I'm about 40 miles from you (Middlebury), and in the past I've had volunteer (hot)peppers come up as late as June and still set fruit, though I wouldn't recommend starting so late on purpose.

I'm starting Riot ornamental today, which will be about four weeks old when set out June 1st, there will still be about 100 days before frost left, more than enough according to the 50-70 day maturity date. If we have a cool summer, I often don't get fruit from plants set out when they should be until the very end of the season anyway.

I started most of my peppers April 10th, as my friend, who was doing this for the first time and was starting some for me as well, didn't have much success(the 'expert' he listened to said to let the soil dry out) and I inherited his 20 packs of hot pepper seeds. At present all but three varieties are up and getting first true leaves. It'll be a late crop, but plenty big enough to go in the ground around May 15, and well within the 70-80 day maturities listed.

Never tried to winter peppers over, but it's an intriguing idea, would you let them languish over the winter, cool and dry, then cut back and fertilize close to Spring, similar to other woody-type plants like fuschia or geranium? Early Spring cuttings might be an option, too.

Tell your friends to get a move on, and be sure what they're planting has a realistic maturity date from the time the plants are set out at 4-6 weeks. And baby those babies, don't let them get potbound or stressed, or transplant if the weather's chilly, as it can unfortunately be in May in Northern IN.

Good Luck!

Thanks for the response. it's cool to know there are fellow chiliheads near where I live. What's cool is seeing the excitement that my friends are experiencing through planting these seeds. You can start to see the signs of potential chiliheads developing. :) I definitly wouldn't wait till June but It sounds like they'll be fine having started them over the last few weeks. I've never overwintered before but I'm thinking about doing it this year. Last year I didn't do a great job raising my plants and decided to just let them go.

One thing I've learned for next time is to only put one seed per cell in my tray to make it easier to transplant them to indivisual pots without disturbing the roots. I put 2 per cell. Live and learn.

I live in Mitchell, SD (Zone 4). I started germination March 10 and had sprouting March 17. Those peppers are Anaheim, Hungarian Wax, Long Red Chili, large Cherry and Jalapenos. Right now, they are between 8-11 inches high and most have budding. One of the plants have one bud that I am thinking can sprout anytime. I have them all in 6 inch pots using two 4 foot shelves with 2 rows of 8 per shelf (got 31 plants, but room for 32 if I line them up perfectly under the lights. 4 rows of 8 with 4 fourescent light fixtures).

It's not really time yet to put them outside, because we can still experience frost (example: I got sunburnt being outside this last Sunday, and on Monday it snowed a little).
These plants definitely need a lot of water and light by now, and I am thinking that very soon (if not right now), they need more light than the fixtures can give them. I am planning however to start acclimatizing them this Friday (1hr, 2hrs on Saturday etc. until about May 10 keeping them outside over night. Gotta check weather reports and bring them inside if nasty weather is coming).

I really think they like being in 6 inch pots. They seem to thrive well. If I was using smaller pots or stytofoam cups, then I think I would have started them later (the roots grow very fast). Even now, I am thinking that they should be outside to get the full benefit of the sun, which leads me to thinking that maybe March 20-25 would have been a better time to start them. Then again, they already have fairly big pots and will start to get real sunlight here in the next day or two so perhaps March 10 was a very good time afterall. I started some Habaneros a week later and they took 2 weeks to germinate. I am thinking they would have been right on time if I did it March 10 or even a few days earlier. Another factor is wind. If they grow tall and spindly inside with no fans forcing them to grow thicker stems, then they will break when moving them outside. It would then probably be better to wait until April 1'st, so they are smaller when getting the boot outside. First year growing, so I have also been very concerned about my chosen time but I am confident this will work out just great. These plants are probably sturdier than what I give them credit for.

I think if the seeds are not too precious then go ahead and do them. you will probably get a smaller yield but still get a reasonable yield on most of the strains.

however, if they are not replaceable seeds and if they are long season you might want to carefully preserve them until next year.

I find on many varieties they wait until the season begins to cool down a bit from the hot days of summer and then begin to really set fruit at the end of the season. that means your plant will be slightly smaller and give a slightly smaller yield. but you should get peppers on most.

there are some real long season peppers that might not make it if planted now.

I started mine in early march also.

another trick is because you are late is to give them 24 hours of light. they will grow a bit faster than if the lights are turned off at night.

a slight breeze on the plants helps them to get more CO2 for growth also.