Part of the problem was I hadn't decided whether to move the seeds into jiffy pots (until the seeds developed a little more), or move them into larger #2-pots. I thought it would be easier to control the soil temperature in the smaller pots. However, in the end, I decided to go all in and put them in the larger pots, which will give the roots plenty of room to grow over the next two weeks.
I am concerned about soil temperature, but it should improve over the next day with both the heat mat beneath the pots and the grow light from the top.
I used Miracle-Gro Potting Mix as the medium in the pots. I took the time to strain the mix to get out the larger wood chips that I though might impact the young pumpkin's root system. I made sure the mix was damp - not wet - before I put it in the pots.
One problem I had last year occurred when I went to transplant the plants into the soil. I didn't cut through the whole side of the pot prior to planting the seed. It was more of a 3/4 way-though; which meant I had to cut the top inch on both sides of the pot in order to get the pumpkin out. That's not really a time when I want to take scissors to the pot. The chance of cutting several roots is too great. This year, I cut the whole pot in half and then taped it together with my orange duct tape. Now, all I have to do it remove the duct-tape and carefully remove the sides of the pot when I transplant the pumpkin.
The plan is to transplant the pumpkins into the patch sometime between January 7-10. By then I expect the plants will have at least three true leaves. Last year I transplanted after the first true leaf. However, I believe it won't hurt to keep the plant warm for an extra week and let it develop a couple of extra leaves before I put it in the ground.
