It's been bothering me all year. I don't like failure, at the best of times. And to fail at the first hurdle . . . Well! But those who have read the early posts know this is just what happened - the very first seeds (basil) failed to germinate, and I wasn't really able to give a satisfactory explanation (I put it down to temperature). Now, after reading something more about the effects of light quality on lettuce seed germination, I have had a re-think. I don't know why I never saw it before. Basil might also need a light stimulus to germinate.
The seeds were placed near a low-energy fluorescent bulb, so were probably low in essential orange-red (660nm) light. This seems especially apt since basil comes from a part of the world where natural light contains much light of this wavelength.
The more I think about this explanation, the more it makes sense. Although the propagator was warmer than the original position, it was also in stronger natural light.
Note that phytochrome stimulation does not need strong light, as does photosynthesis. A low wattage tungsten bulb is effective.
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