I use 10 weeks on peppers and 8 weeks on tomatoes. If you need to know when to plant, someone posted a good website. You just type in your zip code. It matches my plant dates very closely.

http://www.almanac.com/garden/plantingtable/index.php

I've found peppers to be slow germinators and slow growers as seedlings. They tend to have a growth sprout after 3 or 4 weeks. According to the "Seed-Starters Handbook", the optimum temp for germination of peppers is 85 degrees (65-95 range). Time to emerge can range from 7.6 days at 86 degrees to 25 days at 59 degrees. This data indicates that a heating mat would be helpful.

Jiffy-7's and sponge-like starter plugs have worked well as long as you keep the bottom 1/4" or so submerged in water or a dilute nutirent mixture.

Thanks for your help. I'm trying peppers for the first time this year and am a bit nervous about it. Any tips are welcome. I'm growing Chinese 5 color, Bella Hot, and Mini Red Bell Pepper.

In January, I usually start my warm weather plants. That's about 3 months in advance, tomatoes, peppers and eggplant. First planting date for my area is the beginning of May. I have lots of sun in my house (geraniums are still blooming!) and I think light is really essential. If the plants get too big, I just transplant them to window boxes and carry inside/outside as weather permits. Last year I planted out four "Fourth of July" early tomatoes in mid April and had tomatoes by the end of June!

I should add that if I grow iceberg lettuce (MUCH better than what you buy!) I start that early too, since we have short springs here and it gets hot very fast!

Florrie2

Florrie,
Guess I missed it by a few days. Starting in late Feb, this is the tomato that I picked on the 4th of July. I think we must be very close since I'm in northern VA.

{{gwi:95182}}

About 1.5 lbs...Maybe a little more.
Rick

Try visiting The Hot Pepper forum: http://www.thehotpepper.com/

Everything you need to know about growing hot peppers.

Mike

Greenwood85,

It depends on the variety of pepper youÂre growing.

I start some of my slow growing super hot Jolokia peppers 18-20 weeks in advance. My sweets are usually started 10 weeks in advance of outdoor life.

IÂve found soil germination works best for me but others swear by the other methods you mentioned. Try what is most convenient for you first and then determine what works best for you. A heat mat is a definate advantage which ever way you go.

FYI, there are a bunch of experts here on GardenWeb over on the Hot Pepper Forum. You may want to check it out.

Bill

Here is a link that might be useful: Hot Pepper Forum

In my first attempt at gardening this past year I tried planting seeds outside in small containers. I started at the beginning of June and put them into a large SWC at the beginning of July. Sprouting in hot weather seemed to be fine.

They did pretty good even though I had either 3 or 4 peppers and 2 indeterminate tomatoes in the earthbox sized container. I brought the container inside and it kept producing. I've only got one tomato growing at the moment but that speaks to the resiliancy of the tomatoes. The peppers did so-so in the shade of the tomato.

Another question: Do I HAVE to transplant after the first true set of leaves appear on peppers and tomatoes? Can't I just germinate and grow out the seedlings in cell trays and then transplant?

Greenwood,

Yes you can. The only time you actually have to transplant them is if they get root bound. Even then, if it is only for a week or two (for instance, it starts raining when you are ready to set them out in the garden), you will just need to water them more frequently. I grew tomato seeds to 12" plants in those 72-cell starter trays last year.

Mike

Thanks, Mike. That's what I was hoping to here.

Okay, one more question, hopefully the last:

How far away should the lights be away from the seedlings? I'm using cool white shop lights.

I found it! 1-2 inches away if anyone else is wondering

Here is a link that might be useful: Dave's Garden

Mine were 0-.5" away!

Mike

Hi Greenwood,

I'm glad you asked all the questions :)

I'm doing peppers for the first time as well and nervous.

I have a dozen seeds I put on a coffee filter and placed in a ziploc bag. I placed in oven with light on Sunday (Feb 1st) and they look like they are just about ready to do something. I have had to add a few drops of water along the way. We'll see.

Have you decided how your going to start yours?

Andrea

Hi Greenwood,

I see you've received a lot of great advice, but as I am in your zone, I'll chime in. I start my hot peppers on January 21st and my sweet peppers on February 17th. I usually plant them in the garden the last week of May or the first week of June, depending on the temperatures. I plant most everything else extra early, but with peppers, I baby them and wait until I'm really sure it is warm enough.

I start my pepper seeds in pure perlite. Once the seedlings are up, I transplant them into Promix, but I put a layer of perlite on top. It really seems to help with damping off. From that point on, I only water from the bottom.

Definitely go check out the pepper forum - it's fantastic.

Bellatrix

wouldnt it make sense to just wait til you have natures heat? because if what was said is true (germination will occur within 7 days at a higher temp) you might have seeds sitting there for several weeks doing nothing but if you wait for the temps to go up, then the germination TIME would seem about the same?

Maybe I'm missing a point somewhere?

One of the difficult lessons for me to learn is "don't plant all your seed at the same time". I try and plant some every week or two, of a particular seed. Some may be too early, but some will be just right. Al