Planting Pumpkins, Sprouting Pumpkin Seeds by Pumpkin Nook

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Planting Pumpkins - Indoors or Out?

Pumpkins have a long growing season. As a result, it may make sense to start your pumpkin plants indoors. If you have a short growing season, or the spring weather is cool and/or rainy, you may find sprouting pumpkin seeds indoors, is the best way to get your plants off to a good start.

Find the seed starting dates for the pumpkin varieties you are growing, see Seed Starting Dates.

Let's explore whether an indoor or an outdoor seed start makes the best sense for you...........

Arguing for an Outdoor Start:

By far, the biggest reason favoring an outdoor start, is that seeds planted directly into the garden avoid the possibility of transplant shock.

It's also the easiest way to plant them, as transplanting is an extra step.

If you are growing a lot of pumpkins, it may be impractical to start your plants indoors, and transplant them later.

Seeds grown out in the full sun of your garden, get the maximum light possible. Insufficient lighting is often a problem with indoor starts.

Reasons to Start Pumpkin Seeds Indoors:

If your growing season is short, an indoor start may be necessary. Giant pumpkin growers in many areas, find it a necessity to start their seedlings indoors. It affords the extra growing time these monsters need, to grow from hundreds of pounds to almost a ton in weight!

Rainy spring weather sometimes makes the soil too soggy to start pumpkins, until later in the season. If your garden is in a low lying area, an indoor start may be just what your pumpkins need.

For giant pumpkin growers, the big thick shelled pumpkin seeds, can be hard to germinate. An indoor start allows growers to provide the ideal seed starting environment, and then they can pamper their seedlings.

By transplanting seedlings, you can provide the correct, final spacing to avoid overcrowding.

Many growers find it is to much fun not to start pumpkin plants indoors.

Important Tip: Pumpkins grow quickly. We strongly recommend a 4" or 5' peat pot. We also recommend a heated germination mat, to provide the ideal temperatures for your seed starts.

About Peat Pots - and other seed starting supplies

Find peat pots now.

More Information:

Buy Flower, Vegetable and Herb Seeds Finest quality Ferry Morse Seed, America's oldest seed company with their famous "guarantee to grow".