Stevia

[penn]

 Hi I bought some Stevia seeds but none have germinated at all. All the seeds were pale in colour and I have read that these are no good and only dark seeds germinate. I have tried planting them in two different good quality composts, some in heated propagator and some in greenhouse but nothing. Should I complain to the seed company or just write it down to experience and forget stevia?

[penn]

[goodlife]

I'm not sure about the colour of seeds and the germination success..new one for me. Generally stevia seeds don't have very good success rate with germination..they can be bit 'temperamental'. I've sown  some again this year and out of packet of seed I got 3 to germinate. I start mine with general multipurpose compost that I've mixed with some vermiculate...ideally the sowing mixture should be quite light and airy and good amount of heat will help with germination too. I don't sow them very deep...just light covering of same compost mixture and keeping the compost on slightly moist side...not wet!

[okra]

Just ordered some Stevia seeds but from the experience of others germination seems a problem and a matter of luck.

[Jayb]

When I've sowed some before it was pretty much like Goodlife, although I didn't use vermiculate, just a fine covering of multi-purpose compost and then into a propagator.