Home Garden Joy

How to Prevent Fall Pumpkin Decorations from Rotting

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Have you ever wondered how to prevent an uncarved pumpkin from rotting? Or carved pumpkins, too?

I love decorating my front porch for Halloween and fall! It’s so beautiful to see pumpkins, gourds, Indian corn, hay bales and all the rest on porches. But those pumpkins….

Here’s how to keep both uncarved and carved pumpkins from rotting so your fall decorations look great until Thanksgiving!

How to Prevent an Uncarved Pumpkin from Rotting

You can prevent an uncarved pumpkin from rotting with a simple product, but be sure you don’t intend to eat the pumpkin. You can’t apply this coating to any pumpkin you plan to eat. It’s also important to keep such treated pumpkins away from family pets like dogs or cats who may get into trouble licking or biting treated pumpkins.

Floor Wax to the Rescue

Floor wax can be used to keep uncarved pumpkins from rotting. Liquid floor wax can be applied with a soft cloth to the exterior of the pumpkin.

To apply the wax, place newspaper or a drop cloth on the ground outside where this is good air circulation. Pour a little liquid wax onto a soft cloth. Rub the outside of the pumpkin. Let dry, then place it where you want it to go.

Saving Carved Pumpkins

Carved pumpkins can also rot. My parents only let us carve our pumpkins a day before Halloween because they would rot so quickly.

To prevent carved pumpkins from rotting:

  1. Carve your pumpkin as you like.
  2. Put on rubber gloves to protect your hands.
  3. Rinse the inside out to make sure you’ve removed all the seeds and string.
  4. Place 1 teaspoon of bleach to each 1 gallon of cold water into a bucket (if the pumpkin is large and you need a 3 gallon bucket, use 3 teaspoons of bleach and so on).
  5. Dunk the pumpkin in the bleach solution and hold it there for two minutes.
  6. Remove.
  7. When the pumpkin is dry, coat the outside with petroleum jelly (Vaseline). This is a messy process, so do it outside and be sure to wear gloves again. The Vaseline keeps moisture inside the pumpkin so it won’t dry out, rot or sag.

Wait until as close to Halloween as possible before carving your pumpkin. Or, just keep it without carving it. Happy Harvest!

And remember, don’t eat pumpkins that have been treated this way. Instead, purchase a pumpkin especially for cutting up to make my pumpkin biscuits.