Should I Harvest The Pumpkin?

[kayjay]

Hi all. My pumpkin plant only produced one pumpkin, and it has been almost completely consumed by powdery mildew despite my best efforts at staying ahead of it. The fruit passes the thumbnail test - the rind has been orange for a few weeks, and it's pretty hard. OTOH, though, the stem has not dried out yet.

Should I leave it until the plant is completely dead and the stem is dried out, or take it now? It's worth noting that I only want it for food. I can buy one cheap before Halloween if I want to make a jack-o-lantern.

I've noticed that on my powdery-mildew-sick zucchini, the fruits are undersized and rotting if I don't pick them right away. I don't want the same thing to happen with the pumpkin.

TIA!

[jal_ut]

Pick the pumpkin!

[imafan26]

I grew pumpkins before. I only get 1-3 from a vine. That is why I would rather grow gourds. I can get close to 20 from them. If the rind is turning color it is time to pick. It will continue to change color for a while.

[kayjay]

Thanks, folks. It's now resting comfortably on my kitchen counter. 9 lbs. Can't wait for that first batch of pumpkin soup when the weather cools down.