Pumkin seeds

[phil_c]

Hello All

I have a quick ( and probably very stupid) question.

I have saved some seeds from a very large pumpkin that someone gave to my kids for halloween. question is .. are they worth trying to grow, or would i be better off buying seeds. The pumpkin was grown by the person who gave it to us, but i don't know what sort it is.

Trouble is i don't want to take up space on my plot with a fruitless task.

[SMT]

I suppose it depends on whether it was open pollinated or not? Do you know? If it was open pollinated then it may have been pollinated by something much smaller in the surrounding area by the bees. Im sure they will still grow fairly large though. What size was the pumpkin?

[phil_c]

pumpkins

Thanks for the reply SMT. I think large was the wrong word for me to use in my post. The pumpkin in question was in fact quite small by comparison to yours.
i will try my luck with it i think.

[rogesse]

I collected seed from a good size pumpkin on my allotment last year - this year I got very long orange and green gourd like things. They were great for carving in that the centre was an orange fibrous mush and came away easily leaving a thin green flesh but rubbish for eating!

It seems all curcurbita are somewhat promiscous (veg of easy virtue) but I'll be growing the seed collected just to see what I get next year!

[SMT]

I know these pumpkins of mine sound big but they are 'pip sqeaks' in comparrision to what they can get to!

I dont know whether you have dried the seed yet but do make sure they are thoroughly dried out before you store them. If you can get a fan on them it will speed it up no end. The dry seeds will sound different when handled together ( Hard to explain but you will know what I mean).

Once dry the best place is in a glass jam jar in the fridge, ideally with a desiccant packet.

If you want to try some seed that has come out of my pumpkin you are very welcome. I hand pollinated them so they havnt been crossed with a 'wee be little' or similar variety. Be warned though - Dont get on to me if you get a bad back from trying to lift the pumpkin next Halloween!