Zone 6a, 1st year growing from seeds

I found a passion for growing in my gardens the past half decade. What started as buying plants at the local nursery, has turned into a quest to grow from seed. Last year I had a orange habanero that was special, For some reason it really stuck out to me, and everything clicked. I invested a lot of time reading, watching youtube, and generally trying to increase my knowledge for a full-on seed start.
 
In the meantime I bought seeds, lights, fertilizers, soil and all the necessities I'd need. I'm in zone 6a, and am definitely looking forward to learning more and being a better hobby pepper grower.
 
A complete summary of my start https://www.reddit.com/r/HotPeppers/comments/etrn9p/1st_time_growing_from_seed_success_so_far/ and germination rates https://www.reddit.com/r/HotPeppers/comments/euqr19/1st_time_pepper_seed_germination_rates/
 
I recently was told to check this site out to learn and post questions I had
 
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:welcome: from the Pacific NorthWest, DC!
 
You will find a lot of helpful folk on the forum.
 
Thanks, look forward to it. Posted up a question I had already with some photos. I'm getting some photos together of my current seedlings. They're gorgeous indoors :)
 
Taking the dive to growing seeds is the start, then the next thing you know you will be pollinating your own flowers and creating your own chili peppers. Wish you much luck with that and one thing you will notice on this site is that some people offer free seed from time to time. So, besides being a wealth of knowledge, you can get some cool stuff to grow out as well.
 
Also important, check out the vendor reviews to see which vendors you may want to investigate further.
 
Welcome aboard
Capsicum annuum 'Scarlett's Chili' x C. Morangum conception to fruit.png
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Thanks for the warm welcome & tips. I think my biggest challenge now is in previous years I was a 4-5 pepper plant guy, this year I'm planning 50+ so I'll be doing a juggling act to keep up with it all,but why I'm investing into good soil this time around versus just planting in ground.
 
darkchile said:
I found a passion for growing in my gardens the past half decade. What started as buying plants at the local nursery, has turned into a quest to grow from seed. Last year I had a orange habanero that was special, For some reason it really stuck out to me, and everything clicked. I invested a lot of time reading, watching youtube, and generally trying to increase my knowledge for a full-on seed start.
 
In the meantime I bought seeds, lights, fertilizers, soil and all the necessities I'd need. I'm in zone 6a, and am definitely looking forward to learning more and being a better hobby pepper grower.
 
A complete summary of my start https://www.reddit.com/r/HotPeppers/comments/etrn9p/1st_time_growing_from_seed_success_so_far/ and germination rates https://www.reddit.com/r/HotPeppers/comments/euqr19/1st_time_pepper_seed_germination_rates/
 
I recently was told to check this site out to learn and post questions I had
First, welcome to the fun house. Second, those are some low germination rates from that one vendor!
 
Just wow!
 
PollenNut said:
First, welcome to the fun house. Second, those are some low germination rates from that one vendor!
 
Just wow!
 
Yeah, I'm happy to have what I got germinated; though I don't disagree that the rates were pretty low. Lot of factors weigh in, but most of my own seeds came from pods I dehydrated at 140 degrees for 12+ hours, they shouldn't be viable, but were. I have read around about certain vendors & issues now; in hindsight I may've made different vendor choices had I known what I do now.
 
Thanks. I know I started them real early compared to some, but I figure as long as I give them depth, and I can top off/trim back, they'll be quite healthy by the time they go outside in late april/early may; whenever I can in zone 6a.  I also mentioned if they start outgrowing the depth of pots, I can always literally pot them up for more depth. I figured if I take one pot, fill mostly with soil, then take another & cut all of the bottom of the pot off (other than maybe 1/16" inch surrounding base of 2nd pot, I can place that 2nd pot within the first, fitting snuggly, and use basically depth of pot 1  plus about 3/4 the depth of pot 2, as a single pot, to increase the depth they can root versus going huge pots width-wise. For instance, if I'm currently use 2" wide and 3.5" depth pots, and I then do the above, I might have 2" wide with 3" + 2" depth = 5" from the inclusion of both pots together. At least in my head for what I'm planning seems feasible, as long as the pots arent' top heavy, which shouldn't be as I always keep the main trays full of pots, so they are against one another. 
 
Let me draw something up so it might make more sense. It is a rough drawing, there are not 2 plants consolidating down to 2, I kept a plant in both "pots" in image for sake of illustration and showing size.
 

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