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yield How to increase my germination yield and how to harvest seeds

Hi, I've been growing chillies for a couple of years now for a hobbie, but this year I wanted to take it a bit more seriously.

I have 2 goals this year:
  1. To understand and improve my yield
  2. To harvest seeds from this year's results to be sown next year.
Earlier in the year I bought a variety of seeds online and, in order to test the seed harvesting, I harvested some seeds from some Finger chillies that I bought from Lidl. I havested the seeds immediately after I bought the chillies and stored them in a cool, dark place with all my other seeds.

I planted the seeds about 3 weeks ago using some Miracle-Gro multi-purpose compost and placed them in a heated propergator (see photos). I've watered the chillies most days but not if I felt they already looked quite wet. The propergator has been placed indoors, in front of some French doors that face South.

I've calculated my germination yield (shoots vs seeds planted) as:

Scotch Bonnet Red - 33%
Red Birds Eye - 22.5%
Cayenne - 19%
Basket of Fire - 7.5%
Harvested Finger - 0%

In respect of my goals this year, I would like to ask the group 2 questions.

Does anyone have any tips for how I can increase my germination yield, particularly with the Basket of Fire which seems quite low compared to the others?
Does anyone know what I am doing wrong with my seed harvesting? I must be doing something wrong because I don't have a single shoot of the finger chillies and I really want to harvest some seeds from my plants to sow next year.

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Before storing your harvested seeds you should let them dry out first. Also, what I usually do is put the freshly harvested seeds in a glass of water and, after stirring, discard the seeds that float. The ones that sink should normally be good ones. This doesn't mean all floaters are bad though...
 
Before storing your harvested seeds you should let them dry out first. Also, what I usually do is put the freshly harvested seeds in a glass of water and, after stirring, discard the seeds that float. The ones that sink should normally be good ones. This doesn't mean all floaters are bad though...
Thanks for the advice MarcV. How do you dry your seeds out? Do you just put them on something in front of a window?
 
I always soak my seeds before sowing in warm water or diluted tea for 2-3 days to speed up germination.
Some seeds take 4 weeks before they germinate.
Thanks Tinkerbelle, I have hear tea mentioned before but never tried it. Do you use any particular type of tea? I understand that it's something to do with the acid in tea helping to breakdown the seed wall.
 
Does anyone know what I am doing wrong with my seed harvesting?

I've been saving seed for many years, & for the most part it's been pretty simple.
I choose the best looking fruit & make sure it's drop dead ripe, then harvest the seed.
Place the seeds, as clean as you can get them & put them on a paper plate with the variety name.

We have a Bunn commercial coffee maker with a large top surface that stays warm.
The plates stay there for about 3 days then into a small baggie & into paper envelops.

The last season I grew Chili Chilaca & was just able to get about 6 pods before frost that were ? Ripe?
After a germination test I had barley 30 % & took over 24 days to sprout, not at all good by my standards.

Both my Pequin's & Chilitepins have oner 70% & many people say they have trouble with these 2 peppers.
My Rayados hatch in 2 or 3 days & have 90%. Every pepper is different.
 
Some key elements that might help you reach your goal IMHO:

- Pre soaking (H2O2);
- Heat mat;
- Temp controler set at 28-29C to avoid cooking your seeds (Inkbird ITC-308 for example);
- Quality soil/pellets;
- Soil (or pellet) humidity level (humid, not damp!)
 
Some key elements that might help you reach your goal IMHO:

- Pre soaking (H2O2);
- Heat mat;
- Temp controler set at 28-29C to avoid cooking your seeds (Inkbird ITC-308 for example);
- Quality soil/pellets;
- Soil (or pellet) humidity level (humid, not damp!)
What's the best type of soil to use? I've used a multi-purpose compost but only because I've got no idea what is best.
 
Use a mix, not a soil. i.e. Seed-starting mix or potting mix. Compost is a soil amendment.

My guess is your Finger seeds were immature. Was the pepper ripe (i.e. not green)?

Fresh seeds do not need to be dried before planting. You can remove the seeds from a (over)ripe pepper and plant them straight away.

EDIT: ..and everything @Bou said in post #8
 
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There's many good options available, depending of your location. I'm only using pellets (Jiffy/McKenzie) for germination so I'll let the others answer this one. When transplanting/up potting my seedlings I now use Bio Terra Plus but have mainly used Promix in the past, both are working great.
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Use a mix, not a soil. i.e. Seed-starting mix or potting mix. Compost is a soil amendment.

My guess is your Finger seeds were immature. Was the pepper ripe (i.e. not green)?

Fresh seeds do not need to be dried before planting. You can remove the seeds from a (over)ripe pepper and plant them straight away.
That might be the answer. The peppers I used were green. Infact, when you buy a pack from the supermarket, the vast majority of them are green. Thank you, that gives me some comfort that I can succeed with my harvesting in future.
 
That might be the answer. The peppers I used were green. Infact, when you buy a pack from the supermarket, the vast majority of them are green. Thank you, that gives me some comfort that I can succeed with my harvesting in future.

I'm sure you will mate and don't hesitate to use the search engine as there is A LOT of knowledge stored within this forum!

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That might be the answer. The peppers I used were green. Infact, when you buy a pack from the supermarket, the vast majority of them are green. Thank you, that gives me some comfort that I can succeed with my harvesting in future.

I was just about to say this also... only use seeds from ripe pods! It is perhaps the most important hint 😁
 
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