That's unbelievably fast. If I recall correctly my quickest reapers were around 9 days - I don't think I've had a one day germination on ANY pepper yet. Hopefully those little guys keep up the accelerated growth rate!

Jay

Yah, 24 hrs is way fast for any pepper. I would question that it is actually a pepper. Make sure you keep it labeled after you put it in soil so that you can track it. If it is indeed a Reaper, it must have some good genes. Keep some seeds from the plant that results.
Bruce

Awesome!
My Reapers sprouted in 5 days, and I thought that was fast!

Josh

Really? Overnight?

You must have developed a magic touch ;-)

Bill

This is around 24 hours and this! To top it all off, it is a Carolina Reaper to-boot!
Be aware that some potting mixes do have some weed seed in them. Not trying to toss a wet blanket on your success.
Reggie

...Be aware that some potting mixes do have some weed seed in them...

Yeah, but most paper towels dont have weed seeds in them :)
From the post I think it was germinated in a wet paper towel.

Yes, it was germinated in a paper towel. I am still shocked myself. I will try to post a pic shortly. It has stalled where it was yesterday. I was expecting more.

here is a picture as promised.

Maybe that member sent you seeds that he has been trying to germinate for some time and it was just ready to burst ?

This post was edited by seysonn on Sun, May 11, 14 at 1:47

Thats good news!
I have one out of the 14 I received from Puckerbutt
Took over 20 days to germ,the other 13 are still being tended to
but nearly 3 months now,its time to trash them and find a Reaper seed source that offers something viable for your money.
Maybe Reapers next year ??

Awfully wet paper towel. It should be damp, not soaking. That wet may promote early germination, but I fear it will also promote early rotting.

I haven't made up my mind as to whether that is a pepper seed. The root nub seems to be coming out of the side rather than along the seam...

Dennis

It is actually damp, and not soaking. I am very impressed with the photo quality of an iPhone5. I actually did a double take myself after seeing the picture online. As for pepper seed, after planting many this year, I am very confident that it is indeed a pepper seed. Thank you.

well, keep us posted on it's progress. It will be interesting to find out if it is indeed a Reaper.
Bruce

I will do Bruce. Fingers crossed here.

Ok. Well, it turns out that the seed in question was cracked when I got it. I just went to put it in soil, but as soon as I moved it, one side of the cracked seed fell off. It is now in limbo to see if it will indeed still continue its growth. But I will still be monitoring it with updates.

Not sure what's going on with that, but no pepper seed will germinate in 24 hours, no matter how wonderful the conditions or the seed. Focus on your slower seeds, as they will be the ones to give you plants that actually grow. Amazing photo quality from a phone though...

Yah, that is pretty much what I though as well. I was wondering if the seed actually got "wet" several days before and started germinating before it was put in the paper towel. If it is actually a pepper seed (Reaper or not), then that would be my only explanation. However, I would like to see a current photo to see if the development continues. My guess is that it won't be a viable pepper. But only time will tell. Can the OP post a current photo???
Bruce

I believe I am the original source of that seed, so hopefully I can shed some light on all the theories surrounding it!

First of all, it is actually a pepper seed, a Carolina Reaper seed harvested from my own plant just over 6 months ago, so it is pretty fresh seed. Original source was PJ (Oop! Hadn't discovered GardenWeb or THP yet.)

The seeds were indeed dried properly after picking, and did not get wet at all before I mailed them out in a sealed plastic baggy via the SASE provided, which wasn't a bubble envelope, so the seed probably did crack somewhere in the shipping process, and the white bulge shown in the picture is most likely a result of the seed embryo swelling and pushing out of the crack.

Whether this results in full germination is hard to tell. Some seeds germinate better when the seed shell is nicked (Morning Glory).

I got a seed from a trade a few months ago that was similarly cracked in shipping, and it germinated fairly quickly. Not 1 day quick, but within a week, whereas the others took longer.

I did have one occasion a few years ago where I managed to germinate habanero seeds within ~ 2 days, but they were literally fresh out of the pod. I soaked the fresh seeds overnight in green tea and then put on paper towel. The following day I could already spot some sprouts.

Thanks for the background. Good info. Still hoping for an update on the OP seed, hopefully in a week or so after there should be a visible seedling standing up.
Bruce

Wow, I think we may have stumbled onto something here: Google 'pepper scarification'. Lots of interesting links suggesting that nicking a pepper seed shell will greatly aid in germination, with some even suggesting it can happen overnight!

This could be a great solution for those pesky superhots that take over a month to sprout. Too late to try this year, but will have to remember for next year.

Here is a link that might be useful: Scarification

This post was edited by shechar on Tue, May 13, 14 at 15:24

Thanks shechar. Great link.