Usually in the southern and central regions there is no special need to grow pumpkin through seedlings. Its seeds germinate well when planted in the open ground, grow well and give good yields. If you live in a colder region, or if you want to get a pumpkin crop before the term stated by the manufacturer (usually this period is 120-140 days from sowing to harvesting), it is advisable to grow pumpkin seedlings first and then plant them in the open ground. On the proper cultivation of pumpkin seedlings we will talk today.
The right choice of pumpkin seeds
The first thing to do is to select the "right" seeds for sowing pumpkin seedlings. If you collect the seeds yourself, which is most often the case, then you should be sure that you are growing a variety and not a hybrid. Among such seedlings will eventually grow plants, radically different from those that grew on your plot last year.
If you are sure that you are growing a variety and not an F1 hybrid, you can and should collect seeds, as there are usually a lot of seeds inside the pumpkin and there are plenty to choose from. Try to choose seeds intact, without damage, without signs of rot, fully mature. You can elementary check them by lightly pressing with your finger on the sides: the complete (ripe) seeds will not be pressed through, the "empty" seeds will be pressed through, and you will feel that it is not a seed, but actually only a shell from it.
Next, after you have chosen healthy, whole, fulfilled seeds, and you can do this in advance - check how long you have these seeds already stored. Usually the germination of pumpkin seeds lasts quite a long time, from six to eight years; in large retail chains old seeds are usually discarded, at home you can forget about the "bag" of seeds, and since the years fly quickly, the seeds will also quickly lose their germination. To prevent this from happening, always write the date on the package of seeds when you select and put them in storage.
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Preparing pumpkin seeds for planting
Once you have selected the seeds, you need to sort them into fractions. Fractions can simply be made based on the size of the seeds - large, medium and small - purely by eye, and thus put them in piles.
Each fraction of the seeds, regardless of size, initially needs to be "woken up", to do this, it is advisable to put the seeds in water (preferably melted or rainwater), heated to 40-43 degrees above zero for about an hour. When that time has passed the seeds should be taken out and, without rinsing with cold water, wrapped in a damp cloth or gauze and placed in a normal room in a shady place for a couple of days until the seeds will sprout. All this time you need to keep the rag or gauze moist by keeping it slightly moist (sprinkling periodically with water). If you plan to plant a large number of seeds, you should not put them all into one large rag or gauze, but it is better to divide them into several small ones, say, ten pieces.
By the way, gardeners note that when growing through sprouts, pumpkin is less sick and affected by pests, apparently, it better preserves immunity, not wasting it in the fight against unfavorable external environmental factors in the initial stage of growth when sown in the open field.
If you live in a region where night frosts, temperature fluctuations, return colds are frequent, then in addition to soaking the seeds and dividing them into fractions, it is worth to make the hardening of pumpkin seeds. Such a simple process will increase or strengthen the immunity of seedlings, increase the cold resistance of plants and slightly increase their resistance to pests and diseases.
In order to harden pumpkin seeds, it is necessary to put the seeds already sprouted carefully, so as not to damage the sprouts, without taking them out of the cloth or gauze, simply unfold it and put directly on it on the lowest shelf of the usual household refrigerator and hold it there for a day.
Also, to increase the growth activity, seeds are often sprinkled with Epin, Heteroauxin or similar preparations.
For additional hardening, the already incubated seeds are put on the bottom shelves of the domestic refrigerator for two days. As an additional fertilizer, it is acceptable to cover them in a damp cloth with wood soot - a teaspoon per 25-30 seeds.
Preparing containers for growing pumpkin seedlings
While preparing the seeds, it is acceptable to prepare containers for growing seedlings. These can be ordinary seedling wooden boxes, preferably new and dry, preferably pre-treated with 2% manganese solution and well dried after that, and also plastic containers with obligatory holes in the base for drainage of excess moisture, which can be easily and simply made with a red-hot awl, or separate plastic cups, also with a hole in the base, also made with a red-hot awl.
If you do not want to risk transplanting seedlings, and you want it immediately planted in the open ground without traumatizing the roots, you can sow seeds in peat-peat cups. In such a cup you can sow a couple of seeds, then choose the best plant, remove the second one or carefully transplant it, and then plant the cup in the soil without touching the roots of the seedling. The peat-peat cup will serve as nutrition, the seedlings will not receive additional stress due to the restoration of the root system after its damage.
When choosing peat-peregnoy cups, their size for pumpkins is better to take from 7x7 cm, you can slightly more, but not less.
Preparing the soil to grow pumpkin seedlings
When the containers are ready, and the seeds are soaked, you can begin to prepare the soil for growing pumpkin seedlings. Of course, you can buy soil in a store - carefully read about its composition, and if everything is in order, the soil is not acidic or alkaline, then sow seeds in it, but you can always prepare soil yourself. Usually, the ideal soil for growing pumpkin seedlings is a mixture of two parts transition peat, one part well-decomposed sawdust and one part humus. The resulting mixture should preferably be enriched with a teaspoon of nitroammophoska per five kilograms of soil.
When the soil is ready, it should be filled tightly into the available containers, and then well watered with melted or rain water at room temperature and you can proceed to sowing the seeds. Usually pumpkin seeds are sown to a depth of 3-4 cm, no more.
When growing pumpkin seedlings not in individual containers, but in large crates, vegetable growers advise, before putting the soil in the crates, to pour a little claydite for drainage, literally one or two centimeters thick.
The optimal period for sowing, by the way, about 18-22 days before planting seedlings in the soil. There's much depends on the weather outside, and from your region of residence - you need to calculate the period based on the characteristics of the climate.
It is best to plant seedlings in mid-May, of course, it is impossible to rule out return frosts, but the soil and air will be warm enough to accept pumpkin seedlings by that time.
Pumpkin seedling care work
But we ran a little ahead, before planting seedlings in the open ground there is still quite a lot of time, because so far we have sown only seeds. Before the sprouts appear on the soil surface, you need to cover the containers with food film or glass to create a greenhouse effect. If you sow pumpkin seeds in separate cups, it is advisable to put them in one large container with high borders and also cover it with food film or glass. It is important to open the film at least once a day for a couple of minutes to let fresh air in and keep the soil slightly moist by spraying it with a sprayer.
As for the optimum temperature, during the daytime it is very desirable to keep it at 19-24 degrees above zero, and at night to lower it to 14-16 degrees.
As soon as sprouts appear above the soil surface, the film should be removed, and the seedlings should be placed on the southern window sill and once every three days turn it the other side to the light, so that it does not develop with a slope to one side.
Also, gardeners note that pumpkin seedlings often stretch out. To minimize this unpleasant phenomenon, you should immediately after the sprouts for about a week, lower the temperature to 16-17 degrees above zero during the day and 11-14 degrees above zero - at night. After this time, the temperature should be returned to the standard temperature for pumpkin seedlings.
Watering pumpkin seedlings
You have to be very careful with watering, in no case you should not overwater the ground lump, but you should not overdry it either. It is not desirable to get on the leaves of the pumpkin when watering. Watering should be carried out strictly as the root ball dries out, there's much depends on the humidity in the apartment or house. It is noted that in rooms where there are large aquariums, the humidity is higher, the ground ball dries out more slowly and can be watered less often, and vice versa. Spray gun - the most reliable way to water, but you need, using it, try not to wet only the surface of the soil, and soak it in 3-4 cm deep. Regularity and small doses of water are the best recommendations for watering pumpkin seedlings.
Feeding of pumpkin seedlings
In addition to watering, fertilizers are also needed, before conducting them the soil should be slightly loosened (you can literally with a toothpick), then water the soil, after which, usually it happens a week after the appearance of seedlings on the soil surface, the seedlings can be fertilized. The optimal option in this case is nitrophoska, it needs 7-8 g per bucket of water, this amount is enough for a square meter of seedling bed, and if the seedlings grow in separate containers, you can pour a teaspoon of solution under each plant.
If you are against chemistry, you can use a solution of cowpea, it should be poured with water at 45 degrees, diluted in a concentration of one to ten, and let stand overnight, then dilute five times and you can feed the plants. A tablespoonful of solution or a liter per square meter of seedling will be sufficient under each of them.
Optimal location of pumpkin seedlings
Keep containers with seedlings should be on a southern window sill, where there is maximum good light. At midday hours from about half past twelve to half past one, you can shade the seedlings from the burning rays of the sun with newspaper.
As soon as the seedlings reach a height of 18-22 cm, get stronger, have two or more true leaves of bright green color, they can safely transplant into the soil, if it and the temperature outside the window is warm enough.
Planting pumpkin seedlings in the open ground
First, prepare the soil well, dig it to the full bayonet of the spade, remove weeds, add a tablespoon of nitroammophoska per square meter, water the soil, spending a bucket per square meter of soil, let it "rest" for a couple of days, and you can proceed to planting seedlings, making wells in advance, in which it is advisable to pour a couple of tablespoons of wood ash at the bottom.
Under planting pumpkin seedlings choose a site where grew favorable for pumpkin predecessors, that is, potatoes, legumes, enriched the soil available nitrogen, various root crops, onions. Bad predecessors are zucchinis, cucumbers and melons, i.e. "relatives".
Beds for planting seedlings make such that they were leveled, so that meltwater or irrigation water did not run down them, making potholes, and that between the beds could freely move, not stepping on the wattles then.
Before planting, seedlings need to harden, first taking it out on an open balcony for a couple of hours, the next day leave it for 10-12 hours, then leave it overnight, and then you can plant in the ground.
The scheme of planting between the wells is about a meter, between the rows you can also do a meter, and you can increase up to one and a half meters.
When transplanting from large containers, try to moisten the soil first, and then try with a tablespoon to literally "scoop out" the seedlings with as many roots as possible, so as not to damage them, that is transplanting it with a clod of earth. The soil in the hole can also be watered, enough 0.5 liters of water per hole.
After planting, the soil should be crimped with your fingers, so that there were no voids between the roots, and you can say that this is the end of planting pumpkin seedlings.
If you want the stinging rays of the sun not to damage the sensitive seedling leaves in the first days, you can shade them with newspaper in the midday hours.
That's all the subtleties of growing pumpkin seedlings.
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