How long to wait for germination...??

[huntsman]

Once my seeds start germinating in a seed tray, I think I am waiting far too long for stragglers to emerge, sometimes several weeks.

Once I have several seeds germinate, how long should I give stragglers before I can discard the attempt and re-use the germination mix?

[amideutch]

How many seeds of each variety are you planting? If by stragglers you are talking about all the seeds from one variety then it's up to you how long you want to wait. Otherwise if 3 out of 5 germinate from one variety (60%) then anything that comes later will probably be runts. If you are trying to wake up old seeds then thats a different story. Ami

[huntsman]

I would typically plant 5 varieties in a tray with 45 spaces, thus nine seeds each. I would like to speed up my replants (ie my reuse of that same tray) by not wasting any more time than is absolutely necessary, waiting for seeds which will never germinate.

If they take, say, 5 days to germinate, do I discard the rest, say, after a further ten days? Or is there another cut-off time?

[amideutch]

Not all varieties germinate at the same rate. But if your planting 9 seeds per variety you should get a pretty good idea after 10 days as to the germination rate of each variety. Ami

[huntsman]

That makes perfect sense, but if said variety germinates in say, seven days, I can obviously assume that seven days is the usual germ period, so how long do I give the rest of that variety?

[Tania]

Originally Posted by huntsman

That makes perfect sense, but if said variety germinates in say, seven days, I can obviously assume that seven days is the usual germ period, so how long do I give the rest of that variety?

In this case I'd wait another 7 days.

I would not recommend recycling the mix, at least not for planting more seeds - a few of these 'stragglers' may sprout later and be mistaken for another variety. I had this happen way back when I was not aware of the fact that some seeds could sprout even after 40+ days... and I was wondering why some of my bicolor tomatoes came with small red fruit. I vividly remember one (embarrassing) case when I was ready to blame a seed vendor for wrong seeds. So no more mix recycling for me, or adding home-made compost to the seed sprouting mix (as it may contain some stray tomato seeds), stopped doing that years ago, and all I have to say is that I have fewer surprises showing up.

[huntsman]

Heh heh!

Yes, that does make a lot of sense...

I also tend to nuke my grow mix in a microwave before planting the seeds - I think I read about this method on here. Not sure how necessary it is, but until I learn differently...

[GunnarSK]

Originally Posted by huntsman

I also tend to nuke my grow mix in a microwave before planting the seeds - I think I read about this method on here. Not sure how necessary it is, but until I learn differently...

At least you're safe, the necessity can be discussed. As Ami wrote, it also depends on the seed/variety. With a rare variety, you'll always wait longer before discarding anything.

[maf]

Temperature has a big effect on the germination timings. If you keep the temperature at 70F or above I would not wait any longer than 10 days.

Take a look at this table, you can get 82% germination at 50F daytime soil temperature, but you will have to wait 43 days for them all to come up! The optimum daytime soil temps look to be in the 70-80F range, where you will see close to 100% germination within 6-8 days.

Germination Temperature

[kath]

Originally Posted by amideutch

Otherwise if 3 out of 5 germinate from one variety (60%) then anything that comes later will probably be runts. Ami

Hope this isn't taking your thread off-topic, huntsman, but do these "runts" or late-sprouters often stay runts for the whole season, Ami?

[huntsman]

Very interesting info there, maf.....thank you!

[Tania]

Originally Posted by kath

Hope this isn't taking your thread off-topic, huntsman, but do these "runts" or late-sprouters often stay runts for the whole season, Ami?

For me, they do not.

[amideutch]

Hope this isn't taking your thread off-topic, huntsman, but do these "runts" or late-sprouters often stay runts for the whole season, Ami?

Not really. I call them runts in relation to there size to their brothers that sprouted a week earlier. Normally I plant 3-4 seeds per expanded peat pellet and a week or two after germination I cull to the strongest seedling. Just because they are late sprouters doesn't mean they will not turn out to be a normal, productive plant.

The "Runt" I posted about earlier started out as a normal seedling and then just grew that way and I have no idea why. Ami

[sirtanon]

I just had some seed that took approximately 12 days to peek out of the starting mix. Granted, it was older seed (9 years) but I had also treated it with a little diluted MG and kept the starting pot inside a closed tupperware container the whole time. In the past, I've had some seed that took nearly 30 days to poke through the surface!

I say, if you have the space and some patience, just let it go for a while.

[huntsman]

Sound advice -

Truth is, I have just waited and waited in the past. Loooong past the 30 day period, and at least now I have a better idea...