A week has passed since I planted my chilli pepper seeds, and already there is growth! I have 10 out of 15 seeds showing life. Not bad, especially considering I was worried about the potential heat my seeds endured during shipping. Some seeds can take months to germinate as well, so there is time.
I currently have 5 cotyledons, which are the plant’s first leaves.
There are 5 seeds showing rooting activity, though they have yet to develop their first cotyledons.
Unfortunately algae has managed to grow on my rock wool. The presence of algae suggests my materials were not fully sterilised. Sometimes this is avoidable, such as using bleach when cleaning the bucket and net cups. Sometimes its unavoidable, such as being introduced through your water supply. I’ve generally found that the algae doesn’t do any harm as its isolated to the rock wool and not the water inside my buckets, however I do suspect that if the seeds haven’t developed root by the time the algae takes over, they are unlikely to grow due to deprived oxygen.