We've all been there - you spend so much time and energy picking out a great pumpkin and carving it up to decorate your house for the fall season, only to watch the pumpkin rot or deflate in just a matter of days. Weather can play a role in how fast your pumpkins wilt, and there are a few things you can do to keep them looking better longer. If you're trying to get your Halloween creations to hold on for a few more days or weeks, here are a few tips and things to consider:
Weather and Your Pumpkins
Think about the normal weather during the season when pumpkins grow. Statistically this is the time of year the temperatures are dropping but not frozen, so we expect cooler air. That's what pumpkins need to thrive - cool, but not freezing. When temperatures drop below freezing, bring your pumpkins indoors to protect them. They also don't handle heat well, so keep them out of direct sunlight. If you're ready to work hard for your creation, here are a few things to try that will keep the pumpkin cooler and hydrated for longer:
- soak a towel in cool water and drape that over the pumpkin at night (as long as temperatures won't be near freezing)
- put the pumpkin in a refrigerator
- soak the pumpkin in cold water for about 10 minutes once a day
You also want to avoid rain. While the pumpkin needs to stay hydrated, excessive moisture will cause it to rot more quickly. Rain will be especially damaging to carved pumpkins because your cuts have exposed the most sensitive parts of the plant; if you set out whole pumpkins for display, they will handle the rain better.
How to Keep Them Looking Fresh
Your scary jack-o-lantern is the "fruit" of a plant that has been cut off from its life source, so it will eventually whither. When you carve it, though, you are accidentally speeding up that process. Fungi and bacteria will kill your pumpkins faster than they would naturally decay on their own, so preserving your masterpiece is all about keeping your pumpkin free from those things and as close to its natural environment as possible.
Clean out all the guts when you carve - every last piece. Any slimy, sticky part left inside the pumpkin is a source of moisture. While we want the whole object to stay hydrated, we need to avoid pockets of excess moisture in the pumpkin's innards where bacteria will grow quickly.
Then coat all the places you've carved with a cooking oil - vegetable or olive oil will work nicely. The internet will tell you that you can use petroleum jelly (like Vaseline), WD-40, or a bleach solution for this, but those can be harmful to animals that may take a snack out of your artwork (including your own pets), so try to opt for a natural coating instead. That coating will seal the surfaces you have cut to prevent the fungi or bacteria from getting into the sensitive parts of the plant.
If you put a light inside, avoid a real candle with a flame - opt instead for the battery-powered alternative. The flame will dry out parts of the inside of the pumpkin more than others causing moisture to collect in specific spots where bacteria can grow.
Have you found other ways to keep your pumpkins looking pretty longer? Share your tips with us on social media!
