My Bell Pepprs arent Germinating

[AverageWalrus]

I planted them on February 23rd, and they still Have not Germinated. The only thing that has germinated that I planted that day so far is a Blanket Flower which I just Noticed today. In case you are wondering, the seeds are from Burpee

[JC's Garden]

I need temperatures in the upper 70's to get a good germination rate. What's it like at your location?

[lakngulf]

Peppers and Eggplant always slow to germinate. I have learned to use a heating pad the help with the peppers. Worked great this year, but I have had years when I wondered if I would ever see any pepper plants.

[AverageWalrus]

I don't have any Covers or Heating Pads, but I do keep them next to a Window in my laundry room, where it is hotter than the other rooms in my house, and even then, the temp of my house is 71 degrees Farenheit, so I'm suspecting its a combo of Soil Temp and Peppers being slow germinators

[imafan26]

Sweet peppers seem to germinate better at lower temperatures than hot peppers. I don't cover my seeds, they seem to sprout best when they are exposed to light. I do have to cover my tray though to keep the birds from eating the seeds.

[rainbowgardener]

Peppers germinate for me in about 4-5 days sitting on the heating pads. They probably makes the soil a bit above 80 degrees.

If your bell peppers haven't germinated in two weeks, I would give up on them and start over.

Crops - Peppers

32ºF - 0%, 41ºF - 0%, 50ºF -1%, 59ºF- 70 (25) , 68ºF-96(13), 77ºF - 98(8), 86ºF -95(8), 95ºF - 70(9), 104ºF - 0%


https://tomclothier.hort.net/page11.html

this is his report on effect of soil temp on germination rate and time. So at the three lowest temperatures 0 or 1 % of the pepper seeds germinated. At 59 degF 70% germinated, but it took them 25 days. At 68 deg F, 96% germinated in an average of 13 days. At 77 degF , almost all of them 98% germinated, at an average of 8 days.

The trouble is if the seeds are taking 13 days to germinate, that is 13 days the conditions have to be kept perfect. If the seeds dry out, they will die. If the seeds stay too moist, they will rot out and die. So the longer it takes to germinate them, the less success you are likely to have. I suspect that his report is with perfectly consistent conditions in a lab, but we can't all do that.

Honestly, I wouldn't even try germinating peppers without my heat mats. They aren't very expensive. You can get the ones like this, sized for one 10x20 tray, for about $20

[imafan26]

The other thing would be the freshness of the seeds. Pepper seeds are good for 3 years if stored correctly. Fresher seeds germinate better. Float some seeds, keep the sinkers.

Bell peppers can take a long time to germinate up to a month. As Rainbow said, heat helps with germination although bell peppers do not need as much heat as hot peppers and the seeds do have to be kept evenly moist, but not soggy or they will dampen off.

Soaking pepper seeds in potassium nitrate helps with germination.
This link tells you how to make it. By the way. Potassium nitrate = Stump remover. You can get it at home depot or Walmart. Just look at the ingredients on the container.

https://homeguides.sfgate.com/use-potass ... 87038.html

[rainbowgardener]

I don't know, imafan. Your experience is really different. I have never had bell peppers take more than 7-8 days to germinate. HOT peppers can be slower and really hot peppers like the scorpions and ghost peppers are reputed to be very slow to germinate, in that month range you were talking about. But I have never heard any one say bell peppers can take a month to germinate. Under what conditions would that be?

But good suggestion about soaking the seeds. My bell pepper seeds were three years old this year and had been allowed (bad me! ) to dry out pretty much. I didn't think about it and tried planting them straight from the envelope and got a pretty low germination rate. I started over and soaked the seeds in plain water over night and got much better results.

[applestar]

I think since imafan starts seeds outdoors, they are subject to fluctuating day/night temperatures with night time temps being on the low side of ideal. I believe for starting seeds, fairly steady optimum temperature makes a difference in how quickly they germinate.

Since your seed starting setup is in the basement, rainbowgardener, I would think the temps don't swing as much (probably warmer while the lights are on though -- I wonder by how much?)

[rainbowgardener]

oh right, I wasn't thinking about planting pepper seeds directly in the ground, which I have never tried.

I don't know about temperature swings in my basement, which is a pretty controlled environment. I will say at the beginning of this year's seed starting season, I thought maybe it would approximate natural conditions more if I turned the heat pads down at night when I turn the lights off (what I have is regular heat pads for people, which just have High Med Low settings). I first tried putting them on Low at night, but in the morning, the soil would be cold. So then I tried putting them on Med. I did that for longer, but I decided that things weren't doing as well. With such small amounts of soil (it's just the little cells that are on the heat pads), the soil temp swings that way were way more than the ground would ever do. So I went back to just leaving the heat on High all the time. So soil temp is constantly warm.

[NJ Bob]

I put my banana pepper seeds on a heating mat on March 1. It is only this morning that I saw some significant sproutage.

[imafan26]

Actually, I start all of my seeds on an outdoor bench. When the weather is cool, like now with the night temperatures in the 50' and 60's, sweet peppers and tomatoes germinate, albeit slower than normal, up to two weeks. If I tried to grow ghost peppers, they would not germinate at all. Germination is much better when my night temperature is consistently 68 degrees or better.

Most of the time it works out if I just wait. I had a heat mat once, but, since I don't regularly do germination indoors, I kept forgetting about the seeds and I would forget to turn the heat mat on or off.

Temperature does definitely affect the germination rate and if you can keep a constant temperature between 70-80 degrees, they will germinate a lot faster.

[rainbowgardener]

Well, as noted, I never turn the heat mat off or even down. Consistent warmth works well. What that does mean is (for indoor growing anyway or outdoor if you aren't getting plenty of rain) is that you have to pay very close attention to water. What is on the heat mat is just the little cells. By the time the plants are in pots, they are off the mats. The small amount of soil in the cells dries out very fast with the constant warmth. I do bottom watering and I usually add water twice a day to the trays on the heat mats. The lights I turn on and off. I could get a timer to do that, but I like looking at my little seedlings twice a day.

[AverageWalrus]

I just got some new Pepper seeds at a Wal-Mart (Same Variety as last time) and I'm going to pre-soak in warm water for 2 hrs, but how hot should the water be (lukewarm?)

[applestar]

78-80°F would be my guess -- that's what I've been doing using an aquarium heater in a 2 gal bucket. I put the seeds in a tiny zip closed seed/bead bag squirt some water in, zip them closed and out them in a ziplock bag filled with water so it would sink.

[AverageWalrus]

78-80°F would be my guess -- that's what I've been doing using an aquarium heater in a 2 gal bucket. I put the seeds in a tiny zip closed seed/bead bag squirt some water in, zip them closed and out them in a ziplock bag filled with water so it would sink.

I just put them in a solo cup with 80 degree water, some sank as I put them in, good to know I have viable seeds right off the bat

[AverageWalrus]

I have been soaking the pepper seeds for 2 hours now, I got a good range of Viable to non-viable (20 out of 25 are viable)

[AverageWalrus]

I have finally put my Peppers (as well as some Cilantro, Tomatoes, and Strawflower) on a Heating mat I found in my house, I'm hoping they will germinate soon

[AverageWalrus]

At long last, finally, a pepper has sprouted! I saw it only a few seconds ago after turning the heating pad on again. Also, what should I do, should I move it near a window or leave It on the heating pad a day or two more?

[imafan26]

I would put a light over the flat and leave them on the mat for a while longer until they are well up. It depends on the difference in temperature and light between where they are now and where you are planning to put them.

[Penny1]

I am having the same problem. Been about 2 weeks and only 1 has sprouted out of 5.

I will try the heat mat, have been keeping them next to a wood stove but it isn't always burning and warm, do you use the heat mat 24x7? I am a little afraid of keeping it on when not home

[rainbowgardener]

Yes, I use my heating pads 24/7 for at least three months every year, leaving them on continuously all that time. It has never been any problem. Your plants need the heat continuously. I did try early this season turning them down to low at night and back up and it significantly slowed down plant development.

And yes you need to leave your plants on the heat mats at least until they get fully developed true leaves. Since space on the heat mats is always at a premium for me, I have done the experiment. The plants that get moved off the heat too soon, are considerably smaller than their "sisters" who remain on the heat longer and it takes them a long time to catch up, even after all the plants are off the heat.

[Penny1]

Thank you Rainbow

I did put a heating pad on the ones that haven't sprouted but did move the ones that did sprout off the heating pad and put them under a light with no heat :/

I only have 1 little heating pad right now it is under the ones that haven't germinated

- if I get more or a larger one do they have much effect on the electric bill? Mine is already awful, the price they charge keeps going up!

[Penny1]

The heating pad worked! all my peppers finally popped except for 1 straggler, thanks!

[NJ Bob]

Great! Peppers are among the slowest germinators. It's a good feeling when something finally happens.

[Penny1]

It sure is I just realized mine aren't bells, should have used a different thread but the advice worked anyway

[Mr green]

I am having the same problem. Been about 2 weeks and only 1 has sprouted out of 5.

I will try the heat mat, have been keeping them next to a wood stove but it isn't always burning and warm, do you use the heat mat 24x7? I am a little afraid of keeping it on when not home

I don't know how close you put it but watch out for dehydration in the pots/plantstarters its not favourable for them until a while after they sprout. I don't use heat mats personally, have them quite cold considering recomendations and tho might be slow I have +90% germ rate on peppers. Sometimes if has old seeds can take more time as well.