One of the best parts of fall is getting to decorate your house for Halloween! Hanging cobwebs and skeletons, making front yard graveyards and visting your closest Otter Co-op Food Store to pick our a fresh pumpkin (or two or three) to carve is what makes this time of year so enjoyable, but how do you keep a pumpkin from rotting and getting soft before Halloween?

We’ve got some tips to make sure your Jack-O-Lantern lasts for the trick-or-treaters on the 31st.

How long do pumpkins usually last?

Pre-carving: Pumpkins fresh from the pumpkin patch or store-bought pumpkins can last approx. 1 month at room temperature and upwards of 2 or 3 months if they’re kept in a cooler and dry place.

After carving: Pumpkins are best days to one week before they start rotting.

Keep your pumpkin fresh

Choose one with a hard stem and no soft spots. The stem is what feeds the nutrients to the pumpkin keeping it healthy even after it’s been cut from the vine

When hollowing out your pumpkin, cut it from the bottom instead of the top. This will keep the stem intact to feed the pumpkin.

Use a bleach/water solvent to clean out the inside of your pumpkin once the seeds and guts are out.

After you’ve carved your pumpkin, continuously spray down your jack-o-lantern around the carvings to keep it moist.

Pumpkins are 90% water so they need to be hydrated!

Using Vaseline on the carved edges will help keep your pumpkin hydrated

Keep your pumpkin in a dry/cool place when you can. Sun and heat will cause your pumpkin to soften up quicker.

Don’t use real candles, the heat will actually cook your pumpkin

Paint your pumpkin instead of carving it!

Use vinegar – apparently this works … fill your tub with 10 parts water and 1 part vinegar and let your pumpkin soak for 20-30 mins

If you see your pumpkin wilting, give it an ice bath … but only do this once.