Starting peppers from seed

[Ariel301]

We're growing everything in our garden from seed this year, and I really want to grow a good variety of peppers--bell peppers, jalapenos, cayenne, whatever I can get ahold of. I've never had much luck getting pepper seeds to sprout before, and a friend of mine that was a horticulture major in college says that they are really tough, and that sometimes they have to be put in some sort of an acid bath first...? All the seeds I am using are heirlooms, either purchased or collected from friends' gardens. Anyone have any tricks to getting these things to sprout? Are they actually that hard to sprout or have I just had bad luck?

 

[digitS']

I buy seed that has been tested for germination or I save my own seed from the previous year, Ariel.

Okay, here is what I do:

put a basin down in the yard and run about 2 inches of water into it.
take 1 of those clear cookie boxes that you get your chocolate chip cookies in at the soopermarket and punch about 6 holes in the bottom of it.
fill the box with a good, trustworthy starting mix.
set the box in the water and leave it for a couple hours.

When the starting mix is thoroughly soaked, remove the box and allow to drain overnight. The next day:

sprinkle the surface of the mix with seeds.
sprinkle starting mix over the seed to cover.
close the lid on the box.
set the box on several layers of newspaper and aluminum foil on top the refrigerator where the temperature is always above 70 degrees, day & night.
check the box at least once each day so that emerging seedlings can be moved to a sunny window.
cut off the lid and use it for a tray, under the box.

Pepper & eggplant seed aren't the quickest to germinate, mostly because they appreciate warm temperatures. Other than that, I don't have much trouble with them. Old seed could certainly be a problem.

Steve

 

[digitS']

On top of the fridge:

In the south window:

 

[Hattie the Hen]

Hi Ariel301,

I grew my first crop of peppers from seed last year & they were very slow in germinating. I also started them too late -- I am going to sow mine next week, to give them a better start & I will probably continue to grow them indoors as our weather here in the UK is so unpredictable. Last year was very wet & cold. I did , however, get a good late crop from the few plants that I kept inside on my windowsill.

I found these UK sites very useful. I hope they help! Good luck.

http://www.thechilliking.com/growing_intro.shtml

http://www.selfsufficientish.com/chilipepper.htm


:rose Hattie :rose

 

[Ridgerunner]

Temperature of the soil was the key for me in getting pepper seeds to germinate. I built a plywood box the size and shape to get a heating pad in, lined the bottom of the box with foil to reflect heat up, and put a heating pad in it. Then, I put a waterproof pan filled with dirt (be careful with electricity around water) on the box, with the seeds planted in small yogurt cups with the bottom cut out and pushed in the dirt. I write the type of seed on the yogurt cup with a sharpie. I could see doing that with Digits' set-up if you don't want a boxful of the same plants. With the heating pad set on low and this set-up in my garage, I was able to get the dirt up to 75 degrees F with no problem. Instead of a heating pad which I happened to have, you can use a string of Christmas tree lights, regulating the temperature by how many lights you screw in. Different ways to achieve the result.

 

[journey11]

Consistent heat is the key. They won't sprout if they're too cold. 70 or so, as said. And they need heat and light to keep growing too. If it gets too cold, they'll just hang around and stay small. I had that happen once, but they took off growing again when I put them outside later.

I never heard of having to soak them in anything before planting. Maybe a nursery trick, I dunno. Not really necessary though. Yes, starting your own certainly opens up a whole new world of peppers to you! Good luck!

 

[seedcorn]

appreciate the pictures as I'm a visual type of guy.

 

[ninnymary]

Digits - You sure do eat alot of cookies!

I like the pictures, they help me to understand instructions better. I thought growing from seeds was alot of trouble and that you needed lights and lots of stuff. I see that you don't.

I am going to try your method. It looks simple and easy. I suppose I can do this with any type of seeds? As a new gardener, I was not going to try seeds till later on when I became better. But you have made me change my mind!

If it doesn't work, you know who I will blame!

Thanks
mary

 

[Ariel301]

Good to see I'm not the only one recycling my plastic food containers that way! I really like the bottles from bottled water/soda/juice as little protective 'mini-greenhouses' over plants when I first set them out in the garden. I cut off the bottom and bury it partway into the soil around a young plant, to protect it from weather and predatory squirrels until it really takes off. I can leave the lid on to hold in humidity (a big plus in the dry desert climate I live in) or unscrew it for ventilation.

Hmm...heat is probably the issue for me with peppers. Since our house is heated only by a pellet stove and we don't have many good sunny windows (the good ones all face north!) there are big temperature fluctuations. Especially since my husband likes to be really cool, he rarely turns on any heat unless I keep talking about how cold it is! We do have an empty space on top of a freezer in the garage that I know is probably warm because that's where the cats like to hang out. Maybe I can try up there. I'll just have to keep the cats off somehow.

Hahaha...I wonder if I could use my chicken incubator...turn it on and put pots in there until they sprout. Might be worth experimenting with.

 

[wifezilla]

Heating pad under the pot maybe??