Pepper seed starting: Show us your seedlings!

This is a continuation of the discussion thread that started up after the pepper seed co-op: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/950912/#new

Tell us how your seed starting is going this spring!

Show us photos of your seedlings!

Mine are still pretty small but looking sturdy. I potted them into 2 inch cells last week, and now most have at least one set of true leaves. I started more seeds than I needed, and I've got just a few extras... OK, I have filled 4 flats (12 dozen seedlings) plus another half flat of Pretty Purple Peppers and Sweet Pickles (both compact plants).

The one front & center in this photo is a 'Biker Billy' Jalopeno, which I've grown before. I'm growing 'Goliath' Jalapeno also this year, and we'll see how they compare (both have larger, hotter peppers than "ordinary" jalapenos).

:-)

This is my first year raising peppers from seeds. I was afraid I might be starting them too late (3/6), but they're plenty big for right now. They won't go into the garden until the end of May .... now I'm afraid they may get too big ... just no pleasing me lol.

They look wonderful!!

Thanks, Critter. I'm very happy with the results so far. Yours look very stocky as you mentioned ... should be some nice, healthy plants there. When did you start yours? I wanted to allow 12 weeks, but looks like I can cut that back next year. Some of them sprouted very quickly.

Lookin good!
I had my babies out for some nice spring air yesterday and got a few pics, this is the tray that sustained "cat damage"..there's an empty cell and a few without leaves, but what's left got a few hours of dappled light yesterday:

I started mine March 12 and plan to plant them out around Memorial Day. I would ordinarily have started them a couple of weeks earlier, but since I knew we'd be out of town for a week and a half I didn't want to leave newly up-potted seedlings for my critter-sitters to care for (they do fine with bigger seedlings, but it's just too easy to overwater them at that stage).

I seeded them in clear deli salad containers, with a few holes in top & bottom, and just put them under the lights before I left. When I returned, they were just about ready to transplant, and they hadn't needed any water in the meantime. Perfect timing!

In general, I like to give them a 10 or 12 week start, but I put them into deep 36 cell sheet pots. If you're transplanting into smaller cells (like 48 cell trays), then 8 weeks might work better.

Here's the best of my lot. These were the biggest seedlings from the germination tray. I planted 6 of each variety and potted up the best three to a 18 cell deep flat. The stragglers got put up in whatever used pots I had laying around and they're at the edge of the light, but they're doing great, too. I have a few varieties that I added to the plan late in the game. They're coming along well, but have a way to go.

My pepper seedlings are still doing fine under the lights. I'll transplant them up to 16 oz. plastic cups soon, and they'll go out in the garden about a month from now.

The Aji Dulce 2 seedlings are still just half the size of the hybrids, but they look real healthy. I think I've figured out why they're growing so slow. My guess is that strain is recently from the tropics and it's suited best for warm temps. It's still just 62 in the shop where my seedlings are, and Aji Dulce grows very slowly at that temperature. I'm betting they'll take right off once they're warmer and out in the garden.

I got 14 of my largest plants outside in the ground this afternoon, hopefully a good shower on them tonight, not the floods of the 2 weeks before, lol.. Looking good! Lot's of plants to go

Larkie

I planted Cubanelle seeds from Sand Hill Preservation and Red Marconi seed from Pinetree in flats indoors, with a heat mat, on March 6th, but nothing came up. I planted again on March 28th and I have a full complement of Cubanelles now but only two Marconis, and those in the same cell. I have had this problem before with Pinetree seeds, but I'm wondering if I should try planting again or just give up. I have also used peroxide water to help things along.

The tomatoes I planted in the same Bio-Dome on 3/18 are all up, doing beautifully and I repotted them yesterday. Go figure!

I'd get a little plastic cup or something and sow a bunch of seeds in it, figuring at least a few will sprout. Then transplant them to your cell pack. (Stick a baggie over the top to hold in a little extra moisture until germination.) Soaking the seeds overnight in peroxide water may also help increase germination rates.

Thanks, Critter - I'll try that! We like peppers for frying with olive oil and garlic; makes a great summertime sandwich with provolone cheese on a hard roll. So I really wanted to try those Marconis!

Leslie

Oh, that does sound good! "Frying" peppers generally have thinner walls, I think, so I mostly grow thicker walled varieties, because we like to pickle them and roast them, as well as eating them fresh in salads and stir fry.

It's one of the tastes of summer around here, Critter. That and salads with tomatoes, basil, garlic, olive oil and a splash of balsamic vinegar. Yum!

I soaked the seeds in peroxide water for about five hours and then put them all in a pot. We'll see. Thanks for the suggestions! That's all the Marconi seeds I have, so it'll either get me something or not. But at least I have another chance at them.

critter - Speaking of basil, I tried to save seeds from that good strain of Italian basil you gave me last year, but I wasn't sure I had any.

Last fall after the seed pods dried up, I tried to crush some in my hands to see if there were still any seeds inside. Darned if I could see any - and I was afraid all the seeds had already fallen out of the pods in the garden. I ended up sticking a whole bunch of dry pods in a jar and figured I'd deal with it later.

A couple of days ago I took the contents of the jar and crushed the pods up by hand. I put a batch at a time in an aluminum pie pan and used an air hose at 10 p.s.i. to blow the debris out and leave seeds in the bottom of the pan (a compressor saves a lot of blowing).

Ha - I didn't need to worry. I've got enough Italian basil seeds to plant our whole six acres! In fact if anyone here wants some, send me a D-mail and I'll give you my address so you can send a S.A.S.E. Critter's strain of Italian basil is GREAT - the best we've ever tasted.

Oh gosh, now I want an air compressor... I do a lot of blowing to dechaff seeds!

Oz, if you'd be willing, I just got a request for seed on a thread after the basil article I wrote last year, and I wasn't able to fulfill it... http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/826004/

Right next to my pepper trays, I've got a couple of seed trays with little basil seedlings about ready to transplant. :-)

My wife sows my pepper seeds. About 16,700 this year. We still start them in our house under lights. When they get a full set of leaves we take them out to the green house. Then I transplant them into 1204 cell trays. I am about 3/4 done.

This year I have 129 varieties of peppers. Some varieties I have only 30 seeds each. Some varieties have 300 to 400. They are sown in pots and flats and covered with panes of glass or saran wrap and put under the lights.

We have one three tier setup in our laundry room and a couple shelves upstairs with lights. Been doing this a long long time. Never used any bottom heat.

The shelves upstairs.

Done, critter. I sent connie a Dmail with my address so she can send a S.A.S.E. for basil seeds if she wants.

I've got enough I can be your repository for 2008 Italian Basil seeds if you get any more requests. What were ya thinking, not saving seeds and relying on older ones? That strain is too good to risk losing.

I'm just going to sow my basil direct in the garden. Last year the seeds you sent came up in the row thick as weeds.

gansurambler - That's an amazing bunch of pepper seedlings. Are you growing plants for a nursery, selling them at a farmer's market, or what? They look real good.

A combination of schedule issues and slow-maturing seed at the end of the summer meant that I wasn't able to harvest seeds last year from the Italian basil. I had plenty of seeds for myself from several previous years, so I wasn't concerned about losing the strain; I just didn't have enough to send out 100 packets this year. :-)

Besides, if I ever do manage to lose all my seeds, I'm fairly confident somebody will have seeds to share with me! LOL

Thanks for your offer, Oz, and for covering Connie's request. I'll steer any additional requests your way.

:-)

Oz and Critter,

Is that Genovese Basil, or something else? I have Genovese started from seed that I bought, but if it is something else, I'd like to try some. Anything you want to trade for Oz? Most of my seed stock is newly purchased packets where I've used a dozen seeds out of a pack of 200. lol

When you pot up basil, do you put one seedling per cell/pot? I just did a bunch this way, then at a farmer's market noticed several folks selling pots with a clump of 5 or 6 seedlings in a 3" pot.

I clump transplant, as explained in this article from my Seed Starting 101 series: http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/862/

The basil that my friend brought back from Italy some years ago is a Genovese type, I believe, however the intensity of its flavor makes it really special. It's my favorite for pesto & culinary use.

I would love some of that basil, too. We freeze a lot of it and use it all winter for pesto, and in the summer, of course, we eat it fresh in salads and use it to flavor sauces. I ordered some Italian Large Leaf Basil, whatever that is, from Pinetree, but it would be neat to get a special variety like that.

Leslie

Boy, I hijacked this Pepper thread, didn't I? Sorry, I didn't mean to.

To simplify requesting Italian basil seeds, I'll just go ahead and post my mailing address here. If you want some basil seeds, send a SASE - and write "basil" on it somewhere so I'll remember what to send you.

Sam Wammack
P. O. Box 111
Ozark, MO 65721

There's been a big response to my offer, and I've got friends and family here who also want seeds - so, while my supply of basil seeds is large it isn't limitless. First come, first served, and I'll send out seeds as long as they last. When I can't fill requests anymore I'll post in THIS THREAD that I'm out of basil seeds, so be sure and check that before sending a SASE.

So far as any trades in return, I can't think of anything I need. Well, I'd sure like to have a hamburger and a coke with Megyn Kelly of Fox News - but other than that, no. LOL

'Nuff said about basil here - let's go back to talking about Peppers.

Looks like gansurambler's post got lost in all this basil talk.
Gansurambler - I am really impressed with the number of varieties you grow. How do you label them all when you pot them up? Do you get preprinted labels? I only have 28 varieties and 2-10 of each one. Making the labels took forever and cramped my fingers. Do you sell the plants, or grow them and sell the peppers?

Becky

Somehow I planted seeds much later than I'd intended. So mine aren't very far along. But the weather's still cold and rainy, so it'll be a while before I can put them out anyway.

Here's one that has a nice set of true leaves, though.

I started California Wonder, Jalapeno M, Hot Lemon, and Habenero, all Burpee, I think.

They're so cute when they start getting their first leaves!

Here's mine today. These are all hybrids. Some hot, some sweet.

Pugzley

Are those Pepper Trees?

Beautiful plants. You obviously don't have aphids or flea beetles. I'm jealous.

My husband is trying to confiscate the leaves for soup already. :)

Oh, twiggybuds, the minute I get them outside there will be every size and shape of insects after them. I hope the aphids calm down around here some before I put them out there. I haven't had flea beetles yet, but oh, those spider mites are so bad here! They decimated my garden last year, just wiped me out completely when it got hot and dry. The one little stunted banana pepper survived them, though. That gives me some hope that these peppers might survive them somehow, too.

i posted this on my post about repotting my yultra hot peppers but here is he latest picture that i just took

these include bhut jolokia's, nega morrich and 7 pots

Beautiful! Love those big, shiny leaves.

this is my second year growing the ultra hots. last season was a disaster but this year seems to be gong pretty good. like last year evetry once in a while leaves fall off the plant but after googling these plants i have found that it happens often so i am hoping forthe best.

i like hot food but i understand these are extremely hot. i juist had to try them even though i might give most of them away. LOL

I am sad about my pepper and tomato seedlings this year. Rather, They are sad. We had an usually cold spring here on the Ore. coast and my seedlings got frost burned, or I guess that's what happened. I did the exact same thing I always do, except for the hydrogen peroxide soak. As they came up on the heat mat, I walked them out to my greenhouse. The first tomatoes got their little heads eaten by a mouse. Boy was I mad. Then, along came the peppers and the next tomatoes. By this time, I learned, and covered them each night with a domed plastic lid. (Take out chicken from the deli) That did the trick, but they stayed sickly and never got their second pair of leaves. Well, actually, some of them are just now getting them. I have transplanted them into rich soil, leaves or no leaves, and they look better. Also, we are having warm and sunny weather now. I have never wanted lights before now. I think that would have made all the difference. That's my sad tale of woe.

you learn from your mistakes.

i keep my lights one inch above the plants for 16 to 17 hours a day.

Planted these today, this is a sort of lasagna bed. I dug out 12 -16 in. deep put in about 6 in. leaf mould, put 6-8 in. topsoil back on top of that and then added about 5 in. composted horse manure. The pipe you see in the center is an idea I got from a post on Dave's, they call it a worm tower?

Beeb, I'm sorry about your seedlings... I feel for you! Last year, I lost a lot of seedlings, first some to damping off and then a bunch to a marauding mouse... the seedlings that didn't get chomped ended up spending too much time in a (protected) seedling tray, so nobody got off to a great start. Sometimes you get happily surprised by how resilient those little plants can be, though!

I transplanted all my pepper seedlings up from 3" square cells to 18 oz. plastic cups last night. It's a good thing I did - they were getting real rootbound and it'll be about 2 weeks before I can safely put them out in the garden here.

I found a strange, and not so good, thing about Carmen - that variety has floppy stems. The plants had all been leaning on each other in the trays, and Carmen was the only one that wouldn't stand up on its' own. Right at the soil level they tend to flop over, and there was a real danger of breaking them off.

So, I cut a 10" length of baling wire and inserted it like a little stake to the bottom of each cup, then tied the stems loosely with sisal cord. I did that with all the pepper varieties because I'll be handling them now to put them outdoors for hardening off - and I sure don't want to break any.

Did you ever notice that pepper plants have "air roots" just above the soil? I knew that, but only noticed last night that there are two sets on each stem opposite to each other. I never noticed that before, and I transplanted the peppers a little deep to cover the "air roots". They all look great this morning.

I read where you should plant them deep, like a tomato, because they make more roots that way.
Yes, Critter, they are resilient. They are already looking better after the transplanting. I use a mix of my compost and a soiless type mix. I also add a bit of my own formula of fertilizer which is organic and gentle. They seem to be smiling now. LOL

That's interesting, Oz... I haven't noticed any difference between Carmen & other seedlings.