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Why Start So Early?

MizNitch

MizNitch

Ok, I'm a newbie, but why is everyone trying to start their pepper plants from seeds already? It'll be at least late April to early May before I even think about planting my seeds outdoors. If you start them this early they will reach full maturation before you can even transplant them outside, right?

Just wondering...
 
If you start early the plants will just be bigger and stronger when you put them out. There is no full maturity, they keep growing and producing until cold weather arrives.
I don't plant out here until nearly July but I start plants as early as January.
 
I start early because I would not get many ripe pods before the end of the season. This way, when they do go out in April, I only have to wait a couple weeks before pods start coming in.
 
This is the first year in a long time that I've started from seed, however, based on prior experience I start my super hots (Bhuts, scorpions, fatalii, and 7 pod) at the end of January, and the rest late February. It would take sometimes 5 weeks to see anything pop out on the super hots, although this year I'm using a heat pad so I may get earlier action. If they all grow I could be in trouble with 40 plants in my already crowded basement!
By the way - here is a link that gives frost information by zip code (first frost, last frost, etc)

http://davesgarden.com/guides/freeze-frost-dates/
 
MikeyV said:
I only wish I could put mine outside in April. Its gonna be a long haul till the end of May.
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Ballzworth said:
I hear that!
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Yep. My growing season is limited to around 90 days. If I wait until the start of growing season I may get one harvest out of my plants. That all depends on the pepper though. Serrano's grow fairly quickly and are often used green so it doesn't matter if they ripen up or not. Habs tend to take longer and I was lucky enough to get one small harvest out of them due to a late start, aphids and crappy soil.

If you are going to start early make sure you plant the slow grower's first. If you plant them all at the same time you'll end up moving the lights up so the faster growing plants have room. The increased distance to the lights makes the slow growing plants 'leggy'.

The other reason I start them early is that it breaks up the monotony of winter. I'd go bat-shit crazy if I didn't have something to do for 8 months out of the year.
 
I don't start most of my pepper or any tomato seeds until March. The exception are a couple of super-hots such as the Bhuts which took 150 days to produce ripe pods. Last year (sowed at the end of December) I had pods in August. The year before, it was early February and the few pods I got were starting to ripen when the frost got them.

Mike
 
I started most of my super hots the day after christmas! LOL Now a month later, they are just starting to get their second sets of true leaves, a couple have the starts of their 3rd sets, but they are so tiny you have to look hard, good thing I have 20/20. Since I hear of people getting 2,3 and even 4 seasons of life from a over wintered plant, some of my supers are going into planters I can bring in this next fall/winter, if I can keep the cat out of them, they may live a long productive life.
 
Penny said:
I bought 2 of those greenhouses that you can put outside on warm days, i cant wait to try them.
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If they're what I think they are be careful with those things. I've gone through several over the years and I find they heat up very quickly in the sun and they usually have no vents. You'll also want to support them well somehow since they tip over very easily in the wind. Also don't leave the plastic covers out in the winter, mine froze up and then shattered:(
 
Some of the superhots won't start producing until almost six months into it. I've got about three and a half months of decent growing weather, hopefully. If I didn't start them now I wouldn't collect a single superhot pepper. And that's damn depressing.
 
most all my new super hots in the ground already but there is no frost here.ground temp around 70-75 degrees night temp a little cold 68 day temps 80-84 very nice. hope the main land warms up soon for you all.what happened to global warming????
 
Global Warming? I say thank God for global warming. I'd be frozen in a block of ice without it this year. Shortest growing season many farmers can remember, fifth coldest October and third coldest December on record, they say if we average 37 degrees F for the rest of winter we will be average for the year. If it wasn't for global warming I'd have to move somewhere warm...

And Patrick, you are making me nervous... Maybe I should get to it and start some seeds.
 
I start my chinense the last of january and annuums the last of february...this assures I will have nice plants with several sets of true leaves before I go to my first "seedling sale event" the first of April...

now that pepper farming is my full time job, I will be able to sell more seedlings...I let about 150 go last year and they grew to about 18-24" tall and produced a few pods in the 3" containers...
 
AlabamaJack said:
they grew to about 18-24" tall and produced a few pods in the 3" containers...
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Are you saying they grew that high in 3" containers, but didn't produce much? That's pretty big for such small pots.
 
yup...root bound as heck but they kept on growing as long as I gave them a drink every now and again...finally I just stopped watering them and they eventually died....
 
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