Hey hotpepperqueen!

[catjac1975]

Ok Queen can you tell me this? Again my habanero seeds have not germinated. All of my various sweet pepper varieties are thriving in the greenhouse, on heat, and under lights. They are all in the same large flat full of 6 smaller flats. 2 empty!This has happened to me so many times. They are fresh Burpee seeds. Do hot peppers need other care to germinate? And any other experts pleas advise.

 

[journey11]

I know peppers like very warm soil, like 80 or so. Have you had trouble keeping the flat constantly warm?

 

[thistlebloom]

I'm no expert Cat, but I'll chime in anyway. I noticed that the sweet peppers seem to germinate a few days ahead of the hot. And as Journey said, the do like really warm soil.

 

[digitS']

Habaneros are Capsicum chinense. Most pepper varieties, including most of the hot ones, are Capsicum annuum. Maybe that makes the difference with what you have for comparison, Cat'.

The one time I grew habaneros, it was a joke. The plants looked nice, altho' tiny. They had about 1 poorly formed fruit that never ripened beyond green.

I seem to have the best luck with small peppers including the small hots. They have a better chance of ripening.

Steve

 

[HotPepperQueen]

Your soil needs to be hot, hot, hot!!! It works best to soak the seeds over night first. I use seedling heat mats until the seedlings have reached a decent size. And I keep mine in front of a sunny window.

 

[897tgigvib]

Peppers come in several species. Annuum, baccatum, chinense, frutescens, and pubescens.

One of the differences between these species is in their seeds. Pubescens seeds are brown.

How hot is needed to germinate pubescens and chinense? (Chinense includes your Habaneros, and pubescens includes the perennial almost woody plants that grow the even hotter Manzanos.) One year I was starting the Manzanos and Scotch Bonnett Habaneros at home in my apartment when I lived in Montana. One morning before I went to work at the greenhouse I was watering my plants, starts, and seed flats, and had a lot. I set the flat of Manzano and Habanero seeds on the radiator to move things around for watering. The seeds had been in, oh, almost a week or so. I forgot that I set them on the radiator!

When I came back from work about 6 pm, stepping in I smelled plastic. Oh shoot. The flat had done a little melting and was deformed a little. Soil in it was still moist but surface dry. I was sure I cooked the seeds dead, but decided to wait and see.

Only a few days later those puppies sprouted happy as could be!!! Now I don't know how hot the actual moist potting soil they were in got, but I do know that after transplanting them out I had to throw away both flats. (I prefer to double flat mainly for better stiffness since I'd had flats bend in the middle from picking them up moving them, but also for water control. I lift the top one and empty the water from the bottom one every day or two.)

HotPepperQueen says hot hot hot. She's right. I don't know the temperature in degrees, but if I were to say 90 or even 95, and if HotPepperQueen was to agree with one of those temperatures, at least for a day or two, then try that hot.

I entirely defer to hotpepperqueen's temperature recommendation though.

 

[catjac1975]

It seems I just had bad Burpee seed. I always have great luck with them too. They came from the local store not direct, so the seed is only as good as the store keeps them. I bought 2 more seed packets, habanero and mixed hot peppers. I really only want a couple of plants but I was determined to have success. I put a each whole packet of seed into a little 6-pack and of course this time every seed came up. I have a lot of thinning to do but I would not be defeated! Low Scovilles for me. I'm a wimp when it comes to the heat.