Question
Tom,

Iam on the South Coast of the State of 'New South Wales' in Australia.

Regards,

Steve Carter
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Followup To

Question -
I am soon taking possession of a small hobby farm and would like to know how to prepare pumpkins seeds so that I can plant them.  Also any information in regards to how I prepare tomato and any other common vegetables/fruit seeds for planting would assist.

Regards,

Steve Carter

Answer -
Hi Steve,
Thanx for your question.  Before I answer, please tell me the state and county you are in if you are in the U.S., if in Canada, what  province and city, in England, what county.  If you're outside of these areas, I'll need to know the country (I get lots of questions from all over the world).  I look forward to hearing from you.
Tom

Answer
Hey Steve,
Thanx for the followup.  Try this website which is out of Kansas State University Cooperative Extension.  There is also an Australian Government website you may find interesting.  http://www.agriculture.gov.au/

Basically, with pumpkin seeds, when you say prepare the seeds, are you harvesting seeds from live pumpkins or do you mean to prepare the seeds from a packet?  If you're using seeds from a live pumpkin, unless it is an open pollinated variety, the fruit will not  come true to the original seed because it is a hybrid and the resulting fruit will revert back to one of the parents or other ancestors.  To prepare the soil, make sure you are past your last frost and the soil is warm (16 or 17C).  Plant the seed about an 3 cm deep and plant 4 or 5 in a large mound of earth.  keep about 2 meters in between mounds.  when the seeds germinate keep only the strongest two or three seedlings and pull the weaker ones out.  Make sure the soil gets at least 2-3 cm of water per week if no regular rain.  Tomatoes can be started easily indoors under 40 watt flourescent shop lights (that's how I like to start them.)  They will germinate in 5-7 days and temps should be warm (21-26C).  After the seeds germinate and are about an inch tall, drop the temps about 5C.  Transplant to separate pots after the seedlings have their first set of true leaves.  The first leaves are seed leaves the second set are the true leaves.  Don't let the seedlings dry out but don't waterlog them either.  All seedlings started indoors need to be acclimatized when putting them outdoors.  Place seedlings outdoors in an area that is safe from extremes in heat or cold, wind, rain and direct sunlight for about 7 days.  After that, they need to be in rich, well drained soil, direct sunlight and warm.  They like day temps around 28 or 29C and night temps about 14 or 15.  This isn't always possible exactly but those are the temps from whence they originate (Mexico's mountains).  Above 29C fruiting slows down and too high over 29 may stop fruiting until it cools down for a while.  One way to help cool the plant down is to mulch the base of the plant with grass clippings.  High heat also slows down the ripening process of the fruit.  The two resources I gave you though, should help you if you encounter any problems and please Steve, you are always welcome to come back and avail yourself of this website.  I hope this helps.
Tom