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seeds Seed planting depth

R

ravishingjay

I sent my brother some of my pepper seed collection. We both planted on Feb. 1st. He emailed me that he only has 1 sprout, while the majority of mine have sprouted. I asked him how deep he planted them and he said about a 1/2" deep. I planted mine about 1/8" or less deep. Are his going to make it? Are they just slow or is that too deep?
 
that is not the only thing that affects seeds breaking soil. Were your temps the same? medium used to germinate in the same? How moist was his dirt/seed starting medium? Did you use light and did he? Where they the same lights? So many variables to look at before pointing fingers at any one thing. How many days has it been?
 
1/2" is borderline on being too deep. His growing medium would have to be consistently moist and warm. Of course his seed would have more medium to push through than yours..Light is not an issue when germinating, so that won't matter..
 
I went no where near 1/2 inch. Probably closer to the 1/8th inch and I had great success. I really think 1/2in is too deep. He could try spreading the pellets and lifting the seed a bit. I really do not see them breaking soil that deep. But, that is just my opinion and I am a newbie.
 
yeah...too deep. ive made that mistake when i first started and i used a fork to gently scrape/till the soil and fluff it up. then i gently removed approx 1/4 inch off top (make sure you search for seeds in this removed soil) ...while doing this, i uncovered many hooks that would have otherwise 'drowned' trying to get out. also, within days of doing this...i had many hooks coming up. going 1/8-1/4 inch is perfect...and keep the soil 'fluffy'...moisten it before it goes in trays or cups, and when it needs more moisture, dont spray it from the top...this compacts the soil making it more difficult for hooks to emerge. i kept 'empty' cells in my trays and put water there where it could disperse through tray holder and get wicked up from bottom, thus keeping top soil fluffy and loose. also tried new method of using styrofoam cups with plastic wrap over top held by rubber band...by far the best method of germination i have personally done! they are very insulated and the rubber bands and plastic wrap keep them moist and perfect. no more big bulky 72 cell trays for me..ever. styrofoam cups are way to go. and keep seeds no more than 1/4 inch deep and you will have hooks in no time. even some of my superhots were hookin in week to 10 days. good luck and keep grinding!
 
I know there are a lot of variables involved, but my thoughts are that he planted them too deep. I will let him know what THC members have to say.
 
Mine popped all popped within a week to 9 days except the tepins. I lay them on open soil and spread a very thin layer of soil on top, just enough that the seeds are just out of sight.
 
1/2" is fine though it does delay the seedlings but not by much.
I did an experiment in a propogation class last summer. One of the variables I tested was the planting depth. I did three 36 cell flats. One flat was seed sown on top, next was 1/4" and the last was 1/2" deep.

The end result was the 1/2" deep seeds were within a few days of arrival of the 1/4" deep seed. By 7 - 10 days there was no noticeable difference between the two and over the course of the experiment, all plants grew the same.

The seeds planted on top of the dirt did not ultimately have good success rate for strong plants but did grow so long as the roots got into the dirt.
 
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