seeds-germination When do northerers start their seeds?

Ballzworth

Ballzworth

A question for the Canadians and those of you from the norther parts of the US. When do you start your seeds indoors?

I know that with the few months of summer we get, it's vital to have them at a progressed stage when transplanting outdoors to maximize the results. I started in March this year which was too late (that and the poor summer weather we had).

Is January too early?
 
I usually start my C. chinenses in January and most others in Feb or March but I've always had a cold-frame or greenhouse for a lot of my spring growing
 
Keep the type of pepper in mind when planting early. Some definitely grow faster than others. Seems as though the hotter the pepper, the slower it grows. Dunno if it's a statement that applies across the board, but seems like a good rule of thumb.

Basically you'll want to plant the slow growers first or you'll have to continuously raise your lights to accommodate the faster growing peppers. I didn't do this last year and had to raise the lights way up off the slow growers (Orange Habanero) just to keep them off the fast growers (jalapeno M).

I started all of mine in late january. I've got a few of the super hots started already (Red Savina, Naga, Jolokia, Scorpian etc.). There's no way I could get those to produce if I waited until spring.
 
is there any harm in starting early? won't they just mature to the size of the pot until they're introduced to a bigger area? Or will that stunt their growth if they're put on hold so to speak. I would rather be over prepared than under prepared.

and Blister, you've started super hots already for 2010?
 
Yep, I've got a bunch of super hots in the soil right now and given that the Bhut's take about 160 days before harvest I decided to start early ;) real early. That and I'm pretty anxious to get things going. I'm hoping they sprout and if they do, hopefully they survive my ineptitude.

There isn't any harm in starting them early provided you have the space to keep them. Last January when I started my seeds, I ran into space issues because everyone else figured that they should start 1000 seeds and kinda crowded me out. Everything turned out alright though. Like previously mentioned, pay attention to the type of seed you're starting and you'll be fine. They usually have a 'weeks before last frost' date on them.
 
This was my first year growing the different species and I learned a good lesson. Slow growers first. This season while my slow growers were barely a foot tall some of the fast ones were already twice that. All of them were planted on the 12 of January. Next season I'll put some time between the slow and fast growers.
 
If you have an indoor growing area (like I do!) you can start whenever you want (as long as you dont run out of room), and when the last frost hits, you can put full sized monsters outside right away!

The only problem with starting too early without a growing area and lights is, the plants might not get enough light and could grow leggy and or become very unhealthy, even if growing near a window.
 
If you start too early, you'll probably need some HID lights and a lot of room, as well as an arsenal for aphid control. I try to time things so that I can mostly use just floro lights and windowlight until greenhouse season(or bring in/out season) Some people really enjoy growing indoors, but for me I just need the early start
 
Thanks again. based on the advice I think I'll probably try to stick end of Jan for the hotties, and into february for the others.

Penny, 40 minutes from me? can i assume you're in the Wasaga Beach area?
 
Because some superhots take so long to ripen, I started Bhuts on December 26, the others in mid-January. It must have been good timing because the Bhut Jolokias won a Blue Ribbon at the Fair yesterday. Sweet Bananas and Hungarian Hot Wax also took first, Cayennes second and Habs third.

Mike
 
I live in farily hot summers and mild winters. But overall, I think seeds can be sown anytime for the coming season if you can provide the right conditions for keeping them safe until the Growing Season.

I am currently sprouting Bhut & Bih seeds for next spring. I plan to keep them inside in 3" cups as long as possible during winter, and strenthen the leaf, stem, and root systems during that time with organic fertilizers. Organic is for the soil, not the plant, so things in the plant happen slower and more naturaly, which is good during a fairly long stretch of time when you don't have room for large plants. By the window, and surrounded by relective foil, the leaves should get nice and fat, and stems short and stout.

Temperature should be warm enough for plants, since its warm enough for me. I keep temp between 66-68 during winter (yes, what a whimp, lol).

BTW, there are times to pull the seedlings away from the window, or open the window for air, depending on the weather. If you cannot open the window, I like to shake the tray or hit seedlings with a fan to toughen up their stems. I like to keep stems short as long as possible to build thickness. OY, some of my tomatoes are taller than me. There will be plenty of time for getting tall plants once Spring comes. A good solid foundation early will provide huge rewards later.
 
I planted mine in Dec (mostly Bhut's and some 7-Pods, Scorpions). The later grew rediculously leggy but the Bhut's were fine.
When I put them out in May all the leaves fell off (thanks to the hot-cold-hot-cold spring we had) but now they've fully recovered and are exploding with pods/flowers.
 
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