Hey guys,
As some of you may know, I'm growing peppers from seed from the first time this year. I've grown a couple other plans from seed in the past, and have had no problems and semi-decent germination rates with other plants.
Anyhow, after some mishaps and a less than 10% germ rate on my first attempt (long story short: unpredictable low/ high temps & too much moisture rots pepper seeds) I have developed a little tower for germination on a little shelf, with a 65w cfl fixture under the top shelf, and my seedling tray on top of that. Temps range from 70-90 but for the most part stay in the 80s, which to be honest is probably the best I can do.
My second attempt at germination was done using the "paper towel" method on top of my cable box. After a couple of weeks, I got two seeds to sprout, but I managed to kill them trying to plant them with their nubby little tails. I would have let them grow a bit more, but the heat on top of the cable box is excessive, and I had already managed to turn one seedlings tail brown prior to planting (I assumed from the heat.)
so I decided to see if I could salvage the remaining seeds and planted them in little cardboard starter pots in "miracle grow moisture control" soil. (I didn't have anything made specifically for germination.)
Happily, a few days later, one of my bhut's popped. It was smaller than my other seedlings but looked ok. I took it from the domed seed germinator and put it under the light with its Red Savina seedlings (I've had a 50% germ rate on my latest attempt (the Red Savinas), which made me very happy.) The next day, in the same pot (there were 4 seeds planted in the 4 corners so they would be easy to separate later if they grew) another one popped. The first one still had yet to open its cotyledons, and the second one was tiny. The next day, they both looked the same, but a third one had popped. (It's a helmet head, and it has its head buried in the dirt. So its just a little stem loop sticking out of the soil at this point.
Anyhow, I'm concerned because in 4 days the first one has made minimal progress if any, and still hasn't unfurled its cotyledons, the seconds one is TINY and has showed minimal improvement in 3 days, and still hasn't unfurled, and the third one hasn't done anything in 2 days, and although the seed appears to be mostly open, has not emerged from its seed yet.
Any thoughts on why these little guys erupted over night and then have proceeded to do absolutely nothing?
Pics:
1st- the pot; very hard to see but seedling #1 is at 12 Oclock, Seedling #2 at 3 Oclock, and Seedling #3 (helmet head) at 9 o clcok...
2nd- Seedling #1
3rd- Seedling #3 (helmet)
I couldn't get my phone camera to focus properly on seedling #2 so no pics of it.
As some of you may know, I'm growing peppers from seed from the first time this year. I've grown a couple other plans from seed in the past, and have had no problems and semi-decent germination rates with other plants.
Anyhow, after some mishaps and a less than 10% germ rate on my first attempt (long story short: unpredictable low/ high temps & too much moisture rots pepper seeds) I have developed a little tower for germination on a little shelf, with a 65w cfl fixture under the top shelf, and my seedling tray on top of that. Temps range from 70-90 but for the most part stay in the 80s, which to be honest is probably the best I can do.
My second attempt at germination was done using the "paper towel" method on top of my cable box. After a couple of weeks, I got two seeds to sprout, but I managed to kill them trying to plant them with their nubby little tails. I would have let them grow a bit more, but the heat on top of the cable box is excessive, and I had already managed to turn one seedlings tail brown prior to planting (I assumed from the heat.)
so I decided to see if I could salvage the remaining seeds and planted them in little cardboard starter pots in "miracle grow moisture control" soil. (I didn't have anything made specifically for germination.)
Happily, a few days later, one of my bhut's popped. It was smaller than my other seedlings but looked ok. I took it from the domed seed germinator and put it under the light with its Red Savina seedlings (I've had a 50% germ rate on my latest attempt (the Red Savinas), which made me very happy.) The next day, in the same pot (there were 4 seeds planted in the 4 corners so they would be easy to separate later if they grew) another one popped. The first one still had yet to open its cotyledons, and the second one was tiny. The next day, they both looked the same, but a third one had popped. (It's a helmet head, and it has its head buried in the dirt. So its just a little stem loop sticking out of the soil at this point.
Anyhow, I'm concerned because in 4 days the first one has made minimal progress if any, and still hasn't unfurled its cotyledons, the seconds one is TINY and has showed minimal improvement in 3 days, and still hasn't unfurled, and the third one hasn't done anything in 2 days, and although the seed appears to be mostly open, has not emerged from its seed yet.
Any thoughts on why these little guys erupted over night and then have proceeded to do absolutely nothing?
Pics:
1st- the pot; very hard to see but seedling #1 is at 12 Oclock, Seedling #2 at 3 Oclock, and Seedling #3 (helmet head) at 9 o clcok...
2nd- Seedling #1
3rd- Seedling #3 (helmet)
I couldn't get my phone camera to focus properly on seedling #2 so no pics of it.
