it can take up to six weeks to germinate a chile seed.

i use a heating pad and a humidity dome. chile seeds need to be a whole lot warmer than tmater seeds.

also try some salt peter. ive not needed it myself becuase a few weeks of warmpth under the dome usually does it for me, but some chiles need to pass through a bird's digestive tract first (eg., bird peppers) so salt peter is used to coax them a bit.

We really need to know what temps you are starting them at. Try putting some vermiculite in a shallow pan, place seeds on top of the mix, cover pan with Saran Wrap or similar, poke a few air holes to provide oxygen and place on heating pad. Stick thermometer inside pan before covering so can easily read.

If vermiculite has been properly hydrated you should see a light buildup of condensation on inner top surface of plastic wrap. You want temps of aprox 85°.

A radicle (will be the tap root) should be visible in 4 to 6 days indicating the seed is sprouting. If no radicle by 10 days (or sooner) sprinkle some more seeds on the surface.

Use a spray bottle of water to mist the seeds day one and repeat if condensation not visible day two etc.

jt

"it can take up to six weeks to germinate a chile seed"

Wow! That long? I was hearing something like one week. Perhaps I should be more patient.

"We really need to know what temps you are starting them at. Try putting some vermiculite in a shallow pan, place seeds on top of the mix, cover pan with Saran Wrap or similar, poke a few air holes to provide oxygen and place on heating pad. Stick thermometer inside pan before covering so can easily read. "

That's similar to what I've been trying lately, only without the thermometer. They feel fairly warm, but I know that's not very scientific. I'll try to find a thermometer and see if I'm getting them warm enough.

Where did you buy your seeds?

2005 seed starting was a failure for me. I went out and spent a couple dollars and bought strong/healthy plants to put right into the garden. Awesome yields.

Don't get discouraged. It takes time and patience.

I learned all my mistakes and decided to tackle it again. My seedlings looks stronger then ever and this message board has attributed to my success so far.

Real simple. Forget all that fancy smancy stuff like paper towels, warm light, cool light...

This is what I do:

 Use Scotts Seed Starting Soil.
 Put soil into cell trays, they work the best and no worries about santitizing them.
 Put seed at depth according to label.
 Spray(not pour) water on top just enough to make top of soil wet.
 Place tray(or peat pot) near baseboard heater. Keep them warm near 70 degrees warmer if you can. Not above 80.
 No need for light but I used the sunlight for warmth.
 Water once the top of dirt looks dry. Try to keep moist.
 Once seedlings emerge, place under fluorescent light. I use 20 watts cool white,for 12 hours.6pm-6am.
 Daytime they are in the sunlight in warm room.
 Make sure they stay moist.
 After 1 week, I give them air circulation with a fan thatÂs on at least 6 hours a day. I vary that depending when I'm home.

"Where do you buy your seeds?"

Excellent question. Where do you buy them?

Where did I buy them, you ask?

Well, a couple varieties are store-bought Burpee seeds, I think one or two are from Pinetree, and one or two are GardenWeb trades.

The thing I'm afraid of is that all of them are at least three years old. That didn't seem very old to me, but maybe it is. They've been stored in a closet, nothing special. Their age is the only thing I can think of that might be the big problem here, if it's not the warmth or just me not giving them enough time.

Reason I asked is If you bought them from Reimers I would stop right there..,

Germination ~ major issues
1. Depth of planting, no more than the width of the seed.
2. Soil. If you used garden soil, it might be too dense or you might have seed maggots.
3. Moisture, realitivly damp but not swamp like..
4. If you bottom water, your seeds might not float away.
5. Soil temperature, 86F/30C is ideal
6. No Fertilizer.

Try my tea presoak with 3 YO seeds, must of the time it helps

Sounds like you bought your seeds from Reimer's.

email me

John

I thought seeds only last 2 or 3 years? Could be the problem.

Yeah, after eliminating all the other possibilities, I'm thinking the seeds are just too old. For some reason I thought pepper seeds lasted a long time. Tomato seeds do.

It's a shame. This happened because I lived in a place for a few years that didn't have room for a grow light, so I couldn't grow my own transplants and was buying them from a nursery. Now I have a grow light setup again, I take out the seeds that I've been hoarding all this time, and they didn't wait for me. *sigh*

I was also uncertain because I had pepper seeds before that lasted longer than this. Maybe this time around they just got a little too warm in the moving truck or in storage or something. *shrug*

I went ahead and planted a whole bunch of them just to see if any come up at all.

Oh, and John, I emailed you a couple of days ago. Did you get it?

Seeds last more than two or three years with minimal care-just keep dry and not too warm.

Did not get your email

After germination, I use jiffy peep pellets...They have never failed me...Buy fresh seeds, alot cheaper than buying starts.....Warmth is the key, IMO, w/ getting good results w/ starting most seeds. Heat and moisture are critical. You'll get it....

good growin'...

Lots of folks use lots of methods to start their seeds.
My method
Start them 8 to 10 weeks before your last frost date. You can get this info from your county extension office
Plant in soiless ( NOT potting soil) medium ( you can find seed starting mix at the Mart).
Keep the soil moist but not sopping wet- no fertilizer till after they are up
I keep the tray coverd with a plastic dome cover so the soil doesn't dry out. Ideal is a constant just moist.
Bottom heat- I have a heat mat, lots of folks just use a cheap heating pad- I shoot for 80 to 85 degrees.
Once they are up they need to go under lights- I use cheap 40 watt flourescents in a shop light.
John

Thanks for the help guys, but I think my seeds are probably just not viable anymore. I've kept them warm, I've kept them moist, I've waited and waited, and still all I have is this one tobasco.

I'm still just not sure what made this happen to my peppers and not my other seeds. So far my tomatoes, eggplants, and tomatillos all came up under lights with the heating pad (same conditions as the peppers). The cole crops and peas planted out in the garden sprouted just fine. All my seeds were kept in the same box, and I'm just having trouble with the peppers.

I've also kept pepper seeds longer than three years before, and they still sprouted (in fact, I've never had trouble germinating pepper seeds before). I guess it was just a combination of things that happened these last two years that weren't conducive to pepper seed viability. Who knows?

This morning I went ahead and planted almost all the pepper seeds I have left. Might as well try it and see if any come up at all. Don't see what good it would do to keep any of these seeds for another year.

Not sure if this came up, maybe its the soil. I bought a cell tray at Walmart and the soil seemed so brittle and wasn't absorbing water, the seeds never germinated. I changed soils and whalah, up the came.

Could be the container you're using.

Sorry if these were covered, just to lazy to look through them now.