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portland,OR,USA

i planted 4 pumpkin seeds about 2 weeks ago and its not doing anything at all! i put a little water on it evry day and keep it in the warm sun but nothing at all is going on

5/8/2010 3:53:59 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

What temperature is the soil? Are these seeds in the open ground?

5/8/2010 5:51:29 PM

Minnesota

Did you file the seeds, unfiled seeds will take longer. Did you start them in pots, did you soak them, a little water every day is to much I was told for seeds.

5/8/2010 8:18:57 PM

Oakley, UTAH

do u have new.. seed medias,, seems old stuff aint up to the ,, cause,, filed or not.. new lesson learned this yr

5/8/2010 8:36:43 PM

portland,OR,USA

i havent filed it but i have about 6 more seeds and i dtarted them i a pea pot. i keep them in if its raining or cold outside,but when its sunny i keep them out

5/8/2010 8:52:21 PM

Pataskala,OH

They are most likely dead.

5/8/2010 9:08:50 PM

Minnesota

You could post a message asking Oregon growers for help, (or use the site search)there could be a grower in your area who could help. I know there is 3 different weigh off sites in Oregon.

5/8/2010 11:09:35 PM

East Jordan, MI

I'm no expert at AG growing, but this is what I was told (and have read from many different sources), and it worked for me. Anybody that sees something I miss or a mistake, please chime in.

Watering every day is a no-no. Soil should be DAMP. Squeeze a hand full as hard as you can, ONE drop should be all you can squeeze out, 2 is one too many. No more water should be added.

The optimum temp for soil during germination is bewteen 85 and 90. You can build a very inexpensive incubator with a 25 watt light bulb and a styrofoam cooler. Use a thermometer in the soil to make sure it doesn't get too hot. Start this a couple of days early so you can get the temp to stay in the correct range and warm everything up before you start. I added a dimmer switch on my light so I could adjust if it got too high, without having to turn it totally off and get too cold. There was quite a bit of adjusting, but it was only for 2 days. Next year I will add a thermostat to control the light. Some people use a heat mat instead of a light bulb.

Filing the edge of the seeds and saoking in water for between 4 and 6 hours, speeds up the process by days. Mine germinated and poked up through the soil in about 30 hours.

After they sprout, you MIGHT have to remove the seed hull. I did on a couple of mine, the others shed it by themselves. Be VERY careful the sprout is very fragile.

After the hull is off, put a grow light 4 inches from the seedlings until the first true leaf appears. Depending on the size of the pot, they need to be set in the ground before they get root bound or it will slow them down. For mine, in a 1.5 quart pot, 8 days was too long, but later than expected frost made me keep them in for a couple of extra days. I put my backups in 2 gallon pots, so I could keep them inside longer. The roots were poking through on them at 12 days.

5/9/2010 12:50:03 PM

Owensboro, Ky.

cntryboy...great, quick tip list for how to!!! I read over and over that folks are starting seeds...not knowing what their soil (startin media) temp is!!! A soil temp probe is a real cheap purchase. Lot's of folks growin, so lots of variables...but you put into a real short, right on target, tutorial. I'm bettin a bunch o folks benefit!! Peace, Wayne

5/9/2010 11:23:30 PM

Ct

If you watered every day I'd say they are rotten by now. Dig one up and check it's condition. If it is soft and has turned to mush you'll need to start all over again.

5/12/2010 4:05:36 PM

Williamsburg,KY

You can buy a $4 meat thermometer to test your soil temp. Make sure the thermometer starts at 0 and it probably goes to like 220 degrees. It has a round top and a metal probe. Works for me and its the same as buying the soil thermometer for $8 in garden catalogs.

5/12/2010 7:27:35 PM

New York

Echoing Croley, I got a simple cooking thermometer and it's helped me tremendously.

5/12/2010 9:16:40 PM

Hurdland USA

IDK and I hope they came up but the biggest problem I've seen people do is to plant too deep.

If the top of the seed is under the surface of the top soil it may be too deep, if the seed is upside down ( where the sprout pops from closest to the surface ) then the root has to push past the seed.

I germinate my seeds on a wet paper towel placed in an old ziplock bag not completely closed and placed on top of the hot water heater. They sprout super quick. 2-6 days

5/19/2010 4:05:57 PM