Reasons Why Seeds Don't Always Germinate

Hey Guys,
I hope everyone is doing well.

For today I just wanted to talk a little about some of the common reasons why seeds don't always germinate.

I've experieced this personally and I know how devasating it can be to put your heart and soul into planting seeds and have them for one reason or another fail to germinate, and for those who have been following along with my seed growing journey will know that I've had many failures along the way. So I'm just trying to learn from my own mistakes and pass the knowlege that I am gaining from these experiences on to you guys so that you guys don't make the same mistakes that I have.

So, let's dive right in and explore some of the reasons why seeds sometimes fail to germinate:

1: Planting Into The Wrong Soil- Seeds need consistent moisture to germinate but the soil should never be too soggy ( I learned that the hard way!). If the soil becomes too wet, seeds can and will rot and disappear.
It's important to consider the soil type you're using and personally I would recommed using a seed-starting mix that has fast-draining, as the benefits are it holds the appropriate amount of water to keep the soil moist.
Failing that, you can also use regular potting soil that you have amended, but I would not recommend starting seeds with soil from the garden.
2- Too Much Water- Again I cannot highlight this one enough and personally it took me a long time to learn that too much water for seeds was a really bad idea, and I nearly lost all of my purple pepper seeds early on from overwatering.
The main reason why too much water is a bad idea is that with too much water, seeds will rot or even sometimes they can wash away.
My advice would be to establish a watering schedule for seeds until they germinate, usually once or twice a day would work best (but it's important to consider individual seed needs as there's no one-size-fits-all answer). Once your seeds begin sprouting, cut back slightly on watering to avoid root rot.
3- Too Much Sunlight- This was another aspect that came as a surprise to me in the early days of my seed growing joruney and what I discovered was that young plants have a tendancy to grow towards the light source.
I started off my cucumber seeds on a heat mat under a regular lamp and quickly found that the seedlings were growing towards the lamp and the same thing happened once they'd been moved to a sunny window. When starting seeds indoors, placing them under light allows for more regulated growth. This lets them develop and devote their energy to filling out properly.
4- Not Keeping Them Warm Enough- While seeds should not be in direct sunlight, they often need warmth to germinate. Personally I struggled wirth this one when it comes to growing my purple peppers. In the early days, I noticed that my pepper seeds were growing incredibly slowly, and I only ever saw drastic change once I increased the temperatire by adding a heat mat.

From the above list, you can see there are a number of reasons why seeds sometimes fail to germinate. Avoiding some of these listed above may give you a better chance of success when it comes to growing your own seeds.

The most important thing to remember is to always have fun when it comes to growing your own seeds.

Thank you for reading,
Until next time,
Kim