Pepper non-germination - old seed?

[antipodes]

I sowed 2 lots of sweet pepper, one an old packet of "Canapé" and some new "Robertina" type. One has come up, the other not at all. Same place, same conditions. However I didn't mark clearly which was which! Is it likely that one was too old and just didn't want to germinate this year? It's a bit annoying really, pepper seeds are bl**dy expensive I find, so I feel a bit ripped off!!

[cleo]

Germination time can and does vary between varieties,how long since you sowed them??

More than say 18 days and I too would worry

[Tee Gee]

This is an extract from my diary;

Pepper germination in days from sowing taken over roughly a ten year period!

Some seed were new, most were my own saved seed and some were a few years old!

Germination;10,12,6,13,6,7,10,6,7,8,10,10,12,12,15,8,4,6,7,11,6,10,6,4,9

As you can see there are some wide variations!

[allaboutliverpool]

Blimey TeeGee you are as obsessive as me!

[small]

Last year, my second-year seeds of 'Californian wonder' took 4 weeks to germinate in my heated propagator.  Old seed, I thought, they didn't last long......this year I shoved the rest in, not expecting anything at all, and they were up in a week. Exactly the same conditions, same sowing date.......so, don't give up on old seed, just hold your mouth right.....

[ajb]

Try moving them into an airing cupboard before giving up on them as some peppers need it to be really warm to germinate. Pepper seed usually keeps for 2 or 3 years (in my experience) there may be some fall off, but not usually complete failure, unless they've gotten damp in storage.

[antipodes]

 
hmmm i did start them all off too cold and after a week thought I had better move them to a south facing windowsill. Doing that, the other seeds came up, about 2 weeks from sowing. It's been well over 3 weeks now so I think I might have to give them up as rotten. The aubergines are a mix of old and new and they have done quite well...
Oh well, I still have some Robertina spare (they are a Polish variety! I was thinking that they might appreciate the cooler weather here) so I will resow some.
Thanks!! 

[antipodes]

Try moving them into an airing cupboard before giving up on them

I don't have one, sadly, at the moment they are right near my big windows, where they get lots of warm sun in the mornings till the middle of the day. It's gets pretty warm in there.

[Paulines7]

I put my seeds on wet kitchen roll into a sandwich bag not forgetting to add the name tag.  The individual packets are then put into a supermarket plastic bag and put onto a warm, sunny window ledge or onto my radiator cover.  I check the seeds daily and when they split I plant them into jiffy7's.

My peppers always seem to take an age to germinate no matter what method I use.

[ajb]

Sweet pepper are pretty sluggish.

[Rixy]

A little tip I picked up along the way for an improved germination rate of both peppers and chilli seeds. 

First things first, put the kettle on and make two cups of tea, leave one black and unsweetened, the other well make it as you like to drink it.  Now go find yourself a saucer and once found take a drink of your tea.   Now go get either a piece of cloth or some kitchen roll, then take a drink of your tea.  Go grab the pepper/chilli seeds you want to germinate and yep you've guessed it, take a drink of your tea.  Oh don't forget to go get your marker pen and a label, of you trot, you can have a nice slurp of your tea and a sit down now.

Right, take your sacer and put a double layer of kitchen roll on it or your piece of cloth, making sure there is enough for an overlap which will form a top covering.Get your saucer and your cloth/kitchen roll ready, take another drink of your tea.  Place your kitchen roll/piece of cloth on the saucer making sure there is enough of an overlap to form a top covering, slurp tea.  Write on a label the date and the seed type, slurp tea.  Take your chosen seeds out of the packet and place on the kitchen roll/ piece of cloth and cover them with the overlap.

By now the other cup of tea that has been sat there doing nothing should be cool enough to dip your finger in without scalding it, pour enough of this over the kitchen roll/piece of cloth to fully dampen it and the seeds, now put in the airing cupboard for a couple or several days, checking frequently to ensure the cloth/kitchen roll hasn't dried out and that the seeds haven't started sprouting.  Once the seeds have sprouted plant them into your seed compost as normal.


I was given this advice by a chilli grower and have followed it ever since with fantastic results, my chilli and pepper germination rates have risen and also the time taken to germinate has more or less halved.  Apparently it has something to do with using the warmish liquid to break the seeds dormancy, how true this is I wouldn't know, just that it has worked for me.

[antipodes]

Well as things always happen this way. once I wrote complaining about it, lo and behold the other peppers have germinated! But it has literally taken weeks for them to do it!!!
Oh well, now it is in the hands of the fates I guess! Next year I will try the warm tea method Kinda like the idea of drinking the first cuppa, actually, time for kettle...