10:01 - 07 February 2011
There are dozens of reasons why your seeds may not yet have germinated, but all is not lost. Try and establish the cause of this crop failure and sow some more. Even the most experienced gardener suffers losses, the secret is not to give up and try again. Never sow the whole packet at once, sow a few, wait a week or two and sow a fresh batch in a new pot or seed tray. If one batch doesn’t germinate, at least you’ll have a second and third chance.
Old seed? – Some seed lasts for years and years, while other seed needs to be sown fresh or within a certain time scale. If the seed you sowed was old, or damp or diseased then it may not germinate.
Too soon? – Some seeds germinate in a couple of days, while others need a week or more or sometimes even several months. Check and see how long the seed you have sown normally takes to appear: don’t dig around trying to see what has happened. Instead sow some more and try again.
Too cold? – Are the conditions right for your seeds to germinate? Most of the plants we try and grow in the UK hail from other countries where it is warmer. Check the seed packet, if your seeds need warmth, they may be slow to germinate if it is too cold for them. Place them to one side and sow some more, your first batch may yet appear?
Too wet? – Although seeds do need moisture to germinate, if the compost is too wet, they may rot rather than grow. It is a fine art, but try to use free draining seed compost and don’t over water.
Been eaten? – Tiny seedlings are tasty delicacies for marauding slugs and snails. If you’ve grown something really scrumptious then these can become magnets for hungry pests. Have a look for tell tale silvery trails around your pots and if present, then your seedlings have probably been munched. They won’t reappear, so sow some more and use your preferred method of slug control.
Mice? – Some seeds are attractive to rodents and can be eaten before they even sprout and germinate. Mice have a habit of setting up home in the protected greenhouse environment and a tray of peas are just too tempting. Look out for tell tale mouse signs such as droppings. Set a humane trap, baited with chocolate or peanut butter and release the little creatures outside.
Wrong compost? – Don’t be tempted to sow precious seeds in pots of garden soil. They may well germinate but if you are new to sowing from seed you may struggle to tell weeds and seedlings apart. More importantly gardens soil can harbour all manner of pests and diseases that will be encouraged by the warmer greenhouse conditions and could attack your seedlings.
Damping off – Your seedlings may have germinated while you weren’t looking and could then have been cut down to soil level by a fungal disease called Damping Off. Start again and sow some more.
Special needs – some seeds have really special need before they can germinate. Some need the seed coat chipping to allow water to access the inside of the seed to start the germination process. This is called scarifying and is used for hard coated seeds.
Other seeds, usually trees and shrubs need a period of cold and then a period of warm to break their dormancy before they germinate. This is what happens in nature and ensures that the seeds start to grow at the right time when the weather is warmer. Gardeners can mimic this process by placing the seeds in a bag of peat mixed with sharp sand and placing this in the freezer for about two weeks. This is called stratification and is a requirement of some seeds.
Other seeds need light to germinate and will not come up if they are buried in seed compost, always check the seed packet for sowing instructions or consult a good reference book for more advice if you have collected the seed from a plant.
