Reasons Your Seeds Aren't Germinating

As a beginner gardener, I've found that I need to write down when I plant seeds because I get so excited that it FEELS like I planted them weeks ago when it's only been 5 days. LOL! I start to worry too early. 😉

My #1 mistake is impatience. Seeds didn't sprout, so I stole the soil to plant something else. Then I have several different plants growing in one pot or I find tiny sprouts that I just killed because I wanted the dirt for something else.

A lot of folks, especially new gardeners, plant the seeds too deep. I know I made that mistake when I was first starting out. It’s important to pay attention to the planting depth on the seed packet.

Thanks, Luke. Ignorance is bliss. I didn't know about carrots needing darkness but had a bumper crop in a small garden at my former house. I must've done something accidentally right.😂 Great tips. Keep them coming!

I always tell new gardeners READ the back of the seed packet!!! It’s amazing how many people don’t do that

I'm trying to grow all my vegetables from seeds this year. I appreciate all the advice.

So funny you made a video about this. Every year I keep a written record of ALL my seed stock, with date of packet and variety, into a composition notebook. I knew I'd had certain seed packets that I had that were PRETTY OLD. This year I began to mark them specifically. Anything that was older than 2020, I began adding a star in front of PER DECADE😂... just to show me how old they REALLY WERE. I LITERALLY had at least one pack of seeds that had 3 STARS in front(1999)! Lol! This year I decided to take all those seeds that were that old and finally just dealt with them to get them out of my stock for good. I took the 1999 and several 2006 seed packs and soaked them for between 1-2 days and then planted them in pots in my little greenhouse. So far, I have a pack of SNAPDRAGONS from 2006 that HAVE SPROUTED! Could hardly believe it. I thought, if MIGardener can bring the Giant Crimson Tomato back from extinction from a pack of seeds from the 1930's, 40's, or 50's, then I can raise out whatever germinates and lives long enough for me to transplant them out. I was SO PROUD of you guys for accomplishing that! I bought a pack last fall for planting this year. Had asked my BF's elderly in-laws if they'd ever heard of the variety. They didn't know if they had. I told them the story behind MIGardener bringing it back from extinction. And she paid me for the pack I had so they could grow them out, and I bought 2 other packs to replace the ones I sold to her. I'm REALLY excited to try growing the Giant Crimson Tomato this year! Happy germination!

I had seeds sprout this year from 2011 and 2012. I was experimenting. They took longer to germinate. My theory is as seeds age the outside shell hardens. I will try to germinate more old seeds knowing they might not come up, but excited when they do.

This was so helpful. You're the first I've ran across that explains anything about actual gardening and how to be successful.

I bought a lot of my seeds from you this year. Thanks for making them so affordable!

Bought a heated seed starter mat this year. Amazing results.

I planted store bought beans with 15 varieties in it. I soaked them overnight. They germinated wonderfully and are growing so fast. I made a video of them and an update. Now I need to transplant them and do another update. I planted 70 tomatoes and I had 3 varieties. I only got one plant from two of them and two plants from the sungold. They were planted around February 19th. I'm contacting Burpee and have them replaced. Great video as always 😊 Thanks for sharing this info 😊 have a great day and happy gardening 🌿🌱😊🤗

I'm starting a medicinal garden this year and I'm surprised and how many of these flowers and herbs benefit from cold stratification!

I love you Luke! You’re such an upstanding and honest young man! You remind me of my son! The only time I don’t buy from you is when you don’t have a type of seed I want, usually herbs. But 99% of what I’ve bought is from you! Just ordered Trifecta and worm casings and plant identifiers.. I tell everyone about you because it’s so nice to find an honest and upright seed seller! I’ll support you until I can no longer plant seeds! ❤️ God bless you and your family! ❤

I've probably made every mistake that you named. It's totally heartbreaking, and I'm discouraged at this moment. Thanks for caring and sharing. 💔

2023 is my first kitchen garden. Zone 5, MI. My seedling germination rate is high, but my seedlings are leggy. I have another small grow light on the way and will repot under new lights. First set of true leaves are just budding.

Worst seed starting mistake I ever made was accidentally dropping my trays of young plants on the ground and loosing everything.

I’m definitely too impatient. Just started trying to grow from seeds and have made a bunch of errors. The good thing is that I planted such a wide variety that I at least have beans and squash. Unfortunately, my greenhouse became too hot and killed most of my tomato seedlings. I have a new tray with tomato seeds. Hopefully I will have some tomato seedlings soon! Thanks for all of the great content!

Great information, Luke. I think we all try to get a jump start on the season (I know I do) and sometimes it's not the best idea.

I'm surprised you didn't mention the soil drying out. As a new indoor seed starter, I let some trays get too dry. I figured if the humidity dome was on, they were good, so I wasn't monitoring soil moisture close enough. Luckily, I cought most just in time to not lose them.