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Harvest time is always associated with the fall, when the plants finish their growing season and ripe fruits are ready for storage. Pumpkins are no exception. This hardy and very useful vegetable finds a place on plots in various parts of the country, and with the onset of cool days it is time for the summer resident to think about the moment when the pumpkin will be removed from the garden.
As in a country spread in several climatic zones, gardeners are far from being in equal conditions, and the weather does not remain constant from year to year, even a summer resident with experience may find it difficult to not name a specific harvest date in advance. A pumpkin can prompt the right time. If you closely monitor the development of the plant, knowing the time when the pumpkin of a particular variety ripens, you can quite accurately choose the time to pick the fruit. And here it is important, listening to the data of meteorologists, not to miss the onset of cold weather.
So, how to calculate the time for harvesting pumpkins, and what criteria should the gardener adhere to when determining the ripeness of the grown fruits?
When does the pumpkin ripen in the garden beds?
If the pumpkin is completely removed from the bed, it is ready for storage, do not worry that after a while the fruit will be covered with mold, or the rot will develop under the softened skin.
Therefore, the fruits are left for the winter, in which:
- dried out and the peduncle became like a wood;
- bark hardened and not amenable to mechanical stress.
A sign that the pumpkin has ripened on the bush can be considered:
- changes in the surface color from green to orange or, like in nutmeg pumpkins, cream;
- yellowing and dying off of the green part of the plant, which means the end of the vegetation period.
When pumpkins are harvested from the garden ripe, it is important not to overdo the fruit, because on the ground they are threatened by attacks of pests, rodents, and even extra days in the sun do not affect the quality of the pulp in the best way.
However, the majority of gardeners in our country have to remove pumpkins from the garden, which have not yet reached full ripeness. After all, the north is one or another region, the shorter the summer. And even the earliest ripening varieties, for example, in the Urals and in Siberia, sometimes, by the cold, they are just beginning to form hard bark.
If a picked pumpkin is suspicious, its skin is soft and easily damaged with a fingernail, the stalk is green and juicy, it is better not to waste energy on cooking, but to make tasty homemade fruit from the fresh fruit for winter.
Willingness of a pumpkin for harvesting and its timing, depending on the type and variety of
. Is there really no way to hedge and speed up fruit ripening? Today, at the disposal of summer residents there are several dozen fruitful, tasty and pumpkin varieties that are very different in shape, color and weight. All of them are conventionally divided into early, mid-season and late.
Choosing early-maturing varieties for planting, gardeners can bring the moment when to harvest pumpkins in Siberia, the Urals or the North-West region will not have to come due to frost, but due to the ripening of the crop.
Early ripening pumpkin varieties are harvested from 90 to 120 days after the start of the growing season. And although such pumpkins do not always accumulate enough sugar, and their flesh is not as rich in carotene as in the later varieties, with proper care and selection, the gardener gets a high-quality crop for winter consumption.
Most mid-ripening varieties please summer residents with large fruits that ripen 110–130 days after germination. But the sweetest pumpkins of the later varieties keep waiting for their readiness even longer - up to 150-160 days. Obviously, far from all regions of Russia pumpkin from the garden is removed five months after planting.
Only in the Stavropol region, the North Caucasus, in the Crimea and other areas with warm long summer late-ripening varieties ripen on the vine.
And for the rest of gardeners, in order to accelerate growth, they have to plant pumpkin seedlings and reap the fruits for a long period. Otherwise, one cannot avoid a situation where pumpkins that have not been harvested from the garden get under the first frost, even in the Moscow region, occurring in mid-September.
When are pumpkins removed from the gardens in different parts of Russia?
Summer residents who grow pumpkins in different climatic conditions should have the full responsibility to choose varieties for their garden and not to neglect weather forecasts in order to get a rich and high-quality crop. After all, a gardener can face not only disappointment at the pumpkin that started only by the fall, but also the fact that large fruits fell under the frosts and were hopelessly spoiled.
The more northwards the summer resident lives, the more reasonable:
- to choose early and mid-season varieties;
- for landing use the method with a closed root system;
- protect young plants until the time of spring frosts is over.
These measures can improve the quality of pumpkins at the time when the weather will force to clean pumpkins from the garden.
When they clean the pumpkin near Moscow?
In the metropolitan area, as in most areas of the middle lane, early ripening pumpkin varieties grow ripe in the beds and are cut in the second half of August or early September. Then, by the middle of the month, it’s time to ripen the mid-ripening, most valuable for winter storage varieties.
Only late-ripening, sweet butternut pumpkins in the Moscow region are harvested before the arrival of the autumn cold that threatens to damage the delicacy fruits.
Such pumpkins are either planted with seedlings, or left for ripening, during which the fruit becomes fragrant and gathers proper sweetness. If the weather irrevocably deteriorates, pumpkins reach home, but on sunny, warm days it is better to spread the fruits on the air.
When are pumpkins cleaned in the Urals?
The Ural region is suitable for growing a wide variety of vegetable crops, including all pumpkin varieties. The beginning of fruit ripening is in September, when the weather still allows us not to be afraid of the damage by frost. Therefore, cleaning the pumpkin in the Urals can be based on the degree of maturity. But do not neglect the advice of the meteorological service.
The main danger of autumn in this region is nighttime temperatures and warm days. Under such conditions, condensation forms on the pumpkins, threatening fruit rotting and the development of fungal infections.
When are pumpkins cleaned in Siberia?
Siberia is a whole huge country, in different parts of which the timing of pumpkin harvest and the risks associated with growing it vary greatly. Siberian gardeners are still better to focus on weather conditions, and insure the selection of early varieties. Most often, for local conditions, pumpkin varieties that mature for 90–100 days are recommended. In this case, without fear of being left without a crop, pumpkins in Siberia are harvested 2-4 weeks before the time when the fruits ripen.
You can dose the crop until fully prepared, depending on the variety, from 10 to 60 days. The process takes place at room temperature in fairly dry air.
Only for residents of the south of Russia when harvesting pumpkins, fruit ripening periods are crucial for all varieties of culture, ranging from early ripening, ending with nutmeg, ripening the latest.
For storage, select exceptionally healthy, formed pumpkins, without traces of pests and diseases, mechanical damage and shock traces.
When the pumpkin harvest time comes:
- they are cut off from the lash, leaving the stem from 4 to 10 cm long, and having lost the cutting, the fruit is quickly affected by bacteria and deteriorates;
- the fruits harvested from the garden are dried under a canopy in the air, and then, if necessary, sent to doze.
A ripe, ready for long storage harvest will be a good help in winter, because a tasty and healthy pumpkin is a wonderful garnish, and a component of home baking, and beloved by all household flavors.
