Hello Bart, I am having the same problem with my peppers I have planted a flat of Italian peppers( corno di toro) and I have zero so far and it has been 15 days. In addition - I planted a few the same way you have at my work place which is kept at 75 degrees +!!!!! I think the ones I have at home and maybe yours are too wet. I dont know where you are in Virginia but here in the part of West Virginia I am in it has rained quite substantialy.

Bart - do you know how long it usually takes for sweet potato slips to start - I have had my sweet potato in a cup for 22 days and there is nothing to show for yet. Should I be concerned?

this is what i do:
poke holes in the bottom of a styrofoam cup
this is a half size mabye 6 oz dessert cup
add soil "soil should not be bone dry, but not wet either>
tap cup to settle soil
add more soil if needed
make 6-8 1/2 inch indentations in soil surface
each hole being 1 inch apart
drop 1 seed in each hole

dont add more soil
gently cover holes with soil that remains in cup
tamp soil down gently with bottom of another cup
water lightly from above
no bottom watering
cover with plastic, but make sure you cut slits for ventilation
place on 80 degrees bottom heat, no light
as soon as they begin to emerge
place them under lights
when first set of true leaves begin to form
gently separate each into its own cup.

ive never had a problem unless seeds were dead already
they should appear within 1 week
certain varieties and old seed can be slower

i have seen vietnamese friends do this on a larger scale
using five gallon buckets
they will fill it about halfway with soil and plant 50 or more seeds the high walls of the bucket protect the young plants like a mini greenhouse
when weather is right they transplant from bucket directly to garden.

Peppers like it warm- HOT is better! Seeds won't germinate at temps less than 70F degrees, and really prefer 90F degrees!

I like to cover mine with a little vermiculite, and don't keep them very wet. Damp is good, wet is not good.

Also, all your seeds will not germinate at the same time. I don't know why, but some seeds will germinate promptly, and others will germinate in a month or so. Weird, but true.

Janie

They'll probably come up. I started some bell peppers in my rather cool greenhouse over the winter. After a month I gave up on them. Then about 2 months later they sprouted.

I've had a similar experience as southgeorgiaboy - I had some peppers that waited 6 weeks! I've found that dousing the pots w/ seaweed extract seems to help speed things up - it's very high in potassium.

I say patience - & maybe hedge your bet w/ a couple more new plantings.

Hi,

Peppers like it real real warm. Last year, not knowing this, I tried starting them from April with no success until June. This year however, I started my bell peppers, Indian red hot peppers on March 3rd. I put them in a closed Ferrymorse seed starter tray with the transparent plastic lid on and left it in sun every day and brought it back in at night so as not to lose the warmth gained. Also, I would mist them with warm water when the pellets went dry. The yellow bell peppers sprouts were seen on March 16th. So, it took 13 days for these and most of the seeds germinated. My Indian red hots however took until March 25th (most if not all pellets had sprouts) and just a couple days ago I could see my red bell pepper sprout(just one out of 10 seeds). The not so many sprouts for red bell pepper may be partially because I am using the seed packet that was purchased for the 2008 summer season.
If its not sunny, I put my seed starter trays on top of the clothes dryer when its turned on so that the heat helps.
Do not get discouraged if you do not see sprouts soon, cos it may take a while, as peppers like really warm weather like upto 80 degrees. I observed that the more sun they get, the more the harvest and the more the heat.

Good Luck!

I usually germinate my peppers in a room about 70 degrees. It takes about 12-14 days. However, I noticed that the seeds I have left over from a previous year give some problems. This year I had some 'jolly yellows',(leftovers) that failed, so I re-planted them and put them in an area with more 75-80 degrees. That brought them on. Also, as a previous post mentioned, I use a plastic covered tray, which keeps the humidity higher.

Thanks for the tips everyone. I'll let them keep going a while longer before I give up.

The thing that is frustrating to me is all the seeds are new this year and I'm using a heating mat/pad.

Arrrgh!

Sounds like they might have rotted. In my personal experience pepper seeds like it hot and moist, though I have dug up quite a few that have rotted due to too much moisture. I have covered some with plastic wrap as I heard it works well, though after a few weeks, thinking there was way too much moisture and humidity, I pulled the plastic and let them sit a few more weeks. Out of that batch I only had ten percent or so germination.
My best luck has been top sowing then sprinkling a pinch of soil over the top and lightly packing with my hand.

Thanks for all the tips folks! Since I first posted and today, I have about twice the number of plants to come up! I guess waiting was the key. None of my Marconi Red bells are up yet though ;-( But I have renewed hope.

Thanks again,
Bart