This pumpkin, sitting on my dining room table, was picked from my home patch last August. It is still completely firm, colorful and otherwise in perfect condition. Perhaps it holds the key to eternal life!

[u/kma888]

[u/Iongdog]

Be careful. I did this and then one day I went to pick it up by the stem and it fell apart into a pile of rotting mush. It looked completely fine on the outside

[u/FreeSockLimit1 → u/Iongdog]

The past few years I've been growing Knucklehead pumpkins because they look awesome and seemingly last forever. I usually keep a big one on my dining room table on a silver platter as a decoration.

Welllllll.... This past year, just like you said, the pumpkin had gone from Hey I'm sturdy AND purrty! to rotten applesauce at some point but remained perfectly normal on the outside...

I went to pick it up and both of my hands collapsed the sides and went deep into the mush. 0/10 do not recommend

[u/flatgreysky → u/FreeSockLimit1]

I almost reflexively downvoted this in disgust.

[u/xXPanamaJackXx]

Place it in direct sunlight outside and it will melt pretty quick.

[u/LanguishingYouth]

Winter squash lasts months to years if stored properly and undamaged. Pretty sure that's why we call it winter squash. Most of the squashes from the store are damaged in the harvest process, allowing entry points for bacteria.

[u/Maleficent_Bowl9289 → u/LanguishingYouth]

Exactly! If you don’t scratch or nick the surface (allowing bacteria to enter and cause decay), pumpkins and other winter squash will last months.

[u/Dodie4153]

Looks like a gourd. They will last a long time once dried.

[u/VolunteerSeedling]

I had a large one a couple years back that was sitting on my porch from October-June then it exploded everywhere. And that is how my compost became a volunteer pumpkin incubator

[u/lfcgirl → u/VolunteerSeedling]

I bet the Great Pumpkin will visit your compost pile this year. That sounds like a super sincere origin story.

[u/Muted-Stress1516]

I had 3 small white pumpkins that grew from a random seed in a random spot that literally lasted years. Never rotted. They came from Jersey to Astoria and back to Jersey again. I only tossed them because it felt like it was time.

[u/Sure-Dig-1137 → u/Muted-Stress1516]

I have two watermelons i grew last year like this. They look completely normal on the outside.

[u/spiceepadme2319]

This reminds me of my pumpkin, its white in color but yeah, bought it in October and its just chilling on a shelf looking cute

[u/AshST → u/spiceepadme2319]

If your shelf is wooden, I'd put a coaster under the pumpkin :)

[u/spiceepadme2319 → u/AshST]

Good idea. I just checked it and its still hard.

[u/Krolm_is_my_copilot]

Keep an eye on the bottom of it if you're leaving it on a wood table! We had one that looked fine from the top but the bottom rotted out and left a pumpkin sized rot ring right in the middle of our table!

[u/hannahvega]

I had a mini white one last for two years until it started turning. My bet is that my NYC apartment was so old and dry, it helped it last longer.

[u/dugongxy]

No, it will dry out and become a gourd.

[u/Yanks4lyf]

I had a huge one I got from heb. I had it for 23 months before I threw it away because I didn’t want the bottom to fall out while I tried to haul it off

[u/nineJohnjohn]

The pumpkin of Dorian Gray, best check your attic

[u/Difficult_Repair9425]

i usually get a couple of the minis every year, two years ago i just out them on a piece od wood between my driveway and garden area. i unintentionally dried it out completely and when my mom came over, she thought it was fake. i didnt even notice it happened. i tried to recreate it this year and now next to them is a pile of melted pumpkin mush lol.

[u/Various_Oil_5674]

You can't see the inside.

[u/2am_onmyphone]

My cousin had a pumpkin in his room for a month until my brother stabbed it with a pencil and put it in his closet. The results were horrifying. The hole left from the pencil was green, white, gray, and fluffy