Monday, September 21, 2009

Putting on the Pounds in the Late Season

Today's high was about 54 degrees and the over night lows for the next two nights will be in the low 30s. This is pumpkin killing weather. Pumpkin plants don't like frost in the least and when there is frost your season is done. More than likely your pumpkin will survive the frost okay but there is a risk of splits. The leaves however are another story.

In an attempt to keep the kids' pumpkin plant growing I've covered the small plant with clear plastic and then put two light bulbs in with the plant to add a little heat to the space. I don't know if it will work or not but I figured it was worth the 15 minutes to set it up and give it a try.

The best way to protect the plant late in the season is the way Pete did it with remay wrapped around a wood structure (see picture in previous post). It costs a little but it adds warmth and frost protection late in the season to keep the pumpkin growing a couple of extra weeks.

2 comments:

Craig said...

Frost did get me pretty bad last night. When (or if) should I cut off the pumpkins and bring inside. How long will pumpkins last once off the vine.

Thanks,
Craig (Parker)

Jamie said...

Sorry to hear about the frost. That stinks. Didn't get as cold here. At 6:00am it was 41 degrees. The key at this point is keeping the pumpkin cool. You can put a shade structor around the pumpkin in the garden to keep the sun off of it or put it indoors in a cool place. We are going to have some warmer days ahead so a garage might not be a good spot.