seeds Young seedlings already producing flowers...

MarcV

eXtreme
I was surprised yesterday, when I opened the propagator, to find that some of my seedlings are already producing flower buds! :shocked:
Is this something that occurs frequently?
 
It's the first time I'm growing my seedlings in a heated propagator with T8 lighting directly above it. The heating, which was set to a permanent 25°C, has been turned of for about a week now though.
 
A couple of shots...
 
Piment De Bresse:
10854305_986114448069980_801069049534100309_o.jpg

 
10900186_986114471403311_2956251404402853655_o.jpg

 
Piment D'Espelette:
 
1965408_986114478069977_2465352991567381958_o.jpg

 
10920267_986114464736645_2320996722882432320_o.jpg
 
Those are flower buds, not new leaf growth. It is not uncommon for this to happen. You can leave them on if you like but I'd recommend picking them off so that the plants put their energy into making more leaves and getting bigger rather than trying to produce flowers or possibly even a pod.
 
I think it's better to take them off also but my wife thinks differently. That makes things a little more complicated... :D
 
Great looking plants, just had a couple Piment D'Espelette pop.  
 
This is my first attempt with these peppers, wondering how you use yours, powder, dried, pickled?
 
I recently bought fresh Piment D'Espelette chillis from an authorised seller in France (true Piment D'Espelette is a protected product in Europe. The chillis can only be sold under the name Piment D'Espelette in a particular region of France). I ate a couple fresh but dried most of the chillis and powdered them. I love the powder! It's not very hot but has a great taste!
 
I did save the seeds and am now growing plants from them. I still have plenty seeds available by the way. They are guaranteed to be true!
 
Don't worry. Some varieties tend to do that, especially annuums.. They won't produce pods until the plant is ready, if the circumstances are not right or it hasn't has the root ball to support pods yet, it will simply drop off. However it's wasted energy, so I tend to clip them off.
 
Your first post said that you are maintaining the temperature at a constant 25°C. Many plants behave atypically when the night temperature isn't cooler than the day temperature -- even if the difference is only, say, 1 or 2°C. This may be what has prompted the plants to bloom so young.

Capsicum annuums are less fussy about temperatures -- with regard to pollination/fruit-set -- than other Capsicums, so it may be possible for them to set fruit... and, yes, it will stunt the plant if that happens.
Snip off the pistil of each flower as they open, and claim that a young plant can't set fruit, even though it blooms. Shrug, casually, when you say this, as if it's obvious to anyone who ever gardened that it is so...
...yes, it is cowardly, but wiser than incurring a wife's disfavor, right? (Being a lifelong bachelor, i am quick to give marital advice -- after all, that makes me an expert at avoiding spousal wrath...).

Good luck on the sandwich! I hope my advice is helpful, at least with the peppers.
 
Back
Top