beckygardener said:
The ones that haven't germinated yet are all DIPs, not TETs. Is this typical that DIP seeds don't germinate as fast or do they need something else to germinate? Cool or warm temps? Sunlight? What?
I have not noticed a difference in the time it takes for TETs vs DIPs to germinate. We do both here and in both we have fast and slow sprouters. What makes a difference is that some seeds are dormant (this has NOTHING to do with the plant being a dormant or evergreen) and need cold stratification to germinate faster. Keep in mind that this is DIFFERENT than just putting them in the fridge dry. That is considered cold storage and not cold stratification. I don't know if it really helps to cold store them or not as some here just store them dry in a dark, cool place and never put in the fridge and they do fine. There have been many discussions here about it, one not too long ago somewhere here, so you may be able to search it in this forum or someone may remember which one it is. Anyway, some seeds need a cold, MOIST, period to germinate faster so people will store them in the fridge in a moist environment (seed soil, vermiculite, sand, peroxide water, coffee filters, damp paper towels, etc.) for a period of 3-8 weeks; I think 6 is about average. Then they are moved to room temperature and they are suppose to start germinating and then you can plant the germinated ones in cups, trays, or wherever.
An experiment was done and the article is in one of the AHS journals (I don't know which one off the top of my head) on different planting mediums and how long it took and which medium was better. What I got from the article was that even with the cold stratification some of the seeds still take up to a month to germinate. So for me it's just as easy to plant and wait than to fool with the storing in fridge for 6 weeks and such. I have a timeframe to plant my seeds so it would actually put me behind a whole season if I did this and waited for them all to germinate before planting plus I have wayyyy too many seeds to do this with. It's good if you have the time to do it (not planting until later anyway) and the space in the fridge (I sure don't).
I have had all of some crosses not germinate at all. The seeds looked fine and did not rot, but I assume they just weren't viable and would have never germinated no matter I did to them. They got dumped with the soil and remained there for a long time and still nothing so they just didn't want to become a plant. Some people put their seeds in something with a piece of sandpaper and shake around to scratch up the protective seed coating to help them germinate faster; I've never tried this so I don't know how well it works.
