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tutorial Growing Hot Peppers Guide + FAQ

Hello!
So I have a nice habanero plant, overwintered twice, now entering its third growing season. I'm wondering if I really need to sink it into the garden or just leave it in the pot in the garden area for the summer+?
I'm not really needing it to get bigger as it's very manageable now for the overwintering season, but I don't want to deprive it of any other possible crucial advantages of putting it into the ground.
Is just "being outside" beneficial enough to keep it healthy and productive or do you think it's much better to plant it in the garden for another season? Pros or cons? Your thoughts and advice are appreciated! Thanks
 
Last year i started seeds inside mid march and grew about 20 jalapenos and 20 poblanos. The poblanos were a bust,small deformed pods. The jalapenos were ok.
This year I plan to grow about 400 plants and I have a few different varieties.
My question is this.
I start the seeds in milk cartons cut lenghtwise. Add some seed starter,water,cover them with plastic film and set them near a radiator. The temperature is around 80f. After they sprout and have a set of true leaves i transfer them in plastic cups , put the cups in crates and take them outside. Last year the weather was nice and i did this a bit later. This year i wanna do it a month earlier.
What is the lowest temperature they will take. I plan to cover them with naylon or some transparent plastic sheets.
 
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That's a tough question. If you put them out too early, they can slump from the cool temps and become quite delayed as a result. This really happens and it can really screw over your season/production. Younger peppers and certain varieties are more susceptible to this than are peppers more established and/or more cool-comfortable.

For poblano and jalapenos - based on googling your monthly temps, I'd start hardening them off in April and I'd guestimate leaving them outside full time starting between maybe the third week in April and the first week of May, depending on the actually temperatures. That's a couple weeks earlier than what I do here, but your days seem notably warmer than ours during these months and your nights are a bit warmer too. Ideally, I'd aim for about 10c nights and 20c days, with hotter days making up a bit for slightly cooler nights. If you're transplanting to the ground versus containers, then soil temps will also figure into the equation.
 
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