Tomatoville® Gardening Forums - View Single Post - Germination Stragglers -- what all causes them?

SueCT · March 30, 2018

I had one batch of seeds a couple of years ago of Sophies Choice that was terrible. Have no idea why and every other variety did well that year. This year I may be seeing my first evidence of lower germination rates due to aging seeds. I have some sown a week ago today that I am still waiting for. I noticed that some of the seeds are now 5 years old. 7 days is kind of long for tomatoes on a heat mat in my experience. In the past I have gotten about 90% germination. It will be interesting to see if the overall germination decreases or just slows down.

March 30, 2018	#9
SueCT Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Connecticut Posts: 1,460	I had one batch of seeds a couple of years ago of Sophies Choice that was terrible. Have no idea why and every other variety did well that year. This year I may be seeing my first evidence of lower germination rates due to aging seeds. I have some sown a week ago today that I am still waiting for. I noticed that some of the seeds are now 5 years old. 7 days is kind of long for tomatoes on a heat mat in my experience. In the past I have gotten about 90% germination. It will be interesting to see if the overall germination decreases or just slows down.