[Christine]

Jack'o'lantern pumpkin 1 out of 10 seeds - other seeds still in pots but no sign of growth (Wilko)
Uchiki Kuri pumpkin 2 out of 10 seeds - other seeds rotted it seeds (DT Brown)

Tomato seeds (Kings Seeds - Tigerella and Fandango) - came up but didn't develop roots beyond hairs and stuck
Hyssop seeds, thyme and greek oregano (DT Brown, Suttons) - came up and stuck like the tomatoes. Have grown thyme and oregano before no problem but wanted to start some new plants from seed to replace old stock.

Did nothing different to other years with these seeds though never tried the hyssop before. Anyone else had similar problems? On the other hand the sweet peas look promising.

[mumofstig]

I'm left wondering if it's dodgy seeds or dodgy compost again? Or is it all down to the weather...
Lots of people having trouble with germination this year 

[Tenhens]

We had some Gardener's World  sweet peas that did nothing. Mrs Tenhens asked me if I actually planted them!!  The cheek of it!!

Can't help thinking that if Mother Nature decides that the ' little grain of wonder' isn't going to grow , then there's not much we mere mortals can do about it.  It would appear the sowing season has been pushed back a bit and will catch up when it's ready, Sod's Law says that this happens when you have momentarily turned your back on it , to do something else!

[Christine]

Think we can possibly rule out the compost as other things grew/are growing just fine in it. I gave next door some pansy seeds - he's done well with pansies/violas this last few years and grown some real corkers. This year they failed - he went and bought more seeds and those failed too. Yet the African Marigolds that I picked up as part of a bundle are doing him just fine.

[Toosje]

I really think it is the weather. I have been gardening for nearly 20 years now mainly with 2 brands, first with Bolster and the last few years with Bingenheim Saatgut: both very high germination rate. This year it is a mess. I still have to get good cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflowers.. and I am very lucky with the active 'exchange habit' between the plot owners. Because of my neighbors I have green beans, black beans, several pumpkins, part of the chillies and tomatoes.. I am even buying plants this year.

The funny thing is: it seems every one has a different succes. My eggplants and kale sort of exploded, so now I have about 30 of them.

[Plot 1 Problems]

Most people on our site have had germination problems of different sorts. Only issues for me so far are my directly sown carrots and salsify.

[Goosegirl]

Germination has been rather hit-and-miss for me this year both outside and in my cold greenhouse. My only success outside has been beetroot plus a few sugar snaps that are still not shooting up as they usually do, but there's no sign as yet of a whole row of spring onions I sowed over a month ago. Inside it's taken a bit longer than normal for my veg and tomato seeds to show and they're not exactly shooting away either. I'm using Jack's Magic compost this year and like the look and feel of it plus it doesn't seem to dry out as quickly as MPC can. I can only think it is the weather as the earlier warm days we had were followed by chilly nights so I guess our seeds are sulking.

[JayG]

I do tend to push my luck with seeds which are expensive and that I only grow a few of each year, so I do expect a few failures - I only sow old seeds of plants which are quick to germinate (cucurbits mainly) so all is not lost if I have to buy fresh seed (I wouldn't try it with old parsnip seed which can take weeks to germinate at the best of times.)

Although all packets are marked with the 'packed in year-ending' and 'sow by' dates, we can but only hope that the seeds were actually harvested the same year they were packed, which of course is not necessarily the case...

[New shoot]

I've had a few issues with squashes, which is a pain as it feels late now to get going.  Some have romped away while others either haven't germinated or have just sat as tiny plants which I have now chucked in disgust.

Meanwhile the cukes - well known divas - have germinated, grown like triffids and are showing tiny flowers.  Same compost, same growing conditions 

[Goosegirl]

New Shoot - if they were all from the same packet then that's a bit strange. I don't know where the various seed firms get their supplies but it's a possibility that all may not be well in that area too. Last year I sowed some dwarf French beans as usual and for the first time had a total failure, and the 12 foot row of currently non-show Spring onions were from an unopened packet I got last year that was kept in a box indoors in cool and dry conditions. That's a lot of seeds, and for none to raise their heads is also strange.   

[AnnieB]

Very poor germination and little real growth of whatever has germinated either.
Last year was reasonably similar. Both years we had weather swings, however I really expect very little to really develop sufficently in the next few months. Next weekend is June and I seem to be looking at plants which I would expect in April. Again last year did the same and what I had managed to grow all got plagued by problems late in the year.

All tomato's were pulled up and added to the compost heap, most veg simply gave up and wilted away before anything appeared.

Even 2 peppers I purchased have simply done nothing since their purchase. The peppers I had sown have all failed, hence the purchase.

I am guessing weather to some extent, but also beginnging to question the seed quality. Is purchasing seed "early" leaving me/others open to being sold what is "old" seed that was remaining from the previous year and so less viable.

Will have to seriously reconsider what goes in the ground this year as I have in effect very little of the intended items.

[mikem]

I had intended to write to a major seed company but, unlike me, I couldn't be bothered when I bought some peas with "packed year ending 2017" in 2016!

[Lardman]

Very poor germination and little real growth of whatever has germinated either.

That just about sums up my season so far too.    Even the weeds (other than grass) don't appear to be bothered about growing.

[Goosegirl]

Ah, my weeds are growing very nicely thank you!  We're supposed to have a bit of rain tomorrow so we'll see what that does.

[gstrong]

I had intended to write to a major seed company but, unlike me, I couldn't be bothered when I bought some peas with "packed year ending 2017" in 2016!

I know at least one of the major seed suppliers runs June to June (work in a wee store that sells them) so seed packed in late 2016 would show year ending *June* 2017 as the year would start late June 2016.