After eating delicious pumpkin, do you get the uneasy feeling that the pumpkin seeds are too good to throw away? Then simply plant the seeds in the bed or in the bucket. So there is a rich harvest.
How do I plant pumpkin seeds correctly?
Soak pumpkin seeds in warm water for 24 hours before sowing. Sow in pots with low-nutrient seed soil in mid/end of April and place approx. 2 cm deep in the substrate. Allow to germinate at 25°C and continue to grow at 18°C after germination. After a total of 4 weeks, strong plants can be planted outdoors after the Ice Saints.
Growing indoors for vital pumpkin plants
On average, a pumpkin takes more than 100 days to ripen. Under the local climatic conditions, the culture quickly comes under time pressure. Knowledgeable hobby gardeners prevent this situation by storing the pumpkin seeds behind glass. Such a measure creates an advantageous growth advantage over direct sowing.
- The window for sowing opens in mid/end of April
- Soak pumpkin seeds in warm water for 24 hours
- fill small pots with low-nutrient seed soil
- Place one pumpkin seed each flat, approx. 2 cm deep, in the substrate
- moisten carefully, cover with foil or place in the indoor greenhouse
At a constant temperature of 25 degrees Celsius, growth is now progressing quickly. Germination begins within 1 week. This is the signal to place the seedlings brighter and a little cooler at 18 degrees Celsius. After a total of 4 weeks, each pumpkin seed has transformed into a strong little plant that now wants to go into the bed.
Planting according to the Ice Saints
If there is no longer any risk of ground frost from mid-May, the pumpkin plants can go outside.
- Weed thoroughly in a sunny location with nutrient-rich, humus-rich soil
- enrich the soil with compost and horn shavings
- Dig planting holes more than 1 meter apart
- Insert and water the pumpkin plants together with the seed soil
- climbing varieties receive climbing aid
Large containers with a capacity of 60 to 90 liters should be considered on the balcony. Of central importance is a drainage hole in the ground, over which a drainage system made of potsherds or gravel is spread. Suitable substrate is nutrient-rich and well-drained. Commercially available vegetable soil (€13.00 on Amazon) is improved with perlite or sand.
Tips & Tricks
The germination of pumpkin seeds can be noticeably improved with a trick. Take each kernel between two fingers and roughen the shell with a file or sandpaper. The seeds are then soaked in a two percent potassium nitrate solution for 24 hours instead of pure water. Potassium nitrate is available in every pharmacy for little money.
