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seeds Bad batch of seeds?

Edgie

Edgie

Hi all,

I recently purchased a few Chocolate Habanero seeds online (not eBay). The seller has been growing peppers for over 20 years. His seeds were even mentioned recently on a thread on this site.

The problem:

I tried germinating 2 of the seeds using the "paper towel" technique. They both turned black and moldy within a week. I just figured that I did something wrong. Now, I have 4 of those seeds plus 26 others (different strains & sources) in Sure To Grow starter cubes under a humidity dome. They have been under the dome sine 9/12. Two of the four Chocolate habs have turned black and moldy, while other seeds are starting to come up. The only problem seeds seem to be these Chocolate habs. Do Chocolate habaneros need super special care to germinate or are these just a bad batch of seeds? Thanks.

Regards,
Edward
 
Beaglestorm said:
What temp are you trying to do this at? What type of water are you using? Any pictures.
Click to expand...
It's between 76 - 82. I'm using purified water from the supermarket. The water's Ph is 6.5 out of the bottle. I don't have a camera right now( we can't find it). The cubes are in 2 different "domes" arranged in 3 or 4 rows pressed tightly together. There are 15 cubes in each dome. Each dome has 2 of these seeds in them and at least 1 choco hab seed in each dome is now dark and moldy. Like I said before, the other seeds, from other sources, in the same domes, are just fine. Some are even starting to sprout. Thanks.


Off-Topic: 100th post!!! :dance:
 
These are the "humidity domes" that I'm using (2 large plastic rectangles on the right):
6185351578_0dd77bdb41_b.jpg


They are containers that hold lettuce and greens from the produce section. I buy the greens for my pet uromastyx. I then wash out the container and use it as a humidity dome for seed germination. They seem to hold humidity well.

Here is a shot of the Sure To Grow cubes and seeds in one of the domes:

6185352486_3edff68c10_b.jpg

As you can see, the seeds seem to be coming along just fine, except for the bottom right seed (1 of the Choc Habs). The empty spaces are from seeds that have germinated and have been put under some florescent lights.

Here's a close-up:
6185351966_34652ba963_b.jpg


Here is another Chocolate Habanero (from same supplier) in the other dome (top center):
6184828849_0ac8173102_b.jpg


I haven't had problems with any of the other seeds (from other seed sources) just these Chocolate Habaneros.

Any advice? Thank you.
 
Treat them with hydrogen peroxide first, and any water or medium they germinate in.
Mold, fungus etc is in the air and on all surfaces. Maybe these seeds had some bacteria on them? They love the temps people heat to when germinating, so treat everything with h2o2 so as not to introduce them and warm them up all nice and happy and give them a seed to eat.
This isn't a big problem when germinating at room temp, low moisture, or outside etc, so it's got nothing to do with past experience growing from seed using those methods.

But the extra moisture/humidity and 10C above ambient temp when germinating that way always has a higher risk of mold and fungus, so h2o2 treatment is a must.
I've never had a problem before either, but this year, germinating in winter, with a closed humid system plus heat, I had a bad germination rate due to mold and fungus.
While no problem with outside or cooler germination.
 
What are the other types of peppers you r germinating? I have found that most of the chinense that I have grown like it only slightly moist when germinating. In the pic it looks like the cubes are standing in water at the bottom of the tray. Try a few seeds in a barely but evenly moist substrate kept warm but dark until they poke their heads up. If this does not work then it may be a bad batch of seed. As above suggested treat with a fungicide just encase they were exposed to spores while drying from the grower. One last idea or suggestion can you take a close up pic of the seed you got held up to or in strong lighting. I think I read on here if they are semi-transparent or you can see light through them they are not good. Or another trick is to soak the seed for a short time and if they float they are hollow and bad.
 
onefowl1 said:
What are the other types of peppers you r germinating? I have found that most of the chinense that I have grown like it only slightly moist when germinating. In the pic it looks like the cubes are standing in water at the bottom of the tray. Try a few seeds in a barely but evenly moist substrate kept warm but dark until they poke their heads up. If this does not work then it may be a bad batch of seed. As above suggested treat with a fungicide just encase they were exposed to spores while drying from the grower. One last idea or suggestion can you take a close up pic of the seed you got held up to or in strong lighting. I think I read on here if they are semi-transparent or you can see light through them they are not good. Or another trick is to soak the seed for a short time and if they float they are hollow and bad.
Click to expand...

I have the following in the 2 domes (equal amounts in both):

Chocolate Habanero
White Habanero
Long Red Habanero
Aji Chombo
Trinidad Scorpion
Aji Dulce (Panama)
Chocolate Bhut Jolokia
Yellow Bhut Jolokia
Bhut Jolokia
Jamaican Scotch Bonnet

The chocolate habs are the only ones that are molding over. They were all planted on 9/12/11. Bhut Jolokia, T. Scorpion, Jamaican Scotch Bonnet, and Aji Chombo have already sprouted and have been moved out of the humidity dome. All these seeds were soaked in warm water overnight, as per the instructions given to me by the seed vender in question. The other seeds (from other sources) didn't come with these instructions, but I figured "why not?" and soaked them also. The other seeds look to be germinating fine. Thanks.
 
So knowing that they are mostly the same family just diff strains/forms I would say the problem is with the seed itself. It happens for many reasons from infertile seeds or immature seed to exposure to what ever at some point in the process from pod to packaging for sell. I would not put any blame on your end as none of your other seed in the same environment seem effected. Have you contacted the source to see about a replacement batch of seed? If they will not I am sure someone on here has some they could share.

In fact I have some seed from pods given me at the fest we had almost a month ago (not sure what strain of chocolate hab) that were I believe sent from Cappy on here. Send me a pm with your mailing address and I will send you a packet of them for free.
 
onefowl1 said:
So knowing that they are mostly the same family just diff strains/forms I would say the problem is with the seed itself. It happens for many reasons from infertile seeds or immature seed to exposure to what ever at some point in the process from pod to packaging for sell. I would not put any blame on your end as none of your other seed in the same environment seem effected. Have you contacted the source to see about a replacement batch of seed? If they will not I am sure someone on here has some they could share.
Click to expand...


I haven't contacted the source yet. I wanted to post some pictures and ask some questions to make sure that I wasn't doing something wrong. I'll contact him later today. Thank you all for your input.
 
I have some open pollinated choc hab seeds that I would gladly send you . PM me if you are interested. :cool:
 
romy6 said:
I have some open pollinated choc hab seeds that I would gladly send you . PM me if you are interested. :cool:
Click to expand...
I love this forum and it's members!! Thank you for your generosity. If I have issues with the seed source (which I don't think I will), I'll take you up on your offer. Thanks again!
 
onefowl1 said:
I think I read on here if they are semi-transparent or you can see light through them they are not good. Or another trick is to soak the seed for a short time and if they float they are hollow and bad.
Click to expand...
I agree that semi-transparency is a sign of a malformed. I wouldn't say that seeds that float after only a short soak are all bad. I've had seeds that floated during a short soak sprout without issue.

I have seen seeds that on visual inspection are thinner towards. A dark patch in the middle of the seed tended to be a sign of a bad seed.
 
Be very clean when toy are preparing your seeds for germination. Wash your hands, sterilize the water, sterilize the containers, sterilize your tools.
 
+1 pablo I have been soaking my seeds in hyrdogen peroxide solution for 5 minutes, then 24 hrs in chamomile tea. It really helps germination rates and speed. The last time I sowed some seeds I skipped the peroxide step and two seeds from the same packet but sown in different jiffy pellets both sprouted but then got discoloured and diseased and died, everything else was fine. This definitely implies the seeds are tainted.

+1 willard Even if the seeds are clean it is very easy to contaminate them with whatever they come into contact with.

So I say keep everything clean and soak the seeds in H2O2.
 
I received my replacement seeds from the vender, yesterday. He has great customer service!

I also received some white habs with the first chocolate habs from him that didn't germinate either. My wife, who has an incredible green thumb, tried to germinate the first choco habs and the white habs with some other peppers (in dirt). Neither the chocolate nor the white habs germinated, but the Bhut Jolokia, T. Scorps, and others did after 10 days. I gave him the heads-up, but don't need any replacements on the white habs.
 
Good to hear there are folks out there who take care of their customers. Best of luck with the replacement seeds.
 
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