I have had to buy a pumpkin from saindburys this year as our pumpkin plants did nothing. They grew a little threw out a small pea sized pumpkin then rotted :BangHead: This was due to the lack of :sunny:
So as a bit of fun on a rough patch on my allotment I was thinking about saving some seeds from the pumpkin that I about to carve and planting some next year to see if we get anything decent from them.
Is this advisable or is it better just to buy fresh seed?
Thanks :)
No problem saving the seeds - cut the pumpkin in half, and scoop out the seeds. Wash the seed in a colander, rubbing it between your hands to get rid of the fibres, and then shake off as much water as possible.
Spread the seed out on a plate to dry. It needs to dry as quickly as possible, but without getting too hot, for example on a sunny windowsill or near a radiator. Seeds can be stored in a cool and dark place and will keep for 6 years.
I really wouldnt bother because the supermarket pumkins and almost everything else will probably be from a hot climate like Spain, Greece, Israel etc... which means they are bred for hot conditions. They will grow here but probably fail because we just don't have the same climate as they are bred for.
Same goes for garlic, butternut etc.. all seem to come from Spain etc..
For a few pence you can get UK seed for growing here.. ebay 99p per pack - cant beat prices like that..
Try it and see, it can't do any harm, and very often these things do grow.
I might have a bash and see what I get like Robert said I got nothing to loose only a bit of a rough area of my plot which I will cover with black plastic so I will be making use of that area whilst the weeds are dying.
Thanks all for your help :toothy10:
My brother grew seeds from a Waitrose-bought British grown pumpkin and it held the family record for nearly ten years at 94lb... I managed to beat it this year with an Atlantic Giant... not that the fact that he held the family pumpkin record hasn't been a gnawing abscess on my soul for the last decade or anything....