When do you give up waiting?

[Harry Cabluck]

What ddsack said!

[greenthumbomaha]

Just had to laugh. I am over a month late starting seeds this year. My take on the question is when do I stop waiting for the perfect afternoon and start seeding

- Lisa

[oakley]

I usually see tomatoes 3-10 days.
I usually see peppers 7-14 days.

First tray sown 1.21.20 36 cell 1010 tray
Way early but I do this every year. Germination and soil testing, one seed per cell.
4 varieties of peppers, one dwarf, 4 micros.

Today is 1.28.20. ...6.5 days from sowing
All tomato varieties are up starting day three. Three empty cells
Three of the peppers are showing out of 12 cells

As expected
This is my confidence tray

[Greatgardens]

Two weeks. Then throw it out and completely re-start with new mix, plastic pot, etc.

[Hatgirl]

I didn't get a single seedling from one variety, so before I re-sowed, I soaked some seeds for 24hrs in warm water with a few drops of fertilizer. I sowed them three days ago and today I have my first seedling.
I'll keep the failures for a while out of curiosity utlntil I run out of space.

[KarenO]

I think plant vigor starts with seed vigor.
Do plants from poorly/slowly germinating seeds, a month behind your others do well for you? I think normal healthy fresh tomato seeds should germinate in good conditions in under ten days at most.
New seed, new seedling mix in a new pot after ten days of no germination I would say for myself.
Exceptions could be made for old or somehow special seed in which case I think a pre treatment such as soaking in a dilute H2O2 solution or weak fertilizer would be a good idea and more likely to be successful.
Planting more than you need in order to be able to select the best plants right from the start is a good idea.
The best tomatoes come from the best plants that come from the best seedlings that come from the best vigorous fast germinating seeds.
KarenO

[NarnianGarden]

I haven't seen a difference. Some very miserable seedlings grew into gorgeous plants with the help from a nurturing gardener..

[Greatgardens]

Originally Posted by ContainerTed

Last year was a total disaster for me when I encountered a bag of mix that killed everything.

(snip...)

I was skeptical of "bad potting mix," (and I've heard this before, also), but then it happened to me! I planted using some very old potting mix, and only about half of the varieties I had sown came up. Some varieties germinated fine, but others -- nothing. I replanted those that didn't sprout using a "fresh" bag of potting mix, and 4-6 days later, up they came. Color me a believer!

-GG