I started a pumpkin plant in late may. the vine has overtaken my yard and I have one basketball sized pumpkin. It was dark green but in the last couple of days it has turned bright orange. How long can I leave it on the vine. I didn't think it would turn this soon.
It should be ready to be picked when the stem starts to dry out a bit. Some pumpkin varieties are miniature, so that might be why it's ready to so soon.
Some pumpkins are orange almost from pollination, others never turn orange and can be white, or even a pale green if they have squash in their background. I wouldn't judge by colour. As long as the leaves and vine are healthy, the pumpkin shoule be OK until the fall.
