Time to give up on my 7-pot, or still give more time?

10 years ago

I potted up some 7-pot seed on the first of Feb. Sorry, nothing fancy, just seed I got in a trade labeled 7-pot.

Nothing has happened, not one little sprout. Now, I don't have the pots on a heat mat, don't have one. I do have the pots sitting on a wire rack above a floorboard electric heat register.

I've read that some peppers can take super long to sprout... but is it time to give up on these, or should I still wait a while and see if they sprout?

I'm kind of bummed, because I was all excited to be growing a superhot this year- and I used all the seed I had to try to get this one to grow.

All the rest of my peppers are just normal hots and some sweets. A couple of my other hots from Feb 6 start (McMahons Texas Bird), and Feb 18 (cascabel and fish) haven't sprouted either, and most bummer, my one hot lemon died off. I'm extra sad about the fish, because I used all the seed I had. I still have some more hot lemon that I can reseed if I still have time for it. But I do have a full tray of various other peppers that have all sprouted up and are doing fine.

Featured Answer

esox07 (4b) Wisconsin

10 years ago

Personally, I restart seeds after about two weeks or so. I will still keep the originals to see if they finally pop, but I don't want to get too far behind in case they never do sprout. It has been my experience that most all peppers (with a few exceptions) will sprout within two weeks if they are going to at all. Like I said, there are a few exceptions but even most super hots will pop within two weeks if they are under proper conditions. Heat and moisture are the two biggies. Too little or too much is not good. 70 to 85 for soil heat and constant moisture without being soggy is good.

If you grew several other varieties of peppers and they sprouted fine, then I would consider it a problem with the seed. If you had wide spread failures to sprout, then I would look more at your setup.

My 7 Pot Brain Strain-Yellow seeds that I got from the trade actually were the first to sprout for me. They were going strong at 6 days. The photo below shows my early sprouts. Notice the ones that sprouted first were near the center of the heat mat that I had them on. That probably had something to do with it. I expect it was just a bit warmer there than on the outside cells. If you click on the photo it should open in a bigger size so you can see it easier.

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Comments (10)

peppers_galore
10 years ago
Don't give up yet, but email me and I'll ship you some.
the_northeast_chileman
10 years ago
`

. but is it time to give up on these, or should I still wait a while and see if they sprout?

Depends... Don't have any others started? Wait... Have others started this month? Toss 'em!

`
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beesneeds
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks for the offer peppers! I would love more seed... but I have no idea how to email you with the new setup. Do we need to follow each other first, then I can email you? And I won't give up on my 7-pot just yet.

And yep Northeast, I do have other peppers that have started. About a dozen kinds between hots and sweets. But I was really looking forward to my first superhot, and the fish and hot lemon peppers. I think I might still re-seed the hot lemon tonight anyway, even if it will be a bit behind the game compared to the rest of them. I am about ready to call the other non-sprouters quits because I am pretty sure since they are all regular hots they should have all sprouted by now.
centexan254 zone 8 Temple, Tx
10 years ago
Do you have a probe thermometer? (The one that looks like a needle point used to test to see if food is done.) If so place it in the medium you are trying to sprout the seeds in while the heat is going. Give it a few minutes, then leave it, and come back and check it again later to see if it is hotter than it was before. If it is at a temp of over 95 then the seeds were likely to have cooked off. If the heat is lower, and in the range of 65 to 75 they may still sprout. Though I would have started some fresh seeds.

Oh the best investment in my growing peppers has been a heat mat, and thermostat. It took the fiddling, and guess work out of things. A heat mat that will work for up to a 72 cell starter tray, with the tray, and a thermostat cost less than $60 shipped on Amazon. To me it was money well spent, and it was delivered in less than 3 days.
peppers_galore
10 years ago
Good question about the email. I'm not sure how. It doesn't seem as easy as the old site. I just set up a yahoo account you can send email to. It's peppers_galore@yahoo.com.
theforgottenone1013 (SE MI zone 5b/6a)
10 years ago
I would very, very, very carefully scrape away the potting mix and check the seeds to see what they're doing. If they aren't rotten or otherwise funky I'd give them more time.

Rodney
Edymnion
10 years ago
Sounds like one of my reapers. The others are all on their third set of true leaves, one of them is just still sitting there with it's coty's and nothing else.
esox07 (4b) Wisconsin
10 years ago
Hmmm, I grew out three Hot Hungarian Wax this year from some old seed I had havested a few years back. They germinated great but the coty's are dominating. One is still just the two cotyledons and they are huge. The others have begun to send out some true leaves though but very slowly. I don't remember them being like that before.
tn_gardening
10 years ago
esox07 (4b) Personally,
I restart seeds after about two weeks or so. I will still keep the
originals to see if they finally pop, but I don't want to get too far
behind in case they never do sprout.

============

I often do the same thing. Seeds are cheap. No need to lose an entire season.