The seeds I got from trades are also pesky/unreliable germinators so far. None of the pepper seeds I got from Artistic Gardens seeds sprouted. Nearly all my seeds from Baker Creek germinated.

Once you have a few germinated and the leaves released from the seed capsule stop misting. The misting keeps the soil surface moist and encourages damp off.

You should be getting true leaves within about a week of germination...at least that's what has happened for me so far.

BTW...my tomato seeds have had similar results as far as sourcing and germination goes.

I wish I could stop the misting, but it's a university greenhouse so the system is automatic and I don't have the right to turn it off for the whole section :) I also don't have access to much greenhouse space that isn't under the mist, and I don't have any sunny window space at home, so there they will have to sit for now. I have never seen any damping off of any of my seedlings germinated there this year or last year, so I'm not too worried. They sterilize everything and keep good air circulation going. However, I am concerned that it may be somehow inhibiting their growth (the tomato seedlings in the same flat are about three weeks old and many still don't fully have their first set of true leaves yet). My herb and flower seedlings don't seem to mind and have taken off growing despite the mist.

About half of the traded seeds were labeled as "commercial", but it didn't say from what company or what year they were packaged for. I think I am going to try the paper towel germination for the varieties that I absolutely have to have in my garden this year and order all my pepper seeds commercially (I'll have to try Baker Creek!) next year.

Thanks!

Rachel

Both peppers and tomatoes prefer higher soil temps to germinate than do most other things. Tomatoes want 75 degrees and peppers prefer 80-85. How warm is it in this GH? Are you using any bottom heat on the flats? If not and it is possible to do so you'll get much faster and higher rates of germination. If not, can they be moved to a warmer or more direct sun exposure area to help warm the soil? The misting is also contributing to lower soil temps so can you cover the flats with domes?

Once sprouted tomatoes will tolerate lower growing temps - we use 60-65 in the greenhouse. But peppers won't grow much without higher temps so they go to the sunniest corner furtherest away from the exhaust fans - it is often good for 10 degrees. Makes a big difference.

Hope this helps some. Good luck.

Dave

I did Anaheim and green peppers and they took forever to sprout-almost a month I think. They like hot weather and they wouldn't budge until I covered them up with the top of a gallon milk carton.

I crammed some stuff around and managed to move the flat to a spot in the greenhouse that wasn't in the mist- but nearly three weeks later, still no extra germination. The ones that did germinate before are doing much better now that they aren't under the mist- so I guess that's a lesson for next year!

I planted outdoors in L.A. and got almost no germination even with warm days because the nighttime temps were dropping to 55-60F. I used the moist coffee filter and ziploc baggie method indoors and had 70% germination in 10 days. Transplanting those little guys isn't easy, sometimes requiring two toothpicks to manipulate them, but I have 20 good seedlings growing now.

I had to leave mine soaking for a almost two days, and i already have some germination in a few different peppers...

However i kept the room at a steady 75 degrees...
it seems to me that pepper seeds need a bit more soaking to get through their shells (which are tougher then tomato seeds)...

I too have been having trouble with peppers. I tried a heat pad and nothing. I have an incubator and have put them in it at 82 degrees. I'll have to let you know how it works.