Ref seed germination this year so far

[lottie dolly]

After reading about the crimson crush seeds,it got me thinking about my no show seeds,i wonder if it got anything to do with either the climate change or not so many pollinators,i wonder what others have experienced,just this year so far,for me as follows,with new seeds not older ones.
sunflowers seeds 50%
sweetcorn 50%
sweet peas,out of 25 ,5 were dead,
some beans are also not good,
broard beans,a long time to show for some and some barely staring of,all sown the same time in 1 tray,
2 sorts of squash seed,first lot no show,second and last in the pkt's,i were hoping to have some for next year to save buying,i will still get some,but it does make the seed dearer,mabe look into saving 1 of each fruit,if they not F1,got to look at that one.

[ameno]

I doubt it has anything to do with climate change, and it certainly can't have anything to do with pollinators, as if the plants hadn't pollinated properly in the first place they would simply produce few or no seeds.

Assuming you bought the seeds within the last 12 months, bad seeds are usually the fault of the distributor in some way. They might have kept them longer than they should (and thus are older than they claim), the seeds might have been kept somewhere too humid, they might have been kept somewhere too hot, or with greatly fluctuating temperatures. Sometimes with large seeds which need drying before storage (like pea, bean and sweetcorn) a batch of seeds can become contaminated with moulds or bacteria during the drying process, or they might not be dried for long enough and are put into storage whilst still slightly damp.
Any of these things can reduce the germination rate quite a lot, or even outright kill the whole packet.

As for why it seems to be happening more often recently. Well, one can't rule out the possibility that your experience is merely an unfortunate coincidence, and not indicative of a greater trend. But assuming it is more common in general, it's likely because of the huge increase in seed sales these last 2 years thanks to covid, combined with staffing problems due to covid, meaning that seed companies are a lot more stretched than usual, and are thus cutting more corners than they ought to and not doing everything properly in order to save time, money or stock.

[lottie dolly]

most of my seeds are fresh to me,well since christmas,i have been growing for a number of years,and never had things this bad before,so it has to be down to the way they are prepared for sale,thanks for your feed back

[Jungle Jane]

I haven’t noticed a problem here with germination,maybe it’s just some seeds especially F1? Covid distancing & stay awayness could’ve been a problem in laboratories? I haven’t sowed sweetcorn or sunflowers yet

[quanglewangle]

Until this year I have enjoyed very high germination rates, often 100%. I use F1 where possible, for uniformity and vigour. I seldom do 'sow two or three and thin to strongest'.

This year I thought I was getting poor germination, at least for tomatoes, cucumber and melon (not aubergines, they were 100%).

However, when I looked more closely the seed had germinated and either simply stopped growing just after the radical had emerged or just a bit later.

My phytosanitary standards are reasonable to good: new compost, greenhouse fumigated annually, washed containers and tools.

Restarted, sowed many more than needed and selected best. Survivors are thriving, but late.

Mystery.

[Bren In Pots]

I've not had a problem with germination my seeds are all from GYO mag apart from toms and peas which are last years saved seeds. Not sown my french beans yet they'll be going in next week-ish they're also saved seeds.

Lottie are you using the same compost you usually buy ?

[lottie dolly]

yes l am,it is also fresh this year, It set me thinking after the Tomato seeds, only 2 out of I pkt,so wondered if anyone else had the same issue,Thanks for the reply all