Rosepetal -
When you say you have new
seed do you refer to purchasing a packet of
seeds recently? If so, those
seeds can be old or diseased. Some companies are notorious for selling such
seed. Very poor germination means old
seeds. Some
seeds will not be viable even if kept just over the winter.
A virus was found in
seeds several years ago. Plants grown from those
seeds and in turn
seeds saved from those affected plants might still be carrying the virus and showing up for sale.
Not every
seed planted is going to produce a plant. Look on your
seed package for the viability rate. Alyssum is a very slow
growing plant and then when it does get going its roots get disturbed in transplanting and it slows down again. Even in letting alyssum reseed it doesn't start
growing until the middle of June.
Alyssum resents disturbed roots. Fill individudal coir pots with soil. Sprinkle a few
seeds on top. When
seedlings appear remove all but one. When weather permits planting out then plant the coir pot directly into the ground. If using peat pots the tops need to be cut back and the bottom removed. Coir pots remove that hassle.