My peppers look awful

I started peppers over a month ago and transplanted them to larger cells about 2 weeks ago. They are quite yellow and are now growing well. Some of the bottom leaves have fallen off. Is this normal? Of course, I am comparing them to the tomatoes that were transplanted at the same time and are about 6 inches tall. I have them under good lights--at least I think they are. Should 2 Agrosun bulbs be enough to spread light over deep root cell packs that are placed lengthwise under the lights? They also get morning sun through an east-facing window.

There is one difference between how the tomatoes and peppers were treated. I used the same soilless mix to transplant the tomatoes as I did to sprout the seeds. It is very fine and wonderful. I was running out of that mix so I used a much coarser potting soil for the peppers. It, however, was recommended by a reputable local nursery. They said they even sprouted their seeds in it. I can't imagine that. I can't see a little seed pushing some of the boulders and twigs out of the way to come up! Could the difference be the soilless mix or are peppers just touchy?

The advice from Carolyn Male is that tomatoes should not be fertilized until they are set out so I have not done that and they look wonderful--but what about fertilizing peppers? If they need fertilizer, what should I use, how much, and how often?

I am new to this and need HELP!!!

I also raise some peppers from seed and know they need heat and light. I don't know about your light source as I use a gro-lite and heat mat. Either your giving them to much light by not turning the lights off at not or the light is not close enough to the plants ? Try some Miracle-Gro for vegetables. Dilute half strength. Wait for or soil to be slighl dry. Also you may be overwatering. Touch your dry finger to the soil. If the soil sticks to it you are overwatering. I use this same proceedure with tomatos except I don't fertilize until they are in the ground......

I started a thread in the Canadian Trading Forum a while back when I was wondering about my peppers too. It's called "Trying to start green peppers indoors" and I got some wonderful responses that you might find helpful, especially from DarrellR - he seems to really know his peppers. I think the thread is on about page 3 of the thread list for the forum now.

Tplant - I used a heat mat until the peppers were transplanted. Do I still need one at this point? It is possible the light is not close enough, because at the other end of the 48" light I have the tomatoes. I have the light on a chain. On the one side the light is actually touching the tomatoes. On the other side where the peppers are the chain is longer and is several inches away. It looks really weird to have the light hung on an angle. I think I need to raise the light and raise the peppers to meet it instead of trying to angle to the light for both very different sized plants.

ginnylynn - Thanks. I'll look up that thread.

Ginny,
THANKS for posting that thread about peppers. Maybe I need to visit the Canadian forums huh? I sowed a flat about a week ago and still nothing. I wont give up- yet.

It took my pepper seeds exactly 14 days to start germinating berrygirl. I was just about ready to give up on them too. But every single seed grew and they are flourishing now, so for sure don't give up on yours too soon!

It took a while for mine as well... But they are up and going now... I have been transplanting them into larger trays or cups... I basically camp my lights right on top of the plants but not touching. I have 16 flats and now I need more space! Arrrggg... Some are gonna go into my cold frame... No other way to do it...

Drew

I had just about given up on the pepper seed I planted, but finally they germinated, and today I repotted them. They look pretty good. I am also looking for a tomato seed (don't know the name) they are pink, with a yellow stripe. They are so good. If anyone has any, I will share what seeds I have. Thanks

maybe it's "Vintage Wine," defoecat? I've only seen em, and I'm afraid I don't have any seeds. Baker Creek might...

It's been 16 days and still no germination!! The light is right up on top of the soil, too!


Think I'll just go to Wally-world tomorrow and buy a couple of plants as it is time to get them in the ground- LOL!!

berrygirl, that's my usual solution when the seeds just don't sprout. Not the best selection but a whole lot easier.

Got 2 Bonnie hybrid bell pepper plants at Wally-world and set them out today.

Am gonna give the seeds one more week to sprout!!

berrygirl, I've had bell pepper seeds take 22 days to germinate. So don't feel too bad. ; )

Rhonda

Rhonda,
WOW!!!
You def have LOADS more patience than I do- LOL!!!

Linda, you mentioned that you found the instructions I posted in Darrell's thread, but I thought I'd append them here too...

Here is how I'm doing peppers this year:

Soak pepper seeds in warm, half strength chamomile tea for at least one hour. Some chile seeds that I soaked for 8 hours germinated very quickly for me.

Put about 1 inch of moistened, sterilized potting mix (with a little extra perlite) into the bottom of a seed starting tray. I use clear plastic take-out containers for starting seeds, and I put a bunch of small holes in both the top and the bottom of the container using a metal skewer heated on the stove.

Use a pencil held flat, or just use your finger, to press a shallow furrow into the potting mix for your seeds. Make your rows (furrows) about 1 inch apart. Sow seeds 1/4 to 1/2 inch apart, pressing them down lightly and barely covering them with moist potting mix.

Pepper seeds like warmth to germinate, and bottom heat seems to be best. There are many ways of achieving this, but my seed starting trays are on 80 degree heat mats this year.

After the peppers begin to germinate, put them under florescent lights, with the tubes not more than 2 inches above the seedlings. Make sure there are ventillation holes in the cover of your tray, or prop the lid open slightly to reduce the humidity a little. The lights will help your seedlings grow stocky & strong.

When the pepper seedlings have 1 to 2 pairs of "true" leaves (the first pair you see are nurse leaves, or cotyledons), it is time to transplant them. 2 inch nursery pots or something similar in size seem to work fine. Fill the pots with moist potting mix and tamp the mix down lightly.

The roots of your seedlings may have grown together in the row; this is fine, and it will make them easy to handle. Handle seedlings by their rootballs (if they have a clump of soil; try not to touch delicate bare roots) or by gently grasping the leaf tuft. The stems are very tender and easily damaged at this point, so don't pick them up by the stem.

Break out a row of seedlings from the starting tray, and gently separate the row into individual seedlings, trying to keep as much soil around the roots of the seedlings as possible.

With a stick or with your finger, make a hole in the center of the potting mix in the pot. The hole should be wide enough to accept the rootball of the seedling, and as deep as possible. You want to set the seedling deeper than it was growing in its seed flat. It's fine if the nurse leaves get covered by the potting mix, but the first pair of true leaves should be a little above the soil level.

Gently firm the soil down around the seedling, and water it in to settle the soil around the roots. I'll be using weak chamomile tea for this intial watering, too, although I've just used plain water in the past.

Put the seedlings back under the lights, adjusting the height of the lights as the plants grow. I'm debating whether it might be better to grow them on at my normal 60-70 degree basement temperature or to continue setting them on the heat mats....

I like to bottom water by putting half an inch or so (more as the plants grow) of water into the bottom of the flat and letting the potting mix wick it up. Check to be sure there isn't water sitting in the flat after 20 minutes, as you don't want to drown your seedlings. Water when the potting mix seems dry to the touch (generally every 2 days for me, but the plants' needs can vary).

This year, I'm not adding fertilizer to the water since my potting soil has some added fertilizer already. Last year, I watered with about half strength Miracle Gro when the seedlings had 2 pairs of true leaves.

Harden off and plant out after all danger of frost, generally 2 or 3 weeks after you would put out tomatoes. I like to add slow release fertilizer to the planting hole, and those moisture crystals are also very helpful, especially if you're planting in containers.

I hope that summary was helpful! I didn't describe the process of hardening off, as I'm sure that's well covered elsewhere.

*****

I have a couple of additional comments. I've started adding some of the small size water-absorbing polymer granules from Watersorb to my potting soil mix, and that seems to be a good thing for the seedlings, plus that means there will be a little polymer already in the root plug when I plant it (I love using the polymer around the root zone when planting, especially for containers). I've been doing a little comparison experiment, growing on peppers after transplanting both on the 78-80 degree heat mat and on the cooler shelf (65-75 degrees, probably), and I think the ones that are being grown on under cooler conditions are doing better. So, if you're using a heat mat, move the peppers off the mat after transplanting them from the starting tray.