Are you a gardener ready to break in a new pumpkin variety? Or maybe a prize-winning jack-o-lantern carver looking to wow your friends and family this year? If you’re a gardener, it can be incredibly difficult to choose a type of pumpkin to plant in your garden, especially with so many to choose from. And if you’re a jack-o-lantern carver, you’ll likely run into a similar problem: you have so many pumpkins to pick from that it can be almost impossible to find the perfect pumpkin to show off your carving skills! Today, I’m here to tell you that the Mustang pumpkin has everything you need.
If you’re looking for a medium-sized pumpkin that makes for a great jack-o-lantern and doesn’t fall easily to disease, then the Mustang pumpkin may just be the pick for you. Read on to discover everything you need to know about the Mustang Pumpkin!
Appearance
The Mustang is a classic, picture-perfect pumpkin: bright orange coloring, thick greenish-brown or plain brown handle, and a smooth round shape. It’s not too tall, not too stout—in the world of pumpkins, it’s just right! While it’s definitely a good-sized pumpkin, sitting pretty at about 22 pounds or so, it’s certainly not going to require a trailer to drag it home.
Whether you’re looking for a one-step decoration to set on your porch, the perfect medium for a jack-o-lantern, or an eye-appealing addition to the rows of your garden, the Mustang will easily run away with your heart. If you’re looking to start a pumpkin patch filled with prime fruits for spooky season, this is a great pick, especially if you’re a beginner to pumpkin growing.
Taste
While the Mustang is technically edible, jack-o-lantern pumpkins usually aren’t the best choice for cooking. I recommend avoiding these pumpkins if you’re looking to grow fruit to cook or bake with; however, if you’ve used these pumpkins for jack-o-lanterns and don’t want to waste the material you remove from its core, you can take the seeds and make yourself some delicious roasted pumpkin seeds!
Uses for the Mustang Pumpkin
Seasonal Décor
For the most part, you’re going to find the Mustang variety being used for autumnal decoration. Its sizeable circumference will provide the perfect canvas for this year’s round of jack-o-lanterns, but it shouldn’t reach an unmanageable size. You should have room on your porch for a handful of these pumpkins unless your porch has a particularly small amount of free space, in which case you may want to opt for a smaller variety of pumpkin to make up your array of Halloween faces this year.
If you don’t have the time or the interest to invest in carving your pumpkins, however, you can always add these pumpkins to an arrangement of other autumn décor to add some classic themes to your house’s curb appeal.
Of course, pumpkins aren’t just for Halloween! You can also use Mustang pumpkins all throughout the autumn season; you can even use them for Thanksgiving décor, if you so choose! While they’re not going to make a great pumpkin pie for your holiday spread, they’ll still make a great addition to your porch or your table centerpiece if you want to get really ambitious with it!
Just keep in mind that these pumpkins are fairly sizeable, so if you’re going to use them for indoor decorating, you’ll likely want to make them the focal point of your arrangement and set everything else up to complement them; otherwise, the pumpkin might end up overpowering any other decorations you put next to it.
When is the Mustang Pumpkin in season?
You’re rarely going to find pumpkins coming into season before the autumn months, and the Mustang is no exception. You can expect these pumpkins to become available for purchase or harvest in the fall; most likely around October, but you could find them as early as September and as late as November. It all depends on when you or your local pumpkin patch choose to plant; Mustang pumpkins mature after around 100 days, so if you’re going to be growing them yourself, be sure to do the math carefully. You don’t want them reaching maturity too early or too late for their intended use!
Keep an eye on your hardiness zone when planning out your pumpkin growing strategy; if your hardiness zone will require you to plant too late in the season for your pumpkins to mature in the timeframe you need, you may want to pick a faster-growing pumpkin than the Mustang. However, if everything adds up just right, the Mustang is still an amazing choice for your garden!
If you have access to a cool storage area with low moisture in the air, you could reasonably keep your pumpkins good for a handful of months even if they come to maturity before the proper season. Just make sure you don’t try to store them in a damp area; you’ll likely end up with moldy, unusable pumpkins if you try.
Where is the Mustang Pumpkin grown?
Pumpkins can be grown all over the country, and the Mustang is an especially versatile choice for many different climates, even those with heavy humidity, which ordinarily aren’t ideal for pumpkin growing. If you’re worried, you can visit the Mustang Pumpkin listing on Hoss Tools to check your ZIP code and see if you’re able to grow this pumpkin where you live! As an extra precaution, you can also visit Nature Hills to check which hardiness zone applies to your area before you start planting.
Is the Mustang Pumpkin vulnerable to disease?
Good news: though pumpkins are often prone to developing diseases like powdery mildew and downy mildew, which is why you want to avoid excess moisture in their growth environment, the Mustang pumpkin just happens to be resistant to these diseases. This resistance is what makes them a great choice for first-time gardeners, gardeners who don’t have time to worry about cautious watering of their plants, or gardeners living in heavy rainfall or high humidity areas. If you want a low-maintenance pumpkin that can hold its own against the risk of mildew, the Mustang is the one you’re looking for.
Ready for Some Pumpkin Picking?
Now you’re all set to round up a bunch of Mustang pumpkins for your Halloween displays this fall! Between its classic look, resistance to disease, and perfect size, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a pumpkin you’ll be happier with than this one. Whether you’re a gardener ready to try your hand at pumpkin growing or a Halloween enthusiast on the hunt for the perfect jack-o-lantern, you don’t need to look any further than the Mustang pumpkin.
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