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Coneecticut

No matter waht i try i can never seem to get them to germinate and i have tried many methods. I have a heating pad...which doesnt seem to help. i have tried the paper towel method, and just ended up rotting them. i am running out of seeds to experiment on so i have to find a way that works soon!

4/25/2004 3:02:14 PM

40n 74e

You could of course stick them in the ground and let nature do it for you.... Just protect the soil area you plant them in from squirrels etc so they don't eat your seed and mother nature will hook you up in due time.

4/25/2004 3:28:38 PM

Ljubljana, Slovenia

You may have old and very dry seeds. In this case do not forget to peel off the edge all around the seed. I use a razor blade. Put it on paper towel under some plastic. Place it on a fridge near the wall where the heath comes up and it should go.

4/25/2004 4:18:23 PM

[email protected]

Joey,

Do you have a thermometer on the heating pad? What's the temperature?

This year I changed the technique I'm using & we're now at 100%. I barley scratch the edges with 220 grit sandpaper. Soak in straight drug store 3% Hydrogen Peroxide for 8 hours at 82*F. Then I soak a paper towel in warm water & squeeze *ALL* the water out til it stops dripping. Fold it in half. Then place the seed on it & fold in half again. Now it fits in a standard sandwich size zip-loc bag. I place this back on the 82-3*F heating pad. 48-72 hours & the radical is out. Place this in barely moist (can't sqeeze even one drip) seed starting mix. Cots emerge in 72 hours tops every time.

If you need more seed, let me know. I have some more good ones left.

Steve in Stratford

4/25/2004 4:39:03 PM

Wisconsin

The key to success is moist (not wet!!!) and warm (85 degrees). Here is my system.

I file the edges (not the pointed end) and then take a piece of paper towel and get it wet. I then wring out the paper towel in my hand so virtually no more water comes out of it (in other words it is damp but not wet). I then dip the seed in Captan powder and wrap it in the paper towel and put it in a small plastic bag (to maintain a constant moisture level).

I then put the seed in my incubation chamber. I use a thermostatically controlled heating mat in a wooden box that I made. I use a small thermometer to monitor the temperature carefully so it stays at a constant 85 degrees in the box. Your heating pad will work if you figure out how to keep your seeds at a steady 80-85 degree temp. I put my thermostat (and thermometer) right by the seeds so I know that they are at 85 degrees. I then check the seeds once a day until I see the small tap root emerge from the pointed end of the seed (usually in 1-2 days). I like this system because you can see what is happening each day.

Then I take the seed and plant it in a sterile seed starting media (the stuff you can buy at any garden center). Again when I mix up the seed starting soil, I put in just enough water to get it moist (damp) but not wet. It should be able to clump up in your hand but not really feel wet. I then carefully put the rooting seed in the seed starting mix back in the incubation chamber until the first leaves emerge from the soil (usually 2-3 days). Then I take them out of the heated chamber and put them under lights.

With this system, I get virtually 100% germination. I learned this the hard way though. When I failed in the past it was because I had them too wet.

4/25/2004 4:42:03 PM

Canada

Yup My first seeds failed as well.. i'm blameing it on too much water and possibly too much heat.

This go around i just lightly filed the tips of my seeds.
dipped the seeds in STIM_ROOY # 2 powder blew the rest of powder off the seed and set them in moist paper towls and keeping them around 65 temp wise after 12 hours the seeds will be place in soil and kept around 70 till the leafs come out ( if they do) :-)
good luck later DaveM

4/25/2004 5:36:32 PM

Wroclaw, Poland (51 N, 17 E)

Read about seed starting in "how to.." section on this site. It is very usefull and I was 100% sucsessful using it. The seeds (without soaking in anything) germinated after only 3 days in pots!

4/25/2004 5:45:45 PM

[email protected]

Dave,

Don't file the pointed end at all. Any filing should be at just the outer-most edges.

4/25/2004 6:46:39 PM

Canada

Tremor.

Well i actually took a small nail file and just carefully
filed the tips down lightly. by doing this will this damage
the seed 100 % or only if you go down too far?

i didnt get as far down to actually touching the inner plant just the outside shell

4/25/2004 7:10:24 PM

Appalachian Mtns.

I wouldn't recommend it unless you've practiced it alot but I break my seed tips off so the radicle is visible. Better germination rates.....

4/25/2004 7:17:55 PM

North Ga

I break the tips off mine too and have great results. I then just wrap them individually in damp white paper towels, and keep them in baggies on a heating pad.

4/25/2004 7:31:25 PM

Garden State Pumpkins

Breaking the tips! I wouldn't recommend this for a novice...this takes practice ..injuring the endosperm (tip end) will abort germination..file the edges avoid the tips until you have practice seeds to work with...file the edges damp towel, good heat and they will germ...grow em big! Chuck

4/25/2004 8:27:38 PM

Canada

Yup a Novice I am, I'm just hopeing that I didnt file in too far when i filed this patch of seeds, I used a nail file and just gently went around the tip and down the sides of each of my seeds, truthfully i didnt go too far. I think if i would have went too deep the change in colour of the seed would have changed. but ya there is still plenty of seed there. so lets keep our fingers crossed LOL

4/25/2004 10:04:30 PM

Appalachian Mtns.

Dave...sounds like you're OK. Use seed from your pumpkin this year over the winter to practice various methods and techniques and come Spring 2005 you'll be an old hand.

4/25/2004 10:10:42 PM

Canada

Yup just finished transplanting my 12 hour soaking seeds into there pots of soil. am hopeing come end of week they have sprouted so i can have them into the patch by 2nd week of may :-).

Yup you learn by your mistakes this is my first year growing
so ya come next winter i'll be useing allot of the seeds i get from plants this year to pratice in winter of 05 for spring plant 05 :-)

Dave

4/25/2004 11:20:08 PM

I'm with Gordon... GO UTES!

Getting the temperature up (generally) requires two things:

1. A heat source below the pots
2. Something to hold heat in above

For number 2, a piece of plastic wrap is fine. Use a
thermometer, and find out exactly what you're getting
inside the pot, inside the soil. If it's not right, change
it!

With the right temp, and not too much water, your
germination rates will go above 90%.

Regards, Cliff

4/26/2004 3:07:06 PM

Canada

Yup thats the problem i had first go around.

1. I put my seeds in paper towls and in closed butter containers i had too much water . let them soak for 24 hours
and by the time i planted them into there larger pots
the shells were pretty soft. after a few days in the pots
i du around looking for them and found that both had started
but i guess i had too much moisture in pots because shortly
after they sprouted they died. never even made it to the top of the soil.

this go around things are looking better the soil is damp and i'm keeping the top of the pots open so in case there is too much moisture the heat will get rid of it pretty quick my temp was around 65 but i bumped it up to 75
because everyone says 85 is perfect thats what i went with first go around but persionally i thought it was too hot.

but eaither or 65-75 will still sprout the seeds maybe not as fast but it should still work

Dave

4/26/2004 3:24:22 PM

Kenyon, Mn.

In Lieu of having Captan available, I looked in the bottom of my sack'o'sweetcorn and there is Lots of pink in there, can I "powder" my seed with this ??

4/26/2004 3:34:53 PM

Pulaski Tn [email protected]

i've germinated hundreds of AG's in the past few years..porbably with a 85% success rate, most were in 4 inch peat pots..at room temp. no extra heat added..

4/26/2004 3:46:19 PM

New Brunswick

I file mine lightly with a nailfile and soak in warm water a few hours, then place them between two layers of wrung out paper towel, place on saucer and shove into a plastic bag with top loosely folded under. I then place this on a "Tim Horton" coffee maker. I have perfect germination results every time and even start seed for my friends. The coffee maker keeps the water in it hot at all times and is a perfect germination vessel.

4/26/2004 8:13:17 PM

Kenyon, Mn.

Tremor, used the method you mentioned above, One question, the 1069 Magdycz foamed "like a bad cut on ya hand," Good Sign?/BAD SIGN?

4/28/2004 7:02:35 AM

C N Y

if it foamed from exposure to H2O2, that, i belive, would be a good thing, in that the H2O2 is doing its "thing"---
this could indicate that the seed is loaded with fungus or bacteria, so it's a good thing you ARE using H2O2!!!
now, Tremor's reply...........

4/28/2004 6:14:19 PM

[email protected]

Oh yeah. The foaming is an indication the Hydrogen Peroxide is doing it's thing. Perhaps worth mentioning is that we also innoculate the seed starting mix with beneficial bacteria. I figure since we start with sterile mix & also kill everything on the seed, then there's roughly a 50/50 chance of a pathogen inoculating the soil if we don't start some good guys first. But then the Captan users are also prevting that from happening as well.

Mr B,

That pink stuff is a dye that's added to the fungicide so you know it was treated. It could be Captan. But I'd wager it was probably Apron (same as Subdue). It should say on the seed tag. Either one is fine for Pumpkins.

4/28/2004 7:38:37 PM

New Brunswick

I started 23 seeds on April 30 using my above mentioned method. Within 24 to 48 hours all but 5 had sprouted and were planted in pots. However, the remainder of the seed have not germinated to date. I suspect maybe your seeds are bad.

5/2/2004 3:16:57 PM