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Should I be picking my Jack O' Lanterns, too? A newbie begs for help...

I have the same question as Lisa from San Diego, even though I'm up here in
the far northwest. I started all my pumpkins inside in March and as a
result my Jack O' Lanterns look ready to harvest. They are big, thoroughly
orange and no longer increasing in size. But I want them for Halloween!
Should I leave them on the vines (which have also slowed down their growth,
although they are still quite green and healthy looking) or pick now and
try to find someplace cool to store them and hope they won't rot before
October? Three months seems an awfully long time to hope a pumpkin will
stay un-rotted!

Please help! 

Also, my Connecticut Giants, the two that were up to 70 inches diameter,
(fruit set back in May) seem to have stopped increasing in girth. They
stalled out on me. They, too have turned orangey more than their previous
yellow. They are standing on their heads, and I can't see what's happening
to the stems underneath. Are they finished growing or will they put on
weight as opposed to girth? Is there any way I can jump-start them back
into growing? They all are growing in a black landscape fabric-covered
mountain of aged chicken manure amended with bone meal and phosphate rock
and seaweed foliar spray, in full sun, at least 15 hours a day worth. I
covered the vines with earth and more chick. manure and bone meal and phos.
rock and mulched them with hay to stop them drying out. I covered the
biggies with dry hay to keep the sun off but their skins seem to be
hardening anyway. There is one new "baby" that set itself in the foliage
shade of a nearby cherry tree on July 20th that is growing by leaps and
bounds, putting on 3-5 inches per day, but she's only up to 40 inches.
Should I give up on the two big ones and put all the (two separate) plants'
energy into the new upstart? They are watered via a rip irrigation system
that delivers 70 minutes a day of drip. Should I be watering from above to
keep the earth covering the vines wet, too? There are lots of beautiful
white thick roots inside the vine-earth, I checked. 


Also, I, too would like to know the formula for measuring. This
over-the-top thing, is it from the dirt on one side to the dirt on the
other? It's very difficult to reach!

Denise McCann Beck
USDA Zone 7
Sunset Western 4
Coastal Bristish Columbia
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