Iv never tried gardening but I just moved to a new place with a lot of room for it and I tried growing herbs in soil but they never germinated and they died I'm trying the paper towel method on chilli seeds now because I saw it online and I have no clue what is and isn't gonna work
by WaayTooInvested
9 Comments
Keep trying. I believe in you. Cucumbers in the summer.
Every year something will fail, no matter how much practice you have. Peppers take a notoriously long time for everything.
For herbs I always sow 10x more than I need. They can be close.
Good luck! There’s definitely a learning curve to gardening. Don’t give up!
For better success with the herbs.
..lower the Temps the seeds are in until they germinate.
60-70° F for most
I failed miserably my first go round.
This year…so many because I didn’t keep them super warm.
My suggestion: go to http://www.johnnyseeds.com and read the growing instructions they provide for whatever you’re trying. It helps a LOT.
Your greenhouse looks like it’s in the shade – is that how it is most of the day?
Hot peppers take a long time to germinate. I planted some last winter that took a month. Plant cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini. Direct seeding is easiest if your weather permits.
My most difficult seeds to germinate are always peppers. I grew Winter Melin this past year and it took literally 2 months for them to germinate. I had given up on the original seeds I planted and tried 2 more batches. Then up comes the originals I had given up on.
I start all of my seeds indoors now in a seed tray under a small grow light. I’ve found that almost all the seeds germinate now. [This](https://herbals.co.nz/products/propagation-led) is the one I use with some makeshift setup to hold it up. I just use a small spray bottle to stop the seed tray from drying out.
Peppers don’t need light to germinate but they do like heat, they do need to be consistently moist to germinate, and they do take a long time to germinate – 3 weeks or more. I personally don’t think the paper towel method works very well for peppers – not as well as a seed starting mix in a container you can bottom water (a specific seed tray or just a yogurt cup with some holes on the bottom on a tray) – I also do all my early seed starting indoors where conditions are more controlled – with seed starting those little plastic greenhouses aren’t doing you much if any good: a windy day will dry out the top of your soil where the seed is, those greenhouses are more helpful for fragile seedlings to deter critters from eating or digging into them and protect from a heavy rain pummeling them to death.