I have started my own seeds every spring for the past 5-6 years. I have one of those wire coated, heavy duty shelves in my laundry room. I suspend shop lights over 4 shelves and have three seed heat mats. I use both seed start mix and jiffy pots. I use water that has been allowed to stand to remove the chlorine. There is a heat vent at the bottom of the shelves (I keep 1/2 open) that circulates air and heat. This is not in the basement near any possible gas leak...
Always worked very, very well in previous years.
THIS YEAR I am having difficulty getting ANY pepper seeds to germinate. Not the bells or jalapeno or cayennes... I FINALLY got 3 varieties of tomatoes to germinate but it took about 3-4 weeks to see any green. Tomatoes are usually up in 3 days.
I tried again with the peppers - all new seed - and in both seed start and jiffy mix. NO PEPPERS! I planted 10 jiffy pots of cantaloupe and now have only 2 growing. Cucumbers same - 10 to get 2. I can dig up the seeds and they are not rotted. Just white and clean looking. Like PLASTIC!
I planted 30 of the Park's Lighthouse salvias and now have 2. Zinnias (I know don't like transplanting but have done well for me in the past) I have planted twice! No zinnias. Pinwheel variety. Not a speck of green.
The marigolds, cosmos, coleus and impatiens are doing fine.
I cannot figure that anything has changed from last year.
ANY ideas??????????? I am so puzzled....