Growing Pumpkins from Seed
Yes we are definitely getting out in the garden and starting off seeds at the moment – you may have seen our getting tomatoes started indoors post as well as growing carrots and I’m back today sharing about starting off pumpkins from seed in time for Halloween from your very own garden.
Way back in the Autumn for Halloween we got our pumpkin from the Farm shop near home, opened the top and the kids and I had a very messy morning removing the seeds from it – some we toasted others we dried on the windowsill for a couple of days and then added to a little brown seed package which has sat in my box of seeds all winter until recently when we opened the seeds and started to plant our pumpkins.
There was a huge will they won’t they grow. I thought that seeds from the farm shop were slightly more likely to grow than seeds from our super market brought one (we didn’t manage to grow any last year ourselves). Planting them we used 6 inch diameter pots and filled the with a mix of Permalite and seed compost.
The seed pots were then placed in the green house although a window sill will work to get them started as well if you haven’t got a green house and watered regularly every evening and the children observe the growth if any of the seeds.
Whilst you are growing the seeds why not read a book about seeds with your toddlers and preschoolers.
I’ve not got pictures of this years seeds as seedlings yet! But look what happened after just a month last year. April is the ideal time to get the seeds into pots as by the time they get round to May and the risk of Frosts has passed you can start acclimatising them to the outdoor environment and plant them out by the end of the month to grow big. Don’t forget pumpkins like cucumbers, courgettes and other squashes need a lot of water to grow big.
If you are growing pumpkins from the seed for the first time and you haven’t saved seeds from last year then seeds from the store are equally good to grow and likely to be more reliable than seeds from a supermarket pumpkin and you may get a huge pumpkin ready to carve come Halloween.
Seed Germination Activity Pack ~ $5.00
Project pack for kids to explore seed germination and plant growth.
Cerys Parker
Cerys is a marine biologist, environmental educator, teacher, mum, and home educator from the UK. She loves getting creative, whether it is with simple and easy crafts and ideas, activities to make learning fun, or delicious recipes that you and your kids can cook together you'll find them all shared here on Rainy Day Mum.