Pepper co-op seed starting chat thread (all welcome)

OK, I know you're funnin' about the freezer... but they really can/should go out for a little cold as tiny seedlings? You know you caught my attention with "more fruit." LOL

lol....I have no idea Critter. I suspect not. Didn't chill the bhuts last year.

Do think the reason my bhuts produced so well in 2008 is they were in 7" pots inside. Had a dozen more in 3" pots and gave them away when I planted mine out. People who got them didn't get the crop I did. Believe mine did better because the root balls were larger.

But, as you know, the variables are many and without controls....we can only surmise .

LOL

Thank you for adding your PS... I was skeptical, but you knew I was considering it!

LOL Some of us pepper newbies will take you seriously, David_Paul, so ya gotta be careful! Glad you spelled it out for us!

LOL - I was all set to grab mine and run them outside today!!

I have seedlings!! Yayy!!! The fish pepper seeds are the biggest, but I can see other little sprouts popping up, too.

But what am I going to do with the freezer I bought on ebay? :-)

You're going to need it to store all of the peppers you're going to be freezing, MichaelZ! ^_^

I got an idea Michael.

Buy ten more freezers on the cheap.

I'll put up a webpage with photos explaining how a cold soak increases pepper yield.

We'll sell complete instructions for $9.95 and, for those who want a deluxe professional package, charge substantially more for a freezer with pre-installted grow lights.

Sound good?

Out of 72 plant cells, I have 72 up and growing...Going out in the sun for a couple of hours tomorrow.

Larkie

Nice...going to plant them all out? Did you bat 1000 and put one seed in each cell or thin them out?

Gonna plant each and every one.. Most peat pots have 2 seeds and nearly all of them have 2 plants.. May thin or try to separate when re-potting to larger cups.. Sometimes I can save the weaker seedling.. Have to try..lol

Larkie

I have a garden salsa as my first sprout!

Larkie, do I spy a Boppy Pillow beneath it? LOL I think I recognize the print.

Boppy Pillow? Don't know, but it is a cat den, one of several for my 11 cats....Is that the same? lol..

Here is a pic.

Now I really AM laughing out loud! They must use the same fabric for both. A boppy pillow is kinda horseshoe shaped, to fit around your waist, and give you extra support when you're holding (or nursing) a baby.

http://www.boppy.com/

So. . .are your cats your babies? LOL

Sorry, this whole conversation is OT. Back to the pepper babies!

Thank you Bookerc1. I had to look to see what you were talking about. I sure wish I'd had one of those when I needed it. Looks like a great gift idea.

I've got sprouts! I've got sprouts! There are 3 of them and they were not there yesterday afternoon, but are there this morning. Funny how quickly they pop up after they get ready! I have two 'Carmen' and one 'Fat & Sassy'. Nothing on the hot pepper front yet, but at least something is coming up. I was beginning to wonder if I had just completely goofed it up!

Fantasic Shuggins!

critter, nice to hear I didn't kill my peppers by planting them deeper. Your right, after several days now, they still seem just fine.

The article on starting peppers from seed is up! http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/2266/

There are links at the bottom to my other Seed Starting 101 articles. :-)

Going to check it out right now ... to see if I did anything wrong.

Remember, there's no "one true way" when it comes to seed starting, so don't sweat it if you did things differently!

critter - Sure enough, 15 days after planting I've got peppers up in all 24 egg-crate cells, including Big Red and Aji Dulce 2. No problem, those two were just slower to sprout than the hybrids. The sprouts of those two coming up are smaller than those of all the non-bell hybrids, too. The difference must be that "hybrid vigor" thing.

I've got one Blushing Beauty and 2 Jalapeno Goliath and that is just since last night, so things seem to be moving along now.

At 16 days, here's my germination rate for the co-op peppers.
Sweet:
Carmen 66%
Early Sunsation 75%
Fat N Sassy 100%
Gypsy 90%
Mandarin 100%

Hot Peppers:
Garden Salsa 81%
Goliath Jal 88%
Kung Pao 68%
Pizza 78%
Senorita Jal 100%
Seranno del Sol 100%
Spanish spice 100%
Tabasco 90%
Fish 100%

I wish Carmen had done better, but I have plenty of plants (8) and there may still be some germination off the heat mat.

beclu, did you soak your seeds?

Critter. yes I soaked them in the chamomile tea for about 3 hours. My first batch of non co-op peppers I soaked overnight. Those seeds are older, some 4 years, and I got 0% to 100% on those. Very wide range.

That's why I asked... the range seemed wide to me, too. I'd expect better germination on the co-op seeds. Hmm.

I had Carmen seeds last year from TGS. Only got 50% germination from them on my first batch, 0% on the 2nd. Of the 5 plants I did get to germinate, all died before potting up. I did soak seeds last year, but the heat mat wasn't efficient. I lost a lot of seedlings and I know there was a reason, but I can't remember what it was. Sure it was gardener error though. What % germination on Carmen are the rest of you getting?

I got nearly 100% last year on my TGS seeds... a marauding mouse munched a bunch of them, but I didn't have any *germination* issues LOL.

I'm just now sowing my pepper seeds.

I started my seeds on the 23rd, and although I don't have any actual counts I have activity in just about every tray. I'll give it another week for good measure then report back.

(Critter I've not been to the PO in a couple of days. I didn't want you to think your package got lost or that I've been remiss in letting you know they arrived. Hopefully I'll make it there tomorrow.)

I've got peppers up in all 24 cells, and if 2 more Big Red peppers will pop up (which I think they will), I'll have 100% germination on ALL seeds from the co-op including Carmen.

I planted 24 more egg carton cells on Tuesday, 16 with tomatoes and 8 with cabbages. When I left to go fishing this morning nothing was visible - came home this afternoon and all the cabbages were up (in 2 1/2 days). Wow, cabbages are quick to sprout, huh?

Incidentally, we had a great fishing trip. Caught some bass, perch, big crappie, and limits of white bass. I've got 'em on ice and we'll be cleaning fish in the morning. Tomorrow's supper - fresh fish filets and fried 'taters/onions/sweet peppers.

That's a great report -- thanks, Oz!

(What time is supper?)

I feel like such an underacheiver:lol: Haven't had time to start anything:) I am getting a lot of great infor and starting tips here though. Gotta buy some chamomile tea today:)

Ozark, congrats on the germination rates. Top of the fridge works great!

critter - If it were possible, you'd sure be getting a bunch of fish filets for all the help/seeds you've given me. Too bad we're not closer.

beclu727 - "Top of the fridge works great!" Naw, what really got 'em up is that we've had 5 or 6 sunny days in a row, and I took off the clear dome and moved my egg cartons to a table by a window in the sunshine. It was 81 here yesterday, I've got a heckuva sunburn from fishing, and I've had to water the sprouting seedlings every day. Our lilacs are putting out leaves and I bet they'll get hurt by a spring freeze, they usually do.

Don't give up your heat mat method, that's a lot more reliable than relying on late-winter weather for heat.

so sorry to hear about your sunburn, Oz... yeah, right.. playing my teeny tiny violin for you! LOL

*fingers crossed* for your lilac buds

Oh I would love to have lilacs. The won't survive the summer heat here, so I make do with butterfly bushes. Hope they survive the frost. I just love their scent. Take care of that sunburn...

Mmm, lilacs! Nothing smells more like spring to me that scent of lilacs on a warm breeze.

Pepper report:
I have stirrings in most cells of all varieties but the habs and aji dulce, but it seems that those have been slow for others, so no worries yet.

Some of my pepper seeds are starting to pop up....Flexum and Fat & Sassy.