seeds CCN Delivered Seedling Dilemna

[grantmichaels]

Last year I planted seedlings without hardening and there was definitely some stunting (the first of multiple offenses throughout the season), although it was later in the season and much hotter (here in Florida) ...

I received a bunch of seedlings this afternoon and my plan was to just open the boxes and let them just have some outdoors in florida time before even separating them out etc ...

However, the instructions from CCN clearly direct recipients to not leave them in the box ...

I'm torn, because most of the recommendations I've read that have come w/ peppers haven't been very helpful, to the point in some cases where they were flat wrong even ...

Can anyone substantiate why they need to be separated straight away, or can I leave them until tomorrow w/ the tops open? ... the only thing I can think of is that they might become increasingly entangled when they pick up rigidity? ...

 

[wayright]

I dont think it would hurt!
It may be the directions are a CYA for CCN,from people that over do it!
If the mail had run one day later...............


Kevin

 

[TXCG]

FWIW I took mine out of the box, checked them & put them back in the box minus the little cardboard holders and set them outside to harden off. They came in on Friday and were looking good to go by yesterday. Was going to plant out today but the damn weather dropped from 80 to 45F so looks like it's going to have to wait til this Saturday.

 

[grantmichaels]

I dont think it would hurt!
It may be the directions are a CYA for CCN,from people that over do it!
If the mail had run one day later...............


Kevin

Thanks for letting me off the hook =)

They got to spend 11.5 hrs (at 86F in full Gulf Coast sun) riding around town today before getting delivered, so I think they'll enjoy spending the night in the carport and only the reflected light from my neighbors white wall tomorrow ...

 

[wayright]

They sent you some very pretty plants!
I have only heard good things about Cross Country!

So,what kind of peppers and maters did you get?


Kevin

 

[pepperproblem]

Cross Country does a great job. But they do need a pretty prolonged hardening off since they are greenhouse grown. They also tend to be a bit wispy, so shield them from wind also until they get strong. . Nice plants

 

[grantmichaels]

Well, since we went essentially winter-less this year ... I have some never-winters that I let ride all of fall and winter w/o much attention so that they could use up whatever immeasurable nutrients were in the pre-loaded fafard from last year ...

that was the 2nd stunting last year, feeding on top of the stuff that was already in there =) ... i'll not buy stuff w/ integrated nutrients in the future, it doesn't gel w/ my controlling bits ...

These seedlings are to fill in the holes in the topsy patch - although i'm going to just remove the crispy covers, top off the bags w/ soil and coir and grow the plants straight up out of the tops of them ...

Only two of the planters have plants I really liked, actually ...

The mustard habanero's from AjiJoe's friend are killer and they were head and shoulders more BLS resistant than the rest ...

I'm keeping the Butch T's and Yellow 7-Pots that I started mid-summer, too ...

And I guess I'll keep the assorted tepins/chiltepins/bode that take up two more planters ...

mostly just because I want to see how it goes w/ them over a couple of years so that i can have that experience for what really matters to me ...

Those wild, orange little peppers from Miami that are still head and shoulders better than all of the 18 different kinds of tepins I bought last year - they taste like fruity loops, and then they burn ...

The seeds in that photo are the kinds I'm going to grow as single plants per 5gal this year, so that I don't have the issue of plants w/ intertangled roots in a container - which is a #fail in a lot of ways ...

That said, the topsy's are there and the seedlings from CCN will fill it out and give us a bunch more variety to pick favorites from once again ...





So ... that's the plan ... the topsy area w/ a bunch of unknown and ungrowns to test out, and this year I think I'll add a couple of dozen of my tried and true favorite supers etc in solo plantings ... who knows ... maybe i'll try a fatali tree within a few years =)

Kind of excited, actually ...

Cross Country does a great job. But they do need a pretty prolonged hardening off since they are greenhouse grown. They also tend to be a bit wispy, so shield them from wind also until they get strong. . Nice plants

Yes, last year I made that mistake ... and Florida sun in May is cruel and unusual (humidity also a factor) ...

 

[pepperproblem]

That Topsy patch looks crazy. Pogo stick pepper plants. Awesome

 

[BakersPeppers]

Looks good so far Have a great grow this year!

 

[Pr0digal_son]

They look better than the plants I got from them a few years back. Take your time hardening them off as PP stated. I would suggest giving them a set amount of time in the sun and gradually increase it.Don't let yourself get distracted by something else and forget them.Overcast days are the best early on. You are in Florida so losing a week or so is no big deal.

 

[grantmichaels]

Looks good so far Have a great grow this year!

Thanks, Dale! Going to use some of those seeds from you guys ...

They look better than the plants I got from them a few years back. Take your time hardening them off as PP stated. I would suggest giving them a set amount of time in the sun and gradually increase it.Don't let yourself get distracted by something else and forget them.Overcast days are the best early on. You are in Florida so losing a week or so is no big deal.

Totally. One of the many opportunities to learn from last year's mistakes ...

Really, really important to not water above the soil and/or in the evening's here while the humidity is high too (basically in a month, for ~5 months) ... too hard to fight the organisms that route!