Harvesting Pumpkin Seeds
Packed with antioxidants, four forms of vitamin E and antioxidant minerals zinc and manganese, pumpkin seeds have significant health benefits for runners. Just one handful (32g) of pumpkin seeds will be enough to see major health benefits and healthy nutrients including zinc, amino acids and a variety of vital vitamins and minerals. Its chewy and nutty taste makes it a great snack! You can also flavor your chicken curry with pumpkin seed paste instead of using high calorie whipped cream.
However when it comes to harvesting the pumpkin seeds you must wait until the fruit is ripe and ready for eating. To be on the safe side leave them indoors on a warm windowsill for day or two so that the seeds can develop further. In this article we will talk in details on how you can harvest pumpkin seeds and how is it compared to harvesting.
WHEN TO HARVEST PUMPKINS
Best practice is to wait until the first decent frost hits your crop.
Once the leaves have properly died back the bright orange pumpkins hidden beneath will be revealed – unless of course you have grown a variety that isn’t supposed to be orange.
Before you remove your prize there are some checks that you need to make to be sure that the pumpkin is ripe.
HARVESTING PUMPKINS SEEDS
There are many indications that your pumpkin is ready to harvest. It should be predominately orange in color. If the vine has started to “go away” (meaning dying off and declining) this is another signal. Sometimes the stem is already starting to twist and dry. The most important indication to look for, is that the shell has started to harden. If you can easily indent the pumpkin skin using your fingernail, the fruit is still too immature to harvest. If you harvest it at this stage, your pumpkins will likely shrivel and spoil within days. When the shell has hardened, your pumpkin is ready to cut from the vine.
Harvesting Pumpkins seeds:
Leave the fruit on the vine as long as you can.
Measure it every few days to see if it is still growing
Do not pick it until the skin has reached full color and has hardened.
Use a sharp knife to cut off the stem at the vine. Be careful not to damage the vine, if there are more pumpkins still on it.
A good pumpkin has a good stem. Do not carry the pumpkin by the stem. Carry the pumpkin out of the field by holding it in the palms of your hands. If you plan on selling them, a pumpkin with a broken or missing stem loses much of it’s price on the market.
Wash the pumpkin off completely.
Storage :
Remove the pulp and seeds from inside the pumpkin. Place this in a colander. Place the colander under running water. As the water runs over the pulp, start picking out the seeds from the pulp. Rinse them in the running water as you do. Do not let the pumpkin pulp sit in non-running water. There will be more seeds inside the pumpkin than you will ever be able to plant, so once you have a good amount of seeds rinsed, look over them and choose the biggest seeds. Plan on saving three times more pumpkin seeds than the number of plants you’ll be growing next year. Larger seeds will have a better chance of germinating. Place the rinsed seeds on a dry paper towel. Make sure they are spaced out; otherwise, the seeds will stick to one another. Place in a cool dry spot for one week. Once the seeds are dry, store pumpkin seed for planting in an envelope.
HARVESTING CANNABIS SEEDS
There are many ways to know when the perfect time to harvest cannabis seeds is, according to uks leading cannabis seeds website https://www.iceheadshop.co.uk/cannabis-seeds.html. One of which is based on the cannabis seeds’ life cycle. If you are an expert grower, you will know when the usual harvest time of the cannabis is. Another is to assess the pistils of the cannabis plants and also the trichomes condition of the plant.
How you cut your plants depends mainly on their size—if they are small, chopping them down at the main stem should be fine, but if they are big and many-branched, it may be advisable to chop down each branch separately. The main point to remember when cutting down your plants in preparation for drying is that care must be taken to avoid manhandling the flowers and potentially damaging them. It is also wise to ensure that sufficient airflow will be able to circulate around the flowers as they dry; separating the plant branch-by-branch should be enough to ensure this.
Before commencing the harvest, ensure that you are equipped with good-quality rubber or (powder-free) latex gloves, a sharp, clear pair of scissors or shears, a large plastic tray or tub in which to place cut branches, some twine or string, and something to hang your branches from (such as a clothes line). The gloves will prevent sticky resin from adhering to your hands, and will enable easier collection of the resin to form into hashish. The blades of your chosen cutting tool will also collect resin which can be scraped off to form hashish; ensuring they are clean before you start ensures the hash itself will also be clean and free from dust and debris.
When you are equipped and prepared, simply cut the larger branches close to the stem and place them gently on your plastic tray. Once all the branches have been cut from the plant, take pieces of twine or string and bind them around the branches close to the point at which they were cut, and hang them on the clothes line so that they are suspended above the tray. Using your scissors, gently remove the large fan leaves and some smaller leaves (allow the leaves that surround and enclose the flowers to remain in situ to avoid damage) so that airflow around the flowers is not obstructed. The conveniently-placed tray will catch any loose trichomes as well as the leaves themselves, which can be steeped in fats to make cannabutter or topical salves.
REFERENCES:
www.sensiseeds.com
www.farmflavor.com
www.gardeningknowhow.com
