What to Do When Sown Seeds Don't Come Up

What to Do When Sown Seeds Don't Come Up

A silent sowing after two weeks is not a fatality — it is a problem with a known diagnosis. Here is the procedure, from the immediate rescue gesture to the corrected re-sowing.

Contents

• Emergency gestures
• Check before giving up
• Re-sowing: how to correct
• Preventing next time
• Frequently asked questions

Emergency gestures

If some seeds have emerged or if the seeds are still alive, act at once:

• Soggy substrate? Stop watering, vent the lid, let the excess evaporate — and immediately remove any seed showing signs of rot to prevent contagion.
• Dry substrate? Bottom-water or mist generously — a quick rehydration can save an emergence not yet aborted.
• Cold soil? Slide a heat mat under the tray or move the container closer to a gentle source — going from 15 to 20 °C often wakes a sleeping sowing.
• Mouldy lid? Remove it as soon as most seeds have emerged — kept too long, it creates ambient humidity that favours fungal diseases.

Check before giving up

Before throwing everything out, two checks:

• Is the delay really over? Emergence varies from 2-4 days (radish) to a month (parsley, celery). Only conclude a week after the normal delay on the packet.
• Are the seeds still there? Dig up a few: soft and brown = rotten; hard and intact = dormant or dead; missing = gone (pests possible — the seedling fly thrives in cool damp soil).

Re-sowing: how to correct

If the verdict is in, restart on corrected bases:

• Replace or test the seeds — if it is an old batch, test 10 seeds on moist paper first; below 7 emergences out of 10, sow denser to compensate.
• Fresh sterile substrate — especially if damping-off struck: sterile seed-starting mix, no garden soil.
• Disinfected containers — soak in a 10% bleach solution then air-dry.
• Corrected conditions: 20-30 °C, substrate just moist, depth 2-3 diameters, sowing denser if temperature stays below optimum — you compensate for predictable losses.
• Dormancy lifted if necessary: soaking, scarification or stratification depending on the species.

Preventing next time

The proven good practices that make the difference:

• Sow when the soil temperature matches the species — never into cold damp soil.
• Sterile medium (bought or disinfected seed-starting mix), no garden soil.
• Sparse sowing — air circulates between seedlings and limits damping-off.
• Bottom watering rather than overhead.
• Lid removed at emergence, and immediate light.
• Young seeds: stock up in January-February for the year's sowings — young seeds germinate better and faster.

Frequently asked questions

How long before declaring a sowing lost?

One week after the species' normal delay stated on the packet. Parsley and celery need 3 weeks to a month — do not panic before that.

Can the soil from a failed sowing be reused?

Not if damping-off struck — the fungi persist. Restart on fresh sterile substrate.

My seeds were new and everything seemed right — what happened?

Suspect no. 1: temperature. A 12-15 °C soil in a cool house is enough to block a tomato or pepper. Also check sowing depth and real moisture at the core of the substrate.

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Want your home sowings to succeed? Germie's reusable germination kits get your seeds started in record time — and the Gardiscan analyses your soil for a perfectly calibrated start.