Growing Chillies means always asking questions. Having sown my seeds. The next question is, how long will it take for my Chilli seeds to grow? One can normally expect germination within 7 to ten days. Some varieties, however, with long seed to fruit-bearing periods, can take much longer. Chillies like Corolina reapers can sometimes take over a month to germinate.
For a good germination rate to be achieved, Chilli seeds should be kept at the right temperature in a propagator and not given too much water. If the seeds are overwatered there is a real possibility that they will start going bad. The relatively high temperatures needed for good germination ( 26 to 32 degrees C) combined with too much water can cause the seeds to rot.
The heat generated by the heat mats that keep the propagators at the right temperature causes evaporation. You will notice condensation on the lids. This
means your pellets or Rockwell cubes are losing water. You do not want them to dry out either, which will also mean they won’t germinate. I normally inspect my seeds in the morning, and then later on in the afternoon, and, if needs be, will spray a fine mist of lukewarm water over the medium that the seeds are being grown in. I use a hair stylist’s fine mist sprayer for this purpose.
Seedlings require light as soon as possible after they have germinated. Upon germination, seedlings should be transferred into a separate propagator, which should be placed under grow lights. This propagator should not be on a heat mat as it is longer required.
The seven to 10-day rule works for most seeds, but some take longer than others to germinate. Those seeds that still need to burst into life will be kept in the seed starter propagator for up to a month (maybe a bit longer for varieties like Carolina reapers – ). After that, I reluctantly have to conclude that these seeds will not germinate and will have to give up on them.