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Queens,NY

I work for a non-profit organization. I personally bought a seed kit from xtreme Gardening it is from Don Young 2009, the seeds did not work, i have the seeds in a greenhouse to germinate them but its been 2 weeks and I got no germination. I haven't given up on them yet. But I am now looking for newer and better seeds. Can anyone help get some good seeds to grow a giant pumpkin. I heard Wallace or Mathison is a great seed to get from. any help would be great. Thanks all

3/26/2014 2:53:35 PM

Germany

5 years old seeds are fine, many people have good success with seeds which are some years older (7-10 years). Thus, I suspect there´s a problem (or more than one) in your seed starting method. Thus, you better start with a brief (but info-loaded) description of how you started your seeds (did you file the rim of the seeds? did you soak the seeds? if yes, did you let them soak in water or in some kind of solution of something...of what?...for how long? Where did you place the seeds thereafter? ...right into the soil? which kind of soil or seed starting medium did you use? How deep did you bury the seed? How much water did you add to the medium? At which temperature did you store the pots or bags with those seeds?...any additional info you might consider important would also be welcome), and then the best you can get here is advice from many experienced growers. That´s much more precious than another load of great seeds. Some B-class seeds actually started at the right time is heaps better than 10 world class seeds sacrificed to a seed starting method of limited efficiency.

3/26/2014 3:39:42 PM

Germany

BTW, leave your email address here and then I´ll send you an email with a brief instruction of the seed starting method I use (and which I will continue to use because it works nicely for my AG seeds).

3/26/2014 3:44:13 PM

Quincy, CA

You can't go wrong with the professor's method.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF-5lKWiNvE

3/26/2014 11:47:34 PM

Queens,NY

aminerva@queensbotanical.org

Thanks

I did file them down i soaked it in water for short time few minutes then I put it in the soil on its side.My intern had cut the side of one, which i didn't like. Do you guys cut them at all? I buried them in a 3x3 an 1 inch down? That done ok? my greenhouse is 75 degrees. I used peet moss, vermiculit mixture and its pretty fine. What do u mean how much water did i add to the medium. Medium what do you mean by that? any suggestions would be great, I need to and want to learn as much as i can. Thanks for your methods.

3/27/2014 11:11:12 AM

Queens,NY

great video. I didnt do a few things, that i will try.

3/27/2014 11:22:00 AM

Germany

75 degrees day and night? Then it should be fine (it would take them about one day longer, but I´ve had good results at 70-75 degrees in the past...germination within 6-9 days.
Peat moss and vermiculite that is good. Did you bury the seed without adding any further water? (That´s what I read out of your description.) That could have been the problem.
Everything else in your procedure sounds fine (but I don´t cut any parts of the seed, I only file the rim of the upper 2/3 of the seed shell and I don´t manipulate around the pointy end of the seed).

3/27/2014 11:40:51 AM

Queens,NY

Thanks Pumpking, i didn't think to use sand. Thanks for your information i will use this. i am grateful to all of your methods.

3/27/2014 12:35:37 PM

Queens,NY

How long should you see germination on your methods? - Pumpking, and dguyh

3/27/2014 12:36:47 PM

Germany

It all depends on temperature and other things (like the seed etc.), but somewhen between day 4 and day 9 the seedling should emerge from the soil.

The sand is just meant to serve as a thin barrier between the seed and the soil, so if you use a mixture of peat, vermiculite and maybe some perlite, the seed starting mix is already pretty free of diseases, and therefore this barrier of sand probably won´t add alot to germination success.

Suggestion: try to start various AG seeds (different crosses, different age), and then you will see if your seed starting method works. Sometimes one just attempts to start one or two seeds and germination fails and one cannot tell for sure whether it was the seed starting strategy or the seed of both which caused the failure. In case of a bunch of seeds started you can tell whether the method was inappropriate (poor success in general) or a particular seed just didn´t want to grow.

3/27/2014 2:18:34 PM

Queens,NY

Pumpking- I did add water after I planted the seed, just enough as the water dripped out of the pot. i didnot use warm water tho. that was suggested to me.

3/27/2014 3:05:50 PM

Queens,NY

Germany- I think it might of been my method, I now have no extra seeds. I work for a non profit organization,no extra funds for this project. Its for a Harvest festival in October for the people to come and enjoy a beautiful giant pumpkin. im down in the dumps. im not giving up. i will try something else, i wanna put it on a heat pad with aluminum foil around the pot to see if it helps. thanks i will try this out. what do you think about trying that method?

3/27/2014 3:12:31 PM

Queens,NY

average 75 degrees. I think i want it warmer so thats why im going to put it on a heating pad in a container with a thermostat. for 84-85 right?

3/27/2014 3:13:58 PM

Germany

Right, 84-85 degrees for 3 or 4 days would be best, but with a heating pad you need to be careful that the soil temperature doesn´t get too high. You should run a test first (with pots without seeds on the heating pad and a thermometer inside).

Here in the seed exchange section you can find many offers of great seeds, great crosses, for example that one here

http://www.bigpumpkins.com/msgboard/ViewThread.asp?b=1&p=504929

Just go ahead and ask for those seeds and the growers will be happy to give you a couple of those seeds (you only need to send a self-addressed stamped bubble and a friendly letter). That would be the easiest way for you to get hands on excellent genetics basically for free and to actually get more than just one seed of such a nice cross (in many cases)...your only duty will be: You actually plant the seed because you asked for it because you wanted to plant it.

3/27/2014 4:06:04 PM

Queens,NY

Germany- You are great person by helping me out alot. So the heating pad was just used for germinating many of our seasonal plant for the year not too hot in our greenhouse. i have used heating pad before. i put the heating pad in a container and propped a semi opened top over it to get warmer to its 84-85 degrees goal. 3-4 days it will be on. should it get any sun light? it need to be in a shaded area correct?

3/27/2014 4:14:22 PM

Queens,NY

and everyone who thankful told me there methods, i wanna thank you all as well.

3/27/2014 4:15:11 PM

Torrance, Ca.

I grow at our Botanical Gardens, wonderful place to grow. Just don't plan on working in the patch during the weekend,,,,,, question after question and you get nothing done :)

Great job!

3/27/2014 4:31:24 PM

Germany

As soon as the seedlings are there they need heaps of sunlight and need to be kept in a slightly cooler place (70-75 degrees should then be fine).

Good Luck!

3/27/2014 4:40:40 PM

Queens,NY

Thanks everyone who has helped me get started. I received more seeds. I got them germinated in 2 days started the 13th of April, by the plastic bag and paper towel method. and the first true leaves are huge. i did a comparison i grew a normal hi jinks pumpkin seed the same day as my giant seed, and looks beautiful what a difference.

4/23/2014 11:51:27 AM

Queens,NY

i have posted a picture somewhere on this page and can not find it. if you see tell me what you think of them(2 plants picture)

4/23/2014 11:52:29 AM