From: d_rindos@fennel.cc.uwa.oz.au
Subject: Pepper Gal: Seed Test Results
Organization: University of Western Australia
Date: Sun, 16 Aug 1992 00:54:19 GMT

Summary: Pepper Gal's Pepper Seed Seems Pretty Substandard.

    Earlier this year, through the net and this board, I was able to
make contact with several folks in the US who were kind enough to
order and mail me peppers seeds (thanks to all of you again!!).
However, during our discussions over the past several months, one of
my friends noted that he had serious problems with germination with
seeds from one supplier, Pepper Gal.  Since this supplier has gotten
quite a bit of coverage on this board, I thought it might be useful
for me to post the results of my informal "pepper seed trial."

THE TEST:
    In response to my friend's comments about poor to non-existant
germination for seeds coming from the Pepper Gal, I decided to take
advantage of the reversed seasons and keep track of the germination
of seeds coming from this source as well as several other sources.
    In the list the follows, the parentheses give the supplier:  
HORT = Horticultural Enterprises, Dallas Texas USA [packed in
resealable plastic bags]; PG = Pepper Gal [packed loose in paper
envelopes];  DUTCH = Royal Sluis, Neatherlands [packed in foil lined
envelopes in paper packets]; AUST locally obtained seeds [foil inside
of paper packets] (yea, Ozzie is not exactly the home of interesting
peppers!); in the cases marked PG/HORT I ended up with seed from both
suppliers and mixed them before sowing so I would have only one
packet to store for future years.

METHOD:
    All seeds were sown on 2 August 1992 (about 3 weeks too late!):
    Seeds were sown in in small clean, unsterilized, 8x14 cm punnets
in a commercial seed sowing mix.  In most but not all cases, 3 x 8cm
rows of seeds were sown in each punnet (in the 4 cases where I wanted
more plants, and had sufficient seed, I sowed 2x14cm rows: these are
marked with a leading "*" below).  
    The punnets were placed on a heating tray (~25C bottom heat) in a
sunny (north facing) location indoors. Air temperatures probably
didn't go much below 15C, even at night.  The punnets were watered
from below by setting into a shallow pan of water when dry (about
every 3rd day).  Hence it is unlikely that seeds from one row got
mixed with those planted in another.  They were occasionally misted
if the surface looked dry.  A preventative drench of commerical
fungicide (mancozeb+sulphur) was applied on day 11 according to
packet directions after one seedling was seen which might have shown
symptoms of this problem.  The drench was applied to ensure that any
slower germinating varieties could not be claimed to show apparent
non-germination because of damping off.
    Comparable numbers of seeds were sown for all samples (about 2-5
seeds/centimetre depending upon supply and size of seed).  No record
was kept of the number of seeds sown, hence no germination
percentages were calculated; however, I do note below if very few
seedling emerged.  Seedlings were thinned at the cotyledeon stage to
about 1-2 seedlings/centimetre.  They were transplanted about a week
or so after germinating, or when the first true leaf began to appear. 
    Germination was recorded in the mornings and germination was
recorded as having occured if the plants had emerged, even if the
cotyledeons had not yet freed themselves from the sowing matrix
and/or the seed-coat itself. All varieties germinating in the first
few days seemed to have normal germination with most seeds coming
up.  After day 10, results were scored at 2-day intervals, with the
TOTAL seedlings present noted for apparently poor germinating
cultivars.  The test was stopped on 16 August since no new plants
were appearing.
    As may be seen, germination was quite rapid (indeed, tomato and
tomatillo seeds sown on 2 August had emerged by 5 August; eggplants
had germinated on 9 August; papaya on 10 August).  Hence, it appears
that we may assume conditions for germination were quite favourable.

RESULTS:
    apparently inviable seeds are marked *********
    Those showing very poor germination are marked -----------

CAPSICUM (Sweet Peppers)         Date in August of Germination
Aconcagua  (PG) ****************
Hidalgo Hybrid (HORT)                8
Hungarian Sweet Wax (DUTCH)      7
Orange Sweet (DUTCH)                    9
Gedeon Capisicum (AUST)              8
Petite Yellow (HORT)             7
Ta Tong (HORT)                              10
*Sweet Mixed (PG)**************                          14(1)

CHILLI -- MILD (Mild hot peppers)
*Ancho/Poblano, (PG/HORT)               9
Eastern Rocket (PG)************* (treated seed)
Numex R. Naky (HORT)                    9
Peperoncini (HORT)                          10

CHILLI -- HOT (Hot peppers)
Anaheim (PG)********************
"Chile Huichol" (James Bauml)        8
Haban~ero  (PG)*****************
"Haitian" (Bob Batson)                  9
*Pasilla (HORT)                         9
Prickly Nu (PG)                         9
Pucu Uchu (PG)------------------                   12(2)  14(5)
Spanish Red (DUTCH)                     9
Tabasco (PG)********************
TAM Jalapen~o (PG)--------------                   12(3)
Tepin (PG)**********************
Tree Pepper (PG)****************
Uchu (PG)***********************
*Mixed Hot (PG)-----------------            10(2)  12(6)  14(7) 

********** = apparently non-viable
---------- = very poor germination

CONCLUSIONS:
    I think the conclusions are quite obvious.  It appears that the
Pepper Gal seeds are of VERY poor quality.  Given the generally slow
germination of the seeds from this source and the high percentage of
"no shows," I would assume that the seeds of most varieties are old,
stored under poor conditions, and maybe both!  The quick and
apparently good germination of only ONE of the varieties from this
source (Prickly Nu) might be interpreted as indicating that this
particular cultivar had recently been grown on for harvesting and
that therefore the seed was fresh.  Hence, if you are really lucky,
you might order several cultivars which have been recently grown out,
and get what appears to be fairly normal germination.  More likely,
you will get poor germination and, like the rest of us, probably end
up blaming *yourself* for having done something wrong in starting the
seeds.
    It is also interesting to report that one of the varieties,
Eastern Rocket, from the Pepper Gal appear to come orignally from
another commerical source -- I base this inference on the fact that
they have the typical magenta colour of treated seeds.  All of the
more unusual cv's lacked this treated colouring.  But even these did
not show germination comparable to the other commerically produced
seeds.  This observation lends further support to the hypothesis that
improper storage conditions are to blame for the poor germination of
the peppers from the Pepper Gal (rather than some other factor such
as harvesting the seed at the wrong stage).  Capiscum seeds, in fact,
are quite long lived under good conditions:  According to data
derived from USDA sources by C. Jabs and given in *The Heirloom
Gardener* (Sierra Club Books, 1984, p229), pepper seeds maintain
normal germination for at least 3 years when properly stored.
Furthermore, under proper conditions germination drops off fairly
slowly.  Hence, even if the seeds were quite old, we would not expect
the very poor results that I received above for seeds from this one
source had they been stored under even reasonable conditions.  Such
conditions, of course, would NOT include room storage in paper
envelopes in the humid and warm conditions found in Florida!

Concluding note:
    It SEEMS that you are taking quite a risk in ordering your seeds
from the Pepper Gal.  When you also consider the relatively small
number of seeds in the packets I received, things look even worse:
all of the other suppliers' packets were so large that I will have
plenty of seed for at least another year or two of sowing, while the
Pepper Gal packets gave me just only about enough for one year!  But
since they don't grow in any case, I guess it doesn't really matter,
does it?  <grim grin>
    I should probably note that the importation of Pepper seeds into
Australia is unrestricted; hence, the seeds were not fumigated or put
through any other invasive process by Customs upon entry.  My data
also supports the observations of my friend who reported the same
problems with seed coming from the same source at the same time.  Of
course, I cannot exclude the possibility that the seeds from this one
source encountered very unfavourable conditions while in the
possession of the person who forwarded the seeds to me, or while in
transit; but I do think it unlikely.  However, it is very important
to stress that the possibility of unfavourable conditions after
leaving the source CANNOT be totally excluded as the reason for poor
germination in the Pepper Gal seeds.
    Maybe we were really unlucky in the varieties we got, or
something odd happened along the way, but I, for one, don't really
want to try again!  Still, our experiences may NOT be typical and I
would be very interested in hearing from others about their
experiences with seed from this source. If other people's experiences
are like ours, I think that Pepper Gal should start testing seeds for
viability before sending them out (for $$$) to gardeners.

Dave