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seeds New to growing peppers from seeds

Thanks. One more question since I'll be out to a few stores today. What is a good, relatively cheap potting mix for beginners? I've heard people say ProMix of Farfard but I looked at prices online and they seem to be very expensive.
 
I'm a pretty big fan of ProMix, but I've had equally good results with MiracleGrow potting mix as well.
 
At the moment I have my seeds soaking in regular tap water and plan on planting them tonight in miracle gro seed starter mix. My Hydrofarm grow light is supposed to be delivered tomorrow also which is sweet.

Since I'm going to be planting them tonight I have some questions. I'm going to plant my seeds in moist mix and have them on a heatmat set to 80-85 degrees. Now my question is do I keep the plastic dome on the tray for germinating? Also I do keep the heatmat on constantly until the sprout, correct?
 
I've actually seen that video but am still trying to figure out if the seed tray should be covered while germinating. In the video he shows a closed box but other places I've read that too much moisture is bad for peppers.
 
start with the tray covered. If you notice way too much condensation or moisture in the tray, just pop up one corner of it and vent it.
 
Thanks. I had the tray set up last night on top of the heatmat with the cover on. Unfortunately the heatmat never hit 85 and I'm guessing it's because the surrounding room temperature prevented it from hitting that temp. I had my tray and mat inside a big storage bin hoping that it would retain the heat but I dont think it worked out too well
 
I have the same problem. Mine rarely gets all the way to 85, but it definitely warms the soil enough to speed up germination time.
 
MW215, please let us know when that Hydrofarm JSV4 from Amazon comes in? I'm looking at getting that myself. Is it one bulb or two in the fixture? Does it feel stable? I'm thinking about putting it in the greenhouse to give my seedlings extra light until the days get longer. It might rust though...hope not. I'm a beginner with hot peppers myself so I look forward to hearing your experiences. Best of luck.
 
Hey...a lot of great advice so far!

MiracleGro Moisture Control is working VERY well for me. Also, you can start seeds anytime of year you want. I started some super-scorps over Thanksgiving break...totally grown indoors...and they are 3 feet tall, and have about 40 blossoms a piece. This first round of blossoms probbly won't set any pods...maybe a few, but I have some monster plants ready to be transplanted here next week or so (in Texas).

IMO...start your seeds over xmas break. By the time April comes around, you'll have foot-tall plants that are very well established.

Also...you can invest in all that fancy shit. Or...you can spend $10 on the potting mix, $1 on ziploc bags, a couple paper towels, and accomplish the same thing. Another thing you might try...buy fresh pods somewhere in the fall, seed them, dry, and store the seeds. You won't get pure strains...but you'll get superhot hybrids that will still set your face and ass on fire...and since you were gonna eat the pods anyway, the seeds are basically free.

Last...none of what you are doing is actually happening until we see pics...lol. ;)
 
I bought the Hydrofarm JSV4 grow light. I haven't set it up yet since my seeds haven't sprouted yet.

EDIT: nevermind. I found out how to post pictures. I was looking for a place to upload them on the site but you need to upload them to an external site.

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redbuddha, as you can see from the images I posted it's one T5 bulb
 
Thanks for the info. It's a little disappointing it's only one bulb, but it's a good price. I just ordered one myself and got 2 day shipping with that free trial for Amazon prime. I planted my seeds 4 days ago so the light should be here it time to welcome my seedlings when they poke their heads up.
 
On more thing that might be helpful: if you have a food thermometer around, stick it in a few of the cells to check the temperature. In my case my heat mat and dome got my seeds above 90 at times, and temperatures were different in different areas of the tray. The dome can raise the temperature of the soil higher then the temperature of your heat mat.
 
I'm seriously thinking about finding a large box like the guy in the video did and hooking up my T12's that way. Do you think the foil will really make a difference?
 
Also...a temporal thermometer is a good idea to have handy. It takes very accurate ambient temperature, and does it in seconds. You might be surprized where the cool/hot spots are at your place.
 
I had to google temporal thermometer. This is what I got:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOY71AN0juI

I'm not sure this video is doing the temporal thermometer biz any favors but I'm intrigued. I thought a laser thermometer was cutting edge...this seems like some kind of evil magic. I bet new parents are pointing and smearing these things all over the place.
 
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