How to sprout old pepper seeds?

[rdback]

[mention]MsCowpea[/mention] Seeds arrived! I'll get after them shortly.

[MikeUSMC]

@MsCowpea Seeds arrived! I'll get after them shortly.

Same here, [mention]MsCowpea[/mention] ! I scarified them with some fine grit sandpaper, then soaked them in a H2O2 solution last night. They'll be hitting the dirt today

Thanks again! Fingers crossed!

[rdback]

[mention]MikeUSMC[/mention] Mike, are you planting in potting mix? If so, I'll try rockwool and paper towel. Hopefully we'll get some of these to pop!

[MsCowpea]

Good luck and thanks again. I soaked some in bat guano and have them tucked away in a paper towel on barely warm heat. I should have scarified -just have a few left to try something different. I did find some seeds (2014) from A
gentleman who brought them from JA. I am sending you both some in case you want to try. I wrote on the package that he told me they were smaller. I’d don’t know if you want to
Bleach or heat seeds for precaution as they would not have been treated in any way. I vacuum sealed them and placed them in wrong seed box so didn’t know I had them. I know I tried them but no recollection. Saved seeds from them ‘may’ be what I have now- I don’t know. My plants are almost kaput. 2 are on life support.
Here you can cut them back after awhile and they can grow a couple years but the plant declines with age.

[MikeUSMC]

@MikeUSMC Mike, are you planting in potting mix? If so, I'll try rockwool and paper towel.

Yeah, Rick. I usually use MG "Seed Starting" mix, but they didn't have any, so I ended up using "Indoor Potting Mix" and added a bunch of perlite

I did find some seeds (2014) from A
gentleman who brought them from JA. I am sending you both some in case you want to try

I sowed a bunch of those too

Good luck and thanks again

No, thank YOU!

[DMF]

I've read that a 24 hr soak in a .15% hydrogen peroxide (h2o2) solution will help "re-oxygenate" the seed coats of old seeds, and improve germination.

I do that. The actual solution isn't important; I just eyeball it. But the justification I've heard is that the H2O2 kills fungus spores hanging around on the seeds. If it does both, that would be great!

[Shule]

I used to soak seeds with hydrogen peroxide and water. It worked fine, and I didn't have seed-borne disease problems. Germination was good; maybe slightly better than without the soak, but I could be wrong.

Be warned that you probably shouldn't water your soil with that H2O2/water solution after soaking, though, unless you used food grade H2O2, since the regular kind can include stabilizers, such as organophosphates (which may or may not hurt your plants or your health; I doubt it would do either, but as it's possible, I thought I'd mention it). The stabilizers aren't mentioned in the ingredients, but if it says (Stabilized) by the hydrogen peroxide in the ingredients, you know it contains some. You can contact the manufacturer to know for sure.

[DMF]

C'mon people. Tomatoes and peppers are in the same family (Solanaceae). What works for one works for the other.

6-10 yr old seeds aren't much of an issue IF they have been kept dry. All my starts this year are from 2013-2016.

Some good advice above:

• Use more seeds that you could ever need. Choose ones that look healthy and fat. No dark stains or germs (innards) or runts.
• Soak 24 hrs or more in a H2O2 solution. I don't know about "oxygenating" anything -- H2O2 kills fungus spores that can be a problem with seeds that sit in the damp for a number of days. A well-soaked seed will sink. Some people discard floaters; I don't.
• Place in a damp paper towel in a sealed baggie in a warm spot. Not too warm! 75-85'F (Scotch Bonnets are C.chinense which likes the warmer side better.) Bottom heat is hard to control so don't use unless there's a good reason.
• Check every day for tails and plant helmet-down about 1/4" - 3/8" deep.
• Wait a good three weeks before giving up. Remove seeds that discolor or start to grow black stuff. Replace with a drop or two of H2O2.

Let us know how it goes.