Germination issues/failures and tips.

[Peanut]

I thought it might be handy to have a thread where we can discuss germination issues/failures and hopefully get some advice and tips from people who have successfully germinated the same seeds.

[Mark Rand]

I'll chuck one in:-
Greek Gigantes beans are a runner bean, but they have a fairly loose coat. If they're soaked before sowing, They'll rot. They need sowing straight into moist, but not wet compost and keeping at 18-20°C. Then they'll pop up in a week.

[JoaoLeaftide]

Parsnips are the one that catches people out most. They need fresh seed every year, old parsnip seed just won't germinate no matter what you do. Also worth knowing they take 3 weeks or more even in good conditions, so easy to assume failure when they're just being slow.

[Andraste]

I often struggled with 'easy to grow' lettuce until I discovered they like a little bit of light to germinate. I think I may have been covering them too well when I was sowing. Now I either 'chit' the seed & transfer to compost when they sprout (but you've got to be quick as they get seed leaves in just a few days) or sow on the surface of the compost & have had no issues since.

I'm a big fan of 'chitting' seed, especially for larger seeds/beans.