Originally Posted by David Hare-Scott[_2_]

tarantula_123 wrote:
'David Hare-Scott[_2_ Wrote:
;953493']tarantula_123 wrote:-
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,-

Nice rich soil would be good. One does not need to grow in pure
compost.
-
what equipment do i need to sow them in,-

Why do you need any?
-

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.-

Why do you need a propagator? What is your climate?
-

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.
-

Generally they don't like to have their roots disturbed. Either sow
them
directly or use tapered seedling tubes, one each tube.

David

Hi there,

My climate is the midlands in the United Kingdom.


That tells me where you are, not if it is warm enough for seeds to
germinate. What will be the daily temperature range in the place where you
want to start your seeds?

There surely has to be some equipment to sow the seeds in.

Why surely? You seem focussed on this. You need a propagator only if you
are trying to germinate seeds when it is too cold for normal development.
If it will be warm enough without it you are wasting time and money.

Pumpkins i
know can be planted straight into the ground like runner beans, but
the other two seeds i have wont grow like that im thinking.

You mention tapered seedling tube. What are they? Where do i get them
from? Do you just mean tapered seedling trays?


No I mean tubes. They are about 15cm high and wider at the top than the
bottom, the cross section is square, made of plastic, sit in racks of about
40. They are used to start tube stock: ie trees, shrubs and the likes.
They have the advantage that the roots don't go round and round and the
whole root ball comes out easily in one chunk allowing it to be planted
without disturbing the roots. Ask at your nursery.

Your climate (amongst other things) will also determine how well these giant
pumpkins do. You will need a lot of space in full sun, with a long warm/hot
growing season for them to become impressive.

David