Jack O Lantern died already

[JackSkeleton]

Hi

We carved our first jack o lantern last sat and by thurs night it was rotting and had flying somethings in it. Is this the norm or did we just get a bad 'kin?

[Old Mike]

Jack o lanterns are works of the devil.
The devil is the Lord of the Flies.
His minions are just taking possession.
I find a plastic one sprinkled with bleach does the job.

[Ha de ha]

Old Mike - You're de Man!!

[jackomouldy]

We learn't our lesson last year. First we paid an arm and a leg for a pumpkin in cold storage. Then we nearly severed a hand carving it. Then is went moldy in a couple of days. We now buy ceramic ones and plastic ones. When we go home we will go back to the real deal.

[P.O.D.]

Try the tradition method and use turnip rather than pumpkin.
Jack can never die.

[turnip mash]

Try the tradition method and use turnip rather than pumpkin.
Jack can never die.

turnip, you're having a laugh aren't you POD - they're about the size of a tennis ball most of the time here and that size will set you back about $3

We bought a very small pumpkin this year - usually we use watermelons.......cheaper and nobody in our house likes pumpkin anyway.  I love turnip but as mentioned, never seen one here big enough to make a lantern out of.

and yes, they do rot quickly - like most veg kept out of the fridge.  You could try putting them in the fridge and only taking them out for lighting for a few hours each night - we've done that in the past and they've lasted a few days that way (get a bit soggy after a while though  )