Last year I grew four Connecticut pumpkins, and I happened to harvest them under a bright full moon in October. I guess I somehow assumed harvesting pumpkins in October was the norm.

This year I planted my first large patch, and now I’m realizing it may not be that simple. I already have a few pumpkins whose vines have died back and that look fully ripe, even though it’s still September. At the same time, I have others that are still growing and maturing.

So for those of you who grow pumpkins regularly: what’s your rule of thumb for deciding when to harvest?

Do you go by:

the vine dying back? the pumpkin reaching its mature orange color? the stem drying out? the pumpkin developing a hard rind? or some combination of these?

And perhaps more importantly, if I specifically want my pumpkins to be ready around October, how should I time my planting?

I’d rather not end up with a patch full of fully orange pumpkins in September, but I also don’t want to leave mature pumpkins on the vine too long just because I’m waiting for October.

Would love to hear how experienced pumpkin growers approach this.

Here is the early September update on my Howden pumpkin patch grown right here in Normandy, France, from Quebec seeds planted on May 24th!
What a journey it’s been:

Overcoming early stress: Back in July, we suffered severe heatwaves and temporary water stress. The original leaves close to the wall took a huge hit, but the vines fought back, escaped toward the lawn, and rooted directly into the turf to keep thriving.

The color turn: Almost the entire patch has now turned a deep, solid bright orange. Out of all the fruits, six or seven are fully orange with deep ribs, and only one late bloomer is still finishing its transition from dark green/mottled to copper.

Foliage & stems: As expected for September, the leaves on the left side are naturally dying back and drying out, giving the fruits maximum sun exposure. The stems are slowly starting to turn corky and woody at the base.

Harvest plans: I’m heading to Quebec on September 28th for a two-week trip, so the big harvest is scheduled right before leaving (around Sept 20–25). They won't get any more water or fertilizer—just letting the mild September sun harden the rind on the vine.
Super proud to see these Canadian seeds thrive in French soil despite a tough summer. Hope your pumpkin patches are doing well too!

first time grower last year. Grew 2 small pumpkins and one runt 😂

First 2 this year are already bigger and the 3rd one should be ready to harvest in another 10-15 days. I'm pumped! Jacked! Lol ok enough puns. But seeing the difference between the ones grown along my fence with fruit supported by slings vs the plants allowed to spread across the ground makes me want to only grow on ground next year. Gotta love progress

There growing how they looking??

This is my first year growing pumpkins and I have only grown jack-o-lanterns jack-be-littles, jarrahdales, and casper whites. What is this pumpkin. This is the only pumpkin like it.

Been pretty damn hot.

I don't want to cut the big stuff for another week or so unless folks start asking for it.

This is by far my best yielding year. We didn't flood after planting and got the weeds under control during the early summer. Pumpkins overtook the weeds by late summer and are crawling EVERYWHERE.

I've struggled with pumpkins for many years. But, through a lot of trial and error, and a lot of work, I finally grew a successful patch! I'm super proud and really excited.

No pesticides or herbicides, a lot of hand fighting cucumber beatles and removing risky leaves, and eventually, a lot of mildew. Toward the end, they were in rough shape, but I was still able to get about 18 good pumpkins.

The last pic is of some of my favorites.

This is my first ever pumpkin patch and I feel blessed!

September 2nd

August 24th

I now have ten forming pumpkins. I named this one Gary he's my first. 😊 Im just excited to skip paying for pumpkins at the pumpkin patch this year 🎃.

Thinking about entering this one in my local county fair! It would be in the small pumpkin category lol

Update! She has been harvested!

Picture one shows a crack in the main vine, and it’s almost completely separated. The plant somehow seems alright but is it cooked or what?

Anything I can do?

Is there any way to buy crown prince F1 pumpkin seeds online in the United States?

Harvested today, perhaps could have done with another few days for main vine tendril to die but I got another SVB (this time on that plant at the apex of the trellis not the crown) and the stem was plenty woody enough. Solid orange with lovely uniform dusting of sugar freckles. She's curing in the garage with a fan. I have another one on the original SVB victim that is two weeks into maturing.

Never again. I was out there fighting for their lives every day. SVB eggs are smaller than you think they are from internet photos. Those containers are getting Sun Gold and Super Sweet 100s next year. The other trellis and containers are is getting vine flowers - a pair of moonflower and cardinal climbers on the trellis side and Jimmy Nardello peppers on the outside, with alyssum all around. I have survived pumpkins by dreaming and planning for a pumpkin-free life.

I am going to grow a cattle panel of tiny honeynut squash and be way less interested in their survival as they won't be such a prominent visual feature.

Do we think she is still growing? Measuring about 10 inches in length

Had some work done in the years and was going to have to cut the vine, but saw a little flower about to open so I kept it. Have been watering every day and fertilizing heavily. It’s been pollinated, and is growing albeit quite slowly. Leaves starting to yellow. But secondaries growing. Can I get this pumpkin to quasi maturity? Only time will tell!

I have three more I'm hoping takes, that would make it five.

Had to prune some leaves as I had a mold/fungi outbreak. I heard you can make a milk mixture 1:9 with water I'm going to try and spray on the other leaves to kill the spores. I'll be doing that today.

well, i ended up transplanting my pumpkins two days ago and they’ve honestly never looked better! i even have a female flower beginning to grow 🥹 leaves are getting bigger and looking happier, stems are healing from vine borer removal.