The only way I know how to check is to cut into it and hope that the flesh is yellow/orange!
When we've tried growing halloween type pumpkins in the past they've had that hollowness when tapped but the flesh has been really pale and they ended up being dinner for the chooks! Last year's butternuts took ages to ripen - in fact I left them on the windowsill all winter and spring to carry on ripening and only just used the last one in June.
And we had plenty of sunshine last year too so lord knows if anything will ripen this year.
I have planted marrows, butternut, and courgettes this year as well as a couple of halloween pumpkins.
OK this is our first veg plot year but OH MY GOD the plants are enourmous.
Each plant now has six foot long tendrils, numerous bright yellow flowers, and the marrow plants have huge fruit on them already. Courgettes have slipped past the small stage and are experimenting with some large growths too. It must be all the rain.
Its like an attack from the Day of the Triffids!
All of mine were planted at least 1 m apart, seedlings straight into the ground, sprouted instantly in the spate of unseasonably warm weather we had in April and then completely left to their own devices during the monsoon season that we have had recently instead of a summer.
And I usually put straw down under the fruit, at 8euro a large round bale (approx 200 kilos) it's the best value for money.
I have serious squash envy! Went to friends last night that I gave some of my potimarorn seeds to. I couldnt believe the size of her plants! The leaves were enormous and the squashes themselves were like football and not even orange yet! Mine are already done and are only a fraction of the size - gutted. Still, not to be outdone, I did say that maybe hers would be horrible and tough from being too big lol
Here is a photo of my potimarrons, a type of French pumpkin. They are doing very well and colouring up nicely, but are not very large. In the background around the really pathetic sweetcorn are some self-seeded butternuts which are starting to have fruit.
Now I am even more jealous! They are well bigger than mine already and mine are finished. I do have some more plants that are just starting to flower so perhaps the ones I do were too early and got hit hard by all the rain and not enuf sunshine? Great piccy M3 - how neat your garden is!
I shall be posting more photos, just in the process of resizing them and uploading onto a gallery. Just wait a few more days!
I thought my potimarrons were rather small!! So I'm glad if they are supposed to be that size. They really (in fact everything) have only taken off in the last month - everything was just hanging around doing nothing before that.
I just had to check that I wasn't going mad - no I'm not - the Absinthe Fairy had already posted that photo on a French forum which I looked in on before coming on here......... If that's a football then that pumpkin is massive!
My pumpkins are getting a lot bigger - I'm only getting out in the garden every couple of days and it is amazing how things are growing!
Last year's butternuts took ages to ripen - in fact I left them on the windowsill all winter and spring to carry on ripening and only just used the last one in June.
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