Pumpkin guide: how to hollow out, carve and keep a pumpkin

The short version: cut the opening in the bottom instead of the top, scoop until the wall is about two centimetres thick, draw your design before you cut anything, and dry the inside completely when you are done. Keep the pumpkin cold when nobody is looking at it and use a battery light instead of a candle. Those six things are the difference between a pumpkin that lasts two weeks and one that collapses in four days.

Below you will find the whole process, from picking the right pumpkin to what to do with it when the season is over. Halloween falls on Saturday 31 October in 2026, so if you want your pumpkin to still look good on the night, start carving in the last week of October rather than the first.

Which pumpkin do you need

Not every pumpkin is worth a knife. For carving you want a big round one with a flat base, an even wall and a firm stalk still attached. Field pumpkins, the standard orange Halloween type, are grown for exactly this: thin walls, plenty of hollow space, not much flavour. Rouge vif d'Etampes, the flat ribbed French one, gives a completely different look if you are tired of the round orange standard.

Eating pumpkins are a different job. Hokkaido, butternut and muscade have dense flesh and small cavities, which makes them poor lanterns and good soup. And one warning worth repeating: small decorative gourds are not food. They contain bitter compounds that upset your stomach, so if a pumpkin or courgette tastes bitter, spit it out and throw the whole thing away.

Whatever you pick, check three things in the shop. The stalk should be dry and firm, the skin should have no soft spots or cuts, and it should feel heavy for its size. A pumpkin with a wound already has mould growing inside it.

What you need

• A serrated knife or a cheap carving saw, which controls far better than a big kitchen knife
• An ice cream scoop or a sturdy metal spoon for the flesh
• A marker pen and, if you want, a printed template and some tape
• Kitchen paper, and a bit of vegetable oil or petroleum jelly
• A battery tealight or a small LED light
• A bowl for the seeds, if you plan to roast them

You do not need a specialist kit. A saw blade from a carving set is nice for detail work, but a bread knife and a spoon get you most of the way there.

How to hollow out a pumpkin, step by step

1. Cut the opening in the base. Turn the pumpkin upside down and cut a circle out of the bottom, angling the blade inwards so the piece cannot fall through when you put it back. Working from underneath means the pumpkin sits over your light instead of balancing a lid, and the stalk stays intact, which helps it keep longer.

2. Take out the seeds and strings first. Loosen everything with your hand, then scoop it into a bowl. Keep the seeds if you want to roast them later.

3. Scrape the walls back. Work the scoop against the inside wall until it is roughly two centimetres thick, and thinner still on the side you plan to carve. Thinner walls let more light through and cut much more easily. Below one centimetre it starts to go floppy, so stop there.

4. Level the base. Scrape the inside of the bottom flat so your light stands straight and does not tip over the moment you close the pumpkin.

5. Dry the inside. Wipe every surface with kitchen paper until it is properly dry. Moisture is what mould needs, so this step does more for the lifespan of your pumpkin than anything else on this page.

Our full guide to hollowing out a pumpkin goes into the tools, the wall thickness and the mistakes that cost you a week of shelf life.

Carving the design

Draw first. Sketch the design on the skin with a marker, step back and look at it from a distance, then adjust before a single cut. Keep the big shapes on the front, and remember that every piece needs something holding it in place, so avoid designs where a section hangs from a single point.

Cut with short strokes and let the blade do the work rather than forcing it through. Do the small details last, while there is still solid pumpkin around them to hold everything steady. Push cut pieces out from the inside rather than pulling them out, and if a piece breaks off, a toothpick will hold it back in place.

Prefer no knives at all? Drilling a pattern of holes with a screwdriver or a drill bit gives a surprisingly good glow, and works well with children. So does drawing on the skin with a white marker, or scraping only the top layer away so the design lights up without cutting through.

How to keep a carved pumpkin from rotting

A carved pumpkin in a warm living room gives you three to five days. The same pumpkin, treated properly and kept cool, holds up for two weeks or more. Five things make that difference:

• Dry the inside completely after hollowing, and again if it gets damp.
• Seal the cut edges with a thin layer of vegetable oil or petroleum jelly, which slows moisture loss and keeps the edges from curling.
• Keep it cold. Outside on a cool doorstep is better than indoors, and a night in the fridge in a plastic bag buys you days. Bring it in only when you want to see it.
• Rinse the inside with water and a teaspoon of household bleach per litre, or spray it, then dry it. It kills off what is already growing.
• Use a battery light. A real flame cooks the inside of the pumpkin from the moment you light it, and the top goes soft within a day.

If your pumpkin starts to sag, a few hours face down in a bucket of cold water will often bring it back. The full list of tricks, including which ones are a waste of time, is in our guide on keeping a carved pumpkin fresh.

What to do with the flesh and the seeds

The flesh from a carving pumpkin is watery and mild, so it works better in soup, a curry or a bake than on its own. Cut it off the skin, roast it and freeze what you do not use.

The seeds are the easy win. Rinse them, dry them on a tea towel, toss them with a little oil and salt and roast them for fifteen to twenty minutes at around 170 degrees, shaking the tray halfway. They keep for a week in a jar.

Give the pumpkin a second life

An emptied pumpkin makes a good short-term planter, which is a much better end than the bin. Line the inside with a plastic bag or sit a saucer in it, add a little soil and arrange a few succulents or small cacti in it. Succulents are the right plants here because they need almost no water, so the pumpkin stays dry and firm for weeks instead of turning to mush.

When the pumpkin finally goes, the plants lift straight out and move into a pot or into an open terrarium. It is the same idea as a DIY terrarium kit: you are arranging plants rather than growing them, so nothing needs to root first. Step by step instructions are in our pumpkin planter guide.

Uncarved pumpkins compost well. Carved ones do too, as long as you have not painted or glittered them, and you take the candle out first.

Decorating without carving

Carving is one evening of fun and then a countdown. If you want the autumn feeling to last from September to November, do most of it with decoration that does not rot.

A group of mini pumpkins on a tray reads as autumn immediately, and comes back out of the box next year. The natural pumpkin set in green, orange and dark red works well on a windowsill or a dinner table, and a handful of small pine cones around them fills the gaps for very little money.

For Halloween itself, the fun happens on a smaller scale. Lightweight foam pumpkins can go inside a glass terrarium without weighing on the plants, and a set of glow in the dark miniatures or the horror house figures turns an existing bottle garden into a small haunted scene for the last week of October, then comes straight back out again.

More ideas along those lines are in our post on Halloween decorating with plants, and the rest of the seasonal range sits in autumn and Halloween.

Frequently asked questions

How long does a carved pumpkin last?

Three to five days in a warm room, up to two weeks if you dry it properly, seal the edges and keep it somewhere cold. An uncarved pumpkin keeps for two to three months in a cool, dry place.

Should you cut the top or the bottom?

The bottom. The pumpkin then sits over the light instead of balancing a lid, the stalk stays attached, and the shape holds better because you have not cut off the strongest part.

How thick should the wall be?

Around two centimetres, and a little thinner where you are carving detail. Thicker walls block the light, thinner ones lose their shape.

Can you eat the flesh of a carving pumpkin?

Yes, as long as it does not taste bitter. It is watery and mild, so use it in soup or a bake. Small decorative gourds are not edible.

When should you carve for Halloween?

Two to four days before, so it is still firm on the night. In 2026 that means the last few days of October, since Halloween falls on Saturday 31 October.

How do you light a pumpkin safely?

Use a battery tealight or a small LED. A flame heats the flesh, softens the lid and is a genuine fire risk next to a door with dry leaves around it.