Harvesting Pumpkins in the UK in October

21st Oct 2025

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Halloween, Veg – Pumpkins

October is Pumpkin Harvest month especially if you want to get carving for Halloween or making soups & pies!

Why should you Harvest Pumpkins in October?

You’ll need to harvest Pumpkins & Squash before the first frost otherwise your prized vegetables may go mushy, and cannot be stored properly.
If you are growing Pumpkins for Halloween on 31 October, you’ll need to harvest before then to carve them.
They will be ripe, the stems should be dying back and be ready to harvest from an April or May sowing.

Signs your Pumpkins are Ready for Harvest

1. Noise – The sound hollow when tapped.
2. Skin – Test the pumpkin skin with your fingernail, if it doesn’t leave a mark it is ready.
3. Colour – Pumpkins are usually orange but they can be white, they would need to be their deep colour all over.
4. Stem – The pumpkin vines should be dying back and the stem becomes a straw like colour as it dries out.

How to Harvest a Pumpkin for Storage in 3 Easy Steps

How to Harvest a Pumpkin Video

Pumpkins have to be cut off the vine and have their stems intact to be good for storage. The key is not to damage the stem or introduce a risk of rotting to the stem by cutting too close to the pumpkin top.

Find the T shape with your stem and the top of the T on the vine.
Cut the vine in two places (at the end of the top of the T), not the stem.
You can eat it straight away after cutting it from the garden or if you are storing it, put it in a light warm dry place for 10-14 days, this will harden the skin & prevent rotting.

Top Tips for Growing Pumpkins next year

Get your seeds started early! Start sowing Seeds in April and plant outside in May in the UK. Pumpkins need 5 – 6 months to grow.
Pumpkins need lots of nutrients in the soil – Prepare your soil properly up to a month before planting. Use at least 2 bags of multi purpose compost, rich in nutrients or well rotted or garden centre farmyard manure to add to the soil before planting.
Find a Sprawling Space – Pumpkins love to ramble over the sides of beds, across the lawn or soil. Locate the plants in an area where they have space to move.

My Story – Persistence Pays Off as I Finally Grow Three Pumpkins

My first time growing Pumpkins was 2 years ago where I tried a variety called Baby Bear. This variety was perfect for a beginner due to its small size although it wasn’t big enough to carve for Halloween.

During my first time growing a Pumpkin, I learnt a few things:

You can’t help but check on the flowers to see if they have been pollinated (you’ll see a bulge or ball on the stem),
Once you have a baby pumpkin, you won’t stop checking on that either!
Pumpkins start off green and then turn to orange.
They take ages to turn orange!
Pumpkins vines have a mind of their own and go where they want to go, not where you put them.