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  • From: Road's End Farm <organic87 AT frontiernet.net>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] solanum germination problems
  • Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:20:41 -0500


On Mar 11, 2010, at 1:26 PM, Amy Rice-Jones wrote:

Hello all,

I discovered this week that sweet peppers, tomatoes and eggplants that I sowed 2-4 weeks ago have had very little or no germination. I cannot figure out why this is happened. I have dug up some seeds and it appears that they did not rot as I opened up the seed and the endosperm looks good and has imbibed some water. There were a few pepper seeds that had a root radicle sticking out that looked a bit rotten so maybe that flat got over watered but that does not explain the tomato or eggplant seeds that appear to still be viable but have not stuck out a root radicle. The later two crops appear to have been sown too deeply so maybe this is the problem? Any thoughts? My soil mix is 3 parts compost, 2 parts coco peat, and 1 part perlite. All the trays are on a heating mat.  Is it possible that the tomato and eggplant seeds dried out and this stopped the germination process? I hand water so I know I have cut it close sometimes but am usually good about not letting the trays dry out while they are germinating. I would appreciate any thoughts on why this has happened.


How old is the seed? Viability in pepper seed, at least, can drop off abruptly, so that seed that was fine last year may have little or no germination this year.

What temperature are you actually getting in the soil? The heat mats may be running too hot or too cold.

Do you have domes or other covers over the flats to keep them from drying out? If not, that might help (though if they've already germinated and then dried out, you may need to start again with fresh seed.) If you do, are the flats exposed to strong light? Sunlight or other lights on trays covered with clear plastic domes can cause them to overheat, especially if they're also on a heat mat.

Are you using home made compost? If it's not finished enough, it might be inhibiting germination; if it didn't get hot enough during the composting process, it might have some organism living in it that is inhibiting germination. (If you're using a purchased compost, check with the manufacturer whether it's recommended for seed starting use.) Oh yes -- was any ingredient of the compost straw or hay from sources that might have applied herbicide to the fields? There's a long lasting herbicide that survives the composting process and has caused problems in potting soil or mulches -- I can't think of the name right now, and don't know whether it got pulled of the market.

Did all the seed come from the same source, and get shipped to you in one package? If so, maybe it got mishandled in transit? What is your seed storage like -- could the seed have gotten too hot or too damp before you planted it?

That's all I can think of right now (but I hope it doesn't happen to me, whatever it is!) 

-- Rivka; Finger Lakes NY, Zone 5 mostly
Fresh-market organic produce, small scale






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