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Muddy Waters

You dont need heat to germinate seeds. I have germed seeds in a 65 degree basement(no heat).I know some growers mostly newbies are cooking the seeds.I soak then 2 hours max wet paper towel wrap & place in zip loc baggie. Toss that on a shelf come back in 5 days BINGO! RUUTZZZ popped.room is 68-70 degrees

No need to do a 12 hour soak to wet not good

No need to use heat, that you have not load tested on seeds to make sure you dont have hot spots.

I just wanted to share this as I get many emails to this issue every year.

10/27/2022 6:00:12 AM

Grittyville, WA

Should the paper towel be squeezed until no water drips out? Would that be optimal?
In the past I have cheated and add a little H202. I'm on well water, and it may not be sterile. In my experience, unless I boil it or add a little H202, it doesnt act quite the same as chlorinated tap water.
This may be a factor for some folks.

10/27/2022 7:40:45 AM

Kutztown, PA

Bubba, do you try and separate the roots from the paper towel before you plant or do you just clear the paper away from the Cots?

10/27/2022 2:31:38 PM

NILES , CALIF

Hey Bubba
You got away to start an old seed??

10/27/2022 4:25:30 PM

Muddy Waters

I dont squeeze the paper towel I like it wet.I have never had a issue with the roots engaging the towel.I pull it out early.

Old seed How old? 10 years? soak it say 10 hours if shell is thick. I never file a seed.I guess age of seed had a lot of variables. Where was it kept? temperature? Humidity?

10/27/2022 5:48:24 PM

Grittyville, WA

I like your idea bubba, for young seeds I think it should be aok. Although, I am not sure about the temp for old seeds. Lower temps might work for them too.
All I really know is they need a little help against soil and water pathogens.

10/27/2022 8:33:13 PM

Torrance, Ca.

Bubba has the itch! I have a hunch he wants to bring a monster to the west coats in 2023!

10/28/2022 10:30:56 PM

Syracuse, NY

I think that most seeds, old or new, will sprout eventually in a perfect world, but an older one simply might not sprout quickly enough without heat of 88-93 added before a pathogen can get to it and kill it before it grows. Even Mycorrhizae feeds upon a seed if it is in the soil too long, unsprouted.
Ewww-uhhh!!! eg

10/29/2022 10:21:04 PM

Grittyville, WA

I think you are correct about the myco. There's that awkward thing in nature where something that was supposed to be symbiotic becomes parasitic. Relationships 101.

10/30/2022 2:44:01 AM

Syracuse, NY

To avoid what I'm sure would be some etiquette violation, lol,
see my post in Seed Starting. eg

10/30/2022 6:29:54 AM

Kutztown, PA

Assuming soil temperature is good, how long would you let a seed go before giving up on it?

10/31/2022 10:12:59 AM

Muddy Waters

10 days

10/31/2022 6:09:22 PM

Whidbey Island

The older the seed, the longer.

10/31/2022 7:17:34 PM

Grittyville, WA

I dig them out in 5 days if theres no sign of life and put them on life support. If they are too weak to sprout in a timely manner they will rot.
Life support is a gentle rinse in dilute hydrogen peroxide, removal of cotyledons, and replant right at the soil line in clean dirt. With no intervention, by day 10 all I find is rot.
Fresh seeds, age 5 years or less, are generally vigorous. Occasionally there will be a vigorous old seed that wont need any help, but the majority will be weak/ too slow/ and hence susceptible to rot.

10/31/2022 10:57:01 PM

Colorado

I had one take 12days for the tip of the seed coat to start to crack.Id literally thew it in the trash and noticed the crack in the seed that wasnt there two hrs earlier.That was a two or three year old seed. I peek and a squeeze(lightly).if the roots not popping by 72 hrs its time to get worried.I have better luck with seeds in potting soil in 4 oz dixie cups. I start checking them at 18hrs.I transfer them to grow bags as soon as a root shows.

11/1/2022 2:26:50 AM

Grittyville, WA

Yes, there are those odd ones that for some reason the moisture doesnt penetrate and they just sit there dormant. Its pretty rare 1/20 to 1/50 odds in my experience.
If there was an unusual hard late frost or something, these are the ones that would preserve the species.

11/1/2022 5:25:44 AM

Grittyville, WA

I should have mentioned this.

cojoe hammers the nail in straight as usual...

11/1/2022 5:48:02 AM

Kutztown, PA

Gritty, Interesting that you would attribute the survival of a plant species possibly to seeds that germinate late. I never thought of that but it makes perfect since that seed germination would be staggered to prevent a complete die off do to extreme conditions. Assuming many pumpkins on the same plant all maturing at different rates inside different size pumpkins, i.e. different size protection vessels, staggered germination would be the norm. As you surely know, it doesn't pay to have all your seeds in one basket. You always keep me thinking Gritty.

11/1/2022 8:35:47 AM

Grittyville, WA

Kinda like tomato seeds, you mash them up and half will float and half will sink. A species doesnt always know what the better survival strategy is, so when Nature plays "heads or tails" with it, sometimes it wisely says "both".

11/1/2022 3:03:22 PM

Kutztown, PA

Gritty, I think a species "never" knows what the best survival strategy is. We're all just riding the lightning at the mercy of whatever our environment offers up, not knowing if there's enough dots on our dice to roll the right number.

11/1/2022 4:11:18 PM

Wisconsin

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

11/2/2022 1:18:57 PM

Grittyville, WA

If you stick with playing your own game, then there will be enough dots on the dice. We get in trouble when we try to play someone else's game.

11/2/2022 4:54:41 PM

Kutztown, PA

Mike/Gritty, I've been saying what Mike just said for years. No ones listening anymore. With that phrase as the premise, we should start a new post: "Pumpkin Growers and Their Valuable Contributions to Modern Philosophy and Ethics", or even write a book: "Morality based Pumpkinism". OR just a new religion: "Pumpkinsim". All hale the King Ring!

11/3/2022 4:30:30 PM