This update covers the use of a Salt Petre (Potassium nitrate - KNO3) in respect of seeds that are stubborn to germinate or germinate in an uneven fashion.
The tests were conducted on open pollinated chilli seeds, specifically the superhot variety Capsicum chinese 'Bhut Jolokia' aka the Ghost or Naga chilli.
Notoriously tricky to get even germination, if any on this type, I tried one batch of 30 or so seeds in late January in ideal conditions but with no real pre-treatment. It was sown along other types including Padrons, Cayennes, Scorpions and Reapers - the last two also being noted as possibly tricky.
After 7 days, all pots had at least one seedling, by 14 days the other types had 10 - 30 seedlings with an average germination rate of 90%, except the lonely Bhut Jolokia seedling. Finally by day 28, it was joined by one more seedling for a total of 2 from 30.
At this point, I decided to get the rest of the batch going, but I soaked the seeds for 12 hours in a solution of salt petre (5g per litre) from the batch we sell online in 5g packs. They were then sown in identical conditions for germination and the picture below was taken just 24 hours later.
For reference, the seeds were planted in 6 columns of 5 seeds, for a total of 30 seeds. The image shows many coming through and movement of soil in all columns in all seed positions. 3 days later all the seed leaves had opened and there were 30 healthy seedlings.
The bottom line is this stuff really works, so I then tried it on all the remaining chilli seeds that I wanted to sow this year with the same stunning results.
The tests were conducted on open pollinated chilli seeds, specifically the superhot variety Capsicum chinese 'Bhut Jolokia' aka the Ghost or Naga chilli.
Notoriously tricky to get even germination, if any on this type, I tried one batch of 30 or so seeds in late January in ideal conditions but with no real pre-treatment. It was sown along other types including Padrons, Cayennes, Scorpions and Reapers - the last two also being noted as possibly tricky.
After 7 days, all pots had at least one seedling, by 14 days the other types had 10 - 30 seedlings with an average germination rate of 90%, except the lonely Bhut Jolokia seedling. Finally by day 28, it was joined by one more seedling for a total of 2 from 30.
At this point, I decided to get the rest of the batch going, but I soaked the seeds for 12 hours in a solution of salt petre (5g per litre) from the batch we sell online in 5g packs. They were then sown in identical conditions for germination and the picture below was taken just 24 hours later.
The bottom line is this stuff really works, so I then tried it on all the remaining chilli seeds that I wanted to sow this year with the same stunning results.
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