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How to Keep Pumpkins from Rotting – 1 Minute Trick

A simple, quick trick for how to keep pumpkins from rotting on your porch using one household item probably already in your cabinet.

I dared the hot, humid elements of the Carolinas a few weeks ago by conducting an experiment about how to keep pumpkins from rotting on our front porch.

how to keep pumpkins from rotting using this 1 minute trick

A couple of you mentioned this one minute trick to me on my Instagram page back in September, so of course I had to test it for myself just to make sure it actually worked before I could really believe in it.

preserved pumpkins on a fall porch

Lo and behold! The answer is floor wax!

3 weeks later, the little pumpkins I rubbed floor wax on and left outside in the 90 degree hot blazing sun and through a 5-day rainy spell still look as good as the day I stuck them on our porch steps.

heirloom pumpkins, lantern, and burgundy mums

That never happens in our weather.

So here’s the trick…

How to Keep Pumpkins from Rotting

Supplies

  • Clean rag
  • Floor wax
  • Whatever cute fresh pumpkins you pick from the pumpkin patch or grocery aisle
how to keep pumpkins from rotting using floor wax

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Steps

  1. Dampen a clean rag with water.

2. Pour about a tablespoon or two of floor wax onto the damp rag.

3. Rub the floor wax covered rag all over the pumpkins making sure to rub the wax into any crevices.

how to make pumpkins last longer using floor wax

4. Let dry.

5. Place outside to gussy up your porch for fall.

preserved pumpkins on a front porch decorated for fall

Welcome Mat | Rope Planters (similar) | Lanterns | Wreath | Lights | Stenciled Porch Floor | Brick Limewash

Now my mums on the other hand might die a slow, suffocating death because I’m the worst plant mama in the world. But at least my pumpkins stand a chance now. 😉 They should last around 4 weeks.

The wax creates a shiny surface on the pumpkins too, which just makes them extra pretty.

fall front porch with preserved pumpkins, lanterns, and mums

Have you ever tried this trick before? You can also use bleach to prevent pumpkins from rotting, but this to me was faster and easier.

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3 Comments

  1. Hi! Great ideas… also for those of us in the North East, I spray bleach on mine before putting it on the porch (just a bleach cleaner works) , and I do not put it on the ground any longer… but on an elevated plant stand otherwise the squirrels have a field day. Hope we all have a safe and fun Fall y’all.

  2. Love all your ideas – have been following for a year now – we moved to NC about 7 yrs ago, & hopefully Fall will be cooler.