à¹Hi jroot,
So glad you stopped by.
I have not winter sown pumpkin, but got butternut squash & cantaloupe volunteers all the time because my composts are not hot enough.
So I am sure you can WS pumpkin.
I am planning to WS Butternut squash this year.
Have fun and welcome to the WS forum.

BTW, my dahlia tubers sprouted already! It was so very warm in November they were sprouting right and left.
Right now they are in the attic. It's mighty cold this week, but it's about 40s in my attic. That should slow down the sprouts. :-D

I did WS Pumpkin but I waited till April or maybe march. (so it may have been really spring sowing) They sprout fast and would be killed by frost.

I have a short growing season but still got some small pumpkins for the fall.

Karen

Karen, I was thinking that they were rather tender, but thought that I would ask "the experts". Thanks for your response.

Pitimpinai, I would be curious to learn how your squash does with WSing, as they are quite similar to the pumpkins. I have not checked my dahlias. I did go into the cold cellar this morning to get something, and noted that the temperature was 39F. So, I left the door open a bit and put on a fan to circulate the air. The temperature soon rose. I would hate to lose my tubers after so many years.

We left a pumpkin outside last year and it got covered in snow and rotted. This past spring we had 5 pumpkin sprouts growing where the pumpkin was. You could always try it and see what happens. Just save some seeds as a back up....couldn't hurt! Good luck.

I've spring sown watermelons and they did great. I think you need to be able to transplant them quickly before the get root bound. Things like squash, melons, pumpkins, etc. grow so fast that the roots will out grow the containers in a few days. I wonder if a modified direct sowing in spring might prevent any transplant shock. If you direct sowed, but covered the actual site with a 2L bottle cloche and surrounded that with black plastic to help warm up the soil for the roots, you might be able to extend your growing season.

Martha

Gardenluv, thanks for your comments. Mother Nature has done it her way for years, so I shouldn't be too afraid.

Docmom, Spring sowing is what I have usually done, but I still worry, as we have frosts here until late May. The idea of the cloche has merit however. Thanks.

Although it is true that pumpkin, squash and the like do volunteer in the garden/compost heap, they only do so when outside temperatures are at their optimum. It can be a total different senario within a covered wintersown container where some things may be tricked into sprouting regardless of whether the actual outside temperature would support seedling survival. Why? Because the temps within the container rose just enough. Those conditions may only be for a brief period and then suddenly outside temperatures could drop a little too much to kill any tender seedlings such as pumpkin or any other tender annual.

That sort of thing has happened to me more than once jumping the gun with tender annuals: tomatoes, pumpkin, basil, etc. Spring is too unpredictable! Anymore, I wait until 1st to 2nd week in May....but that's just me :)

Vera