Got the seeds started yesterday. We are off to the races again. This year I'm only going to grow one giant pumpkin. I just don't have time to do two right now and I want to give it 100%. So my seed of choice this year is the 1825 Sadiq. I really liked the shape and parentage on that seed. It is also nice to grow a seed from a personal best pumpkin is already a good grower.
My son is growing a 1398 Janowaik (1501 VanderWielen x 1885 Werner) that went 19% heavy. This seed I think isn't high on people's radar, but I like the potential. My son wants to grow something that can be a nice orange, but also grow big. This one I think can accomplish both. It was just a dozen pounds off the growers personal best pumpkin. It had a nice orange color and smooth skin, which I like. My son grew the 1885 seed last year and got a personal best, so hopefully this one will do even better.
So what we did yesterday is sand the edges of the seeds until the light brown color starts coming through. This lets the seeds pop open more easily has the seedling pops out. We then soaked the seeds for about 5 hours in a solution of water, liquid sea weed and humic acid. Those nutrients help get the germination process going. Now the seeds are wrapped in a lightly moistened paper towel, inside a zip lock bag and on a heated mat. The little device between the zip lock bags is a temperature monitor. I try to keep them between 80 to 89 degrees. Usually within about 22 to 36 hours a tap root will pop out of the seed tip and I'll then transfer the seeds to their growing pot with a seed starting mixture in it.
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