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Please Help - I have no idea!

Hi there,

I'm really hoping for some kind help here to an almost complete novice at growing peppers. I decided to buy a few seedlings last year from my local farm, threw them in a pot in the back yard, watered them every few days, and had some tasty hot peppers at the end of the summer. That's as far as my experience goes.

I'd really like to get a bigger, more experienced operation going this year, but I feel I might have missed the boat for getting some good peppers this year if I want to grow them outside in Michigan. Is it too late to start germinating some seeds? Is there anybody that can point me in the direction of a good "beginner's guide" or something simple to get me going? Or any tips as to which peppers are easy to grow and how to grow them? I'm limited with the amount of sunlight I can capture in my yard, but I'd be interested in buying some basic indoor growing equipment if it's not too pricey.

In short...help me please! Thanks!
 
The first thing you need to do is acquire seeds, you can figure out what you need to do with them while they're in the mail to you. I recommend visiting thehippyseedcompany.com to get seeds, and then you can spend some time looking in the Grow tech forum to get an idea of what kind of grow box you could build for yourself.

It isn't too late, you've got plenty of time!
 
This is the perfect time. I generally plant seeds around the end of March but it really depends on the variety, some sprout in one week, some 2 months, search the forum for germination techniques.
And when you say a more experience operation, what are you expection for fruit poundages/volume and when to expect to have the ripened fruit off the plant? (its a rhetorical question so I am not looking for an answer, just something for you to think about).
 
You can always plant them into pots that you can move inside once the season come to an end and over winter the plants, its easy to do if you have the space. A few simple CFL's will do the trick to keep them happy with light. What sort of peppers are you looking to grow? And how hot? The forum members here are known to burn the village to the ground with THE hottest peppers on the planet. :onfire:
 
I agree, is definately time to get the seed in. If you want results fast then go for annuum. They give a good crop, are pretty resistant, and there is many varieties such that you can select the heat. If however you intend to take them through Winter, then annuum is definately more difficult.
 
bigt said:
I wouldn't say you have a lot of time, you should get seeds in the ground soon. Especially with Chinense which take a while to fruit. So hustle or just order some live plants from Cross County - they have a great selection. http://www.chileplants.com/chart.asp

+1 to Cross Country Nurseries, they have good plants and the best customer service I've seen.
 
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