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dottie_in_charlotte

How long will a pumpkin last without rotting?

I bought many pumpkins last year for a seasonal decoration of our club. Orange and white ones.

I kept one white one at home on my table and since last late October it remains.

I'm thinking it got no bruising in its handling.

Is this still good to cut open for a Jackolantern this year or will it be all dried out? Seems to weigh about the same as when I bought it.

Some pumpkins I got last year, when cut open, many of the seeds had already sprouted and had roots and small leaves growing inside the intact pumpkin. Weird

Comments (20)

  • don_licuala
    15 years ago

    Where did you store it?

  • dottie_in_charlotte
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Indoors

  • dottie_in_charlotte
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    I just wonder if I leave it alone where it is will it last indefinitely like a gourd?

  • ncgardengirl
    15 years ago

    No, Dottie it wouldn't last like a gourd. Pumpkins don't form a hard shell like gourds do and it will begin to rot at some point.
    I am thinking it is probably at the point of starting to rot now. I had an orange one that I kept over a year, but when it did rot it went quickly. I can't remember exactly how long it was I do remember my SO telling me it was going to rot and I kept checking it and it wasn't until I forgot about it and it DID, gosh what a mess too!
    If I were you I would go ahead and use it for a jack-o'lantern and get some use out of it. Althought like dibbit said if it is alreadly dry well, you know. FLAMELESS CANDLE! And it will not last long as a jack if it is dried out either. Maybe 2 days if you are lucky.
    On the other hand you COULD just leave it alone, see how long it WILL last and report your findings back to us ;).

    Either way, good luck with your white pumpkin!

    :) Fran

  • tellmey
    8 years ago

    Know this is a post from 2008 but I have two interesting pumpkins. They were purchased in oct of 2015. They were blue. Today they are a pale orange. No rot at all. They have been inside all this time. I am going to see how long they will last. I have them sitting on a tray just in case they rot overnite and it creates a mess.

  • dottiecarrano
    8 years ago

    Ha, I'd forgotten about that pumpkin. If memory serves, it lasted until I was child proofing my house before grandtwins arrived in May of 2010. It went out on the porch where I guess the variations in temp and humidity started the rot process.

    But, it surely was never expected to hang around from Oct 2007 to May of 2010.

  • Andrew Killinger
    8 years ago

    I've got one of those magic pumpkins too. Got it October 2015 and by now it's 8 months old. Except it wasn't blue or white and it wasn't new, it was a fully grown ordinary orange pumpkin. It's even survived several days over 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

  • tellmey
    8 years ago

    Ok, my pumpkins finally began to look rough. I took them outside and placed them in the backyard. Something has chewed on one and the other is still whole. The inside of the eaten one is not dry. It's been 8 months since I purchased these two pumpkins. Do not know when they were harvested.

  • Micki Caudle
    6 years ago

    OK and here I come 2 years later with the same thing. I bought 3 before Halloween, one is medium I guess for a decorative pumpkin...orange and yellow and 2 smaller ones. Here it is nearly Christmas and they still look like the day I bought them. I hated to throw them away but wanted to change my decorations. I live in Texas and we still have some fairly warm days. I guess I'll sit them outside and see what happens Tellmey, the tray was a ood idea!

  • suemarek
    3 years ago

    Does a cooking pumpkin last longer than a carving pumpkin

  • HU-739297982
    3 years ago

    I think i also have a magic pumpkin too! It's been with us for a year now i bought it last halloween and it's still fresh as day, just some light discoloring on the outside. It is weird indeed. let's see if the ones i buy this year will have supernatural powers too!

  • Zach S
    3 years ago

    I’m in AZ and have a rather large orange pumpkin. I’ve kept it outside the whole time and it’s getting close to 100 now. It’s been 6 months and no rot. Let’s see how long it lasts.

  • Salena Wilde
    3 years ago

    Same situation. I just deeped dived out of curiosity because we have four in the front of our house still going strong

  • HU-393485098
    2 years ago

    I have a magic pumpkin. got it in October of 2020 and here we are in may going strong! No rot no softness nothing. It even had a nice cinnam smell at one point. My mother thought it was fake but I definitely picked it in a field.


  • Maria Grosz
    2 years ago

    I got my pumpkin on september of 2020 thinking i was gona carve it but i didn't have a chance and is still as hard and nothing sounds like lose inside or any kind of soft spots or spots is seem just stay froze on time ....I keep it inside the house who normally is 76 degrees inside on a hot day ...and nothing has changed it looks as good as i bought it it almost make me think is fake but i bough it at a 99 store ...so why is not rotting?

  • delbutl
    2 years ago

    I still have my white pumpkin. The only thing I did was I painted leaves in gold and all the stripes and it hasn't rotted yet. I constantly ck it. It is on bottom of fireplace.

  • delbutl
    2 years ago

    Also it has made it thru 2 Thanksgivings. Great 🎃🎃


  • Ivan Garcia
    2 years ago

    This pumpkin has been sitting there since october of 2020 still going strong


  • HelenAnn Johnston
    2 years ago

    I was new to gardening about 7 years ago, prior to that I couldn't even keep a house plant alive!! .....when I did first take a chance at it I started with a variety of flowers it went surprisingly well!!; so I started vegetable gardens then a couple of fruits all went well decided to try my hand at pumpkins for the kids to each have their own to carve that I grew for them, the first year I grew my pumpkins, they were just standard jack o' lantern pumpkins and Jack b lil pumpkins they lasted for two years inside our house in Maine that's heated to a average temp range of 76f-84f last year i decide to try my hand at white pumpkins and they grew well I brought my last one inside in mid october of 2021 and here we are April of 2022 and it's still hard as a rock and looks like brand new!!! Guess I have a magic pumpkin too!! I'm keeping it til it actually rots.. if that even happens! I'm beginning to think it may not!!