A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Food Garden Forum Vegetable Gardening when to give up on seeds?

I'm curious to know when you give up on seeds that haven't come up yet? Most of the seeds I've planted for spring this year says on the seed pack they come up in 7-14 days. Most come up sooner than 7 days. I had a couple of trays that still weren't up after 3 1/2 weeks. I tossed them out, soil and all.
I tossed out the soil on that particular group cause I did get some fungus on the top (although I sprayed with dish det solution and got rid of it in a day).

I was just wondering how the rest of you handle situations when seeds to not come up in the sugguested time frame. How long do you wait? and do you assume the soil is bad?
Also, I used straight compost. the compost was good and ready, but I'm wondering if some seeds do not like soil that rich? I have regular m.g. potting soil now.

I hope I have this topic in the right forum?

I think it is in the right place, but I have been "mistaken" before---

I am not too knowledgeable but for me, I would give it double time. There has been many times where I would think none of my seeds (or very few) would be coming up.--and eventually some if not all did.
I think when that happens for me I had them planted too deeply.

but I have 2 other questions??

1) When you planted was the soil & night air warm enough for your zone--(my dad tries to rush the season every year and often has to replant)

2) are the seeds old ones or new that you bought this year--do they have this years planting date on them?? if you saved them yourself from last year, were they stored and prepared correctly before you planted?

Hopefully someone else will come along and offer more/better suggestions....

is it all the same type of seeds and the entire pack? I'd assume the seeds were bad.

Cricket ........THey do write the days on the pkt.
However some are totally wrong.At this time of the year not many are clocked to do it ......In other wards......seeds do have a certain time to germinate.. Take .........like tulips .. They bloom when time occurs.

I planted 3 types of peppers this past month.. number 1, no germinating
2 One germinated
Number 3.........4 germinated......(Heating cable)

They do their own thing......Weather is also the factor. Indoors and out.
Saying goes, You can't fool mother nature.

good luck.

If and when I give up I usually toss them in a place where I don't mow, just in case they decide to come up on their own

good point about the temp may not be right for them. I briefly thought that might be a possibility. it seems I'm getting an all or nothing on my seeds. all my tomoatoes germinated, all my squash, tomatillos are coming up slow. nothing on peppers (planted two kinds), nothing on oregano.
I planted a few flower and plant seeds also. I only have one type(caster bean) that have sprouted. and almost every one of them came up.
I think you guys are on to something with the soil temp.
Oh and I have both seeds I collected last year, and seeds packs I bought with this years date on them.

Cricket ,

It occurs to me, just when you think you have the plants or seeds figured out,
ole mom nature changes something.

It is true , Hubby farms and we have seen everything when it comes to temperatues..

Keep trying.

b

thanks, dodge!
you remind me of one of my neighbors. he has farmed for years. sometimes I ask him specific questions on what to plant when... and how much sun, and compost, and watering requirements. he grins and says 'well, I don't know? if you plant enough seeds and keep them moist something will come up'. ha ha
he is retired now, but grows a butt load of veggies and sells to the big city 'farmers market'.
I'm beginning to think that growing is one of those things that deserves the old saying 'the more you learn, the more you realize how little you know'.

Cricket ,
Your getting there. Your correct.

Sowing seeds is like a game of chance.
Like they say in the bible, No one has greater demonstration of Faith , then the man who plants a whole farm of seeds and expects it to grow.(Farmers)

Sometime it works sometime not........
Things like, too much rain, not enough rain,
too cold, too warm , everything effects the out come of the crops.

Thanks for listening.

I still think it's the seeds if they're all not coming up and they're all from the same pack. that's just too weird that none of them come up.

tomorrow I'm gonna replant the oragano and peppers and some of the flowering plants that didn't come up on the first go around.
the first time around they were indoors. now, my seed packs stay outside unless we get another freeze.
it will be interesting if this second group comes up or not.
I'll let yall know.
this spring I'm only growing in the garden what I can germinate from seeds.....at least that is the plan. I'm fairly new to seeds, but in my 6 years of gardening I've never gone a summer without peppers.

You're like me with temps, you can start everything outside and it seems to work better.

I think you're right about the peppers though. They have to start early.

Speaking of starting from seed...

If you start them in those little mini-greenhouses that have the plastic lids, aren't you supposed to "vent" the greenhouse once all the seeds have sprouted? Are you supposed to do that for only a short time each day? Or does it stay vented until the first set of true leaves show?

I have one of those full of tomato sprouts right now, and I propped the lid open a little bit. I'm just wondering if I need to close it up for the night or leave it be.

Thanks in advance!

Annette

I don't know a thing about venting or not venting in mini greenhouses.

all I know is down here Lowes, Walmart ect already have tomatoes and peppers outdoors, and they stay out. maybe if another freeze comes along, maybe they take them indoors? I used to wait to buy or plant maters until our night time temps were in the 50's. then I realized the big retailers leave theirs out when it's still in the 40's at night here.

I've always wanted to get one of those mini greenhouse sets though. I've seen them for veggis and for flowers and plants. are they as nifty as one might think?

The ones I have are fairly cheap. Each one has 72 2" cells, and is in 3 pieces. The base (to catch and hold water), the cells (all formed together in one piece), and the lid. You fill them with starting soil, moisten the soil, drop a seed or 2 in each cell, cover with a thin layer of more starting soil, and water. Set the lid on top and walk away. It took me 45 minutes to plant 216 cells of tomatoes, bell peppers, and eggplants this past Monday and 69 of the 72 cells of Romas are already sprouted. I have one cell of the 72 Big Boys that I planted sprouting, and one of 36 eggplants. No peppers yet. Once they have their second set of true leaves, you can transplant them into bigger pots, or, if it's time, put them out. At least, that's what I was told. We'll see if it really happens that way! LOL

They are really convient, and stack inside each other once you're done with them. I like them so far. Did I mention that this is my first time with them?! LOL

Annette

best of luck.
and YES, don't transplant any of them until they have their first set of true leaves.
and back to the venting....as long as temp's outside the greenhouse are okey dokey, you can never go wrong with air circulation.
(when transplanting maters, plant them deep - up to the first set of leaves)

Cricket

Here is another lil trick to try on seeds to test for germination.
Take a paper towel , set it put seeds in it an fold it over.
Place in a plastic lunch bag seal.. In about a week it will start germinating if it is in a warm spot .. I did that lots and just planted them in soil.

b

thanks for reminding me of that dodge. I had forgotten that little trick. and if they don't sprout in the damp paper towel they're no good, right?

Have enjoyed reading this thread. Guess I'll jump in with my 2 cents. Gardening from my experience of many years is like what an old farmer used to tell me. Weather and the land will promise you so much and give you so little then promise so little and give you so much. Never give up till the plant dies. And I've seen that so many times. I've seem people pull tomatoes in July or August because of no fruit and then in Sept I would have a bumper crop. Another old timer always said he never had to go to Vegas. That he gambled more than most of them out there did with every crop he put in. And gardening is the same. I haven't had too many that I've been shut out but the yield varies from year to year doing it the same.
Germinating peppers. First some varieties take longer and they like more heat. I germinate mine usually in the bathroom where I keep them warmer or use a heating pad or mat. If outside it would need to be warm. You can move them as soon as they germinate. Some peppers can take 2-3 weeks in good conditions. I've grown a few varieties that said 21-25 days. So don't give up. But would keep them a little warmer if possible.
As far as transplanting. I have and know some that have moved tomatoes after two days. Just get under the cell and don't handle the stem. They never slow down in my experience. Jay

I use trays with lids for germinating my seeds, so I can speak to the "venting" question. As soon as I see germination, not just one cell but a few, I take that lid off completely and get those guys under lights. I cover the cells with no germination with cling film until they come up, so there's still a humidity chamber over the cell. If you leave the lid on, the seedlings that have come up get leggy in a hurry. If you leave it off without covering the un-germinated cells, they can dry out too quickly and lose heat. Nightshades (tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, tomatillos) like heat and humidity for germination. Deprive them of one or both and they may not come out and play for you.

Oh how I loved the way you worded that advice.True for sure.

b