Anonymous wrote:Does anything work to keep squirrels from eating them?

I spray ours all over with Windex and that seems to work.

Does anything work to keep squirrels from eating them?

They need to sit in the sun to preserve.

Okay well bleach is alkaline and vinegar is acidic, so I hope you’re not using them together or they will just neutralize each other. Plus I would think either one or a combo would only make a pumpkin rot faster? What’s the theory of action you’re going for?

If you’re spraying something on the pumpkins it should be to deter animals. Pepper or something.

Anonymous wrote:I've tried spraying pumpkins picked from the patch with bleach and vinegar solutions but they don't seem to work. Not sure what I'm doing wrong, but they always rot within a week or two. Want to make them last until Halloween! Any advice? TIA!

That's odd. They last just fine in the fields in full sun for a couple months.

I buy those fancy pumpkins from Trader Joe’s and they last for a couple of months on my west-facing porch that gets a lot of sun. I don’t do anything special to them. The only times they go bad quickly is if a critter nibbles on them.

I keep mine indoors and out of the sun until right before Halloween. If we put them outside, even uncarved, the squirrels will get them.

I always buy a couple big ones early, because the big ones sell out at places like Costco and Home Depot and I don't want to pay farmers' market prices. Sometimes we'll buy a smaller one right before carving time.

Anonymous wrote:Don't carve them up until just before Halloween. Uncarved, they should last a month on the porch.

As long as the squirrels don’t start eating them which is what always happens to us and our neighbors.

Don't carve them up until just before Halloween. Uncarved, they should last a month on the porch.

Are they in the sun?

I've tried spraying pumpkins picked from the patch with bleach and vinegar solutions but they don't seem to work. Not sure what I'm doing wrong, but they always rot within a week or two. Want to make them last until Halloween! Any advice? TIA!