Hi all im Dale and new to the forum,

I need some advice on sowing some seeds ive bought off the internet. These include atlantic giant pumpkin, goji berry and brandywine tomato.

The advice i need is:

what compost do i need to sow these,
what equipment do i need to sow them in,

I am fairly new to gardening, but am very experienced in growing runner beans. I usually sow those every year in 3.5cm pots.

However, i haven't got much idea on how to sow these seeds i have. The brandywine tomato is said to be one of the best there is, so i want to get them perfect. Do i use a propagator? If not, what size pots, i.e. the plastic bag over the top to act as a propagotr. When people say use a propagator, they never state how. There is various types of bottoms to the propagator itself, or you can put small pots in etc that are seperate from other seeds. I know some use no pots and just the bottom of the propagator itself, and remove the resulting germination by hand, which i dont like doing.

So, along with this, this brings me to my pumpkin seeds, which i have never ever grown. Do i sow these in a propagator, if so, again, do i use seperate seedling trays, if so what size, if not, what do i use.

Goji berries. Im not expecting much of a reply for this, because they are quite rare i suppose. Nevertheless, these actually came to me in pods, which you have to cut open and remove the seeds. The pod seems very dry, which i presume is the dried fruit itself, as it is quite sticky when cut open, and the seeds resemble chilli seeds by appearence. Have i bought the correct thing? Again, what equipment do i need to germinate these.

Finally, i know a lot of people just use ordinary compost out of grow bags, but i want the best. What sowing/potting compost should i use? I was thinking of using the John Innes basic sowing compost, but will use anything recommended. I have endless amounts of well prepared horse manure from a relative who keeps horses, so that shouldnt be a problem.

The facilities i intend to use for the pumpkins and goji berries are basically a long strip of well kept soil. I intend to keep the tomatoes in a plasticky type cheaper version of a greenhouse, which actually is very good.

I know this sounds full on, but time is running out for sowing.

Many Thanks,
Dale.