anyone else here noticing a sad germination rate on there seeds, both cannabis and garden veg.

Growitpondifarm said:

I germinate 1000’s of seeds of all types each year for my cut flower garden, veggie garden and pot plants etc. I have battled dampening off for many years without knowing what it was and blaming it on bad seeds, storage, sellers etc. once I realized it was me that was the issue and that I was fighting fungal infestation it has been near 100% on all seedling trays. I’m talking 128 cell plug trays with 125-128 seedlings popping. When planting this many seeds , pre soaking and paper towel method just isn’t a reality. I plant direct into lamberts seedling mix which is just peat, lime, fine perlite and a wetting agent. The big change that fixed the issues I was having was using serenade when I do the initial soak of the trays(after they’ve been sown). Since then it’s been like night and day. Also warmth is a major factor , anything under 70 degrees and your germ rates are going to drop. Keep em warm and clean and they’ll do there thing.

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This right here.

You can go sterile or you can inoculate things that will outcompete the pathogen.

Anyone here have their collection just sitting in a fridge?.. Noticed how much the inside temp of my home changes during different seasons and decided to seal them up in tupperware with humidity packs. Hopefully this keeps them going. I dont care how much they were but ill never get those exact genetics back lol

I germinate somewhere around 200 seedlings a year between vegetables, herbs, annual flowers and cannabis. While I sometimes run into germination problems with a specific seed packet, I find the majority of germination problems or early seedling death are my own fault. Certainly I have not noticed an epidemic of poor germination in purchased seeds this year, cannabis or otherwise.

Out of about 30 varieties planted, seeds of one basil variety (purchased this year) and one marigold variety (harvested from flowers last year) had terrible germination rates due to “bad” seeds. Everything else had 85% or better rates ranging from vegetable seeds purchased this year to some seeds (tomato, pepper and cannabis) that have been stored in the freezer for 10+ years.

Germinating in seedling trays with clear covers and a heat mat works great for my situation, but if I leave the cover on too long after seedlings sprout, damping off is a persistent issue. Might try the serenade soak next year. Sterilizing by hand is too tedious for me and my wife put the kibosh on “unapproved uses” of the dishwasher years ago.

One thing that stands out in the OP’s post is the use of peat pucks to germinate seedlings. While I’ve had good success with pucks (the Jiffy ones) when I get the initial soak to expand them just right, I find peat pucks to be very finicky with water. If over or under watered when initially soaked, they don’t provide good germination results.

Also with pucks, once the seeds sprout and the dome comes off the tray, they are hard to keep moist; fans to strengthen seedlings and provide airflow really dry the pucks out quick before they get transplanted to containers. Trays filled with potting soil or Promix work better for me but YMMV.
Happy Growing.

Nope, look at how you are storing your seeds or letting them get to damp.