seeds When do you start your seeds?

Proud Marine Dad

Proud Marine Dad

I start my seeds in a propagator in the garage and was thinking its still a little early to start them yet.
I am thinking maybe early to mid February?
How about the rest of you in the western U.S?
 
I don't think there is a "too early" if you have the space for them:) especially if you have good lights, not just the sun.
What I'm interested about is what is the biggest size for peppers(stems) that can be still buried deeper to get more roots when you transplant them.
 
     I start mine waaaay too early. I have limited space under my grow lights, so I start my peppers in early January. Once they get big enough, I move them to a really sunny spot on the south side of the house so I can use the lights to get all my other starts going. They slow down there (cooler spot), but they don't seem to be hurt by it. I just slow down on watering/fertilizing 'till it's time to start hardening them off.
 
edit: Oops. Just re-read your post. I'm in the Midwest, so take it for what it's worth… 
 
Pubescens will be started tonight actually.  Baccatuums and Chinense will be started mid-late February and Annuums the last weekend in March.  I plant out the last weekend in May or the first weekend in June if that gives you a better sense of the time needed. 
 
Last year I started everything just a bit too early.  My Annuums were rootbound by the first weekend in May - they just grow so quick.
 
You should consider the agricultural zone you live in as well as your space and light limitations (if any). I grew up in TX and also lived a bit in southern CA, but now live in OH. I started seeds January 1 here a couple years ago, but based on my space availability that was too soon. I'd recommend thinking about how early you can start taking the plants outside, then start seeds in the 2-3 month range prior to that. According to CCN (http://www.chileplants.com/safeplanting.aspx) you are in zone 9, which they recommend plant-out no earlier than the first part of April, so you could feasibly start them now, or in February if your space is limited.
 
Thanks everyone. I have two 4' fluorescent shop lights on chains to adjust the height over the growing area in my garage but it does seem to get a little crowded there when I put all the seedlings into 4" pots. I may buy a couple of more lights and build a larger grow area though. I grow exclusively in containers outdoors as well.
 
Proud Marine Dad said:
Thanks everyone. I have two 4' fluorescent shop lights on chains to adjust the height over the growing area in my garage but it does seem to get a little crowded there when I put all the seedlings into 4" pots. I may buy a couple of more lights and build a larger grow area though. I grow exclusively in containers outdoors as well.
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My wife and I made a bunch of adjustable height frames  with shop lights for cheap.  We Used PVC pipes and parachute cord.  I think they were about $20 per setup.  They work great, adjust from 1 to 36 inches.  We made 6 so we can have enough for all the plants!
 
Oh, edited to add:  I started my seeds in the middle of December, and my climate is worse than yours.
 
Im going to be starting mine within the next week or two. That will be all my veggies and peppers too. I think I'll have about 10 pepper plants and 50 or so veggie starts.
 
Beerswimmer said:
My wife and I made a bunch of adjustable height frames  with shop lights for cheap.  We Used PVC pipes and parachute cord.  I think they were about $20 per setup.  They work great, adjust from 1 to 36 inches.  We made 6 so we can have enough for all the plants!
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Thanks Beerswimmer. I am thinking of making something with 2 x 4's since I have a sliding 10" chop saw that rarely gets used.
 
Totally ghetto :P
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Now! Its never too early if you have the light to support them. Heck i started a few in may that will be going outside the first time this spring. All the others were dec 30, jan 14, next week will be baccatums and then around mid feb my annums.
 
I start my chinenses close to January 1st and the rest of the peppers in early February.   I plant my tomatos and flowers in March.  The rest of the garden is direct sown in late April to early May.
 
The chinenses can take longer to germinate and they tend to grow alot slower than the annums or other sub genre... so that if you have a habanero next to a jalapeno... the jalapeno will quickly crowd out the hab if they are planted simultaneously.  That is why I stagger the germinations.  That in addition to the fact that it takes forever for chinenses to start producing flowers/peppers influences me to start the chinenses very early.
 
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