Halloween is this Saturday which means now is the perfect time for Floridians to carve their pumpkins. Rotting is a huge worry for many Florida porch pumpkins so we’ve gathered the best tips for how to avoid rotting pumpkins, preserving the shape, and easy carving tips.

Make sure you pick a good pumpkin for your chosen design. Be sure your pumpkin has a sturdy stem and a flat bottom. A sturdy stem can indicate good health in a pumpkin. A flat bottom helps to make sure your pumpkin won’t roll during carving and it’ll display nicer (if you have to cut the bottom of your pumpkin for it to sit straight, it will rot faster). 

To some, cleaning the slippery, slimy guts out of your pumpkin may be your favorite part; to the rest of you, this tip is for you. You can clean your pumpkin in two minutes!!! All you need is a drill, hand mixer, and knife. Don’t forget a trash bag! For more details, click HERE.

You’ve picked your pumpkin, cleaned it, and have your design… now it’s time to create some magic. Everyone has their own way of doing this; some people free-hand an image and some poke holes through an image to create a pathway to cut. Using carbon paper to trace your image on the face of your pumpkin can make carving easier. Once you’ve decided on a design, the best thing to do is to print your image on a piece of paper in a size that will fit your pumpkin. Lay carbon paper on the area of the pumpkin you’d like to carve, then lay your printed image on top of the carbon paper. From there, you trace the printed image with enough pressure that the carbon paper backing transfers to the pumpkin leaving behind your image.

We told you about using power tools to clean your pumpkin, but have you ever used power tools to carve your pumpkin? Its scary easy…you’ll never carve your pumpkin any other way. From using a Jigsaw to cut the top of your pumpkin to using a Dremel for intricate details, power tools make carving pumpkins simple and easy.

We all know that Florida humidity doesn’t agree with pumpkins once they’re carved. Rumor has it, submerging your carved pumpkin in a bucket of bleach water for 24 hours can help to preserve your pumpkin. It’s also recommended that you spray your pumpkin with the bleach water mixture to preserve your pumpkin even more.