Giant Pumpkin Seed Starting. Let the Season Begin!

Tonight I sanded the edges of my pumpkin seeds and I am soaking them now in warm water with a drop of seaweed and a little humic acid to help them germinate. After an three hours of soaking I will transfer the seeds to lightly moistened paper towels that will be folded around the seeds and put into Ziploc bags. The Ziploc bags will then be placed at the back part of my computer where it is usually about 85 degrees. An ideal temperature for pumpkin seed starting is between 85 to 90 degrees. In 24 to 48 hours a little root will come out of the bottom of the seed and at that time I will transfer the seeds to my seed starting mixture in peat pots.

For my seed starting mixture I use 80% ProMix BX, about 20% earthworm castings, some myco, and this year I'm going to add a little BiotaMax to the pots. BiotaMax is a combination of friendly bacteria and fungus that will help protect and feed the pumpkin plants. About 48 hours after putting the seeds in the pots they will start popping through the soil. I have the pots in a closet with grow lights and a space heater so I can keep the plants at about 85 degrees. About two weeks later I'll be taking the plants outdoors.

The seeds I am growing this year are the 1204 Scherber (1421 Stelts x 1725 Harp) and the 1306 Mohr (1161 Rodonis x 1288 Wallace). The weight of the pumpkin that the seed came from is the number and the name following is the last name of the grower that grew the pumpkin. The numbers in brakets after it are the female and male pollinator for the seed. Both of these seeds came from Colorado growers. The 1725 Harp pollinator for the 1204 Scherber is a seed from the former world record pumpkin. The 1161 Rodonis in the 1306 Mohr is a seed from the same pumpkin that grew the world record 1,810 pound pumpkin so there are some great genetics in these seeds.
We are off to the races! Hopefully we will be reporting giant pumpkins from these seeds come September.