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Tacoma Washington

I am new to pumkin seed growing, I have bought some store giant pumpkin seeds to experiment with and after 7 days I carefully looked through the seed starting soil that the seed is in and I saw no sign of a plant emerging, but looking under the seed I have found about a 3" root. I guess I thought the plant would have started to pop up by now.
Maybe I will different results when the AG seeds come in the mail. I will also try a few other starting methods I see here on the board.

Gary.

4/11/2003 2:37:53 PM

Mineral Virginia

store bought seeds don't hold to what you read here, even if they say "giant", except for possibly Howard Dill's if you got hold of some of his.

This is from my own hard earned experience over the last two years. We started our first true AG's about two weeks ago,bought from Dill's site. They were breaking ground in about 3 1/2 days. Roots litteraly exploded through the bottom of a 4" peat pot in 7. Most exciting thing I've seen in growing plants.

Good luck

4/11/2003 2:47:59 PM

syracuse, ny

Zilor--once you get your seeds in the mail, i'm hoping that they are ones of a known cross, and in any event, if not this year then next year, strive to get ones that have known parentage (like 845 X 705, uh, 1061 X 1140, etc.)

this will help you by leaps and bounds...as generic seeds
from a mail-order company are probably from open pollinations by the bees, and ones as mentioned will give you the giants! anyway, you wanna provide a mild,
85-90 max. temp. F. to cause your seeds to sprout quickly...
the longer they sit in the mix the better the chance of them rotting or just not sprouting....perhaps use a fungicide, Captan i use, at about 2 tbsp. per gallon, and
that's all you use from square one, initially, as a precaution and peace of mind. lastly, you want to use at least a 4-inch peat pot, for those monster, quick-growing roots you'll soon see! and really lastly, DO NOT rely on the light on a windowsill until you plant them out!
i believe this causes them to grow too rapidly and the stem gets very long.....use a couple of flourescent gro lites
suspended about 6" above the seedlings, adjusted as the grow. 24/7 until you plant them out. this will kepp them nice and stocky little buggers! and, good luck! 'pal

4/11/2003 5:31:21 PM

syracuse, ny

the...
kepp...
man, i didn't check it before i posted--

2manytypoes!

4/11/2003 5:34:55 PM

Covington, WA

Zilor,
If you have a chance to go to the Puyallup Spring Fair this weekend you can get some choice seeds. The PNWGPG has a booth in the building just to the right of the main gate. Seed sales are taking place and some top growers will be on hand to answer questions. There will be plent of good information available there as well. Why, it's worth the price of admission alone. Just my humble opinion. Really, your timing couldn't be better, if you are serious about growing a big one this year this is a great opportunity.

4/11/2003 7:02:12 PM

Tacoma Washington

I thought that the puyallup spring fair was over, but I just looked on the web site for it and it says 15th through the 18th. I will try to go there this Friday.

Someone told me that some of the giant pumpkin growers inject stuff into the vines! Any thoughts on this?

4/14/2003 3:26:56 PM

Sloughhouse, CA

No injections just lots of fertilizer, seaweed, water and sunshine.

4/15/2003 2:23:35 AM