My favorite peppers are the Thai and Lao peppers, since most of my cooking requires them for the right flavor. Not very hot, burn stays for only few minutes after eating, and a nice pungency.
I planted in Jiffy pellets on 02/09/09, 3 to a pellet, with the lid using an old heating pad to speed germination. As soon as I saw sprouts, took off the lid. (Thanks to the other members with grow logs which I gleaned advice from!)
Germination rate was pretty good, almost 100% except one pellet which molded.
03/04
Just had these next to a south facing window, growing at a steady rate.
03/06
Got one of those clamp lights with a reflective dish from the hardware store and a 6500k cfl bulb from Target, perfect for my small pallet. I was amazed at how growth improved after I put them under the light. They grew taller and the leaves opened up, better color. You can see the stems' color deepening.
03/10
I noticed that growth had slowed down, I saw the tiny true leaves poking up but they didn't seem to come up. I was watering the pellets and when I checked the bottom, roots were barely poking out of the netting. I wanted to transplant but I'd read that I should wait for the true leaves to grow out. After two days and the true leaves were still pretty much the same, I figured they probably needed a richer growing medium. Got some potting soil and perlite, mixed it 10:1, wet it down and put them in plastic cups with holes punched in the bottom for drainage.
Except for a few puny ones which I pulled, there were all pretty healthy. Since I'd planted 3 seeds per hole per pellet, they were clustered together but the roots were only a little entwined. I couldn't bear to pinch them off so at the risk of killing them and root shock(!), I tore off the netting, gently broke the pellets in two or threes and put them into the cups. They were leggy so I buried the stems except for 1/2 an inch.
I planted in Jiffy pellets on 02/09/09, 3 to a pellet, with the lid using an old heating pad to speed germination. As soon as I saw sprouts, took off the lid. (Thanks to the other members with grow logs which I gleaned advice from!)
Germination rate was pretty good, almost 100% except one pellet which molded.
03/04
Just had these next to a south facing window, growing at a steady rate.
03/06
Got one of those clamp lights with a reflective dish from the hardware store and a 6500k cfl bulb from Target, perfect for my small pallet. I was amazed at how growth improved after I put them under the light. They grew taller and the leaves opened up, better color. You can see the stems' color deepening.
03/10
I noticed that growth had slowed down, I saw the tiny true leaves poking up but they didn't seem to come up. I was watering the pellets and when I checked the bottom, roots were barely poking out of the netting. I wanted to transplant but I'd read that I should wait for the true leaves to grow out. After two days and the true leaves were still pretty much the same, I figured they probably needed a richer growing medium. Got some potting soil and perlite, mixed it 10:1, wet it down and put them in plastic cups with holes punched in the bottom for drainage.
Except for a few puny ones which I pulled, there were all pretty healthy. Since I'd planted 3 seeds per hole per pellet, they were clustered together but the roots were only a little entwined. I couldn't bear to pinch them off so at the risk of killing them and root shock(!), I tore off the netting, gently broke the pellets in two or threes and put them into the cups. They were leggy so I buried the stems except for 1/2 an inch.