I felt I needed to practice germinating pumpkin seeds when the weather is poor outside. I have had problems in the past and often used all my pumpkin seeds to only have a few germinate.

I started two weeks ago with a heat mat under the seed tray and lamp. With one lamp, the temperature inside the greenhouse was around 75 degrees. I added another lamp and the temperature adjusted itself to 88 degrees. The first 2 weeks only 3 seeds germinated. It was very disappointing and I couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong. I was using miracle grow soil, keeping the soil moist, but not too moist.

I planted a new batch of seeds on Saturday and I already have 6 that have germinated (4 days). I changed the soil to Miracle grow seed starting mix. I am now beginning to wonder if the miracle grow potting soil is not very good to use to start seeds. I have a lot of confidence now that I will be able to grow some of the pumpkins that I’m planning on planting this coming spring. I have a feeling it will be a good season and I hope to set another personal best.

I used the advice that Biz provided me(see bigpumpkins.com) to find out who he is. I ended up using two regular desk lamps, a seed germination mat, a thermostat to control the mat, and keep the temperature at 88 degrees. You can view the photo below to see how I set it up.

What soil mixture or combinations do you use to start your pumpkin seeds?

Practicing Germinating Seeds