Keep Halloween Pumpkins from Molding

Carving a great pumpkin for Halloween takes a lot of time and effort. Many people get frustrated when their work of art starts to mold right after Hallow's Eve comes to a close. Luckily, there are several ways to keep your pumpkins smirking and mold-free far past Halloween.

Steps

Silica

  1. Find some silica gel packets. Silica is used as a desiccant, meaning that it wicks away excess moisture. What causes your pumpkin to start rotting and molding? Excess moisture. The two are a devilishly simple but effective combination.
    • Check your closet or dresser drawers, as you may have left some lying around from recent purchases. If you can't find any, packets of silica are available in bulk for very economical prices online. Silica packets are largely available with the following items:
      • Beef jerky
      • Shoes and shoe boxes
      • Cat litter
  2. Remove silica beads from their packets. Don't leave any lying around for your pets because, while silica gel itself is nontoxic, sometimes manufacturers add other toxic chemicals (for example, cobalt chloride) to the product.
  3. Embed the silica into the pumpkin. Remove the top of the pumpkin. Take a silica bead and embed it into the interior of the pumpkin. Don't stick the bead in so far that it changes the appearance of the pumpkin's exterior.
    • When applying the beads, use 3/4 grams of silica for every 100 cubic inches of pumpkin.

Bleach

  1. Mix 1 teaspoon bleach per gallon of water to create enough water to dunk the pumpkin into. You'll need a vat and a good amount of bleach/water, depending on the size of the pumpkin.
    • The idea is that bleach is an antimicrobial, and that water will hydrate the skin of the pumpkin like a moisturizer would on human skin.
  2. Dunk the pumpkin into the bleach solution, covering completely. Soak the pumpkin in the bleach solution for approximately 8 hours.
  3. Remove the pumpkin from the bleach solution and pat dry with paper towels or sponges.
  4. Every day, moisturize the pumpkin with the bleach solution. Spray the outside and inside with the bleach solution used to treat the pumpkin initially. Soak up any excess moisture after spraying. Moisture is the ally of mold.

Pumpkin Preservative

  1. Purchase a pumpkin preservative. Pumpkin preservative, like Pumpkin Fresh, are available online and at Halloween specialty stores. Pumpkin preservatives may contain water, sodium tetraborate decahydrate (borax), and/or sodium benzoate (a preservative and fungicide). They act as fungicides.
  2. Spray the pumpkin with the preservative or dunk the pumpkin into the preservative. Spraying is more convenient, but dunking may be more long-lasting.
    • If choosing to dunk, be sure to pat the pumpkin dry. Remember that mold hits where moisture fits.
  3. Continue to spray the pumpkin with preservative every day. Spray the outside and inside with the preservative and watch as it fights off mold and decay. Pumpkin preservatives help the pumpkin last relatively mold-free for up to 14 days.

Methods That Do Not Work

  1. Do not use white glue to preserve a pumpkin. The idea is that white glue is supposed to create a seal around the inside of the pumpkin, preventing moisture from developing into mold. Sadly, white glue just hastens the demise of the pumpkin.
  2. Do not use petroleum jelly to preserve a pumpkin. The idea here is that the petroleum jelly is supposed to keep the pumpkin from dehydrating, thereby staving off decay. Unfortunately, this method also hastens the production of mold.
  3. Do not use acrylic spray to preserve a pumpkin. Again, this method is supposed to seal a pumpkin's inner flesh, creating a barrier that keeps out mold. The idea is better than its execution: pumpkins sprayed with acrylic do not outlast pumpkins that aren't treated at all.

Tips

  • You can also consider sticking a packet into the interior. This can help combat any moisture resting on the floor of the pumpkin.
  • If you need to dig little niches in the pumpkin to keep the beads from crushing while embedding them, that's fine.

Warnings

  • Silica has been linked to Scleroderma, so be extremely careful when handling the beads out of their packets.

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Sources and Citations

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