Do you have a soil thermometer?
Do you have a heat pad?
Do you use your hot water cupboard to germinate your seeds?
Is your glasshouse heated?
Several factors will always need to be considered for good healthy germination. These are:
- your seed raising mix (see previous blog)
In this blog, we are going to focus on:At this time of the year, one of the most frequent questions we get is "why are my seeds not germinating"? We ask a few questions and more often than not, it comes down to the temperature of the soil the seeds are being germinated in.
The nature of gardeners who grow from seed is that they are organised! The majority of orders we process are between July and September. Unfortunately, there are many varieties of seed that require warmer temperatures than we get at that time of the year. Heat loving varieties such as chillies, melons, pumpkins, some tomatoes, beans, corn, zucchini, cucumbers are better left until October for germinating. We realise it is difficult to be patient when you have made your decisions about what to grow. All you want to do is rip open those seed packets and get the contents into some soil so you can witness that tiny seedling popping up from the soil, but be careful because cold is the enemy of seed and seedlings.
At the risk of repeating ourselves.......constant soil temperature is important for good germination and strong healthy seedlings. Constant temperature can only be achieved by using a direct heat source such as a heat pad, a hot-water cupboard or a heated glasshouse. Heat pads are a great investment if you wish to start your seed germination early.
Another good idea is to invest in a soil thermometer. This allows you to measure your soil temperatures on a regular basis and can help on deciding when to start direct sowing in your garden. Does it sound a bit frivolous? Since investing in mine, I have been able to get much better germination rates and it saves me a lot of guess work. With the seasons changing every year, I find I need to minimise my guess work. Once again, we have had a mild winter, and a very wet spring. The last two springs we have had a frost in the first week of November. All things to take into consideration.
We provide guide temperatures for each variety in the info bar on our website and in the catalogue.
Another statement we hear often is "but all my other seeds have germinated". Remember, seed is a living thing. Similar to your children, they don't all behave the same in that differences can occur within the same species. So one may germinate successfully, but the other varieties need more nurturing and will not perform until the ideal environment is achieved.
We hope these few tips help to increase your germination rates and make the most of your seed purchases.