seeds Germination Issues

bpiela

bpiela

So, I am having issues with germination with this one planter.
 
On January 2nd, I planted some seeds in this Jiffy 12 cell Greenhouse and this is what it looks like currently:
 
4OdnU9n.jpg

 
Nothing.  I have had it on a heating pad and I have kept it sufficiently watered if not a little overwatered.  Not sure why I am not seeing a thing here.  I have 5 different varieties planted in here including the Aji Lemon Drops for the Growdown and nothing is happening.  Any thoughts on what I can do to push these seeds along assuming they are still viable?
 
Maybe try letting them dry out a little more.  It looks like I can see a bit of algae, which can indicate too much moisture.   Do you have other trays with the same jiffy pellets that are doing well?  That is odd that one whole tray would be unresponsive... and across several varieties. I am not experienced with jiffy pellets in particular.  Could also be a little too hot... which could cause you to feel the need to water more frequently leading to a triple threat of too much moisture, presence of algae, and too high of heat.
 
Are they turning green on top? May have over watered and drowned the seeds.....but you should have had at least one sprout by now.

How deep did you put the seeds....4mm or 1/8th is all you need.

Nice noah...your post came up while i was typing. ;)
 
Maybe one of your heating pads is defective?  Try throwing that tray onto one of the pads you've already had success with?  This year I had problems like this with a variety of BBG7 that has proven particularly difficult to germinate in the past.  It's why I do my seeds in mini solo cups for germination.  I saw nothing since the start of January and everything else was already up, so I dumped out a couple of the BBG7 cups and sifted through the dirt last week to check.  The seeds hadn't even tried to sprout, so I planted more.  Now I have two up and can reuse the dirt from the non-sprouters to try popping additional seeds.  (I replant the unpopped seeds when doing this, because you never know.  Plenty of times I've had things show up late to the party, but perfectly happy.)
 
Noah Yates said:
Maybe try letting them dry out a little more.  It looks like I can see a bit of algae, which can indicate too much moisture.   Do you have other trays with the same jiffy pellets that are doing well?  That is odd that one whole tray would be unresponsive... and across several varieties. I am not experienced with jiffy pellets in particular.  Could also be a little too hot... which could cause you to feel the need to water more frequently leading to a triple threat of too much moisture, presence of algae, and too high of heat.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the reply.  These Jiffy pellets are old and dry and hard as a rock, so I soaked them then put the seeds in and tried to keep things wet.  I figured that it couldn't be too bad since many folks seem to soak their seeds before planting.  I guess the difference here is that I probably kept things too wet.  I  haven't used another tray like this for this year as of yet, although I did use them last year and I did get seeds to pop.  I did use a thermometer and found the pellets to be around 87-88 degrees, which I think is high but still ok.
 
Masher said:
Are they turning green on top? May have over watered and drowned the seeds.....but you should have had at least one sprout by now.

How deep did you put the seeds....4mm or 1/8th is all you need.

Nice noah...your post came up while i was typing. ;)
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the reply.  So, I didn't know that I could drown the seeds.  I guess with prolonged water, the seed coating might wear down.  I just put the seeds in the hole and used a metal object to layer some of the Jiffy pellet over the seed.  So, not too deep.
 
Slug said:
Maybe one of your heating pads is defective?  Try throwing that tray onto one of the pads you've already had success with?  This year I had problems like this with a variety of BBG7 that has proven particularly difficult to germinate in the past.  It's why I do my seeds in mini solo cups for germination.  I saw nothing since the start of January and everything else was already up, so I dumped out a couple of the BBG7 cups and sifted through the dirt last week to check.  The seeds hadn't even tried to sprout, so I planted more.  Now I have two up and can reuse the dirt from the non-sprouters to try popping additional seeds.  (I replant the unpopped seeds when doing this, because you never know.  Plenty of times I've had things show up late to the party, but perfectly happy.)
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the reply.  I think the heating pads are fine.  I have two and they both seem to be doing the job, maybe too high...
 
Keep them covered and on the heat mat....I have had seeds take 3 weeks or more.
 
Just keep trying  ;)
 
 
 
The pellets look a bit waterlogged, as other people have mentioned...and from experience, I have done this with pellets. But, I've also had seeds germinate after a few weeks. But for the past few years, I make my own soil blocks out of seed starter mix, using a 2-inch kids' nesting block that I drilled a dowel through to push down. I found these homemade blocks retain moisture, but not too much. They can dry out quicker, but the results have been better. Keep at it!
 
I have lousy luck germinating in those peat pellets. Last year, only 3 out of 52 seeds planted directly into jiffy pellets (over a period of a couple of months) actually germinated.
 
This year I germinated externally, then planted sprouts into the pellets. Not only did all planted seeds do well, a few seeds leftover from last year in the recycled/rehydrated pellets decided to sprout too.
 
So, after keeping the seeds waterlogged in super wet peat pellets, I let them dry out a bit.  Looks like some of the seeds in there are still good.
 
2CuGNFe.jpg

 
Just showing the 8 leftmost cells.  The four on the most left are Aji Lemon Drop so it looks like I am in the pool, with a second plant in the process of popping.  The other seedling on the right is a Blushing Dutchman (CGN 21500 X 7 pot Barrakpore). 
 
Yep they just had a little too much moisture.
Just another tip, I've had luck in the past germinating by putting the seeds between about 10 paper towels on a plate in a cupboard. I just then plant the sprout in my case to hydro, but I've put them in dirt plenty of times too.
 
 
ako1974 said:
The pellets look a bit waterlogged, as other people have mentioned...and from experience, I have done this with pellets. But, I've also had seeds germinate after a few weeks. But for the past few years, I make my own soil blocks out of seed starter mix, using a 2-inch kids' nesting block that I drilled a dowel through to push down. I found these homemade blocks retain moisture, but not too much. They can dry out quicker, but the results have been better. Keep at it!
Click to expand...
 

id like to see this if ya can.
 
ako1974 said:
No problem! I forget how to post pics here, but I'm starting my seeds in a few weeks.
Click to expand...
Easy way if you're on mobile is to download the tappa talk app and sign into thehotpepper via the app, and you can just upload them like you're sending a picture to a friend... click on the gallery icon and select the pic (s) you want.

If your on PC, I use/reccomend imgur.com just upload the pics as private if you don't want them to be available to the public, then when you click on the pic to view it larger, it gives you several types of links to the right for posting on different types of online sites. Just copy the one that says it's for "forums", and paste into your post.
 
Water to air ratio is second only to seed quality when germinating. Temperature isn't really that important unless you are dealing with major extremes. Any run-of-the-mill pepper variety will pop between 7-14 days at room temperature.
 
bpiela said:
 
 
Thanks for the reply.  I think the heating pads are fine.  I have two and they both seem to be doing the job, maybe too high...
Click to expand...
 
I have been playing with seeds for some time now, and I found that the difference bewtwee 50% success and 100% success is usually (but not exclusive to) temperature. I have a temp regulator connected to my heating pads and keep the temps between 78 and 80 degrees. For a good while now, I have been enjoying 95-100% success.
 
The difference between our styles: I use paper towel in bag method and sandwich the bag in a towel with the temp sensor for the regulator. I place the folded towel with the bag and sensor on top of the heat mat. Usually, a week later for peppers, and even 12 hours later for cannabis, I see shells crack.
 
I have been known to let the pepper seeds go up to 82 degrees sometimes.
 
If you google germination rates in regards to temperature, there are some VERY comprehensive charts out there that show drastic drops in germination when the temps stray even a little bit from the sweet spot, hotter or colder.
 
 
-mrgg*
 
Hope this helps with insight, if nothing else :)
 
edit: this is what I use, I know... $30, but it's worth EVERY penny (especially when cannabis seeds average roughly $10 each)  https://www.amazon.com/MTPRTC-ETL-Certified-Thermostat-Germination-Reptiles/dp/B000NZZG3S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1486142954&sr=8-1&keywords=heat+pad+thermostat
 
 
 
 
 
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