Planting Dilemma

SpicyStreet

SpicyStreet

Hi All!
 
So i'm in a bit of a dilemma with my grow / transplant schedule.  My peppers are begging to be transplanted... they've sufficiently outgrown their double-cup homes.  I had intended to transplant during this week / weekend as they are ready, and my garden has finally been prepared but the weather forecast at nights is mid 40's with daytime highs averaging around mid 60's.  Unfortunately I have run out of space to transplant them again to somewhat larger pots.
 
Here are my options as I see, and need input!
 
1. Begin hardening my plants regardless, including overnight
2. Simply leave them in their double cups and continue to water as needed
 
Is there potential of them dying if i begin hardening / overnight in mid 40's?  Is there a possibility of stunting their growth if I leave them for too long in their double cups?
 
 
Any input would be great!
 
When I start hardening off I will put the plants out on my back patio in the morning.  They get full sun from 9am to noon (back yard faces east) and then the house shades the plants through the afternoon.  I bring them in at night as we will occasionally get a frost in zone 5a through the last week of May or so. 
 
I do this for about a week, and then I plant them into our raised beds. 
 
I know you said you're out of space but you can always transplant into one gallon pots (which are in reality 2.7 liters and not actually one gallon). They dont take up much space indoors and peppers can stay in them for a while. Those would give you more than enough time til it's safe to plant out.
 
Hi SpicyStreet and welcome to the most helpful pepper site anywhere!

The PNW area has a very wide USDA Hardiness Zones of 4 to 9 in Oregon and Washington and believe you should start there as you can estimate your average last/first frost dates from it. As SmokenFire posted, you can then figure out a timeline to give your plants some sunshine to harden them off.

The only other advice I have is pepper plants don't like cold feet.....meaning soil temp should remain above 50°F before you transplant to garden. My observation has been, while the plant doesn't suffer any ill effects because air temps above freezing, other than they sit there and do nothing until that temp or above is reached and you'll be asking here, "My plants are not growing, what's wrong?"... IMO it's better to keep them in a good growing environment until optimal conditions are available outdoors.
 
As always, YMMV
 
Edmick said:
I know you said you're out of space but you can always transplant into one gallon pots (which are in reality 2.7 liters and not actually one gallon). They dont take up much space indoors and peppers can stay in them for a while. Those would give you more than enough time til it's safe to plant out.
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If anything I would have to transplant them into half gallon or something similar to try and keep them organized.  I have 60 plants growing presently so full gallon pots would be a lot of space.
 
The_NorthEast_ChileMan said:
Hi SpicyStreet and welcome to the most helpful pepper site anywhere!

The PNW area has a very wide USDA Hardiness Zones of 4 to 9 in Oregon and Washington and believe you should start there as you can estimate your average last/first frost dates from it. As SmokenFire posted, you can then figure out a timeline to give your plants some sunshine to harden them off.

The only other advice I have is pepper plants don't like cold feet.....meaning soil temp should remain above 50°F before you transplant to garden. My observation has been, while the plant doesn't suffer any ill effects because air temps above freezing, other than they sit there and do nothing until that temp or above is reached and you'll be asking here, "My plants are not growing, what's wrong?"... IMO it's better to keep them in a good growing environment until optimal conditions are available outdoors.
 
As always, YMMV
Click to expand...
 
 
Hey!  Bingo - I'm in SW Washington / NW Oregon Area so the last frost date that I fall into is end of April, which we're almost there.  I think i'll beign the hardening process and unfortunately have to keep them in their cups for another two weeks or so at least until this portion of low temps pass through.
 
Hey Spicy.  Your plants would be really unhappy if you simply planted them outside here in the PNW right now. Is the problem that there's no way for you to keep them in cups and move them out and back daily? Because that would by far be the best way to acclimate them. 
 
In cups, you can keep them out of the rain (I put mine under the eaves of the house when there's rain) and shelter them from wind initially (I start mine low on the floor of my deck then move them out into more exposure after a few days). But NECM's point about cold feet well taken. In those little Solo cups the soil can get much colder than in the ground, so leaving them out overnight in cups will be hard on them, especially if they're used to a warm grow area.
 
If you can harden them off with progressive daily exposure for at least 7-10 days of coming in at night, then once they've acclimated to sun and wind and cooler temperatures plant them directly into the ground for the first overnight leading into a few warm days that might be your best bet. FWIW, the only peppers I'd target an April plant-out for in this area would be rocotos and certain wild types.
 
CaneDog said:
Hey Spicy.  Your plants would be really unhappy if you simply planted them outside here in the PNW right now. Is the problem that there's no way for you to keep them in cups and move them out and back daily? Because that would by far be the best way to acclimate them. 
 
In cups, you can keep them out of the rain (I put mine under the eaves of the house when there's rain) and shelter them from wind initially (I start mine low on the floor of my deck then move them out into more exposure after a few days). But NECM's point about cold feet well taken. In those little Solo cups the soil can get much colder than in the ground, so leaving them out overnight in cups will be hard on them, especially if they're used to a warm grow area.
 
If you can harden them off with progressive daily exposure for at least 7-10 days of coming in at night, then once they've acclimated to sun and wind and cooler temperatures plant them directly into the ground for the first overnight leading into a few warm days that might be your best bet. FWIW, the only peppers I'd target an April plant-out for in this area would be rocotos and certain wild types.
Click to expand...
 
I had intended to harden them off but this insight definitely helps but the difficulty is simply working during the week realistically.  I'm planning after this weekend to stick them outside in the morning before I leave for the day, and then bringing them in at night.  My concern is that if I leave them in the cups for too much longer they'll be stunted - is that a valid concern or am i just being overly worried?  Right now they're in a 4x4 tent with constant 78ish degrees.
 
Unfortunately, all the concerns are valid and hardening off optimally is about impossible with a normal work schedule.  It's just a matter of balancing it all out to your best advantage. 
 
I would think going from 78F to perhaps low to mid 40F's quickly would be harder on the plants than getting a bit root bound, so I'd try to get the temperatures down as gradually as possible. Perhaps you can cool down the grow room some in advance.  And maybe on the first weekend days you can wait until it's a bit warmer than first thing in the morning to put them out, but still avoid having them in direct sun during the 11:30-2:30 stretch until they sun condition. Even little things like for the overnight periods keeping them dry, having them on the ground versus on a deck where they're surrounded by cold air on all sides, close up against the house out of the wind for warmth, or covering them with something like a sheet or row cover to hold warmth can all make a difference.
 
Also, you can make a hoop house or a cold frame pretty easily if that's an option.  Just a simple pvc piping frame covered by plastic and held down with rocks then throw in some water-filled containers, milk jugs, buckets, whatever and it'll make a big difference in the conditions keeping them warmer and drier.
 
All just ideas.
 
EDIT - Plus I haven't seen you're plants so I don't really know how desperate your root-bound situation may/ may not be.
 
CaneDog said:
Unfortunately, all the concerns are valid and hardening off optimally is about impossible with a normal work schedule.  It's just a matter of balancing it all out to your best advantage. 
 
I would think going from 78F to perhaps low to mid 40F's quickly would be harder on the plants than getting a bit root bound, so I'd try to get the temperatures down as gradually as possible. Perhaps you can cool down the grow room some in advance.  And maybe on the first weekend days you can wait until it's a bit warmer than first thing in the morning to put them out, but still avoid having them in direct sun during the 11:30-2:30 stretch until they sun condition. Even little things like for the overnight periods keeping them dry, having them on the ground versus on a deck where they're surrounded by cold air on all sides, close up against the house out of the wind for warmth, or covering them with something like a sheet or row cover to hold warmth can all make a difference.
 
Also, you can make a hoop house or a cold frame pretty easily if that's an option.  Just a simple pvc piping frame covered by plastic and held down with rocks then throw in some water-filled containers, milk jugs, buckets, whatever and it'll make a big difference in the conditions keeping them warmer and drier.
 
All just ideas.
 
EDIT - Plus I haven't seen you're plants so I don't really know how desperate your root-bound situation may/ may not be.
Click to expand...
 
I presently have them in 10 pack trays which is convenient for moving them in and out, so putting them out for the next week or so to harden up shouldn't be too difficult, and I have a covered patio which gets some filtered sun until about 2 which seems like itll suffice.
 
I originally had the tent around low 80's, but lowered it to mid 70's this week for that specific reason, in hopes of slowly adjusting them.  Currently i'm watering (second cup) every few days although many if not all of my peppers have exposed roots from the first cup into the second, and a few are even growing up the side of the first cup (!!!).
 
Here's a photo of the ladies, taken about 5 days ago, so there's been some substantial growth since then.  I've been trimming somewhat regularly as well, should I consider topping them?
 
Edit: Some words and photo
 
 
 

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Shoot Spicy. I don't think they're likely to be very root bound at that size and I wouldn't top them either.  Plus it sounds like you're already doing the right things and your setup with the moving trays and with cover and filtered light all seems great.  I might start with the weekend of not putting them out until it warms up around mid-day to ease them into the weekdays when you have to leave them out all day, but things seem better for you than I expected.  I bet you can get a decent hardening off in before you need to sink them.  Hopefully we'll get a warm stretch here again soon!
 
And you've got a good looking bunch of pepper there.  Any particular MVP's in the group? 
 
CaneDog said:
Shoot Spicy. I don't think they're likely to be very root bound at that size and I wouldn't top them either.  Plus it sounds like you're already doing the right things and your setup with the moving trays and with cover and filtered light all seems great.  I might start with the weekend of not putting them out until it warms up around mid-day to ease them into the weekdays when you have to leave them out all day, but things seem better for you than I expected.  I bet you can get a decent hardening off in before you need to sink them.  Hopefully we'll get a warm stretch here again soon!
 
And you've got a good looking bunch of pepper there.  Any particular MVP's in the group? 
Click to expand...
 
Phew - that's a relief to hear.  This is my first official grow, previous years i've purchased a handful of starts and planted them so this has been an endeavor for me.
 
I'm planning on spending next week transitioning them as the weather has seemed to turn for the better.  Hoping for a warm stretch as well but all teh weather has seemed to picked up substantially for the 10-Day forecast which is reassuring.
 
My superhots have been doing surprisingly well (reaper, ghost, scorpion) and I have a few that have pulled through despite being scrawny at the start (my Brazilian Starfish's and habaneros).  I'm planning on putting 5 or 6 in large sized pots to isolate and bonchi later this winter / overwinter.  My garden only has room for 33 potential candidates, and that's a little crowded, so i'm trying to figure out what to do with everyone else.
 
 
EDIT:  I have been noticing a yellowing of some of the leaves, and discoloration of the soil.  I've slowed my watering down and have only been doing so from the second cup if possible, but have been doing a half portion of Supernatural GRO TERRA (20-20-20) and slowly diluting as the 5 gallon diminishes.  Could this be due to over-feeding?  All water has been PH'd to 6.3 - 6.8 prior to feeding & after adding nutes.
 
That's great.  33 plants plus containers will be a lot of peppers.  You're off to a good start even if a hiccup or two along the way.  It's hard to avoid those and at least you're out ahead of the game with those long-season varieties. 
 
I can't tell from the pictures enough to know what might be happening.  If you post a few closer up I'll check them out, but sometimes this stuff is hard to pinpoint. Also, you probably want to keep those in-the-dirt roots actively working since the plants are going to be moving into 100% dirt soon.
 
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