Pepper Germination Musings

16 years ago

I've stated my problems with germination on some varieties this year in earlier threads. Last week I finally got around to testing two that I had zero germination on. Hungarian Volcano from my seeds and I had 100% in a Dec test germination. And Giant Red Marconi. I sowed ten seeds to a 4" x 4" cell of each on the 29th. Then on May 1st I sowed the same number again in the same size cells but soaked those seeds for 30 minutes in Clorox. I'm using Jiffy starting mix for this test. I had used Miracle Grow starting mix earlier when I started them. After five days I had Hungarian Volcano plants up. After 7 days have 8 of 10 up. After 7 days have 4 of the Giant Red Marconi's up. I will probably put a couple of each in late to try to save seeds from.

My thoughts now are it was either the seed starting mix or the heating pad I used. I had it on the lowest setting. I've always starting them in the bathroom before. The same pad I used for the pepper I used for an earlier flat of tomatoes and it had the lowest germination rate of any of the tomato trays. I don't feel it was the seed starting mix as the tomato flat started in it had over 95% germination. Next year back to the bathroom with my peppers. I will know more how those soaked in the Clorox germinates in a few days.

I'm trying a new to me pepper this year. Bulls Horn Red Sweet Italian which some like as good or better than Marconi. I had 100% germination on it. So hopefully will get to try it this summer.

I'm trying a new type of drip tape this year. A lot easier to handle and cheaper than soaker hoses. The first roll I ordered has laser slits every 12". I'm going to order a roll with them every 8 inches. If it continues to work well will post pictures later. Jay.

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Comments (3)

gldno1
16 years ago
For some reason my peppers didn't germinate as well this year either. I did everything exactly as previous years. I think I got one Hungarian Was...probably enough anyway.

The seed was pretty old on some though.

It is always hard to pinpoint what the difficulties are.
carsons_mimi
16 years ago
I had very good germination on all my pepper varieties except for two...Jimmy Nardello and Giant Red Marconi. I tried three different methods on three rounds of seed starting. After the last round which included a heating mat and lights together, I had all but given up convinced I had bad seeds. Don't ask me why but I kept the little cups around and continued to lightly water them thinking the whole time that I was wasting time, space, heat and water.

One day, wonder of all wonders, both varieties started to sprout after at least a month (possibly six weeks) in their little cups. It continues to surprise me that they are now a couple of inches high now and are seemingly healthy. Of course, they only sprouted after I had purchased replacement plants at the nursery.

It's always something. lol
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seedmama
16 years ago
Jay I am growing Red Bull's horn sweet pepper (Corno di Toro) this year too, or at least I hope I am. I sowed about about 30 sweet banana peppers from old seed. I finally gave up on them and bought new banana pepper seed. I sowed 20 of those, and all 50 banana peppers sprouted within three days of each other. Then I found Corno di Toro locally, but it was part of a two pepper mix that included, guess what, banana pepper. The seeds in the mix had two different looks, so I sowed five of each look. We'll see if any of those are Corno di Toro. I took a lot of my banana pepper sprouts to the swap to give away.

For the first time ever, I germinated my tomatoes and peppers this year using the coffee filter, baggie method. I've never tried it before because it seemed like one extra step, more work. But I've grown tired of wondering if the seed in a cup is going to sprout, and wondering if and when I should toss it. After trying this year, I've concluded that germinating in coffee filters is a net time saver for me, because I don't keep checking for sprouts in cups, or letting thoughts of germination consume my gray matter. I checked the baggies daily, and potted them as needed. This maximized use of space under lights. I also concluded it save me seed as well as potting up time. When I sow in cups I often put two seeds to a cup if I have doubts, Separating twins takes longer for me than potting up sprouts from the baggie.

The only "down" side to using the coffee filter for my tomato seeds was timing. I intentionally sowed two weeks later this year to avoid all the issues that come with sowing too early. Because the coffee filter seeds sprouted faster than cups for me, I was back in the same boat. Next year, I'll wait even later.