White Pumpkin [Ideas to Use Them and Grow Them]
Perhaps you saw the latest display of fall pumpkins on someone’s porch and noticed they were white. You might be wondering, where did they come from? Are they really pumpkins? How do I get one?!?!
I’ve always grown traditional orange pumpkins for canning, Halloween, and my wife’s Thanksgiving spread but this year I decided to grow white pumpkins. Not only do they make for a great display this fall, but you can eat them too!
What Are White Pumpkins?
White pumpkins have been growing in popularity. While traditional orange pumpkins still dominate most pumpkin patches, it’s more common to see some white ones for sale too.
The only real difference between white pumpkins and their traditional cousins is their skin color. If you split one open, you’ll see the inside is still pumpkin orange.
Types of White Pumpkins
There are many types of white pumpkins including ghost pumpkins, full moon pumpkins, lumina pumpkins, silver moon pumpkins, and Casper pumpkins to name a few. Most of them were developed in the 1980’s and 1990’s.
After researching dozens of varieties, I chose to grow Luminas and Casperitas this year.
Lumina Pumpkins
Lumina pumpkins are really versatile.
They’re great for crafts and painting because their skin is white and smooth. If you have kids, they’ll love these for decorating this fall.
They’re also an excellent choice if you want to make a pumpculent.
They can be good carving pumpkins. They’re a bit smaller than most Jack’O’lantern pumpkins, but they’re not bigger than sugar pie pumpkins.
And finally, you can eat them like you would any other pumpkin. They have a slightly sweet flesh and are great for soups or pies. Basically, if you’d use a sugar pumpkin to cook or bake with, you can use a Lumina instead.
Lumina Pumpkin Profile
White skin color
Grow about 3 to 5 pumpkins per plant
Pumpkin sizes are 8 to 10 inches in diameter and they weigh about 10 to 12 pounds
Round shape
Vines grow 10 to 15 feet long
Takes about 90 days to mature from seed germination (they are one of the faster-growing pumpkins)
In this image you can see how smooth the lumina is and the defined ridges of the casperita. I placed a Cinderellea pumpkin in the middle for size comparison.
Casperita Pumpkins
These are the tiny pumpkins you can buy at the grocery store for $1. They’re great for painting or in an ornamental arrangement on your fall table. They look really cool grouped together with black pumpkins at Halloween time.
They’re too small to eat, although they are edible.
What I loved about growing these was that they mature about a month sooner than most pumpkin varieties so if you want pumpkins for this fall and you waited too long, plant casperitas.
They’re also resistant to powdery mildew and watermelon mosaic virus so if you live somewhere with heat and humidity, these are easier to grow.
Casperita Pumpkin Profile
Pure white skin
Grows 15 to 20 pumpkins per plant (very prolific)
Pumpkin sizes are extra small around 4 to 5 inches in diameter
Vines grow 6 to 8 feet long
Takes about 80 days to mature from seed germination
What Are White Pumpkins Used For
Most people use white pumpkins for ornamental displays or crafts like pumpkin painting or pumpculents. But you can use them for baking and cooking as well. I’ve even seen them used at weddings.
What Do White Pumpkins Taste Like?
White pumpkins taste like most other orange pumpkins, but I found them to have a less stringy flesh than many of their counterparts. Lumina pumpkins in particular have a slightly sweet flesh and are versatile. You can use them in soups, pies, cookies, puddings, and salads.
How to Grow a White Pumpkin
Depending on the variety, white pumpkin vines can grow 8 to 15 feet so you’ll want plenty of space to grow one. If you’re an urban gardener and you don’t have a lot of space, try growing one on a trellis vertically.
Smaller varieties like the Casperita will only grow vines around 6 to 8 feet, possibly even smaller. It’s a good choice if you want ornamental pumpkins but are short on space.
Plan Your Space
You’ll want to choose a location where your pumpkins get at least 6 hours of direct sunlight each day. It’s very important that they get enough sun to grow.
Also, make sure you don’t plant them somewhere the wind will whip them around. I made that mistake one year. If you plant them near a fence or on the side of your house, you can give them some wind protection.
Casperita pumpkins can grow in containers. Luminas are too big for most container growing. You’d be better off planting them in a raised bed or pumpkin mound.
Here’s a complete guide on planting white pumpkins.
Caring For Your White Pumpkins
Like all other pumpkins, you want to make sure they have plenty of water and I highly recommend fertilizing them every 2 to 4 weeks.
If you need help figuring out how to water your pumpkins, here’s an article with ideas for both automated irrigation and semi-automated irrigation.
When first starting, I recommend using some pumpkin juice to make sure your pumpkin plants get the nutrients they need. Here’s a list of all the pumpkin fertilizers I’ve used and what might work for you.
When to Harvest White Pumpkins
Your white pumpkins may not start out white. I probably should have said that earlier. As you can see in the image below, my lumina pumpkin started out more light green and turned white a few weeks before harvest.
Casperita Pumpkin
Lumina Pumpkin
I think it’s easier to tell when traditional orange pumpkins are ripe because they turn that characteristically orange color. White pumpkins can be a bit harder to tell.
As soon as your vine starts to die and they’ve turned completely white, I would pick them. If you don’t pick them in time, the skin can turn yellow or almost brown. If you’re planning to use them in a display, that’s going to crush your pumpkin soul.
Harvest your pumpkins on a dry, sunny day. Take a clean pair of pruning shears or a hori kori knife and snip them from the vine leaving at least an inch of the stem intact.
I also recommend wearing long sleeves or farmer’s defense gloves because the vines can be prickly or you could end up with pumpkin skin rash.
Whatever you do, do not pull the fruit off the vine. You can damage the plant if there are other pumpkins growing or you could cause the stem to break off which will result in your pumpkin going bad sooner.
How to Cure White Pumpkins
Curing is a process that hardens the skin of the pumpkin which allows you to keep them longer. It’s so easy to do that there’s no reason not to unless you’re going to cook with it right away.
I harvested my white pumpkins in August, cured them for about 10 days and they lasted until January. If you buy white pumpkins from the grocery store, they’ll likely last for a few weeks if you’re lucky. Grow them yourselves and you’ll have decor for the entire fall and winter season.
Ok, back to how to cure a pumpkin. It’s simple. After you snip them from the vine, leave them in your garden for about a week. Keep them flat and make sure there is airflow around each pumpkin. The sun will cure them. It’s that simple.
The week-long curing works when your temperature is in the 80-degree range Fahrenheit. If your temperatures or cooler, you may need more time.
One more thing to note, if there is rain in your forecast or you’re due for a frost, pull them inside or cover them.
White Pumpkin Recommended Reading
Pumpkin Fertilizer [What to Use, Where to Get It]
