Pepper Seed Germination Experiment - Which Is Fastest?

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In this video, we test out different methods of germination for pepper seeds. Does soaking in tea help? What about warming the seeds during germination? The results were very interesting!

Germinating pepper seeds:

Germinating seeds (video):

BUY A SEED HEATING MAT (affiliate link):

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#peppers #gardening #spicy

[budfahnestock]

i've always been curious about this, really glad i could get some info from a trusted channel too. just wish it came out a couple weeks ago when i did most of my pepper seeds, great video!

[gonedays]

i’ve tried a ton of germination techniques. The best is a tupperware with about 1” of vermiculite heavily wetted. Sprinkle seeds on top. Cover seeds with small layer of vermiculite. Spray tea mixture on top until slightly damp. cover tupperware and put on heat mat at 85°. I get amazing results.

[pplusbthrust]

We're eager for tips and tricks to get our tiny gardens to turn out enough nourishment for us from now on. The older seeds tip help and my seed bills have become more expensive and I've got a ton of old seeds. Thanks for the soaking tip.

[BigboiiTone]

I had not heard of the black tea soaker technique. Fascinating.

[nonyadamnbusiness]

Try a tablespoon of potassium nitrate in a quart of water and soak for half an hour. Then place the planting tray on a heat mat. Cover the tray with plastic until the first seed emerges. Most, not all, stump removers are straight potassium nitrate, so there's an easily available source. I've noticed that seeds of any kind come up faster with rainwater than tap water. Why? What's different? The difference is that rainwater is about -1 pH more acidic and it provides a trace of bioavailable nitrogen. The potassium nitrate solution does nearly the same.

[SAVbeebse]

Absolutely love and appreciate your experiments. Thank you!! I use the Burpee self-watering tray to germ my peppers because the soil dries out so quickly in my room otherwise. I do not presoak, and decided against the heating mat because my room temp is 70-75 degrees. My seeds came up in about a week, week and a half. I think that fresh seeds, especially harvested from a pepper directly, leads to easy germination. I’ve decided to plant a few of these freshly harvested seeds even though the fruit flowers of the parent plants were not isolated. I’m interested to see if I get the variety of the parent plant or a cross (as I grow many varieties all together in the same place). Best of luck in your ‘24 season. Looking forward to your videos and newsletters

[johanlindh]

Thanks for providing yet another informative video.

[dmick]

I use a damp paper towel rolled up (with seeds in the center) - inside of a sandwich zip lock bag - on a heat mat. Been doing it this way for years and its worked really well.

[jamesalexbarnes]

Another good technique for increasing & speeding up pepper seed germination is to chill them, in a dry envelope in the fridge, for at least a few weeks, before sowing them. Then sow them using a heat mat and dome. The sudden warmth and moisture really speeds it up. In my experience that works much better than soaking them.

[jeffreysebrow]

When I soak my seeds, I always use Chamomile (or Camomile, for the Brits) tea, and it works wonderfully. Not sure how different it is from black tea, but I always get a great germination rate (90%+)

[wizpig]

thanks for the sciencing! i'm about to go plant some late pepper seeds, so this was perfect.

[keltoid]

Cool!! I'd like to see how it compares to the Chili Chump experiment.

[automattikbeats]

Typically I put the seeds in a paper towel/wash cloth and keep it wet in a slightly opened bag. Usually just takes a 5-7 days to get sprouts. From peppers to pot. 🚬🌳😙💨🚀🚀🚀🚀 awesome content as always!

[Kontaminaatio]

That's very interesting indeed. We did a small experiment with our seeds last year (soaked vs non-soaked) and our conclusion was also that non-soaked seeds were faster to germinate, which was quite a surprise to us.

[mygardenofthings]

Thanks for the scientific approach. That was always my doubt as soaking gave me poor results but for some reason it became the pro way to go on many channels.

[beckymartinez]

I actually germinated my seeds outside this season in a large plastic bin. I really was shocked after a couple weeks they sprouted and doing well outside. When the temps dip down 40 or below I bring the. Inside of my shed and put them back out in the morning.
It will be interesting to see how the produce.

[mountainfolks]

Amazing, I used the no soak on three different peppers at 26degrees C. Cayenne sprouted in 7days, jalapeños in 8 days and Pot a Peno in 8 days. Will be starting some more tomorrow and glad I saw your experiment as I thought about soaking. Will use the no soak and maybe 28C. Thanks for the YouTube experiment.

[Fromseedtoharvest]

I have only tried soaking in a 50/50 peroxide water solution. I only soak for about 30m-1h though. Always a heating mat with peppers though. Never broke it down like this though. Very important and well consolidated information. Thank you!

[RobertSmith-rrzt]

Righto here in the UK I sow all my chilli seeds in a bunch in 3" pots kept around 20+ degrees C and as soon as they pop I put under grow lights then as soon as I can handle them I prick out into individual pots and continue under grow lights until my last frost date
Then pot on in my polytunnel
None of my seeds are more than a year old
Works every time regardless of which type of chilli
Only other thing to note is that I'll typically sow 2 dozen of each seed variety with a view to get at least half a dozen strong plants and the hottest ones are the most finicky....

[Otmjv]

Soaked seeds must be harder for the sprout to crack than a dry brittle one, I have to try this experiment now!