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seeds New to growing peppers from seeds

MW215

MW215

Hi, pardon the long post. I am just beginning to get into pepper growing and have quite a few questions.

I just recently purchased a house in the city in South Philadelphia with my fiance which has an outdoor deck. So, within the past week I decided that I wanted to grow some peppers. I had grown peppers from plants previously from Home Depot but never from seeds. I figured since I have some deck space I might as well give it a shot and try.

I've been researching online about how to properly grow peppers and picked up a few things to get me started. I picked up both the Hydrofarm Seedling Heat Mat & Hydrofarm Digital Thermostat for Heat Mats from Amazon and a bunch of seeds from two online vendors. I went with The Pepper Gal and Old Barn Nursery for my seeds. I know I'll have to pick up a seed tray also. Below are the seeds that I had picked up:

Old Barn Nursery
  • Chocolate Habanero
  • Red Savina Habanero
  • White Habanero
  • Mustard Habanero
  • Red Bhut Jolokia
  • 7 Pod Yellow
The Pepper Gal:
  • Ancho
  • Cayenne
  • Cayenne (Thick)
  • Cherry
  • El Jefe Jalapeno
  • Habanero
  • Italian Roaster
  • Mexibell
  • Serrano
Some questions about starting the seeds:
  1. Is there a good instructional video on prepping the seeds and how to germinate with a heat mat?
  2. When using the heat mat, does it run constantly until they break the surface and sprout? Any hazards with running a heatmat?
  3. Once they sprout I would just transplant to a pot with some a potting mix? Is Miracle Gro a good option?
  4. The seed packets that I have purchased contain about 20-25 seeds per packet. When using the seed tray do you plant just one seed or a coupon in each cup?
Yesterday I had gone out to the store to pick up some pots to eventually transplant the seedlings. I picked up a bunch of clay pots but some of them didn't have holes in the bottom and some of them were enameled on the inside instead of exposed clay.
  1. Will I need to drill holes in the bottoms of the pots?
  2. Are the pots with the enameled inside ok to plant in?
  3. Are certain types of pots better for planting than others? (plastic vs. clay, etc.) I heard that the lighter the pot the better so it doesn't burn and dry the roots out.
  4. Each seedling should be planted in their own pots, correct?
  5. How big should the pots be for the different peppers? I live in the city so I will only be doing container planting.
  6. When and if I get to successfully transplant the seedlings will I need to cover the plants with a type of mesh barrier so that squirrels or pigeons don't eat the plants?
I'm sure I will have more questions as they arise but for now these are all that I can come up with at the moment. Any advice and help would be much appreciated.

Thank you very much.
 
MW215 said:
Some questions about starting the seeds:
  1. Is there a good instructional video on prepping the seeds and how to germinate with a heat mat?
  2. When using the heat mat, does it run constantly until they break the surface and sprout? Any hazards with running a heatmat?
  3. Once they sprout I would just transplant to a pot with some a potting mix? Is Miracle Gro a good option?
  4. The seed packets that I have purchased contain about 20-25 seeds per packet. When using the seed tray do you plant just one seed or a coupon in each cup?
Yesterday I had gone out to the store to pick up some pots to eventually transplant the seedlings. I picked up a bunch of clay pots but some of them didn't have holes in the bottom and some of them were enameled on the inside instead of exposed clay.
  1. Will I need to drill holes in the bottoms of the pots?
  2. Are the pots with the enameled inside ok to plant in?
  3. Are certain types of pots better for planting than others? (plastic vs. clay, etc.) I heard that the lighter the pot the better so it doesn't burn and dry the roots out.
  4. Each seedling should be planted in their own pots, correct?
  5. How big should the pots be for the different peppers? I live in the city so I will only be doing container planting.
I'm sure I will have more questions as they arise but for now these are all that I can come up with at the moment. Any advice and help would be much appreciated.

Thank you very much.
Click to expand...

Part 1:
  1. Not that I'm aware of, but then again, I am newer here than most, so I'll defer to them.
  2. No hazards that I know of. I use several, but I have been cautioned against covering up the heat mats, especially with anything insulating. Just put the seed tray on top of the heat mat as-is.
  3. Yes and yes. It's best to wait until the seedlings have their 2nd or 3rd set of leaves prior to transplanting
  4. This is one of those "ask ten people, get ten answers" type of questions. I put one per, but others put 2 or 3.
Part 2:
  1. For cups, a small hole should be fine (less than 1/3 the diameter, give or take), but be prepared to put it in a saucer or something else to catch whatever water comes out due to gravity.
  2. Don't see why not.
  3. Again, I don't see why not. Most pots, like the terra cotta are either orange or lighter, so that isn't a problem per se, but then again I haven't heard anything relating pot color to root burn
  4. Yes. More than one, and the plants will be competing for limited resources. One may win, or all may lose. If one per pot, all will grow happy & healthy
  5. I'm in the process of transplanting mine into 6" pots because of my own space limitations, but I've been told 8" to 1 gallon pots are ideal for growing peppers. 6" pots are OK, if you compensate with appropriate amounts of water and fertilizer.
 
elcap, thank you very much for the quick response. I am very excited to start growing.

One other thing that I had just remembered. Is right now a good time to start germination? End of a Philadelphia February? It's been an extremely mild winter with very little snow.
 
Considering you're likely going to be doing so indoors, then just about any time is good, especially with a heat mat, since they tend to increase the temperature of the soil from underneath 10-20 degrees above the ambient air temperature, give or take. Once you get seedlings to germinate, putting them under a fluorescent or CFL bulb would help. I learned from experience the other day that with CFL, if you put the bulb too close to the plants, it'll cook them within a couple days, so I adjusted the height accordingly. As long as they get light and warmth, and stay away from anywhere drafty, cold, or otherwise in the way of any AC, they should be fine.
 
Now is a good time to start hot peppers; for sweets I'd start in 2 weeks or so. Most hot peppers have a longer growing time before harvest. Hot mats are great and should be used for all seed starting.

Grow lights are essential so you don't have too leggy seedlings. Once they're up, transfer them under the lights. Since most don't pop up at the same time, I have resorted to using old Jell-o plastic cups or you could get some 2 oz. cups from a fast food place (like Quizno's) to keep them separate. I try to find the free clear cups and then you can read the writing!

I check the seedlings every day and water usually once in the AM as they get hot under the lights. I usually keep them about 1-2" from the lights. I transplant into 18-20 oz. Solo cups when the 2nd set of true leaves appears.

For pots, I've tried the clay and have decided the 4-5 gal. plastic pots are best suited to peppers. The clay ones dry out very quickly and even cracked through the season. I found a bunch of free black pots at the nursery around April or May or the end of August (for next year). This year I'm going to try 5 gal plastic bags (from the nursery) as I have way more plants than pots. We'll see how these go.

Best of luck in your growing garden.
 
Catherine, thank you for the very informative post.

Are grow lights really neccessary? I thought that once the seedling breaks the surface it is to then be transfered to a pot which can then be placed outdoors. Also, what exactly do you mean by "leggy" seedlings?
 
leggy tall weak stems, Get those hot ones started, I used to grow bells up there started em in April they produced good by July if my memory serves me well. Holes are a must, clay makes it harder to judge water weight, the weight of the pot + moist soil helps you judge how dry your soil is. Your plants will be fine outside by mid March, Philly doesn't get frost after then.

GL
 
Thanks for the "leggy" explanations. Makes sense now. So a seedling bearing more leaves is a good thing then right?
 
You would be correct. Making sure the leaves are there first is important, the height should attend to itself.
 
Hey guys, been pretty busy lately so this is the first time back on since my initial post. My computer also broke so it's been a bit harder to get on the forum.

I've been trying to gather materials needed in order to do everything and haven't been able to get everything done in one shot. Last night I picked up 10 8'' plastic pots from Wal-Mart. I still need to pick up seed starting mix and tray. I saw a decent seed starting tray at Home Depot from Jiffy I believe that I will probably pick up. As for the starting mix, any suggestions? Is the seed starting mix strictly used for seed starting and then when you need to transplant the seedlings into a pot you use another type of mix? I also know I asked this question before but I'd appreciate some more input - when starting your seed trays how many seeds do you usually put in each tray pod? The packets I have came with 20-25 seeds. I'm limited with the deck space that I have so I don't want to plant more than I have space for when transplanting. Furthermore, how long do un-used seeds last for? Since pepper plants are annuals I'd like to preserve the leftover seeds if possible for next season.

Finally, after scouring the web I've learned that peppers shouldn't be planted until the last frost and in Philadelphia it seems like that's around April 15. So with that in mind I figured I would I'd start my seeds roughly at the beginning of April then transplant and move the seedlings outside.
 
Seed starting mix like the "Jiffy" brand you might find at Wal-Mart is used only until the seeds sprout and have a couple of "true" leaves. (The first 2 "leaves" that appear are the cotyledons, which aren't true leaves). I've used Jiffy Mix in the past and had good results. The Jiffy Mix doesn't have much in the way of nutrients for the seedlings to use, so you need to transplant to a different medium in order for your plants to continue growing. You may also choose to fertilize lightly once every few weeks at about 1/4 the recommended strength.

You can put one seed in each cell in the tray - if you are interested in conserving seeds. You will probably find that you have cells that don't sprout, so those will be wasted. On the other hand, you can place more seeds (2 or 3) in each cell, and you will more than likely have seedlings in nearly every cell - but you will need to snip off the weaker seedling from each cell - or separate them. I guess it just depends on what you value more - the seeds or the cells :)

Unused seeds can last for 2-3 years without too much degradation in viability provided they are stored in a cool, dark place - like a cellar. Some people store them in the refrigerator with good luck. Seeds have been known to last for a decade or more if conditions are just right.

Peppers should be started about 8-12 weeks before the last frost for your area. 8 weeks is usually about right for C. Annuums like Bell peppers and Jalapenos. 12 weeks is generally better for c. Chinense like Habaneros and Bhuts. In general, though you can start them whenever you want as long as you can provide the right growing conditions for them indoors. If you start them earlier than 8-12 weeks, you just need to keep them going inside a little longer at the beginning of the season. If you start them later - you may want to bring them inside at the end of the season to extend the productivity a bit.
 
If you're target plant out date is 4/15, you need to start NOW. Pay no attention to the mildness of the winter, go with your hardiness zone and what your last expected frost date is on a historical basis. You need to have appx. one week hardening off process before they are outside for good. This acclimates your seedlings/young plants to sunlight and outside temperature fluctuations. Interweb search for "Hardening off" for furthur info.

Some varieties of peppers can be slow germinators, assume at least two weeks for germination under even optimal conditions. I have had C. Chinense (S.B. TFM) take up to eight weeks even with heat mats.

Since you mention 10 pots, is this the number of plants you are going to have? If so, just get some plastic cups to use for seed starting. While I use plug trays do to the number of seeds I start (200+), for small numbers just use 5 oz. plastic cups (80 for < $2.00 at Wallys). Grow in these until they are planted in their permanent home.

One seed per starting medium. If started in seed starter mix (Hoffmans is good. I personally use a mix that a local greenhouse uses), transplant to potting mix after the seedling develops a couple of sets of true leaves.

I store my unused seeds in moisture proof small ziplocks in the refrigerator for next year use. Key is to keep them moisture free and cool. If scientists can germinate a plant from an estimated 32,000 year old frozen seed as I read recently, this will work for you on a year to year basis.

Note: jmj faster on the enter button than I was! What he says as well. Good luck!
 
Hey, i'm also in Philly, Northwest. Last year I started my seeds in the beginning of April and I didn't get peppers till the end of July. Granted I was growing all super hots and it was my first run at growing from seed, I did fairly well and even overwintered one of my Ghost pepper plants. I am actually planting my seeds today for this season, i figure its better to be safe then sorry.

I use the Hydrofarm Germination Station and heating mat with Jiffy sead starting mix. After they sprout i move em over to a 4 ft. Hydrofarm T5 grow light system and it was worked great for me. Like others have said i transplant to Solo cups after the first set of true leaves. I used both black plastic pots and clay pots last year. I noticed that my plants would sometimes be wilted in the afternoon so i began to water twice a day, once in the morning and then again right around sunset. Growing in pots tends to dry out faster so be sure to keep an eye on the soil moisture level.

The way the weather has been in Philly this year, the plants may be able to go out in early April. I mean it was 60 degrees here on Saturday. Good luck with your grow man!
 
Thanks for great advice.

I'm still trying to get my grasp on the whole process as I would like my first go around be a successful one. Just a brief, consice rundown of my understanding of how to start from seeds. Please correct me I am wrong or miss a step.
  • In seed starting tray, place one seed per cell in seed starting mix.
  • Place the tray in a cool place on heatmat at around 80-85 degrees
  • Once true leaves start to sprout, transplant these to a slightly larger container (ie. plastic drinking cup)
  • Once temperature is ideal outside, transplant them to larger pots with a potting mix
My main concern however is light once my seeds sprout. I don't really have any intention of purchasing a grow light at moment so what are my options once my seeds sprout? Placing them on a heatmat on a window sill?
 
Got to get them some light!! Window sill light is usually not of a long enough duration or intensity for seedlings. I grow under 48"T-8 6500k floro bulbs, 18 hours on 6 hrs. off. You can purchase a two bulb utility light fixture, bulbs and cheap mechanical timer at Home Depot for < $30. Jury rig a setup and grow. I adjust the lights within about 3" of the tops of the plants and move upwards (have mine on chains) as plants develop keeping the same light duration. Some might swear by so called "grow lights"; however, I have not found the need for these significantly more costly lights. Lighting is a whole science in and of itself. Check out a hydro shop if you have any in your area to see what I mean.

No longer need a heat mat once seeds have germinated, actually can cook the tender seedlings if not careful. All they need is a reasonable ambient room temperature.

Do not forget the hardening off process in preparing them to go outside. If you try to move them outside permanently without doing so, your tender young plants will be significantly "shocked" and will in all likehood lose them!
 
Thanks for the info, I guess it looks like I'll have to invest in one. I did find an adjustable/portable one on Amazon from Hydrofarm for $59.99 that i'll probably buy since it's easy to assemble. How's this?

http://www.amazon.co...30969425&sr=8-6

Also, what is this hardening off process?
 
MW215 said:
Thanks for the info, I guess it looks like I'll have to invest in one. I did find an adjustable/portable one on Amazon from Hydrofarm for $59.99 that i'll probably buy since it's easy to assemble. How's this?

http://www.amazon.co...30969425&sr=8-6

Also, what is this hardening off process?
Click to expand...

That hydrofarm system should work.

Hardening off process - imagine you were in solitary confinement for a few weeks and your prison cell had no windows or light of any type. Then you were put outside on a bright sunny day. Can you say headache? Same thing for plants. They need to gradually adjust to outside conditions. Place them in an area that is sheltered from wind and direct sunlight for a few days. Then gradually increase their exposure to their natural environment over the course of about 2 weeks.
 
Got ya. Totally makes sense. Again I really appreciate all of the help in getting off the ground running.

I guess I'll order the light today and start my seeds tonight/tomorrow, then by the time they sprout I should be all ready. As for the seed starting mix I think I'm just going to pickup Miracle Gro's Seed Starting Potting Mix. For the potting mix when I'm ready to transplant and move outside, what is preferred?

Also, I was going to pickup the Burpee 72-cell seed starter tray. Do the cells look a little too narrow or does it not really matter? Sorry if I'm asking very particular questions.
 
Hey guys, I'm still in the process of gathering my materials. I'm going to soak my seeds tonight in regular tap water in hopes of quicker germination & then plant the seeds tomorrow.

In addition to the Hydrofarm grow light that I had purchased, I was looking for a cheap reflective lining that I can enclose the light in. I came across Reflectix reflective insulation at Lowes. Would this be ok as a reflective lining?
 
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