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seeds Starting Seeds TOOOOO Early

NorTexChiliJs

NorTexChiliJs

Okay so I am growing out a few hundred plants for a nursery. I had a few varieties they didn't have but they were wanting to test sales. I recently visited one of the greenhouses the nursery starts seeds in. They started seeds on the 31st of December. I started my first seeds on January 7th. I have done several plantings spaced a week or so apart. The seedlings at the nursery look like SLOW growers.

My plants planted February 4th are ALL bigger than the plants at the nursery started on December 31st. The greenhouse has white plastic on it and the temperature is only about 72F. I have ample light and the temperature is in the low 80s.

When I told the nursery how much bigger mine were they wondered if they would be too big to sell in about 3 weeks. They were concerned they might be budding already.

I know I have purchased plants that had flowers open....tomato and peppers alike. I just pluck all the flowers off before I plant them. I don't think I have ever bought a plant that was TOO big to plant. I mean we overwinter plants to plant them again.....

Is it possible to start seedlings too early?? What happens if they are too big when they get planted out???
 
I'm interested in this also. I planted several 'test plants' early just to get my bearings even though many sources said don't plant too early. The worry is that long time indoors plants will become leggy or otherwise weak. Not sure how true this is if you provide sufficient light, nutes and (fan) wind until hardening off and plant time.

Maybe the nursery with their little weenie plants won't like to compete with your studs.... :cool: I think most people prefer biggest plants with the strongest stems... They just need to be properly hardened prior to planting which a lot of people ignore.
 
The only thing I can think of is that they are limited for space. When it comes down to it, the only reason I don't start my slow growers earlier than January, or the fast growers before April is because I simply don't have the room to keep multiple 3' chili plants.
 
it may be the vendor is worried about having/ getting
shelf stock that is rootbound.
the customer wants/needs to get a certain product to make
sales and reputation is important (most important).

they want the people to have good strong seedlings for good result
if they already are rootbound they are not going to sell themselves
well or do the store's reputation any favors
(the store stays open because people come back again and again?) :eek:

edited for meaning
 
You should just ask them what the potential problem would be; they can't actually be that ignorant to say that they will be to big to go outside since its a nursery )atleast I hope(, perhaps you misinterpreted them or maybe it is just something as simple as they want their plants to all be one uniform size.

This is silly for them to care...but whatevs! Good luck to you my friend

xo nicole
 
Avon Barksdale said:
I'm not sure how a plant can be too big to put outside...the bigger the better. :crazy:
Click to expand...
i agree with you if its too small sun might burn it but nothing can be too big for the dirt or direct growing. now some plant gets too big for the size of the container they are in. yes thats true but nothing can be too big for outside planting .
 
add to all that the too big or two old plants "over wintered" always grow stonger and produce way more than the first year fresh plants. and thats one reason why i do over wintering is bcz the plant will produce very early and much more pods
 
As long as you can provide them with everything that they need and they look healthy…I don't see what the problem is. You already have two main ingredients, the sun and temps. The rest is easy. I live in Vermont and it’s a very different situation.

I planted 10 large Caribbean Reds last summer from the local nursery, and do you know what I got – a sh*t load of killer peppers. I'll grow the ones that I can't buy locally; right now it just seems to work best for me.

It sounds like you are doing it right!!

Jack
 
Thanks for all the input everyone!! I figured the plants can't actually be TOO big.

I understand you don't want to allow a plant to become rootbound. But is that actually bad for the plant for any longer than it is in that container?? Won't it be super happy to finally make it's way to the ground or a bigger container?? I'm definately not TRYING to make them rootbound. Bu I have definately purchase rootbound plants and they seemes to do okay, I think.... Hell I planted 11 trees this year and they were ALL rootbound.

As far as uniform stock is concerned, that seems a little anal. I understand a nursery wants strong sellable stock, but all uniform??? Chinense grow short, annuums grow tall fast, wilds are usually kinda scrawny the first year.... How can every chili be uniform. Even the orange and blue stores sell larger plants in larger containers, every year.

Nicole when I asked about the potential problems they just went into a spill about growers using wierd chemicals to grow fast plants, or using questionable methods to achieve such aggressive growth rates. They made it seem like if you gave a plant a perfect enviornment while they were young, it could be negative if the buyer grows in less than ideal situations. They couldn't actually tell me WHY.

Maybe they were a little jealous. We were hit pretty hard with a freeze a couple weeks ago. I know up north its not much, but we had over 100 hours of freezing temperatures. About 48 hours were in the teens. I think some of the greenhouses around here weren't ready for that. Maybe some plants were even a little stunted due to the less than ideal temperatures......
 
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