Did you bury the seeds or leave them on the top of your germination medium? They need light to germinate. They are also very slow to get started once they do sprout. Real cool season plants, they can take light frosts and will thrive in chilly air temperatures. I'll be that they hated that dome, lol!

I would search the seed starting forum and then post this over there if you cannot find the answers you are seeking.

There are alot of us over there and it is all about seed starting : )

Keriann~

Snap dragons are ver finicky plants until the get going. You sow them on top of the soil and just gently press them down. They need light to germinate. They sprout in cooler temperatures so don't put them on a heating mat. They take a long time to come up and a while to get growing. They do not do well in Jiffy peat pellets.

You also have to freeze the seed for a few weeks before you plant. When they are newly sprouted they have to be protect from strong sunlight.

Snaps are very frost tolerant I have occasionally had one winter over

Thank you everyone. Why do I need to freeze the seeds first? If they don't do well in Jiffy pots, should I just plant them directly outside?

It is too warm outside to plant them out now. They germinate when the weather is cool--first thing in the spring. You have to freeze the seeds because they won't germinate as well without it. It is what they do naturally--drop their seeds in the fall and they lay frozen all winter and sprout as soon as the ground thaws.

If you have seed that you bought you won't get good germination rate just planting them outside. On the other hand if you bought cheaper seed or saved seed, then go ahead but understand that you will probably only get half of them to germinate. In any case that would be for another year not this year. It is simply too warm now. You'd have to plant in early spring.

Investigate winter sowing in these forums if you are going to go this route.

Thank you!

Germination decreases in temps higher than 75 degrees. They do like lots of humidity when germinating, so the domes didn't hurt them a bit. I use domes when I sow them. You definitely do not need to freeze the seeds to stratify them, though it won't hurt them. You do not cover the seeds with soil, they need light to germinate. I have found they don't like soggy media as tiny seedlings. I like to keep the starting media dark and fluffy, but not wet as in bottom watered. Fungus gnats can make seedlings very unthrifty, do you have them? They can be slow starters, but once they start moving they'll come on rather quickly.

Well caliope I have grown snaps every which way from Sunday and I'm here to tell you that they do sprout better when frozen. Sure some will sprout not frozen, but you'll get more of them to sprout if you freeze the seed first. No plant likes soggy medium, but if yours stays overly wet then it is not a good soilless mix.

Insecticidal soap and water poured in the soil before you plant or in the pot of larger plants will get rid of any fungus gnat larva. It won't kill the adults that are flying around unless you hit them with it.

Heating the soil @ 200 degrees for 1/2 hour will get rid of them too. You can do this on the barbeque too --it will keep the smell out of the house

Well oilpainter, if it ain't broken I don't believe in fixing it, and if how you are growing them works well for you, then that's how you should continue doing it. My product line usually includes a few thousand of them in spring, and I do sow them myself, instead of buying in by plugs as they are one of the easier ones to grow, but I'm not having a problems. I mentioned those things because I have seen seedlings of it suffer for the reasons I mentioned and just thought I'd pass it on.

I typically buy my seed the calendar year before it's sown, as the commercial catalogues are sent in late summer. So I very often store them in a refridgerator on the long term as packeted seed should be kept cool and dry, but not dessicated. But, no.........freezing does not give snap seed any particular boost. They do not require stratification to break dormancy.

The soap drench does indeed work on fungus gnats, but I seldom have a problem with them, and if I do use Bt Israeliensis. And no, I don't use sterile soil, but bales of soil-less mix by the pallet load and they are not ever going to see the inside of my oven or bar-b-que. LOL.

Fine Calliope--You do what you do, but don't tell me I'm wrong. I have grown Snaps from seed for 35 years. Freezing Snap seeds is an accepted, common practice. I can find lots of examples all you have to do is look. Here's one from Canadian Gardener

Seeds need light to germinate, so just sprinkle them on the soil surface; then press them down into the soil so they won't get swept away by wind or rain. Pre-chilled seeds germinate best; freeze for 48 hours before sowing. If you're starting seeds in containers, water from below so you don't wash them away.

I wish you well using unsterilized soil, but you wouldn't find me in ten feet of it.