Starting pepper seed for spring/summer 2012.

OK, here are the pepper seed I've planted so far (as of 02/01/2012):

Pinocchio Hybrid (Cayenne), Mucho Nacho Hybrid (Jalapeño), Tepin (Bird Pepper), Mirasol, Chimayo Hot, Chaco Yellow, Criolla Sella, Purrira, Wilde Grove, Tabasco, PI 555634, Rocoto Red, El Incendio, Cantina, Short Yellow Tabasco, Bishops Crown, Aji Golden, Guyana PI 199506, Lemon Drop, Thai Barupa, Anaheim Sahuaro Hybrid, Ancho Gigantea, Ancho Poblano Meek and Mild, Ancho Ranchero F1, Ancho Tiburon F1, Cubanelle Key West X3R Hybrid, Corno di Toro Giallo, Corno di Toro Rosso, Dulce Italiano, Goccia d'Oro, Italian Gourmet, Marconi Rosso, Rosso Dolce Appendere, Pasilla Holy Mole Hybrid, Aji Dulce Amarillo, Aji Dulce Long, Cacho Negro, Manabi Sweet, PI 439416, Tobago Seasoning, Vicentes Sweet Habanero, Canario, Rocoto Manzano Amarillo, Naga Morich, Bhut (Bih) Jolokia Improved Strain II, Chocolate Bhut Jolokia, Orange Bhut (Bih) Jolokia, Trinidad Scorpion, Blushing Beauty Hybrid, Orion Hybrid, Socrates X3R, Early Sunsation Hybrid.

These are from: Semillas La Palma, Gourmet Seed International, Tomato Growers Supply, Seeds From Italy, Park Seed, Thompson & Morgan, Peppergal, and Cherrygal.

Still some more peppers to go, then on to the eggplants, tomatoes and early start herbs.

-Rich

Ay caramba! That's a lot of peppers. Did you also plant some Tums to accompany those?

Wow that is one heck of a lot peppers. I just do a few in pots, I had to move them inside when we dipped into the cold last month, we were gone that week so the poor things stayed in there for seven days. I still had peppers on them, but had to harvest the rest and trim back the plants some, they are coming back around with some new growth now.

So do you eat all those or do you sell them? Do you plant them in the ground? My garden way too small for too many vegetables, I put them in containers so I can move them around as the sun and shade moves.

A new orange bell coming out...

Started these last week.Had to cut way back this year,I lost a lot of my growing space for my pots.

AGUA BLANCA , CHILE NEGRO , AJI AMARILLO , ALAKA ZOLD , BLONDIE , AJI YELLOW , AJI LEMON DROP , AJI HABANERO , ALEPPO , ALEPPO 36 , ALEPPO 37, ALMA PAPRIKA , ANCHO SAN LOUIS , BIBER DORO , BIBER SORE DEMRE , BIKER BILLY , BOTINETSKA ZUTA , BUENA MULATO , CASCABEL , CHERVENA , CHILACA , CHILHAUCLE NEGRO , CHILHAUCLE ROJO , CHIMAYO , DULCE ESPANA , ETNA , BROWN BERBERE , GIANT ACONCAGUA , PODRON , DULCE MEDITERANO , KAVALEROVA SWEET , AJI PINEAPPLE , ITALIAN GOURMETTE , JALAPENO POTATOE , BOMBERO , LONG HUNGARIAN GREEN , LONG PURPLE CAYENNE , CHOCOLATE CHERRY , MEDITERRANEAN SPICE , MINI SWEETS , MIELDER SPIRAL , MULATO ISLANO , NU MEX GARNET , ONZA AMARILLO , ONZA ROJO , ORANGE THAI , PHILIPINE LONG GREEN , PIMENT DE ESPELLETTE , PIMENTE TANGERINE , 7 POT CAGUANAS , ROMANA , SANTAKA ASIAN , PRITAMIN PAPRIKA , RAADO JALAPINO , ALMOST SEEDLESS TURKISH PEPPER , VERY LONG SWEET , ADJALI , FEFERONI , SERRANO TAMPIQUANO , SERRANO HUASTECO , SERRANO DEL SOL , SIGARERETTE DOLCE , SOROSKI PAPRIKA , SPANISH SPICE , STAVROS SWEET , SUCETTE DE PROVINCE , SWEET CAYENNE , XZAPOTEC JALAPENO , TUNESIAN BAKLOUTI , TOLI'S ITALIAN , TEQUILA SUNRISE , SWEET YELLOW CHERRY , SZEDGY PAPRIKA , SAFI RED , ANTILIAS CARIBBEAN , RED DOMINICA , SBS RED CONGO GIANT , BONNET BELL , XIXIXI HABANERO , TFM SCOTCH BONNET , FOODORAMA SCOTCH BONNET , TRUE SCOTCH BONNET

I usually do 3 or 4 times that number of plants in 2 grows a year.

rjogden - how do you like Corno di Toro Rosso? I'm look at replacing my Carmen with this variety.

I'm also looking for a replacement for Ariane and was considering Orange Blaze hybrid, Gourmet or Orange Bell. Has anyone grown these varieties and have anything good or bad to say? I'm looking for a sweet orange bell, preferably one which ripens earlier?

first time starting my peppers from seed. sowed 8 days ago and almost half of them are already sprouted!

Jalapeno Grande, scotch bonnet, chocolate habanero, big bertha bell, tobasco, cubanelle, california wonder bell, orange bell, yellow bell, mexibell, numex big jim, ancho. and serrano

My first mistake was putting two seeds per cell, I figured for a first timer I might get 50% max ..but now I gotta kill little seedlings :(

I leave doubles in the cell for a while.
I think it's insurance against over watering problems or wahatever.
Murphies Law is if I plant only 1 seed per cell it either needs re seeding or it dies after it comes up.
If I put 2 seeds they both grow. :)
I don't chop the extra until they are about ready to pot up from the cell.
I think the biggest one is stronger from competing with the other one in the same cell compared to ones that have only 1 plant in it.
It seems the bigger plant is most times a lot bigger than the smaller competitor in the cell.
It could be a Darwin thing or maybe my growing methods,I don't really know for sure.

smokemaster: I'll hold off then, they are like 1/2" tall and still have the nursing leaves. hopefully that means they are getting enough light. It does seem they need to be watered everyday. (my setup is two flats under a 6 lamp T5HO at about 8" and no bottom heat)

Smokemaster, I think you've hit upon a universal truth. Don't blame it on Murphy, though. It's probably either the 'Multi-seeding Maxim', the 'Planting Principle', the 'Double Dip Dictum', the 'Cotyledon Canon', the 'Growers Guide', the 'Sprouting Standard', the 'Two Stem Tenet' or just the stereotypical seeding statistic.

I haven't noticed anyone starting Lemme's Italian. Last year I bought tomato plants from Darrel Jones @ Selected Plants.com and he threw in a 4 pkt of the Lemme's. I liked the sweet and spicy but not hot taste so I saved seed to plant this year. They have been a few days and are about ready to go to 4" pots.

Have any of you had any experience with this pepper?

Well I planted some peppers from seeds, most from my cooking of store bought peppers. I am amazed at how well they have been doing. I read above about more than two a seed pack. Guess I got more in some and have four or five to some packs. So what now, they are getting ready to transplant, all look nice and healthy, do I need to pull some or move them and watch them for weakness? I am new at seeding my peppers, I usually buy the plants already started. TIA

I'm also growing Corno di Toro Rosso for the first time this year. I always grow the non-bell sweet hybrids Gypsy and Carmen, and we love those - so I won't replace either of them. I thought C.D.T. might be another good one along the same lines, we'll see.

I always plant THREE pepper or tomato seeds in each cell of an egg carton, but I don't kill any extra seedlings that come up. I scoop the Jiffy Mix out of each cell with a spoon then carefully break it apart to transplant all the seedlings that come up into their own individual containers. If I don't want the extra plants I know people to give them to, and I even traded some to a nursery one year.

Thanks Ozark. ☺

Just for the information Pepper Seeds don't NEED to be dried before being sown. LOL Ive had the best germination from seeds that were just out of the pods.

My peppers are doing great...I have so many jalapeños and will harvest my first mature peppers this week...they are my potted plants I already had from last year. My biggest surprise this year is a Cowhorn pimento, new for me, but amazing how well the plant is doing and the amount of peppers already started. I attached a photo, kind of blurry but the pepper is already a good four inches long.

Riceke my orange bell was broken by the dang blasted squirrels...twice. I am so tired of them digging into my seedlings. I have to cover everything with milk jugs. They don't eat my peppers thank goodness, but get into the pots and dig. They do eat my strawberries and tomatoes. I need a big mean cat in my garden.

It has crossed my mind rjogden...way too many times. ☺

I've often wondered about the reports of "squirrel damage" I see from gardeners here on DG. It seems to happen a lot, and I don't understand. We live on 6 acres with about 60 big oak and hickory trees, and the squirrels are thick. I can usually see 3 or 4 of them at any time - mostly grey squirrels, and a few red squirrels. They don't bother anything in my garden, they never have.

We've got a few chipmunks and that's a different story. They chew plants, and I lost a big tomato plant that they chewed off just above the ground one time. But the squirrels, nope. I'm thankful that they don't feed on or dig in my garden, but I wonder what the difference is. Are there different species of squirrels, and I've got some that don't like garden veggies? Maybe ours are so well-fed from all the nut trees they don't need to look further? Any ideas?

Ozark....I think it is the fact you live on 6 acres...the trees are probably off from your garden. In my case we live in a subdivision on a lot that is between half and a quarter of an acre, with 6 huge oaks. So most those acorns fall into my garden...so the damage the squirrels do is mostly from trying to find or hide acorns. My squirrels are common gray squirrels. They will eat my strawberries and tomatoes but they like them real ripe, so usually I pick them before they eat them. They don't eat the plants, but I have seen them eat my azalea flowers. Trust me they have plenty of nuts to eat.

No chipmunks here....thank goodness.

Ozark, if it wasn't dark, I'd take a photo for you. The squirrel mafia of Clintonville does things like...dig in the soil of large containers and fling dirt everywhere and destroy plants. Pick up and empty out smaller pots, completely shredding whatever plant was growing there. Eating every bulb known to mankind. Biting the buds on plants about to flower--tulips, etc. Pulling up plants I've just planted in beds and shredding them overnight, so I get to wake up to garden devastation the next day. Chew the cord for my patio light every. single. year. Dump every bird feeder every day. Throw suet cakes on the ground.

My dogs keep squirrels under control in my back yard. Sadly, the front isn't fenced so I can't use my "enforcers".

Sheesh...they sound like goats. What a mess and an aggravation.

Have you tried Mothballs? I use empty plastic bottles poke holes in them, put the MBs in and screw the top back on. You can hang them or just leave them in the the beds. Some people are concerned about the chemicals leaching out, so you can secure them upright. Ive heard the smell will stop them, Ive never used them for squirrels, only snakes in the Chicken coop. Im rural, like Ozark, so they have better things to do., but it might be worth a try.

Well, erm...uhhh...well, I can't bring myself to poison them, and mothballs might. It might also bother other animals, which would make me sad.

-> Stupid confession: I have a pet squirrel that visits my porch and eats from my hand. I *know* that Hazel Nut would never do bad things to my garden. She just sits and eats peanuts from her feeder, and she has a reprehensible fondness for nacho cheese Doritos, too. My husband and my boss think I'm insane. Insane, no. Inconsistent, well....lol

I dont see how the mothballs could poison the squirrels or other animals if they are in the plastic bottles. Only the smell gets out. If the bottles are secured up right, that is. Ive had a pet squirrel so I understand. : )

Theoretically, the chemicals in the mothballs should sublimate, but I'd worry about someone chewing on them.

You could get moth flakes or crush the moth balls with a hammer.

My Grandmother fed squirrels on her back porch peanut butter. They got so fat they could hardly climb. I don't know if it keep them out of the bird feeder or not.

My wife keeps a dish of dry cat food on our deck for her two cats. The cats are so fat and lazy they'll lay on the deck and watch the bluejays and squirrels eat the cat food.

At night we get 'possums and raccoons coming to the dish, so she's keeping all the critters fed. I've got to say that the wild things don't eat much of it, though - much less in total than the two cats do.

Maybe that's why our squirrels are so well-behaved and don't bother my garden or anything else - they've got the cat food available, which they probably like better.

Celene-Thats why I put the Mothballs in the plasic bottles with the top on and holes poked in it, so nothing can eat them. I wouldnt just put them out. Its just the smell that is supposed to deter them, but I dont know if it works.

I have the feeling that there isn't much that discourages a hungry squirrel.

I can't tell you if it works or not...my dogs chew plastic bottles, so I'd be afraid. I can tell you with great confidence dog and cat hair don't work, the squirrels just steal it for their nests.