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seeds Ok why wont my seeds sprout?

Necrocannibal

Necrocannibal

A little history first. Planted 1 Fatali, 1 Naga, 1 Carr. Red, and 1 Scorpion seed. All were in styrofoam cups and all were inside my house which I keep >65 degrees. I had the Carr. Red, Scorpion and Naga all sprout. The Naga died for some reason but the other two are looking healthy as can be and giving me flowers already.

Ok so I replant all the seeds over again and put them outside were it is now warm and covered the cups with a clear plastic container I got Hot n Sour soup in (YUM!!) :lol:. Anyway they are not doing anything at all and I dont get it. The soil is kept moist and they stay covered for the greenhouse effect. Anyone have any ideas or anything? Its really pissing me off.
 
A couple of things that are important....


#1: Sterilize the soil in the microwave first to help prevent damping off.

#2: Bottom heat, the heat should come from the bottom, not all around, and should be in the 80s, and never hotter than 100F.

#3: Never EVER let the soil dry out, not even a few inches! Put plastic wrap over the top with rubber bands or tape to keep it air tight!

If the seeds are viable and you stick to those rules above, you will be perfectly ok, and your seeds should sprout in 2-5 weeks. Once they sprout you can remove the plastic, but you have to be more vigilant in checking them because the soil can dry out very quickly.
 
Actually, most poeple say to let the soil dry out slightly before watering when germinating pepper seeds. I do it as a rule of thumb and it works great, helps to force the tap root to go deeper right away.

I also wanted to to restate Richards "wait a while" statement, pepper seeds (especially the hotter ones like C. Chinense, are natorious for their lag times in germination.
 
imaguitargod said:
Actually, most poeple say to let the soil dry out slightly before watering when germinating pepper seeds. I do it as a rule of thumb and it works great, helps to force the tap root to go deeper right away.
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I'm talking about BEFORE germination, if there isnt a root at all, and the soil drys out, the seed will probably die. Once it has a decent sized taproot, it can handle dry soil for a few hours to a day before it starts to wilt.

But a seed that has not germinated will not handle the soil drying out at all.

As for a seedling that has germinated, as long as you dont let it stay wilted for too long, the leaves should come right back up with little or no damage.
 
imaguitargod said:
That's what I'm talking about too ;)
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I'm a little confused... The taproot doesnt exist before germination, so how does letting the soil dryout, a: not kill the germiation process and b: help the nonexistant taproot grow longer?

:?:
 
What kind of soil are you using Necro? You probably need a little heat to speed up germination and some patience
 
RichardK said:
I'm a little confused... The taproot doesnt exist before germination, so how does letting the soil dryout, a: not kill the germiation process and b: help the nonexistant taproot grow longer?

:?:
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The theory goes like this, plants search for water. The initioal soaking of the dirt causes the seed to absorb water and makes it "wake up" internally. By letting the soil slightly dry out (not bone dry, just slightly dry) the seed will freak a little and attempt to push the tap root out to search for water. Once the tap root is out (and the seed is still under the dirt), you can do this again and the root will go deeper.
 
imaguitargod said:
The theory goes like this, plants search for water. The initioal soaking of the dirt causes the seed to absorb water and makes it "wake up" internally. By letting the soil slightly dry out (not bone dry, just slightly dry) the seed will freak a little and attempt to push the tap root out to search for water. Once the tap root is out (and the seed is still under the dirt), you can do this again and the root will go deeper.
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That sounds nice and all, BUT a dry seed cannot grow a root, or anything without water, because 80% of the plant material is water itself.

Cell replication requires water, and if there is no water there is no cell replication, and without cell replication there can be no growth.

I have had some seeds accidentily dry out, and the rest of the seeds that did not dry out had a 100% germination rate, the ones that did dry out (which was for 12 hours or so) they never ever sprouted, and I waited months after the rest had germinated.

Thats my 2 cents anyway :)
 
RichardK said:
That sounds nice and all, BUT a dry seed cannot grow a root, or anything without water, because 80% of the plant material is water itself.
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Remember, just b/c the soil is dryish (I'll restate you don't want it bone dry, just slightly dry, and just briefly), doesn't mean the seed is dry. They absorb alot of water and store it just for these occasions when the soil dries out ;)
 
imaguitargod said:
Remember, just b/c the soil is dryish (I'll restate you don't want it bone dry, just slightly dry, and just briefly), doesn't mean the seed is dry. They absorb alot of water and store it just for these occasions when the soil dries out ;)
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Ahh I see what you mean, you meant to say "damp" :)
 
There is one tecnique I saw on other forums where if your stubborn seeds don't germinate then you can let them dry out completely for a while and then re-moisten. Once they sprout, I wouldn't let them get too dry
 
Not sure if you only want to grow a couple of seeds and I have seen other post where guys have grown them in cups etc, but I did a bit of reserch and decided on getting the Jiffy 7 heated greenhouse because it was proven and simple to use. It did cost aboud $30 at the local home depot, but I put 2-3 seeds in each cell and had all but a few cells on the end sprout in less than a week. Spent another $10 on a few 40 watt CFL lights and within 10 days I had over 150 sprouts of all varieties about 2" high and ready to pot up.
 
I prefer to use the self waterinfg seed starter kits, much like the Jiffy Green Houses. The tap root on all of my seeds is out the bottom of the container before the seed finishes sprouting. And my success rate with germination has been around 95% with these. I let mine sit outside for germination and growing also, but our temps are in the 90s.
 
Necrocannibal said:
A little history first. Planted 1 Fatali, 1 Naga, 1 Carr. Red, and 1 Scorpion seed. All were in styrofoam cups and all were inside my house which I keep >65 degrees. I had the Carr. Red, Scorpion and Naga all sprout. The Naga died for some reason but the other two are looking healthy as can be and giving me flowers already.

Ok so I replant all the seeds over again and put them outside were it is now warm and covered the cups with a clear plastic container I got Hot n Sour soup in (YUM!!) :lol:. Anyway they are not doing anything at all and I dont get it. The soil is kept moist and they stay covered for the greenhouse effect. Anyone have any ideas or anything? Its really pissing me off.
Click to expand...

If they sprouted inside and you haven't changed soil, I would bet that your "greenhouse effect" is cooking the seeds. I don't think they would sprout over 90F and more than likely the temperature far exceeded that. They are probably done. If want to germinate them outside, keep them away from the sunshine and poke a couple of holes in the plastic to let them breathe a little. I'll bet that will work.
 
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