I planted my pepper seeds about 10 weeks ago. I still have about 6 weeks or so before they can go outside permanently (Zone 4, S. Central Wisc). I have been taking them out in the afternoons on sunny days when it is supposed to get in the upper 50's or better. Usually for 3-5 hours. That has only been a couple days a week so far. I will probably plant some in a garden late May to early June and transplant the other 6 or so into containers for the summer. I can probably get the container plants out mid May and bring them in on cold nights. My problem is that many of my peppers have gone from budding to full blooming already. Am I screwed? Will they be able to pollinate and produce pods and if so will they be harmed when I transplant them next month? Is this going to be a wasted year for me. It is my first year growing peppers from seeds and I got a bit too anxious after hearing I had to get my Bhut Jolokias started early due to my growing zone. Well, now I think late January was TOOO early. What can/should I do? Will they be alright? Like I said, this is my first year growing peppers from seed. I am just hoping it wont be a disaster. Should I trim the buds for now or just let them go? I dont relish the thought of having to demote myself to picking up starters from the garden center and I know I wont find Bhut's anyway.
-
Do you need help identifying a 🌶?
Is your plant suffering from an unknown issue? 🤧
Then ask in Identification and Diagnosis.
Pepper starters blooming, am I screwed
- Thread starter pepperpikker
- Start date
midwestchilehead
eXtreme
You aren't screwed. Many folks recommend pinching off the flowers, but I have never done so. If they are still inside for a while yet, a lot of them will drop off unpollenated anyway. I'd just remove any pods that do develop at the time you transplant outside. You want the plant to put its energy into growing - not ripening fruit. If they are flowering that much already, have you been fertilizing and how much light are you giving them? I don't fertilize and only give my seedlings about 12 hours of light per day. I hardly ever have flowers before planting outside (mid May here). And I started my chinenses on December 26th.
Well midwestchilehead, I havent given them any fertilizer for well over a month. I just repotted them into 6" tall by 6" high pots about a week or so ago. I am using a fine ground pine mulch mix with a bit of garden soil and a bit of Perlite in a 5-1-1 ratio. They were in a BG Orchid mix prior to that. I started a couple of my Bhut Jolokia's on January 11th and the rest of them and the other varieties on January 24th after the first Bhut Seedlings came up. I have had them under 16 hrs of light for the last 7 or 8 weeks. In the past two weeks, I have been getting them outside when possible (couple days a week) for the afternoon when sunny and warm enough with low wind. But no fertilizer for at least a month. I am in zone 4 (south central wisconsin) and cannot permanently get them outside until probably late May to early June. Our average low right now is 31 degress and June first is 49 degrees. If I wind up snipping off pods, will the plant continue to bloom throughout the summer after I get them outside for good. In the mean time, I will start cutting back to twelve hours of grow lights a day and some of that will be taken up by putting outside on nice days.
Here is a picture of one of my Cayennes. My Bhuts are just putting out buds right now but I am sure in a few days to a week they will bloom too.
Shoot, that didn't work, let me try it again:
Its really up to you. I personally pinch them off because I want the plants energy to be focused on growing bigger. As MWCH said, a lot of them will just drop off anyway but my thinking is, if they are just gonna drop anyway, why let the plant put energy into them if they aren't gonna do much anyway. I recommend pinching off until your ready to start growing.
I never had this happen with the "iffy" seeds I delt with in the past, but now that I've got some legitimate stock, I've noticed that at least 80% of the peppers I've grown, began to flower once they got about 10 inches or so in height. Had a SB and Fatalii do it at less than 6". Pinching or not is up to you, but I didn't on my oldest plants and was able to sample what I'm dealing with prior to my season even starting. I say thats a plus, but thats just me.
i wouldn't worry...