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planted to early
- Thread starter dinick
- Start date
Yes. Keep the water at a minimum, as well as the lighting. I have some Cayanne peppers that are inside the house, and sitting on top of the fridge. They get watered once a week, and the light that comes in through the kitchen window, facing south, is just enough for very slow growth and decent leaf development. They will grow slow, but the root development is really what is important anyways, and not what's above the soil. Healthy roots today, giant monster pepper production tomorrow!!
yeah if you really want to slow them down just limit the light they are getting and dont over water them they shouldnt dry out fast because they wont be getting alot of light to dry out the dirt.
The only problem with that is that if they're warm enough to want to grow but there isn't enough light, they'll get leggy growing towards the light they do get. I usually start my Annuums pretty early and once they start getting their second set of true leaves I put them downstairs in my unheated basement. I give them a decent amount of light, but no heat, and I water a little on the light side. A fan on the seedlings is also a good idea because it'll incourage them to grow shorter and sturdier. My basement is a steady 10 degrees C all winter.
I live in Toronto as well and I started my seeds in Jan. I wouldn't worry about starting this early because our growing season is shorter then most.
What kind of peppers are you growing?
What kind of peppers are you growing?
Yep, keep them in a cooler environment. I don't believe changing the amount of light they receive will slow them down as much as the cooler temps in their grow area, and only water as needed. After I get mine sprouted they are in temps of 40-55 degrees F. Then in April the temps go up to about 60-80 F and they really take off.
Hey OP! People are asking questions and it's for your own good. If you're growing superhots they can take up to six months to produce peppers. How long is your growing season? If you have a bunch of stunted peppers when it's time to plant out and only have a short time of good growing weather then you're not going to harvest much.
Nice of you people to provide the guy help but you need more info in this particular case to give him an answer that will help. Telling him how to stunt their growth without knowing how long his growing season is doesn't help AT ALL. He lives in Canada so you know it isn't very long.
Nice of you people to provide the guy help but you need more info in this particular case to give him an answer that will help. Telling him how to stunt their growth without knowing how long his growing season is doesn't help AT ALL. He lives in Canada so you know it isn't very long.
Patrick, I mean no disrespect, but please see the BOLD part of the quote from the OP.
im am growing 4 thai suns, 2 ghost, 2 carolina, 2 peter pepper, 2 butch t, 2 orange hab, 2 7 pot, they have almost just came out of the surface. im putting the one that have came out on the window ledge during the day then at night i put them back on the heat pad. im goin to go buy a t5 light this week. should i use 6500k and 4500k or just one of them??
thanks
nick
No disrespect noted and thanks for pointing out the OP's entire post.
OP your growing season is a little shorter than mine. If you're just now getting your seeds germinated I wouldn't worry about slowing growth down yet. Maybe never. Your last frost date is May 9th so you have less than three months of keeping them indoors. Right now I would focus on getting them as big and healthy and prepared to go outside as you can. If you come to the point that they're getting too big then start taking steps to slow growth down.
As for your light question I've always used cheap $10 24" florescent grow lights you can get from Walmart with success. This year I went with a T5 HO four foot four lamp set up. I've been told you can grow peppers from seedling to pods with the T5 65K lamps. I plan on finding out.
Newbie grower, here, but as I understand it, you can pinch the tops, too. This'll encourage out and not up growing, and will help them be stronger.
Also, peppers tend to grow to fit the container they are in. Keep them in a small container, they'll stay small. Plant them indoors in a 10 gallon bucket and you'll have trees
Also, peppers tend to grow to fit the container they are in. Keep them in a small container, they'll stay small. Plant them indoors in a 10 gallon bucket and you'll have trees
We may have to swap seeds some time then
I use a 4 foot, 4 bulb T8 shop light from Home Depot and it seems to do the trick, but if you are going to get T5 go with the 6500K bulbs.
I would also keep the seedlings under the light at all times and if you do have a warm window ledge you could use that too.
I keep mine under 2x 6500k and 2x 3000k T8 bulbs and they seems to love it. If you wanna keep the growth down, consider using the T8's instead of the T5's. You'll save some money and they may not grow quite as fast.
The remarks regarding our growing season are important. Last year my plan was to have my guys outside by May 15th but the nights were so cold I didn't plant out until Jun 5th. Between that and not starting my seeds early enough (March/April), my harvest was almost non-existent until about mid-August.
The remarks regarding our growing season are important. Last year my plan was to have my guys outside by May 15th but the nights were so cold I didn't plant out until Jun 5th. Between that and not starting my seeds early enough (March/April), my harvest was almost non-existent until about mid-August.
agreed about not being "too early", assuming you have space & some lighting.....i started this year in early january just because last year i got caught short with green peppers and a weak(er) harvest
i am in midcoast maine.....and after this afternoon, most of my starts will already have been transplanted to solo cups.....some with first set of true leaves, others already have 3-4 sets
a few of my varities (pasilla, giant jalanpeno, a few other shorter season/faster growing) will need 6" pots by the time april/may get here......
others have given good advice re: temp/light/pinching as a means to control growth.......but unless you have space or light issues, methinks you're going to need the long "pre-season"
i am in midcoast maine.....and after this afternoon, most of my starts will already have been transplanted to solo cups.....some with first set of true leaves, others already have 3-4 sets
a few of my varities (pasilla, giant jalanpeno, a few other shorter season/faster growing) will need 6" pots by the time april/may get here......
others have given good advice re: temp/light/pinching as a means to control growth.......but unless you have space or light issues, methinks you're going to need the long "pre-season"