GERMINATION
Let’s talk about it! This year my germination rate has been tricky, but I’ve got there! In reality things are being erratic. Ive been at this long enough now to know never to throw a seed tray away. Stuff that normally pops up in a couple of weeks has just sat there, or else one or two pop up, followed by a few more, followed by others. I’m putting it down to temperatures and the fact that they are WILDLY fluctuating, sometimes by tens of degrees in 24 hours! I had a glut of germination on trays that had sat there (even on the heat bench) when we had a steady range of temperatures for a couple of weeks a while back, now it’s gone back to nothing again and seedlings have just been sat in the trays for weeks now, not really doing much, because we’re back to the stoopid.
So here we are. Climate changed. Today is currently only 9 degrees outside and we’re past the equniox. Yesterday my tunnel guage read 3 degree nighttime temp and 39 degree daytime.. I know tunnels exaggerate temperatures anyway, but an equivalent fluctuation will be happening outside. I believe this is the main culpret for poor germination given that seed relies on millennia’s worth of evolution within climate norms to create those chemical cascades to grow! This year I sowed a load of natives, from experience they have always been particularly tricky anyway, but germination has been SO SLOW and poor on them, barely getting a tray from a generous sowing. I would guestimate about only a 20-30 percent germination rate and I would guess its because they just haven’t received the stratification needed. On the flipside I’m stunned at how well the germination has been on my yellow-rattle in the meadow, which I wasn’t expecting much from this year! I wonder if this is an indication of which natives are going to survive best into this new era of climate that’s coming?
I’ve seen a few posts and spoken to few a people too who have really struggled with germinating even die-hard old reliables like Cosmos, Calendula, Tagetes and Sunflowers, I suspect from using substandard seed. At every opportunity I try to tell people to stop sourcing their seed from mainstream suppliers (garden centres/supermarkets etc) and instead find their national independent seed suppliers, who save their own seed or at the very least work with individual specialists who have similar quality controls and ethics. Like independent nurseries, independent seed suppliers actually give a shit about their product, how its produced and its health and age!. I also try to get people to start saving their own seed, which is the most certain way to ensure good viability with fresh seed and over time, seed specifically acclimatised to your garden or climate. Open pollination is where it’s at!
Lastly don’t get me started on composts. The fact of the matter is you have to spend the money on quality and you HAVE to go peat-free! It’s really not that hard! It’s made out to be some dark art, complicated shit that your plants won’t thrive in, it’s really not hard to convert if you spend the money on quality! Peat now is the absolute shittest! Much of it here and in UK has been imported from around the globe, making it an even bigger shitshow of environmental carnage! Some of it is coming from peat bogs in Eastern Europe and even Asia in some cases! Stop it.. just stop it! A lot of the soil blocking composts and even peat reduced composts are still, peat. No amount of not using plastic pots or plastic bags or plastic labels is going to mitigate the fact that you’re funding the eradication of ancient habitat and carbon sink, it kind of cancels out the whole fucking point of what you’re trying to do and I also suspect that the substrate is another reason why people might be struggling with germination rates. As usual it’s all connected. The irony of being sad about poor germination of your seeds sown into a peat based compost is just… face slappingly good fun!
