Re: Storing pumpkin seeds
In a message dated 11/2/2005 10:13:45 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
holliday@sympatico.ca writes:
George, nice to see your serious reply to the question about seed cracks.
I'm new, so forgive the stupid question.
What is the best way to clean and store pumpkin seeds for next year. I've
grown some 100-200 pounders in the past but want to try my hand at some
really big ones, so I bought a really big one that had a nice shape and a
deep orange colour and have harvested the seeds, but don't know what to do
next.
Any suggestions you have would be appreciated.
Thanks
Kerry Holliday
100 miles north of Toronto, Canada
Try this one.
This method works well in a house that has forced hot air heat in other
words low humidity. I take one of those plastic planting trays and line it with
newspaper. Then place the seeds on the paper if they are real messy I rinse
them with plain water first. If the paper gets too wet you may want to
change it once. Place the Plant Pray in the driest room of your house with good
air circulation. After they are dry usually 3 weeks I put them in heavy duty
Zip Locks bagged one bag inside another and freeze them. A chest freezer
that doesn't have a circulating fan like a refrigerator works best. When ready
to plant I take them from the freezer right to garden and plant them frozen.
I have gotten 90% germination this way with seeds 10 years old. There is
some school of thought that says the freezing tells the seed it has wintered
over and it sets a genetic trigger that increases vigor at germination. I
plant them the Direct Planting Method that you will find on my web site. I have
not grown AG's for several years now because of an unidentified incurable
soil disease. Whatever it is doesn't affect Tomatoes and is not Watermelon
Mosaic that's all I know about it, pictures of the dreaded disease are also on
the Web Site. I hope by 2007 it will be out of the soil so I can grow again.
Hope that helps
George
George Brooks
32 Ward Street
North Tewksbury, MA 01876 USA
_greenholloworchard.com_ (http://greenholloworchard.com/index.html)
Approximately 25 miles Northwest of Boston
in the Merrimack River Valley
Zone 5N
Personal Bests
617.6 1991
641 1993
648 2000 (Unofficial & died prematurely on Aug 29)
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