Curious as to what is going on with mailed seeds

pooklette · April 12, 2006

This is the first year I've ever had germination issues. I do not have any saved seed of my own to compare with, but I can say that the seed I had left over from last year performed wonderfully. The seed I ordered this year from TGSC and Victory were all terribly slow to germinate. Since I have heard rave reviews of both places, I assumed the problem must be due to my own error somehow. Below is a list of the seeds that sprouted twenty days or more after the second sowing. None of these varieties sprouted on the first try.

Azoychka
Primrose Gage
White Wonder
Marianna's Peace
Prudens Purple
Caspian Pink
Kellogg's Breakfast
Yellow BW Platfoot
Black Krim
Black Cherry
Silvery Fir Tree
Siletz

Over 30% of my new seeds had to be begged and pleaded with to germinate. All of my seeds left over from last year came up within 7 days.

The new seeds were mailed in bubble mailers, and sealed in paper packets. The Victory seeds were in plastic baggies within paper packets even.

I know that there was no issue of my seeds getting wet or crushed because they all looked perfect when I opened the packets at planting time. One factor that is probably relevant here but might not be where the rest of you are...when my seeds shipped, we were in the middle of a vicious cold snap. We had two weeks of beautiful spring-esque warm weather and then all of a sudden, overnight, BAM. Below zero temps.

I'm not sure if this info fits in with the problems the rest of you have seen, but I thought I'd add it in anyway in case it turns out to be relevant.

April 12, 2006	#19
pooklette Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Zone 5 Posts: 262	This is the first year I've ever had germination issues. I do not have any saved seed of my own to compare with, but I can say that the seed I had left over from last year performed wonderfully. The seed I ordered this year from TGSC and Victory were all terribly slow to germinate. Since I have heard rave reviews of both places, I assumed the problem must be due to my own error somehow. Below is a list of the seeds that sprouted twenty days or more after *the second sowing*. None of these varieties sprouted on the first try. Azoychka Primrose Gage White Wonder Marianna's Peace Prudens Purple Caspian Pink Kellogg's Breakfast Yellow BW Platfoot Black Krim Black Cherry Silvery Fir Tree Siletz Over 30% of my new seeds had to be begged and pleaded with to germinate. All of my seeds left over from last year came up within 7 days. The new seeds were mailed in bubble mailers, and sealed in paper packets. The Victory seeds were in plastic baggies within paper packets even. I know that there was no issue of my seeds getting wet or crushed because they all looked perfect when I opened the packets at planting time. One factor that is probably relevant here but might not be where the rest of you are...when my seeds shipped, we were in the middle of a vicious cold snap. We had two weeks of beautiful spring-esque warm weather and then all of a sudden, overnight, BAM. Below zero temps. I'm not sure if this info fits in with the problems the rest of you have seen, but I thought I'd add it in anyway in case it turns out to be relevant.