seeds Should I plant seeds in july?

ebh

ebh

Hi,
 
I have some seeds and don't know if I should wait until winter to germinate them or can start them right now? I am kind of eager to grow them, although I know they won't produce anything this season.
 
For over-wintering I will only be using CFL lights, so no HID. I have a few 85W bulbs. Will they survive?
 
Also, on a kind of unrelated issue, can I use bio nutes intended for soil in a coco/perlite mix, or should I go with hydro nutes? Don't really want to spend cash on something just for coco (like canna coco or similar).
 
Thanks!
 
if you start them now, you probably won't get more than a handful, if any peppers. BUT if you're going to overwinter them they should chug right along next year and give peppers from the spring until the fall.
 
do a little searching on here for cfl overwintering... some people have amazing results and you'll get an idea of what they're doing to help yourself out for when you give it a go
 
Interested in this topic a bit too.  I have been considering trying to germ some chiltepins now with the goal of overwintering them so they've got all season to produce next year.  Thoughts?  (Sorry if I'm hijacking this thread!)
 
j
 
Surely over wintering relies almost solely on the existing foliage/stem and particularly the roots. Which sowing in July July messed up your chances.?

I'm no expert, but I'd imagine there's a reason people start early, not late?
 
jblo said:
Interested in this topic a bit too.  I have been considering trying to germ some chiltepins now with the goal of overwintering them so they've got all season to produce next year.  Thoughts?  (Sorry if I'm hijacking this thread!)
 
j
Click to expand...
Check out the huge over winter thread (sticky)
 
georgej said:
Surely over wintering relies almost solely on the existing foliage/stem and particularly the roots. Which sowing in July July messed up your chances.?

I'm no expert, but I'd imagine there's a reason people start early, not late?
Click to expand...
I'd think of it as starting 6 months earlier than everyone else, and having bangin' plants for the next year's growing season.
 
Yumyumyellow said:
I'd think of it as starting 6 months earlier than everyone else, and having bangin' plants for the next year's growing season.
Click to expand...
 
 
This!!  I start seeds from Jan to Dec sometimes.  Get those seeds going and keep them going inside till next years plant out.  It is never too late to start if you have the space to keep them overwinter.
 
im in florida---well no fla which is totally differnt than so fla----i started in a greenhouse in dec----moved out after th last freze in first week of april--thats late for us--------so mine r 5 mo old now---3 ft ---producing lotsa blossoms n peppers.....this is how urs wood b in november if u were living in TRinidad. not sure where u live but if ur north of me then u may not be able to get out till may?????in my head thats a 60 yr old man in plant life------id rather have a thirty yr old man produce my offspring...never tried what ur thinkn but i wish u luck and keep us posted on yur success!
 
ed
www.st augiehotpeppers.com
 
 
 
 

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StAugieHotPeppers said:
im in florida---well no fla which is totally differnt than so fla----i started in a greenhouse in dec----moved out after th last freze in first week of april--thats late for us--------so mine r 5 mo old now---3 ft ---producing lotsa blossoms n peppers.....this is how urs wood b in november if u were living in TRinidad. not sure where u live but if ur north of me then u may not be able to get out till may?????in my head thats a 60 yr old man in plant life------id rather have a thirty yr old man produce my offspring...never tried what ur thinkn but i wish u luck and keep us posted on yur success!
 
ed
www.st augiehotpeppers.com
 
 
 
Click to expand...
I guess then you don't believe in overwintering plants? (That isn't supposed to be an inflammatory question - I'm genuinely interested in your take.)
 
I'm also in Florida and I did overwinter a few of my peppers this past year instead of ripping them out.  And by "overwinter" I mean that I left them in the ground and threw a towel over them on the nights when it got down below 40'F.  Other than that, I did very little to protect them.  Come spring I gave them an aggressive pruning to invite new growth.
 
As for original topic, assuming you can overwinter in some fashion - if you got 'em, wet 'em!
 
I think overwintering is amazing... I used to treat them as annuals, but after trying it this past winter I will be doing it every year... the plants are growing unbelievably fast, they're loaded with flowers and peppers(3-4 per node, and I had bell peppers ready to eat in april) and the peppers they're producing are about 50% larger and look healthier as well; as if that's how they're supposed to look but the first year just isn't enough time for them. I got clipper happy and massacred them down to leafless sticks, they bounced back and now each new branch is the size of one of my seedlings I started in February.
 
If you have the space, do it!
 
Check out pepperguru's overwinters from previous years... the one was grown in an air pot, 7 or 8 years old, and looked about the size of a VW beetle. The proof is in the puddin'.
 
I honestly have never heard of the concept of OVERWNTERING till now. Most pepper farmers I know do what i do. They harvest their crop thru end of October then seeds are saved from only the very healthiest and best producing plants---i generally save 2 seeds for every plant i want to produce in the next season..then i till all my plants up into the soil and look to start my germination in december. If overwintering is the process of somehow pruning back and covering yur plants with dirt or such and using the same plants for more than one year production--thats done when late freezes come and yur crop is in the ground but this year i have approximately 500 plants for production and my farm is not really that big..There r some growers i know in hastings with over 200 plants. There is no way a pepper farmer of any size could keep their whole crop to go additionaal years--plus i woukd think that the weakened condition of the plant would make it more susceptible to disease...i go season to season upgrading my product seed in the process. Im not saying that overwintering cant work but this is just what i do. i will look into the concept more and bring it up at our next ag meeting. thanks for the suggestion.
 
ed
 
For commercial application overwintering should produce good results. I suggest an experiment, in early winter prune 10-20 plants aggressively and apply a heavy layer of straw mulch. In the spring, just let nature take its course. Apply ferts as usual. The overwinter plants will have a huge head start on the seed starts and will produce an early crop as well as a larger than normal regular season crop. The second year is probably going to be the most fertile year. Peppers can live for ages, but they do tend to slow down in old age. My third year plants are producing well, probably equivalent to 1st year plants, but they have had some issues as well. 
 
As a business proposition, this one should be a no-brainer. Keep some portion of your plants in production for at least 2 years. If the winter is unusually harsh, no big deal, just revert to the normal scheme of growing all new plants. If the winter is unusually mild, you should have a forest out there in the field by the time your greenhouse starts are 6" tall.
 
I've thrown half a dozen chiltepin seeds in so we'll see what happens.  If they don't make it, I'll start some more in December.
 
I did this last summer with a jwala. Just wanted to see if the seeds were viable then couldn't kill the little bugger so kept it over the winter. Now it is nice size and full of buds ready to open up. There's never a bad time to start growing.
 
I received fire in a box from http://www.pepperjoe.com
last year for fathers day and planted 2 seeds of each just to see how I did. Out of all the varieties I planted Red Savina, Chocolate Hab, Pumpkin Hab, Scotch Hab, Caribbean Blend, White Hab, Jamaican Hab, Golden Hab and Spicy Mustard Hab. I overwintered 4 and lost 2 but learned a lot from the experience.
 
Started a bunch in July last year.
Bugs indoors will be your only problem-----except the problem of keeping the plants contained.
I would go full hydro for ease of maintenence during the winter months, as transplanting from dirt to hydro can bring lots of problems.
By next spring they should be huge and ready for the outdoors.
 
Got 3 from last July that went into dirt this year.
HappyHappyHappy plants.
 
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