Stolyarov A.I. Garden. Handbook // Rostov-on-Don, Rostov University Press, 1994 – 416 p.

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