Hi Mac60,

There's nothing wrong with 'lurking'. Most people lurk for a while before they start posting, but I'm glad you stopped lurking and starting 'talking' to us so we'll know you are there.

In general, seeds sprout really well in worm bins but I do all my composting outdoors in piles so I have no first-hand knowledge of it. I know that some people start seeds in worm bins on purpose, while for others it is sort of an accidental thing.

I don't know that I'd try it with peppers, and I'll explain why in a minute, but it ought to work just fine with everything else. Just be sure you sprout them at the appropriate time in advance of your area's transplanting date, and don't do it too early or you'll have a long time maintaining seedlings indoors until the air/ground temps hit the right range for successful transplanting/growth outdoors.

Peppers are a little different from many other warm-season plants because exposure to cold temperatures as seedlings can inhibit their growth and production for months. If your young pepper plants are exposed to temperatures in the 40s for only a short while, it can cause them to remain slow-growing and sluggish for quite a long time. Depending on how long they were exposed to temps below 50 degrees and depending on how much lower than 50 the temps were, the plants can remain stunted and of low productivity for a long time and you might not have anything worth harvesting until fall.

Pepper roots that are exposed to soil temperatures below 55 degrees are generally the ones that are damaged and, consequently, are less productive even though the plants survive and grow. They will grow more slowly after transplantation and will be slower to flower and set fruit.

So, with the peppers, be careful to sow the seeds where their growing medium will stay above 55 degrees. When it is time to transplant them out into the ground or into containers, be sure the soil at transplant depth has been 55 degrees or warmer for at least 3 consecutive days.

The seeds should germinate fine in the bin at the temperatures you've been seeing, but just make sure the young plants don't get too cold in the garage at night after you've moved them out of the bin.

If you really want to compare 'bin seed starting' to regular seed starting, you could try the same variety both ways, keep them labeled, and see which plants grow and produce the best for you in 2010.

I usually don't set out my pepper plants until about 2 to 3 weeks after I transplant the tomato plants even though I start the seeds indoors at the same time. Tomatoes can handle colder soil.

Dawn

Dawn,
Thank you for your response. That's all great information. Using the info. you provided and suggested transplant dates as a frame of reference, (and of course, Mother Nature), I am going to go this route. I do like your suggestion of trying differenct methods and keeping records. I "get a kick" out of that kind of thing. I was just trying to be honest and realistic with myself in regards to time constraints. Who knows.....maybe I'll be able to make time for that!
Thank you again for your input.

Mac60,

You're welcome.

I think it's always important to compare a 'new' or 'experimental' method to the more established way to see which one works for you. If you don't try them side by side in the same year and same conditions, you'll never know exactly which method is more successful.

I hope you'll keep us posted on your progress and results.

Dawn