seeds Seed germination

ThePepperTrent

ThePepperTrent

Well I have no idea what I have been doing wrong. I provide heat I provide light, I have tried everything, yet I am still getting horrible germination rates. 
 
It wasn't always like this, before I could just throw seeds in a paper towel, put under my grow light and taadaa 80-90% germ rates. I try again with some Reaper seeds, and Tomatoes, it has been almost 2 weeks and nothing shows. Before I was seeing germination within the first week. What am I doing different or wrong that could cause this? The only thing I could think of is my grow light burned out, leaving me with a simple heat lamp. Could luck have changed when the grow light went out? 
 
Nah these seeds are from 2014. 
 
I am thinking it could just be the lack of heat, the grow light kept the temps in the box at 80-90F now I doubt it gets to that. 
 
welp, its pretty hard to screw up.. don't know what to tell ya.
you know what it took to get the 80% germ you had before... what variables have you changed? unchange them (seeds will always be changing though)
 
Top of the hot water heater is a great place too.  But thinking seeds.  Are these the same variety you have grown in the past?  Carolina Reaper and many Chinense can take a bit to germinate.
 
I had seeds at room temps ranging from 17 to 26C, reapers, mogurga, scorpions, fatallis etc like a clock all seeds started to sprout after 12 to 14 days. I planted 126seeds and had all 122 sprouted after 14 days. But yeah on higher temps can be faster like after 4-5 days or so.
 
What's the upper limit of the high temp?  If I leave seeds on a moist towel in a car (exposed) for an afternoon, would that fry the seeds?  The outdoor / ambient temp today is 66'F at 1pm.  
 
I find my best germ rates using the paper towel method tucked inside of a towel on top of something warm, anything as long as the temps of the seeds themselves are around 78 degrees. I tend to get declining rates for any temps over 80 degrees. Also, molds and what not tend to be more prevalent with higher temps.
 
Keep in mind, too much moisture is bad, too much heat is bad, too much cold is bad, and light is bad for germinating seeds. I do use one of my grow lights to germ seeds too, but I tuck them inside a towel and put them on top of the light fixture. Just add more towel beneath the seeds to bring the temps down by a few degrees if necessary.
 
One additional thing I use to help is either dunk the seeds in H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide) or when you dampen the paper towel, use a sprayer with good filtered or RO water and add 1 tsp of H2O2 to the 1 liter spray bottle.
 
 
Also keep in mind there are other factors at play, how long the seeds were stored, how properly they were stored, the humidity surrounding the seeds since drying out until attempting to germinate. And genetics can play a part as well, though I have never had any issues with the reapers, nearly 100% every time.
 
These are obviously not peppers, but the method is the same for me.
 
IMG_0567_zpsgo9ppynk.jpg

 
 
The temps in the pic are under 78 only because I had just put them in there (pic was for another journal on another site)
 
I know I will catch "flack" for this, but some of the best information can be found by MMJ growers as they push their plants to the limits, much more than I have seen most pepper growers (not all). Both MMJ and pepper plants are almost identical in nutrient needs and care (same with tomatoes, but pepper heads and pot heads tend to be more involved)
 
I do not know upper limit, but I know 100 F will not kill ghost peppers.  I have lowered it to 90 F, but  when I first started using egg incubators for ghost peppers which are notorious for loving high temps for germination, it was still set for 100 F.  Worked fine.

BTW: You can purchase the still air incubators for forty or fifty bucks at your local feed store.  Add the turbo fan kit and you even have air circulation.  They kick ass compared to those under tray heating mats.  A grow box would be better because you could build one with room for lights, but still. 

mrgrowguy - If anyone gives you shit in the forum, send me a PM so I can ride their ass with you.  Before loosing part of my brain in an event which also flooded my racks of servers, I ran a community site.  It was back in the day when most subscription sites were porn.  I used the same credit card services and the same software.  I also hosted porn sites.  Some yahoo gave me endless shit, calling me a pornographer as if that is a bad thing.  Not my sites, I just hosted them but still.

Thing is, the best tech often comes from where the best money is.  Even if everyone here were to think marijuana is pure evil, that doesnt make the tech evil.  Kind of hate to expand this to serious moral and ethical debate, but some mighty horrific things have been done to create medical knowledge.  I do not think we should throw that knowledge away because we do not like where it came from.

More over, marijuana is legal to grow in many states now.  If every other objection were made invalid, most agree that we should accept other cultures.  Living here in Kentucky where it is bookoo illegal to grow the stuff, I should accept someone as a law abiding citizen despite his growing it in another state where it is legal. 

I say bring on more information that comes from such a fantastic source.  After all, even with my Tor browser, I am entirely too paranoid to visit those sites.  Hell, when I get it cleaned up I am going to photograph my grow room and post it all over my website just in case someone starts to think I am growing something other than what I claim.

Then again, how much do you get from a lawsuit when LEO raids your pepper grow site?  Maybe more than selling the peppers.  Hmmmmm.....
 
I hate the paper towel method. Never gives me any luck. Plus you have to worry about transplanting a naked root, screw that. I just sow my seeds in some trays with soil and soak the bottoms in water for about 30 mins or so. Place in a ziploc bag and set it on the seed mat!
 
ajdrew said:
 
mrgrowguy - If anyone gives you shit in the forum, send me a PM so I can ride their ass with you.  

 
Click to expand...
 
You're awesome
 
 
 
 
Hell, when I get it cleaned up I am going to photograph my grow room and post it all over my website just in case someone starts to think I am growing something other than what I claim.

Then again, how much do you get from a lawsuit when LEO raids your pepper grow site?  Maybe more than selling the peppers.  Hmmmmm.....
Click to expand...
 
 
I would LOVE to see their silly faces looking for cannabis and finding nothing but hot peppers. -- this definitely got me laughing.
 
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