Getting Green Pumpkins To Turn Orange After The Pumpkin Vine Dies

Whether you are growing pumpkins for a Halloween Jack-o-lantern or for a tasty pie, nothing can be more disappointing than a frost that kills your pumpkin plant with green pumpkins still on it. Never fear, there are things you can try to get your green pumpkin to turn orange.

1. Harvest the green pumpkin - Cut your pumpkin off the vine, making sure to leave at least 4 inches (10 cm.) of the vine on the top. The "handle" will help prevent the pumpkin from rotting at the top.
2. Clean your green pumpkin - The biggest threat to a green pumpkin is rot and mold. Gently wash the mud and dirt from the pumpkin. After the pumpkin is clean, dry it and then wipe it down with a diluted bleach solution.
3. Find a warm, dry, sunny spot - Pumpkins need sunlight and warmth to ripen and a dry place so they don't rot or mold. Enclosed porches generally make a good place, but any warm, dry, sunny spot you have in your yard or house will work.
4. Place the green side to the sun - The sun will help the green part of the pumpkin turn orange. If you have a pumpkin that is only partially green, face the green side towards the sun. If the whole pumpkin is green, rotate the pumpkin evenly for an even change to orange.