A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2007 Pepper seed starting

Hello everyone!

I read something curious on another post about how long it takes peppers to germinate, but didn't want to sidetrack that post.

I have some bell pepper seeds I saved from last years garden and put them in a bio dome on top of the fridge about 4 weeks ago, but nothing has come up (60 seeds). Should I toss them or wait a bit longer?

I ordered some other pepper seeds and put them in another bio dome 2 weeks ago and they are about 3 inches tall.

Thanks!

Shawn

peppers can be funny sometimes, and unless they have the exact right conditions they can take for ever it seems to sprout, But 4 weeks is a bit to long, I would gently dig around in the soil and see if you can find any seeds and see what they are doing..it is possible that they could have rotted if it was too moist in the bio dome. What kind of peppers were they? Sweet or Hot?

How were your seeds stored?

Hello,

The peppers were bell pepper plants I bought locally. I had them next to a bunch of different hot peppers. I did this on purpose wanting to see what cross pollination would do.

I dried the seeds on paper towels in the house and put them into leftover seed packets.

I really hoped they would germinate, but think it may be a lost cause. I'm not sure why, but will probably try the same thing this year.

Shawn

If they were exposed to any moisture it will destroy any long term viability. Also, when drying seeds, you need to let them dry for days before putting them in storage.

Thanks John. I dried the seeds well and stored them in an area that was dry and cool. Other seeds I stored germinated just fine.

Anyway, I tossed out those peppers I was trying to grow. I think I may not have disenfected the biodome well enough. I scrubbed it down and am trying the few of the left over seeds plus some others I have. If everything starts, except those pepper seeds, then I will know it is the seeds.

Thanks again for all the advice.

Shawn

Shawn,
Try taking one of those pepper seeds and put it in a moistened paper towel and enclose that in a small plastic bag or just wrap the whole thing in plastic wrap. Put this on top of your fridge and wait a week. After a week, open it up and see what's going on. If it didn't sprout, there is something wrong with the seeds. If it did, maybe it's the soil, container, too much watering or not enough. So many things can go wrong with seeds, and we blame ourselves for this, where it could be something we can't control. Can't loose anything, but maybe learn something.
joyce