A Winnipeg garden centre is urging people to keep their pumpkins indoors this fall, to prevent them from being exposed to the cold and possibly leading to a pumpkin-less Halloween.
Ken Land, store manager at St Mary’s Nursery & Garden Centre, said this October is providing less than ideal temperatures for a pumpkin to survive.
“We’re seeing more and more damage,” Land said. “Especially after the last number of years when we’ve had nice, long warm falls.”
The first signs of a pumpkin going bad are darkening and softening of the outer shell, according to Land, although many people might not realize their pumpkin is going bad if they are left outside.
“If it stays cold, you’ll never notice the damage,” he said “When you bring it in the house and start to carve it, it’s going to heat up and that’s when you just start carving into rotten pumpkin.”
At that point, it might be too late to replace.
“There is a chance you’ll see a lot less pumpkins because my guess is most retailers will be sold out or nearly sold out as we get closer to Halloween,” he said.
To be sure your pumpkin lasts until the end of the month, Land said your best bet is to keep it indoors when temperatures are around or below freezing.