Some calm, reassuring info to hear in this thread...day 10 and the superhots still slumber. I have to keep reminding myself I have loads of seeds and the growing season here in Dixie lasts into November now. I'm just ready to get this show started. The first stages of my garden prep start tomorrow, this should keep me distracted til the little buggers pop.
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seeds Slow germination causes?
- Thread starter infiniti23
- Start date
Well, as my other batch slowly chugs along, I started another one. I soaked these seeds for 24 hours in water/H2O2 mix. I also planted a tad deeper like I did last year, being certain that the seed is covered well and compactly with peat. I will keep everyone posted if I see different results.
I didn't soak mine and I really just scratch the surface of my Jiffy pucks and cover the seeds. I'll be interested to see if your latest batch performs better. I just found a little bit of white poking through the peat on one of my Dorset Naga pucks this afternoon...the mood around the house is very optimistic now.
I will report back as soon as I know something!
yeah, this year I planted a tray in soaking for 2 hours.. then one tray for 24+ hours in just water for both of them.. then one for 4 hours with H2O2 and water, then 24 hours with H2O2 and water.. and did that for the last 2 trays.. I found that the H2O2 soaking for 24 hours works really well.. at least better than just water.. oh and I planted my first 15 set of plants in be beginning with just the jiffy pots without soaking them I think.. and they seemed to take the overall longest even though there were more annuums in there (although the chocolate bhuts for me this year are slow as hell) but that is just the plant/seeds, not the technique
I needed two cups of water for the trays I used for the seeds. I added about 1T 3% hydrogen peroxide per cup. That seems to be fairly standard I think.
yeah, sorry I didn't see this before, but most people do 1 Tbs per cup of water while soaking the seeds, my first batch I wasn't too sure about it so I did 1tsp and left it for 24 hours, but I just started another set of 8 seeds that I just got in, and the last set I had and did 1Tbs.. it makes most of them nice and soft
Some early results are in:
At day 19, I now have 19/37 pots germinated with roughly a 70% germination rate on the pots with flowers. This tray had no pre soak, and was sitting about 87 F. It took 18 days for a Tomatillo to germinate. I have no purple jalapenos up.
At day 3 on the new tray, I have a Tomatillo and Purple Jalapeno hook. These were soaked for 24 hours in water/H2O2 and sitting at 82 F.
These peat pots in the new tray smell noticably different than the other when you pull the dome off. Not sure what to make of that.
At day 19, I now have 19/37 pots germinated with roughly a 70% germination rate on the pots with flowers. This tray had no pre soak, and was sitting about 87 F. It took 18 days for a Tomatillo to germinate. I have no purple jalapenos up.
At day 3 on the new tray, I have a Tomatillo and Purple Jalapeno hook. These were soaked for 24 hours in water/H2O2 and sitting at 82 F.
These peat pots in the new tray smell noticably different than the other when you pull the dome off. Not sure what to make of that.
in place of peroxide you can also use a chamomile tea soak (Anti Fungal properties) which is what I and quite a few other growers use around the place with good results.
might be a little on the warm side to keep the soil at, especially for any tomatos and I would assume that Tomatillos have similar needs as a tomato, but about the Jiffy pellets, they do have a strange smell at first, but after a little while it goes away, and if you have hooks now just make sure you take the dome off and the light on...
Got confirmation today that the pH of those first pots was low. Jiffy says they should be 5.3 pH. The first lot was 4.9 pH. Second lot is 5.5 pH.
oh wow, I never thought to check them, I always assumed that they had some lime in there or something to correct for the pH issue.. especially since not everyone is growing plants that love it acidic..
My background is chemical engineering, so it makes me wonder if there is a leaching issue over time. Those pellets from the first tray were from last year. The new tray has new pellets.
I'm going to do a little experimentation on this and see if I can leach the lime from the pots.
So, I am more frustrated than ever ....
By day 7 of the latest run, I had a germinated purple jalapeno, scotch bonnet, tomatillo, chocolate bhut, and trinidad scorpion.
It is now day 12, and NOTHING since ....
Included in here are some red bells and orange bells. The seeds are from three distributors.
Something is not right. The only thing I have left to judge is the water. I am using from the tap.
I think I will run an experiment using distilled water, and see what happens.
By day 7 of the latest run, I had a germinated purple jalapeno, scotch bonnet, tomatillo, chocolate bhut, and trinidad scorpion.
It is now day 12, and NOTHING since ....
Included in here are some red bells and orange bells. The seeds are from three distributors.
Something is not right. The only thing I have left to judge is the water. I am using from the tap.
I think I will run an experiment using distilled water, and see what happens.
do you have fungus gnats, I have realized recently that they are a big problem with some of the seedlings that don't germinate right away, because they end up getting eaten.. and also just make sure you keep the soil moist (I had forgotten about it because once a handful of the seedlings come up, I tend to let them dry out a little more, and forget that I need to keep watering the other ones that haven't come up yet and not let them dry out at all)
and beyond that, it isn't uncommon to get a full week without anything popping up, I think I just waited a week before I had another small group pop up the other day.. and I still have a couple Brain Strain Reds and Bhut yellows that need to come up and it's been just about 2 weeks I think.. if I have 1/2 of them come up within the next 2 weeks, I will be happy.. but you can't watch them day to day, I mean I check on mine all the time, but I don't expect a new one to pop up everyday.. need to go the full 7 days, and even if nothing pops up.. wait until the next full week is done, and if nothing pops up in 2 weeks.. THEN you might have a problem..(assuming your doing everything right.. which I think I remember you have everything all set).. it's just a time game
edit: and of course I could always be wrong and you do have an issue, and as long as you have the time, go for it, and check everything out, but just saying it isn't uncommon.. at all.
and beyond that, it isn't uncommon to get a full week without anything popping up, I think I just waited a week before I had another small group pop up the other day.. and I still have a couple Brain Strain Reds and Bhut yellows that need to come up and it's been just about 2 weeks I think.. if I have 1/2 of them come up within the next 2 weeks, I will be happy.. but you can't watch them day to day, I mean I check on mine all the time, but I don't expect a new one to pop up everyday.. need to go the full 7 days, and even if nothing pops up.. wait until the next full week is done, and if nothing pops up in 2 weeks.. THEN you might have a problem..(assuming your doing everything right.. which I think I remember you have everything all set).. it's just a time game
edit: and of course I could always be wrong and you do have an issue, and as long as you have the time, go for it, and check everything out, but just saying it isn't uncommon.. at all.
pH of tap water is 7.4 or so. Makes the pH of the peat pellets about 6.25-6.5, so pretty much perfect.
I have given up on solutions. Just wait.
I have given up on solutions. Just wait.