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Self collected seed not germinating
Hi all,
Just wondering where I might have gone wrong? All of my shop bought seeds this year have germinated perfectly indoors (both perennials and tender annuals) However my self collected delphinium and Aquilegia seeds have failed to germinate (also worried it might occur with my other self collected seeds) I collected them fully ripe in Autum and kept them in my kitchen draw until planting.
Did they need some cold exposure? Could I rescue the trays of so far non germinated seed now? What should I do with the rest of the seeds I've collected?
Many thanks in advance 
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I find that aquilegia seed is best sown fresh (at the time that it happens in nature) rather than dried and sown later. Maybe delphinium seed is the same.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Neither of the seeds you mention need heat to germinate. Cold GH is good, or outside for the aquilegias. Hardy perennials never need heat to germinate. Heat will prevent some of them from germinating. Aquilegias and delphiniums are Ranunculaceae, many of that family need cold and fresh seed is always best.
Sown fresh, aquilegias germinate before winter. Sown cold in January they germinate in spring
In the sticks near Peterborough
In my experience aquilegia is best sewn directly on the ground. You can still do that now, but it is likely that they only grow leaves this year. The other option is to let them self seed in autumn and move awkward plants in spring.
Delphiniums I am struggling with myself. I got one seed germinating and I have sewn them 3 weeks ago. Plenty of time left there.
I don't struggle to germinate delphiniums but I struggle to keep them going in the garden. I only grow the annual ones now
In the sticks near Peterborough
Thanks all,
I only took some of the seed so I will scour the ground where they are planted to see if I can find any self sown ones before I have a spring tidy up.
The seeds have only been in 2 1/2 weeks and I have 1 delphinium seedling so i'll keep watch. I have so many seeds left i'll sow some and leave them outside just to see if anything pops up.
I collected the seed and put them straight into paper envelopes last year and put them in a draw. Is there a better way I should be collecting and storing seed this year for another go?
Thank you everyone, I really do appreciate your help
Just make sure that when you collect the seed that it's ready to collect Jonesk. Nice and dry and ripe. If they're not quite ready it makes it difficult. Dry and cool for storage which seems to be what you've done. Sow straightaway for the aquilegias as has been suggested - they do it that way in nature.
Delphiniums are often better done as cuttings in my experience, but it's a long time since I've grown them - too many slugs here!
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I would go with Nutcutlet on this one, I always sow Delphiniums in the late summer/autumn, usually same with Auilegias, but I did sow some that Nut gave me recently and they have all germinated.