Topic: Dud seed

[Robert_Brenchley]

I've had zero germination from the pumpkin seed I saved last year, and today I finally got as far as looking closely and comparing it with what I have left over from 2006. Last year's seed is all empty. Hopefully some of the old stuff will now germinate!

[PJW_Letchworth]

Absolutely none of my parsnip seeds which were bought fresh from Suttons have germinated.  Has anyone else had problems with these or have I just been unlucky?

[elvis2003]

only 5 % of our snips have germinated,same for the carrots,going to sow some more of both.also onion seed was very bad,still,everything else was great.must concentrate on the successes rather than the failures!

[Digeroo]

Have you tried pregerminating them on kitchen roll on window sill?  Much better germination.

[Tee Gee]

I have had good Parsnip germination this year as this rexperimental tray shows.

(I sowed one seed on edge per cell)



I am so taken with the method I have sown another tray and it seem to be progressing in a similar manner.

What with the price of cucumber seed often a £1+ apiece I tried saving my own last year and this is the result;

(Front tray are saved seeds and the rear tray is commercial seed)

[Duke Ellington]

Why are cucumber seeds so expensive ?

Duke ???

[pippy]

I saved seeds from a pumpkin my son grew the year before last. Sowed them last year and they grew stronger than the bought ones which were sown at exactly the same time!  They grew good pumpkins.  Sowed some again this year and the same has happened.

You have to be careful to pollinate by hand before the female flower opens (i.e. tear it open) then put a bit of fleece or a bag over it so it doesn't cross with a courgette or anything.  When saving the seeds from the pumpkin I just washed and dried them all on kitchen paper and saved the best (fattest) ones.

Try again Robert? :D

[saddad]

They are "super duper" F1 varieties for commercial growers... try old open pollinated varieties like White Wonder, Boothby's Blonde and Crystal Apple, loads more seeds in cheaper packets... OK they are white skinned and not as long... but taste good!!  :-X

[mpdjulie]

Absolutely none of my parsnip seeds which were bought fresh from Suttons have germinated.  Has anyone else had problems with these or have I just been unlucky?

i read in GYO Veg by Carol Klein that parsnip seed doesn't store well and its best to buy new each year.

[ugly gourd]

The best parsnip seeds are the ones you collect yourself leave one plant to go to seed and they will be the best seeds ever or look on a unused plot

[Plot69]

None of my patti pans and only two of my courgette seeds have germinated. Butternuts were very slow, so slow in fact I went and bought a couple of plants from a garden center. Two eventually did germinate.

I've had 100% success with saved Gem Squash though.

[Twoflower]

I've had real trouble getting the butternut and patty pans to germinate this year. I've got the old heated propagator out and there is still one that haven't moved :-\

[chriscross1966]

None of my patti pans and only two of my courgette seeds have germinated. Butternuts were very slow, so slow in fact I went and bought a couple of plants from a garden center. Two eventually did germinate.

I've had 100% success with saved Gem Squash though.

My BNS is being a bit slower than the other cucurbits I started at the same time.... it's still in propagators the rest have moved out but as all the Hunters are up I'm not too fussed

[Robert_Brenchley]

Try again Robert? :D

I certainly will. The pumpkin won't form unless the flower is pollinated, but empty seed is well known; I've never come across a real explanation of it. Hopefully we'll have better weather this year!

[small]

About parsnips: I always buy new, having found out the hard way that you need fresh seed, I used Dobies for the first time this year and the germination was fine - I believe Dobies and Suttons are linked? My problem has been with Land Cress: empirically I think I have established that this seed doesn't keep more than a year either, what has anyone else experienced?

[saddad]

That may be... but once you have it you will never be rid of it... when you come and visit you can take away a small transplant which will promptly go to seed and there you have it... fresh seedlings everywhere...  :-X

[cornykev]

Its my worst year for germination, sweetcorn a blowout as with cucumbers, sqashes and sunflowers. Sowed springys and celeriac twice. I e-mailed fothergills about the sweetcorn and they sent me another packet.  ???      ;D ;D ;D

[Mr Smith]

Same here with both Sweetcorn plants and seed I was going for over a hundred Sweetcorn  this year but at the minute I have about sixty plants, :)

[valmarg]

Its my worst year for germination, sweetcorn a blowout as with cucumbers, sqashes and sunflowers. Sowed springys and celeriac twice. I e-mailed fothergills about the sweetcorn and they sent me another packet.  ???      ;D ;D ;D

With regard to sweetcorn germination corney, we always used to press the seed about half an inch into the compost, and got very poor germination.  I can't remember where, but read that with sweetcorn, the best method is to surface sow, and lightly cover with compost.  Since using this method we have had pretty much 100% germination rate.

Hope this helps.

valmarg

[delboy]

Have had zero results from  Heritage Seeds  - Rosemary/Good King Henry - and only a 10% germination rate from any of the other seeds I bought at the Potato Day in Hampshire.

On a lighter note, the sunflowers I grew last year have self seeded all over the garden and as quick as I pull em out there are new ones starting up! Have given up now and the garden should be an interesting sight!