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Gary350
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Seed germination question?

How long does it take pepper seeds to germinate?

My Son gave me 3 kinds of New hot pepper seeds packs he wants me to grow some plants for him to plant in his yard. He planted seeds in pots and seeds in the soil none have grown plants. Crazy weather could be the problem.

I did germination tests like we did in college 50 years ago, fold the seeds in a wet paper towel and keep them warm and wet many seeds will germinate in 2 to 7 days. It has been 2 weeks pepper seeds are not growing?

April I bought New packs of bell pepper seeds and mild Mexican red chili pepper seeds and planted some in the garden and some in pots they never grew. I figured the crazy weather was the problem so I bought plants.

What are the odds that 5 new packs of seeds are all bad?

In the past I have saved my own garden pepper seeds and planted them in my spring garden and they grew but I do not remember how long it took pepper seeds to germinate that was many years ago. My save tomatoes seeds too they always germinate and grow in the garden in about 1 week

I assume all pepper seeds will germinate in about the same length of time?.

PaulF
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All my peppers and tomatoes are grown indoors under controlled environments, so the germination times may differ from direct sown conditions. If they are going to germinate they will in your mentioned two to seven days. For me, hot peppers are first and sweets a couple of days later. Soil temperature, soil moisture, soil condition and even birds or other animals may have contributed to lack of germination. The odds of five new seed packets with zero germination is very high unless the 'new' seed packs were really old (four or five years old) and passed off as new seed. Even 10% germination should have given you a few plants.

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jal_ut
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Peppers are slow to germinate. 3 weeks perhaps? At least that has been my experience.

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Gary350
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jal_ut wrote:Peppers are slow to germinate. 3 weeks perhaps? At least that has been my experience.
I was wondering if maybe pepper seeds are slow. The seed packs I bought at Walmart are dated a year ago, maybe they are still good. My son says 1 of his seed packs it dated 3 years ago and he bought his at Walmart too a few months ago. Walmart has 2 seed racks, $2.99 and 99¢. I bought my seeds on the 99¢ rack.

It is getting to late in the season to be waiting around for pepper seeds to grow so I bought 4 pack plant trays 1/2 price at the garden store. I bought 4 hobanero plants and 4 jalapeno plants of $1.79 and 1 scorpion pepper plant in a larger pot $2 they are all planted. My son should be happy with that. If he has too many peppers I can make paint stripper with them.

jasonvanorder
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Ive never had any luck starting peppers or tomatoes from seed so cant help there. But I have the same problem you have with watermelon and pumpkins. Planted both on memorial day and still nothing. This past weekend I ended up going to the local greenhouse and grabs some melon plants.

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jal_ut
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"But I have the same problem you have with watermelon and pumpkins. Planted both on memorial day and still nothing."

That is odd. Usually watermelon and pumpkin come right up. I wonder if you have some bug or critter that is eating your seed/plant?

Try doing a germination test. Soak the seed overnight in a cup of water, then put the seed in a damp paper towel and put the paper towel in a plastic bag and set it on the kitchen counter for a few days. Check to see if the seed has germinated.

imafan26
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Peppers need warmth to germinate so they do not germinate well when it is cold. They like between 70-85 degrees. Hotter doesn't work as well either. You can use the paper towel method, but I just try to plant them the first two weeks of the month.

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rainbowgardener
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Pepper seeds don't have to be slow to germinate, given the right conditions. Starting mine indoors on heat mats, they usually sprout in five days.



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