In article ,
Alan Gould wrote:

18-20 C is about the minimum advisable for seed germination including
overnight. We cover this problem with a propagator set at 20C.
Once germinated, seedlings can survive lower temperatures, but this
present cold snap with February temperatures much lower than January is
causing some difficulties with earlier sown plants. The damage is not
always recognisable at the time, but chilled seedlings can result in
poor plant growth at a later stage.

Er, no. That applies to a great many plants, but many alpines and
far northern plants will rot if kept that high, because they can't
make use of it and the fungi and bacteria can. If they are adapted
to germinating when the soil temperature is 5 Celcius, don't push
them too far!

No, I can't tell you which - only that I have failed for that reason.

And, of course, the serious tropicals will rot because they are too
cold at a mere 25 Celcius. Date stones seem to be almost immune
from rotting, but can't be bothered to germinate in such icy conditions.
As you may gather, I am NOT being successful :-(


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.