Tips to Make Your Porch Pumpkins Last Longer

If you’re decorating your porch with real pumpkins this fall, you naturally want them to last as long as possible (and prevent this from happening too soon) – but what can you do? This guide will help you preserve your porch décor and make your pumpkins last through fall.

Let’s be realistic: Our warm weather isn’t necessarily conducive to preserving pumpkins outdoors – but there are a few things you can do to make them last a little longer. If these tips fail, you may want to opt for faux pumpkins, which you can find at most party goods stores at this time of year.

Tips for Preserving Whole Pumpkins on Your Porch

If you haven’t opted to carve your pumpkins, the best thing you can do is keep them out of the sun. Direct sunlight can cause them to rot quickly – and so can humidity fluctuation. Bring your pumpkins inside if it’s too warm outside; that will also prevent neighborhood creatures like raccoons from snacking on them.

Generally, if you want your pumpkins to last more than a few days, you should refrigerate them when they’re not outside. That’s not necessarily the best solution, either, though – these fruits (yes, they’re fruits!) take up a lot of room in the fridge.

Tips for Preserving Jack-O’-Lanterns on Your Porch

Wait as long as you can before carving your Jack-O’-Lanterns; once you cut into a pumpkin, it spoils much faster than it would if it were intact. Fully carved pumpkins will spoil within a few days at normal fall temperatures for Florida, while etched pumpkins may last about a week.

You can take the following precautions to make your carved pumpkins last longer, though:

Wash the pumpkin inside and out after it’s carved. Use a soapy water solution.
Soak the pumpkin in a bleach solution made from 1 teaspoon of bleach per 1 gallon of water for 8 hours, then dry it before putting it on your porch
Spray the pumpkin in the same bleach solution daily, inside and out

Tips for Better Pumpkin Décor

Aside from investing in fake pumpkins, you may want to paint instead of carve. Whole pumpkins will last longer on your porch than carved ones will.

Where to Buy Decorative Pumpkins in Boca Raton

Check out these places that offer real and fake pumpkins you can use on your porch this fall:

Bedner’s Farm Fresh Market
Boynton Beach
Party City
West Boca Raton
Mr. Jack O’Lantern’s Pumpkins
West Palm Beach
Michael’s
Boca Raton
Pumpkin Towne Pumpkin Patch
Wellington
First United Methodist Church Pumpkin Patch
Boca Raton
Forever Pumpkin
Sunrise

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Tips to Make Your Porch Pumpkins Last Longer