Pumpkin seeds can sometimes be a hard thing to get started.
Sometimes they are infertile and wont grow, sometimes they get too much water and can rot in the soil. When you have sourced the best seeds you can get it makes sense to give them a helping hand to get growing.
Now you don’t need to do any of this, you can just put the seeds in the pots and see if they grow, it is totally up to you.
What you need
- Some seeds
- Nail file (wooden type)
- A paper towel
- Plastic zip lock type bag
- Seed raising mix
- Some sort of pot
First you need to file the edge of the seed, this is to allow the moisture to enter the seed easily, and kick start the growing process. Also it reduces the amount of energy needed to remove the seed casing.
It is best to hold the seed in one hand, and run the file over the seed, checking after a few strokes, making sure you haven’t filed too far into the seed.
Seeds should start germinating within 2 – 7 days. Once this occurs, it is time to put them into either the soil, or into seed raising mix and into some pots.
A seed starting to germinate
Now there are many different methods around to do this, some people will pre soak the seeds with a variety of products, for various amounts of time. Google is your friend to find out about these methods. I have mentioned this way as it is simple, easy, and is doable by your average giant pumpkin grower who has no special products, or equipment (yet).
Seed starting to emerge
Growing out from the seed
As you can see from the above pictures it is important to get the seed into soil at the right time. I’ve let these ones go longer then normal to show you how much can come out of a seed.
Once the seed has started opening, you know that it is time to put it into some soil. You can either plant straight into the ground, or do what most growers do, and that is start it in a pot. Once it has got three proper leaves in the pot, it is time to think about transplanting into the patch.
A peat pot
This year I am putting my seeds into peat pots, they can hold the moisture a bit better then a plastic one, and can also be planted directly into the ground, pot and all.
Now is a good time to add any extra stuff you are planning to use in your soil. For me I have added my mycorrhizae fungi into the seed starting mix, mixed it all up, and then put it into the pots.
Here is my seedlings all potted up. All sorts of different types, I made the labels from an ice cream container lid. Easy and cheap to do.
When placing your seeds somewhere, make sure they aren’t easy for mice or rats to get at, after taking the above photo I saw this morning that every single seed had been eaten. Luckily for me I had extra of everything, so I have re potted them all, and moved them.
Seeds like having a constant temperature, so if you aren’t going all out and making a heated box to put them into, try and find somewhere with a nice constant heat. After a while your seedlings should pop out of the ground. The next thing to do is to transplant them into your patch.
Hay I’m thinking of getting my seeds sometime this week, is it too late to plant them?
Hiya, nope it’s not too late, but soon as you get them, put them straight in the ground or pots.
K thanks for the info!