Some data on pepper seed starting success vs seed age

[nctomatoman]

One of my favorite parts of the gardening season is collecting data on my seeds - (don't laugh...not sure what that says about me!).

But - using the seed starting method that I've posted elsewhere, I have some very early results.

First flat of hot peppers -

seed saved in 2005:

32 cells,

18 germinated in 5 days
10 germinated in 6 days
2 germinated in 7 days
2 don't show anything yet.

Germination ranges from 100% (for 5 of the cells) down to 30% (for one cell), with most around 75-80% (giving me 15-20 plants per cell).

Seed saved in 2004:

9 cells

4 germinated in 5 days
6 germinated in 6 days
2 germinated in 7 days

Germination ranges from 100% (in 2 cells) to 35% (in one cell), with the rest around 80%.

Seed saved in 2003:

5 cells

2 germinated in 5 days
1 germinated in 7 days
2 show nothing yet.

Germination from 50% (one cell) to 100% (two cells).

The other cells has 2002 or purchased seed.

A few observations -

The Hab types have lower germination than other types (probably because it is harder to get the seeds good and dry - they tend to adhere to the placenta, so some retain moisture, which may lead to loss of viability on storage). They also seem to experience stuck seed coats more than other types.

Rocotos lose viability very quickly, or else I just don't have a good touch with them. None of the 3 types I planted - seed ranging from 2002 to 2005 saved - have come up yet (last year, I got a few, but germination was around 10-15%).

Little Nubian is a really tough variety to save and get good viability in saved seed - I paid close attention last year to harvest time and sufficient drying, but I am still getting low germination this year, and it also experiences stuck seed coats more than many.

Pretty Purple is the one ornamental hot I grow that has the more trouble with stuck seed coats.

Overall, though, I am having good success - and they are up pretty rapidly as well. Even the 2003 seed is for the most part germinating very well.

[Love2Troll]

That is incredibly poor % for rocotos. Unless you purchased seed from the infamous Reimers the % should easily be in the 90s and germination time within 10 days, 2 weeks max at 85°F or so. If I don't see a radicle in 4-6 days (I surface sow) I replant.

After-ripening and slow drying will help raise the %. Let the pods age another 3-4 weeks after full maturity before harvesting seeds and very slowly air dry the seeds at room temps works for me. It took a couple years to figure out that even though a rocoto pod looks ripe and may have been mature color for several days it is not fully mature until the seeds have turned black or a very dark brown.

Chiltepin... and C. galapagoense. A whole nother story.

jt

[nctomatoman]

Great info - thanks! I confess to being a bit confounded by Rocotos - I've grown orange, red, and yellow. The yellow tends to fruit the most heavily - I had one red last year that did not give me one mature fruit over a very long growing season. Your tips about maturation and drying are helpful - thanks! And, yes, I did get my starts from Reimers, with very, very poor germination.

As of today, a few Reds are poking their heads up - at 10 days.

[Trudi]

Thanks for the info about the older tom seeds.

I have some older pepper seeds, they're probably a good seven or eight years old--they may be even older than that. They have been stored cool and dry since in my possesion.

Do you think that maybe a bit of scarification can assist in starting them?

TIA,

T

[Love2Troll]

Do you think that maybe a bit of scarification can assist in starting them?

Trudi,

No, I don't.

Sorry,
jt

[Fusion_power]

I've had extremely good results from cutting the placenta out of the pepper with the seed still adhering and drying the entire thing for a few days, then just toss it in a plastic bag. When I need seed, I rub a few off the core and plant them. Seed up to 3 years old have given 95% germination where other seed I had stored by first rubbing them off the core would barely germinate 50%. I may be wrong but I think its easy to over dry pepper seed. This kills the embryo and prevents germination. Maybe leaving the seed on the core is balancing the moisture out a bit better for the seed to survive.

Fusion

[melody]

I've had a bit of luck in waking up older seeds with an overnight soak in some weak tea before planting. That with some bottom heat in about the 80* range will give me about a 25% better rate than if I just planted them and kept the temps in the 70* to 75* range.

[Raymondo]

This has been an interesting thread for me. I do grow and save seeds from peppers (I like sweet peppers but love hot peppers) but get very mixed results - some years good germination, others hardly any at all. Now I have a few useful pointers. Thanks.

[Trudi]

This year I grew a nice collection of small peppers--they were in the side tom bed, fighting for space and sun among the toms, amaranths and flowers. I actually forgot about them and when I cleared the bed this past December I found all the ripe and dried peppers still on their skeletonized plant stems or on the ground underneath their plants.

I never had an easier time collecting the seeds than with these peppers. I just crumbled up the individidual varieties into a sieve and rubbed away the dried skin while running warm water through the sieve. Afterwards I dumped it all into a large glass, added some water and poured off the floating dross--the good pepper seeds were at the very bottom.

[sweetwm007]

very good thread. i have gardened off and on for over 30 yrs and have had varying degree's of success/ failure with the germination of pepper seed. good to know it wasn't all me. also, i read somewhere that starting pepper seed is not recommended in jiffy seven's?! any comments on this? i have used and enjoyed using the jiffy 7's from flower through vegetable seed with very good luck.
william`

[melody]

Don't like Jiffy peat products at all...hard to keep properly hydrated...they are either too wet or too dry for me. Haven't touched the things in years.

I use plastic and a good sterile seed starter, bottom water and it works better for me.

[Mantis]

I dont like jiffy pots either. The peat is too dense for the roots unless it is soaking wet. My 2 cents.

[Trudi]

You can make cheapo flats out of recycled plastic containers. Like milk jugs, soda bottles or takeout foil tins. Wash them up good at the sink--clean them like you're going to eat from them, that's clean enough. I use either good quality potting soil or premier mix.

[Mantis]

Hi Trudi
I am using more and more food containers for pots and seed starting trays etc. Must be getting stingy as I get older

[Trudi]

I'm not sure it has anything to do with being stingy--I think it's more a matter of being practical--you got containers to use, they're there already and are easily adapted, so you don't have to go and get new ones that are specifically made for starting seeds. Also, I think the concept of recycling is becoming deeply ingrained. If you can get a second or third+ use from something, then the energy for creating a new item isn't wasted.

I was talking specifically about this point today with a horticultural education program director at Hicks, our county's oldest nursery--With so many of his customers, stinginess is not the issue, but outright affordability is the issue. Stinginess means you have the money but wish to hold onto it, affordability means you have to give up someting else in order to make a purchase.

A lot of people are giving up their hobbies because they no longer have "fun money" in their budget, which is sad because gardening is so good for your head first, it helps your body too because of the exercise, but the most important benefit is the creativity and sense of accomplishment which can be easily achieved with planting and growing.

Salad gardens are becoming more popular, for a few bucks in seeds for lettuce and cukes and a transplant cherry tomato, or even seed grown tomato plant, a family can supplement the food budget with nutritious home-grown salad. I live on LI, you can walk anywhere to buy food, most people don't have to grow it, but that seems to be changing.