Pepper germination, etc. question

I sowed several things into jiffy pots, all at the same time, and put them all into a black garden tray. I had eggplants, three kinds of tomatoes, mixed peppers, and one patty pan squash (as an experiment, lol). Everything is under grow lights in a bathtub(!!) by a big East facing window - i.e. light and warmth, but don't know any temps.

The tomatoes are coming up ok, the squash has come up with an unknown companion, there are some eggplant seedlings, but no peppers.

What did I do wrong, or do I need to be more patient? Should I take them out and put them into baggies (also the eggplant that has not come up yet)? How much light should they have at this stage - my suspicion is NONE. The bottom of the bathtub is quite warm for several hours a day, but perhaps not enough?

Last year I did get quite a few peppers (from the same seed pack), but I don't remember what I did - I used to always buy my transplants, but now I am really into raising them myself - so much fun, but I am relatively inexperienced und underequipped!!

Thanks for sharing your experiences!

Probably your problem is heat. Peppers and eggplant like a fair amount of heat to germinate. Normally, I use a heating pad. Some plants like to have sunlight in order to germinate, but I don't think that applies to peppers and eggplants.
I also find that both require some time to germinate. I suggest that at a very minimum you find a 24 hr per day warm spot for them. Warming pads aren't too expensive, but if you are having to buy a million other things they can be the straw that broke the camel's back. I think they run around $25 each.
It does take an awful lot of equipment to get started at gardening.

Peppers took a lot longer for me and did better with whatever heat I could give them. Be patient and keep them moist and they'll probably come up.

Jeff

Good point jkehl,
Peppers and eggplants take longer to germinate, in addition to needing more warmth. Probably waiting will do the trick. If not, try warming. Or try both. But lettuce comes up a lot faster than peppers and eggplant.

some pepper varieties take as long as 2 weeks to germinate, depending on temp.

I put a bunch of info on how I start peppers from seed here, http://davesgarden.com/forums/p.php?pid=2520811

They'll germinate at regular room temperature also but, as has been said, it'll just take a little longer.

Your setup is clever! I'm envisioning the lights resting on the rim of the bathtub... if so, you might want to put something under the trays so that the seedlings are just an inch or two from the lights... otherwise, you will have leggy little seedlings trying to reach up to the light.

If you do try some extra heat (lots of ways to do this) for the peppers, be sure *not* to give the tomatoes any extra heat, or they will become leggy faster than you'd believe.

Have fun!

I sowed some tomatoes, peppers and eggplant at the same time and the tomatoes are already a couple inches tall, and the peppers are just starting to peak up their heads. while only one eggplant is showing a bit of green popping up.
I love the bathtub idea! Must make watering easier!lol I always seem to make a mess around my windowsills! At least any overflows are contained. Sounds like you are doing fine. :)

Thank you all!!. I will be patient. I don't have a heating pad (could use one myself right now with flu).

Actually, the black tary sits on the bottom of the bathtub and the lights right on top of them so the distance between seedlings and lights is just about 2 inches, will have to check later, in case some of them are precocious.

So, should I separate the peppers and ungerminated eggplants until they do and then move them under the light? OR should I just leave them where they are now, i.e. in the black tray AND under lights?

Critter, your article on germation peppers is great, thanks for the link.

If you've got a warmer spot (top of TV or computer, metal shelf with a 40 watt incandescent bulb under it, etc -- just please be safe, no heating pads or electric blankets), you could move your pepper and eggplant seed trays where they'd get a little more heat until they germinate, and then move the little sprouts right back under the lights.

I'm glad you found some good info in that post... there are tips for other seeds on the thread also.

Thanks, critter. You may recognize me from the wintersowing forum - anyway, I have tons of seedlings to plant when I get better, I'll post a picture one of these days.

So, do you wintersow peppers? I guess they would have to freeze terribly, temperatures will be very erratic. And you could not give them all the light that they need of sown indoors?? I just looked at the seed list on wintersown.org, and it looks like if you sow them in March, some of them do ok.

I am just looking for the easiert way. I don't mind cutting the jugs, and looking at them every day, and showing them to unbelieving friends.

I think my season here is too short to WS peppers -- they need that indoor head start, and they really do like warm conditions. I did have a volunteer habanero plant in my garden last year... it got 4 or 5 feet tall and was just loaded with green peppers when we got frost warnings... I dug it up and potted it for a neighbor who wanted to try overwintering it -- we figured at least he'd be able to harvest a bunch of ripe peppers (which he did), but I haven't asked him lately if it really survived living inside all winter.

Clementine, I hope you feel better soon!

Thank you, saanansandy, I feel lousy still, we are beginning to think that it may be something tickborne. Ticks love me and I have gotten bitten by two, possibly three already.

Some years the ticks are so bad here, I can have 50-60 (!) blisters on me. This year, I will try to not go out without any spary on ever, I just did not think they were out already.

Make sure it's not Lyme. I had it about 4 years ago and wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Double vision, joints aching, and so tired I couldn't hardly get out of bed. I'm allergic to two meds they could give me and the third made me feel almost as bad as the Lyme!! Thankfully after 3 weeks of treatment I felt much better. Now I'm pretty viligant on spraying pant legs and checking for ticks. I have been bit since by the little buggers(deer ticks) and fortunetly as soon as they bite I have an reaction which shows up as a red bump so I can spot them quickly. Do you have deer ticks in your area?
Make sure to get tested as soon as you can to rule out any tick diseases! Hope you feel better real soon.

saanansandy, yes we have deer tick, they are what bite me most of the time. I did go yesterday to get tested for both Lyme and Rocky Mountain SF. I'll find out by Thursday and already have my prescription. But I also have something else going on, so that is being treated too, It may not be the *** ticks at all. I get the same reaction to ticks as you, I start scratching and then I realize there is something there and sure enough, most of the time the tick is still there (or it may have wandered off to a better meal somewhere else on me!)

I am going to set the spray bottle right next to my work shoes from now on, I don't know how much being this worn out I can take, I have too much to do.

Thanks for your good thoughs!!!! (I don't know how to make pretty smileys, etc., but here is one for you!!!)

I like your idea of having the spray where your workboots are. I've had to trek back into the house on more than one occasion because I forgot!!
You have to start feeling better soon, the weather is turning nice and there is always something that needs to be done!

This is my 2nd year from seed and I don't yet use bottom heat. I get my good pepper info from Critter and the pepper forum. Without bottom heat in zone 5, I need to start my seeds the first weekend in March. Unfortunately for me, i was unable to start until March 15th and I only have 2 leaves on my pepper plants. It's fine, it's no problem, I can wait to put mine out to sell for a couple of weeks, but in 2008, I will start my peppers and eggplant around MARCH 1st since I won't pay for the pads for bottom heat. Mine will still come up, but just not as quickly as the bottom heat growers. Maybe Jill or someone else will be kind enough to explain the difference between bottom heat and NO bottom heat.

"Mine will still come up, but just not as quickly as the bottom heat growers."

That's the difference.

:-)

My seedlings are bigger and sturdier when I set them out than when I was growing without the seedling heat mats... but either way, I had peppers!

There have been lots of inexpensive alternatives to the commercial heat mats discussed.... light boxes, trays of sand with rope lights... search around in the propagation forum. Please, no heating pads or electric blankets! Those warning tags are for real.

I keep eyeing the bottom heaters, but they are sooo expensive. I just can't force myself to do it. Especially since I like using the 72 cell packs and the bottom heaters I've seen only fit under half of 1. It would cost me at least 80.00 to heat each 72 cell pack and currently I have 12 of the 72 cell packs growing, so bottom heating is unfortunately out of my price range.

Maybe if DH hits Mass Millions... boy, imagine all the cool gardening supplies you could get then (drooling).

The bottom heat seems to be most important during germination (before the first transplanting, which I generally do when seedlings get their first true leaves), and I manage to fit a lot of little seed starting trays on mine. I got the seedling heat mats that are sized to hold 2 flats together with the thermostat controller from Park's, and I definitely didn't pay quite that much for them. But, as I said, there are some really inexpensive solutions also... I just opted for the "plug it in and you're all set" aspect of the mats when I ordered them. Even starting seeds on a metal bookshelf with a 40 watt incandenscent bulb or two on the shelf below can provide some helpful bottom heat (the heat from the bulb transmits easily through the metal).

My experience with and without bottom heat is that if I want peppers and toms to germinate about the same time, I start the peppers about 10 days earlier.

I am growing a "Tomato Vera" this year which is supposed to be open and blocky like a bell pepper but taste like a tomato - it's germination rate/time periods were like the peppers as opposed to being like the tomatoes.

Good luck!

sandy,

Hold down the "alt" key and hit 1. ☺

Thanks Red - I didn't know that one either. ☺I did have to use the 1 on the number side and not the one over the letters to have it work. Now I will go play around with 2-9!

-Kim

Be careful. I hear electricity and water can be a shocking experience!

That's why I keep repeating the bit about heeding manufacturer's warnings on heating pads and electric blankets on these threads about heat for seedlings... but there are safe ways to do it... just be careful, as you said.

I've got a scar on my tummy from falling asleep with a very small heating pad resting on it. And this pad was set to LOW heat.... Heed those warnings.

Ouch. The story that sticks with me is the one that Blooms posted once, about throwing a flaming electric blanket out the second floor window so the house wouldn't burn down... no plant trays resting on it or anything, it was just sitting at the foot of the bed, folded over on itself (like the label tells you not to do).

☺☺☺Thanks Big Red! I had to use the keypad for it to work also! Thanks for the tip on the heating pad I've been seeing a chiropractor and he wants me to use it twice a day and I've been leaving it plugged in. So I'm unplugging it until using it!