Differences in sprouting time between varieties.

throwaway · March 26, 2017

I started 3-6 seeds per variety of 10 different tomato, plus 4 each of 4 varieties of peppers. Also about 15 cauliflower. Paper towel in bag germination method. Of those:

Cauliflower sprouted immediately at nearly 100%.
Peppers have been sluggish - some varieties are ~90%, others closer to 60%. No supplemental heat and temp is in the 60's, so that makes some sense.
Three of the ten tomatoes have a near 100% germ rate. Including 4-5 year old seed.
Most of the others are up in the 85-90% range.

But two of my four cherry varieties are absolutely reluctant. Same method, same conditions, new seeds. 1 in 6 sprouted in about 14 days from one and 0 of 4 in 7 days of the other.

I'm jumping the gun and imagine a warmer situation would help. Putting my anecdote per variety below:

Ferry Morse (older) - ~90% - 3 days
Cherokee Purple - about 90% - 7 days
Green Zebra - 100%, 7-14 days
Early Girl - near 100%, 5-7 days
Lucid Gem - 2/2 - 7 days
Black Beauty - 1/2 - 7 days
Barry's Crazy - 0/4 - 7 days
Husky Cherry Red - 90% - 7 days
Fox Cherry - (1/4) - 14 days
Black Vernissage - 100% - 3 days

Will update as things progress. Any suggestions appreciated.

March 26, 2017	#1
throwaway Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2016 Location: Zone 6 Posts: 92	Differences in sprouting time between varieties. I started 3-6 seeds per variety of 10 different tomato, plus 4 each of 4 varieties of peppers. Also about 15 cauliflower. Paper towel in bag germination method. Of those: Cauliflower sprouted immediately at nearly 100%. Peppers have been sluggish - some varieties are ~90%, others closer to 60%. No supplemental heat and temp is in the 60's, so that makes some sense. Three of the ten tomatoes have a near 100% germ rate. Including 4-5 year old seed. Most of the others are up in the 85-90% range. But two of my four cherry varieties are absolutely reluctant. Same method, same conditions, new seeds. 1 in 6 sprouted in about 14 days from one and 0 of 4 in 7 days of the other. I'm jumping the gun and imagine a warmer situation would help. Putting my anecdote per variety below: Ferry Morse (older) - ~90% - 3 days Cherokee Purple - about 90% - 7 days Green Zebra - 100%, 7-14 days Early Girl - near 100%, 5-7 days Lucid Gem - 2/2 - 7 days Black Beauty - 1/2 - 7 days Barry's Crazy - 0/4 - 7 days Husky Cherry Red - 90% - 7 days Fox Cherry - (1/4) - 14 days Black Vernissage - 100% - 3 days Will update as things progress. Any suggestions appreciated.