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  • #1

    Pumpkin - to sun or not to sun...

    that is the question...

    Or could someone solve the dispute between me and my OH. He has covered over our pumpkin believing that it will continue to grow better without direct sunlight. I keep taking off the cover when I am on the plot to let the sun at it. I know he was a bit paranoid as last year's prize specimen was stolen but you'd need a forklift to move this beast! So does it need sun or will the sun harden the skin so it can't keep expanding??

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  • #2
    You want it to cure now, and the only way to do that is for it to get sunlight. Later, once cured, it will do best stored somewhere cool and dark.

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    • #3
      IMHO only mushrooms grow well in the dark

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      • #4
        It needs sunshine

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        • #5
          Sunshine. Our sole survivor has been sat on our kitchen window sill for ages. Gone beautifully orange, before it meets it's destiny and Ma's saucepan where it is likely to be curried.
          Horticultural Hobbit

          http://twitter.com/#!/HorticulturalH
          https://www.facebook.com/pages/Horti...085870?sk=info

          http://horticulturalhobbit.com/

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          • #6
            Just wondering, what's his thinking behind covering it up? What explanation does he give for thinking darkness will ripen it?

            *puzzled*
            All gardeners know better than other gardeners." -- Chinese Proverb.

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            • #7
              You're doing the right thing Shona, unlike the rest of us, it needs some sun to ripen. I'd appreciate some rain!
              Granny on the Game in Sheffield

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              • #8
                If you want it to carry on growing, keep the sun OFF it; if the skin hardens, it won't grow anymore. It's just the pumpkin itself that needs to be covered though, definitely not the leaves.

                However, if you want it to ripen, it needs the sun.
                Last edited by SarzWix; 04-10-2011, 08:18 AM.

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                • #9
                  Sarah has the same thinking as my OH (sighs in despair....) we both know it needs sun to ripen it but the idea of keeping the sun off it was to get every last centimetre of growth possible as he's entered it in our "biggest pumpkin" competition on the allotments. As the leaves have started to die away I think its as big as its going to get and no amount of last minute chicken poo will help in my mind its now time for sun (if there's any left!) and then the lounge table in the bay window!

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                  • #10
                    Chicken poo isn't going to help it now, I don't think. Unless he's trying to stimulate more leafy growth? To make the fruit grow any more it would need tomato feed or similar. When's the weigh-in?

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                    • #11
                      Thanks for the interest Sarah - we don't have big enough scales so its a competition for "girth"! Its on the 30th October as its a bit of a halloween event so he's only got to wait until then - i think its time to give up on growth and go to cure!

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by shona_b View Post
                        we don't have big enough scales
                        Can't you weigh it the same way I weigh the dog? Weigh yourself on bathroom scales, then pick up the pumpkin/dog and weigh again. Subtract the first from the 2nd and that's your dog/pumpkin weight right there

                        (or is it even bigger than a big dog? )
                        All gardeners know better than other gardeners." -- Chinese Proverb.

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                        • #13
                          the problem is that I'd need to first weight the forklift needed to move the thing I might just be a wimp but I can't budge the thing to even roll it! Its a shame there's no point of reference on the photo! I've got one with it next to a gourd - i'll post that too

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                          • #14
                            pumpkin & gourd

                            If you look closely you can see the gourds that are growing near it - the small fruit is about 10cm long......
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