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sanchitsharma420

Herbs and flower seeds not germinating

10 years ago

I have sown lots of herbs and flowers seeds but none of them germinated except one sage that died without opening leaves. The names of herbs are:

Sage

Oregano

Dill

Marjoram

Thyme

Rosemary

Sweet Basil

Lettuce

Celery

And few flower seeds:

Sweet allysum (It germinated and died)

Cosmos

Candytuft

Scented stock

Hollyhock

Larkspur

I have sown 5-8 seeds of each flowers and herbs.

I am from India and temperature here is currently ranging from around 30-36 C (day) and 17-24 C (night).

I sow them in seedling tray in mix of one part sand, one part coco peat and one part aged manure. I use to water them using sprayer everyday and kept in complete shade.

It is 20 days now but none of seeds germinated.

One thing to note is that I sown 3-4 seeds of celery and thyme in two individual pots and one thyme and all celery seeds germinated and still alive. They both are also kept in same place and same conditions with soil mix of one part sand and one part aged manure.

Why no seeds germinated? Is it because of soil mix or due to temperature.

Comments (8)

  • 10 years ago

    Ya that pretty hot but is am already growing parsley (both flat and curl), thyme, and dill that germinated some days ago and now growing its second leaves.

    Can you suggest some herbs that can grow in similar conditions to parsley and dill.

  • 10 years ago

    coriander, basil.

  • 10 years ago

    Since you have a problem across the board there are a few things to check first, even though you may already have a few of those things well in hand. A reasonable rule in problem solving is to emphasize sterility and warmth for sprouting, and to emphasize light and nutrition for growing. They are not the same thing at all.

    First, make sure the seeds, once wet, never ever go dry even for a minute.

    Second, once wet, be rigorous in not letting them get chilled below, say, 20 degrees C. Not once! Note this is not a hard and fast rule for all seeds (see Campanula's first note) but it's a place to start.

    Third, sprout them in a "soil" with scant nutrition. You can start seeds in sand or in coco fiber alone. Assume the seeds contain all the nutrition a plant needs up through the pair of dicot leaves. Thirty three percent manure is too rich by far.

    Fourth, once sprouted, fertilize with a very very weak material, perhaps even manure water, and be frugal with it.

    sanchit sharma thanked grubby_AZ Tucson Z9
  • 10 years ago

    @grubby_az, thank you for advice.

    The temperature drops below 20 C every night here.

    As I don't have a greenhouse, should I put the tray in plastic bag in night?

    I am also wondering one more thing, will keeping them in plastic bag in day will help maintain temperature lower?

    Thanks again for the help and waiting for your reply.

  • 10 years ago

    Keeping them in a bag in the day (in sun) will make them hotter.

    In truth, that is a terrible mix - you don't need any manure at all and too much peat will can act as a sponge keeping everything far too wet, even with the sand. If there is a big temperature differential between day and night, then a clear cover at night (I would use horticultural fleece but don't know what is available to you), will help. Although many seeds need light to germinate, keeping the pots/trays in shade will stabilise the temperature a bit. How are you watering? And how often?

  • 10 years ago

    Okay, so that high level of manure may be the reason for not germinating the seeds.

    As of now, I have sown all the seeds again except rosemary in soil mix of 15 % soil, 15% manure, 40 % peat and 30% sand.

    I have covered each seeds with 1/4 inch soil except oregano which is barely covered.

    Today's temperature of where I live is 32 - 18 C. I am keeping the seeds on a cool place which is 7-8 feet away from roof terrace door which is always kept open. I will put them is plastic bag in night.

    Is location is seeds is right? Although it is far from door but there is that much indirect sun that one can easily read book and has temperature 1-2 degree lower.

  • 10 years ago

    I suggest using a (relatively) sterile germination mix. If you have access to vermiculite and/or perlite, adding those to peat (and maybe sand) to get a mix that is easily wettable but drains well is optimal. Avoid manure and non-sterile soil as those increase the risk of disease like damping off.

    A lot of herbs and some perennials do not appreciate excessive heat, and even if seeds germinate they're likely to become leggy.