[Goosegirl]

Mmm. Not pleased at all. I sowed runner and dwarf beans, leeks, four varieties of tomatoes, sweetcorn and some flowers on 5th April and kept the pots in my g'house. Nothing came up except for the runners.    I used MG's peat-free compost (new to me and really don't like the gurt wads of coconut fibre in it) so don't know what happened. Re-sowed at the end of April and one type of flower is germinating plus some dwarf beans and my leeks but no toms or sweetcorn as yet. Anyone else found this?

[JayG]

I've always had a niggling doubt when it comes to seed packet labelling - 'packed in year-ending xxxx' doesn't tell you when the seed was actually harvested, and I can't believe that the seed retailers were unaffected by Covid-related supply and production problems...

Buying decent quality compost seems to be another difficulty with the phasing out of peat-based formulations - there's clearly a lot of poor stuff out there this year, especially when planning on using it for seed sowing.

The fact that your runners were one of your few successes suggests it could be the compost - I would expect large seeds producing strong roots and shoots would cope with coarse, lumpy compost better than very tiny ones, although your leeks seem to have managed ok (eventually.)

Can only suggest sieving as many lumps out of the compost as possible, and perhaps adding some sieved garden soil into the sowing medium to improve the overall texture.

[Lardman]

A couple of years back I switched to proper seed sowing compost and vermiculite to start off smaller seeds,  having made do with multi-purp compost for years.  The difference was very noticeable.  I'm still using the same bag so it's paid for itself many times over,  multi-purp just isn't what it used to be.

[Christine]

I've had the same problem with butternut squash, courgette and Baby Bear squash. Usually they come away brilliantly for me. Oh and I've had a packet of pink broad beans from a well known firm that has had a very low germination rate indeed. My regular supplier had a crop failure last year. Am left wondering there.

[whaleroad]

Same. Especially squashes. Butternut has been a total washout. I've used different seeds, new seeds, different composts and now have two tiny seedlings out of about 20 sown. Courgettes have proven just as bad - I have three seedlings and since half of them got eaten by snails last year before fruiting, I somehow don't think I'm in for the glut this year.

I finally have some sweetcorn, barely enough for a block so I hope none get damaged now. Butternut squash absolutely awful and no idea where I'm going wrong.

The only thing doing okay really has been brassicas, but that's not what I really want growing over summer.

[mumofstig]

It's weird, my squashes and pumpkins were ok, 1 variety of cucumber was 100% the other only 50%.
First sowings of cabbage were a disaster, 2nd ones (different varieties) were ok.
Home saved bean seeds have been good, as were bought runner beans, but bought Gigandes not a single 1 appeared, I had 6 saved seeds from last year and all 6 grew.
I don't understand what's going on with seeds bought this year, enough to say I'm not a happy bunny 

[whaleroad]

Another note about my sweetcorn: The first lot were a total failure. They were Incredible F1 from a well known high end brand and not a single one germinated. Then I sowed some cheapo ones from Wilko, and some more of the Incredible (controlled experiment!) and only the cheapo Wilko ones have germinated. Could tell on sight that they were better quality, too.

So it does seem like it's a question of duff seeds. I wonder if the pandemic has done something to supply and we're not getting what we'd normally get.

[steven c]

as stated previously we now chit all larger seeds before sowing and get much better germination rate, point taken about info on seed packets as to how fresh they are .

[jaydig]

I've had problems with some tomato seeds, 100% germination failure of purchased runner beans seeds (Tenderstar), but total success with my own saved seeds (Moonlight) from last year, complete no show from aster seeds, and a couple of varieties of sprouts haven't germinated. The compost I usually get from a local garden centre is, this year, very expensive and absolute rubbish.  What is going on with commercially produced compost this year? 

[Growster...]

We rely on Jack's Magic compost still, and while some lettuce, rocket and springs are variable, the beans have been fine and the toms even better.

It seems that the 'new' fibrous compost really isn't up to scratch, although I bought some begonias and also some online osteospermum, and they all had just a furry wedge of coconut stuff to grow in, so someone's got it right!

I've given up buying cucumber and courgette seeds and now break the bank by getting ready-grown plants from the GC...

[geordiekev]

I also chit larger seeds, cucumber, sweetcorn, pumpkin and beans. No problem. I make my own seed and potting compost using sieved peat MPC as a base with sand, top soil with the addition of an amount of JI fertilizer. Until forced to I won't touch peat free. I also won't touch supermarket brands of compost especially the one sold by "More reasons".

[Enfield Glen]

I think it could be more to do with the weather being so inconsistent. Seeds started off indoors in the propagator have generally been pretty good and certainly no worse than previous years. Only disaster were my peppers but that might have been last years seeds.

Things sown over the allotment or in the greenhouse have been very hit and miss. I usually start peas in the greenhouse and sow some every week. the first three sowings were only about 30% successful so I decided rather than wasting compost I would sow over the allotment directly and in bigger quantities, and you guessed it they all germinated the first week I done it and the second time hardly any did. I think the first day was warmer and wetter and teh second was the colder dryer spell.

The first sowing of 2 different types of carrot over the allotment also a disaster.

[Growster...]

The miniscule amount of peat, sold to gardeners like us here does'nt make a happorth of difference to the overall 'loss' of peat grounds, and it does wonders for normal gardeners who just want to grow their own veg and flowers to make their allotments and gardens look great and provide decent vegetables for the table with beautiful flowers to rest your eyes on.

I'll always buy bags which contain peat, as it makes our garden a fabulous place to wander around in, and see such beauty!

[Subversive_plot]

When you are chitting seeds, or even growing seeds early on after chitting, the seeds are not relying much on whether the media is peat, non-peat compost, or something else.  Have you considered just sowing seed in a good clean sand to start them germinating?  That solves the problem of peat-free vs. not peat-free compost, if that concerns you.

Many farms in northern Indiana are extremely sandy (geologic deposits of Great Lakes beach sand and dunes), but farmers do grow crops on such soil by regularly feeding dilute fertilizer with irrigation.  It is almost like hydroponics. 

On the scale of your seed-sprouting bench, you could easily do this, just provide a little dilute water-soluble fertilizer when you water.  Pot on to a larger container with regular compost after the seedlings have a good start.

I have been thinking of doing this next year, in part due to the lower cost of sand vs. seed-starting mix.

[missmoneypenny]

Goosegirl I have exactly the same issues. Poor germination, stunted plant-lets. The tomatoes, which are usually my pride and joy, are the worst. They look like bonsai. I’ve used peat free compost this year  (probably watched Gardener’s World too much) . It’s called Incredipeatfree by Thompson and Morgan. It’s incredisappointing. Dry, full of twigs, you’d think half of it was from a chipyard. I’m afraid I’ve ordered some old fashioned peat containing compost and I am going to repot.