[CaroleG]

I'm obsessed with getting my winter squash seeds to germinate. I've got Blue Banana and Burgess Buttercup. I've sown them in fibre pots & they're indoors. The packets say they need 25c minimum to germinate so I've been wondering if watering them with cold water would be slowing things down? If I water with lukewarm water, there won't be a temperature drop every time I water. Or am I over thinking it? Has anyone tried this? I think I'm going to start watering some with warm water Vs the control pots of normal cold water, if that doesn't make me the world's biggest nerd 

[GrannieAnnie]

not too warm, but then you shouldn't water anything really with cold water, the shock can kill seedlings.  So yes, just blood heat I suppose.

I keep a watering can of water in the greenhouse, so the water is the same temp as the inside of the greenhouse.

[Yorkie]

It's probably a very good point, just one I've never thought about before.

It's too late for this year, but I am not a fan of fibre pots.  They dry out far too quickly and you need to be careful to plant them with the rim below the earth (or torn off) or they act as a wick for moisture in the future.

How long have your seeds been in?  If you do need to water, then room temperature water should be fine.

[JayG]

Don't know how often you are watering them (not too often I hope - if the compost is waterlogged you might never see them germinate!)  

I guess it's not a good idea to pour cold water on a warm plant, but whether seeds really notice is hard to say - I always use tap water stored in old plastic milk bottles for a few days so it's at room temperature and has lost most of its chlorine content.

[CaroleG]

great points all! I must admit to a regular battle with The Husband to stop him (over)waterting my seed pots when he's (over) watering his    I'm striving for an even moistness in the pots but he did give mine more that I would at the weekend. They've been in for about 18 days now. I'm so tempted to have a gentle dig about with a pencil to see what's going on!  I do bury the pots very deep when I plant them out in the allotment but I'd never twigged about the wicking effect - so now I'll make doubly sure!

[mumofstig]

I think you've sown them much too soon anyway 
It would have been much easier to keep them warm if you sowed them later in the year 

You can't plant them out until May, so where are you going to keep them whilst they grow into monsters overnight 

[DD.]

One does not argue with our resident squash expert!

Well, I don't.

[teabelly]

Hmm...I've already sown some yellow courgette and forgot how quickly they grow.

I'm sure I'll find space to keep these indoors but certainly won't be sowing any more (or squash/pumpkin) for quite some time!

[DD.]

I'm sure I'll find space to keep these indoors

For two months? 

[lmpd]

Sorry to go off on a bit of a tangent, but I potted up some seeds out of a Lidl squash - more out of curiosity than anything, and they have taken off - while I'm still waiting for my packet seeds to do their thing!!!

[teabelly]

I'm sure I'll find space to keep these indoors

For two months? 

Well they might have to go in the garage (next to the window) a little later if it gets too crowded in the spare room...

[CaroleG]

I think you've sown them much too soon anyway 
It would have been much easier to keep them warm if you sowed them later in the year 

You can't plant them out until May, so where are you going to keep them whilst they grow into monsters overnight 

The packets say to sow in April, and as it's been so crazily warm I thought a couple of weeks earlier than that would be ok. I'd planned to keep them under glass until the end of April when the chance of frost has gone. I'm torn between the dire warnings that winter squash needs a longer growing season that we can give them here and planting too early  I had a fair crop of butternut last year, but I had the feeling that they'd have got bigger if they'd been started a little earlier. Now I'm even more tempted to have a poke about in a pot to see what's going on if they're doomed anyway! Good job I have lots of seed left 

[DD.]

Warm early does not necessarily mean warm later.

I've got a long memory when it comes to late frosts.

[CaroleG]

Very true  I'm ever the optomist   

[JayG]

I appreciate your dilemma CaroleG - winter squashes and sweetcorn, even when they have been bred to grow in this country, can still be a bit marginal in the average summer, and the last few summers have been below average. 

The trouble is that temperature-wise, what doesn't actually kill them (frost) is likely to stop them in their tracks (anything less than around 10C, day or night,) and they don't necessarily fully recover from their sulk when things improve either.

I expect I'm not the only person trying not to notice how this spring is already starting to resemble last year's - if you're prepared to gamble on starting tender crops early you never know, you might get lucky, but the odds are that you will need your back-ups.