[Growster...]

We're growing pumpkins - 'Atlantic Giant', for the first time ever, and have a couple which are about 18" diameter, plus a few more about a ft across.

When's the best time to harvest these please, and will a shed be OK for storage?

We want to keep them for the grandchildren at Halloween, but that's a long way off yet...

[bravemurphy]

I leave ours on until the end of the month to be honest and just check the weather for frost and the pumpkins for damage against pests.

Then I put them in a frost free shed, they last right through the winter.

We use the ones which look the worst at the time for eating.

[Thrutchington]

Thanks for that advice, I was only wondering this evening whether they stored at all. 😊

[Growster...]

Many thanks, Brave.

They seem pest-free at the moment, but I don't really know if they're putting on any more weight!

[mumofstig]

They may not be getting bigger, but the skins will be hardening up - the better for carving and the tea lights 

[Yorkshire Lass]

Mine failed for the 2nd year running this year, Another year without a home grown pumpkin 

[bravemurphy]

Mine failed for the 2nd year running this year, Another year without a home grown pumpkin 

Its a shame you didn't live closer you could have had one of ours.

[LotuSeed]

I'd recommend wiping them down with a diluted bleach solution or water w/ tea tree oil just to help prevent molding. 🎃

[TheWhiteRabbit]

They definitely carve better if they've cured and hardened off a bit. I picked one a couple of years back and it was still quite yellow. I carved a Cinderella design into it but within a couple of hours it was breaking, cracking and splitting...much to my irritation.

[Ema]

My pumpkin will come home a few weeks before Halloween because I don't want it disappearing

[Growster...]

Final point, are they actually curing while they're still attached to the main stem?

When we cure squash, they're popped into the shed in the dark!