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kathleeen_gw

late start with seedlings....

17 years ago

I'm new to veggie gardening, so please bear with me....Will seedlings grow faster once transplanted outdoors? Is it too early to transplant pepper seedlings to outside raised beds if they are only 3-4 inches tall and have only 4 leaves (2 seed leaves + 2 true leaves)?? If they are too delicate at this stage, how can I get them to grow faster indoors? I use half strength fertilized water(Miracle Grow)and they sit in front of a sliding glass door inside my house. I fear there is not enough time left to grow and produce fruit. Help!

Comments (4)

  • 17 years ago

    Kathleeen,
    No need to panic. Where are you located? We can better help you if we know what growing zone you are in.
    You can start hardening off your plants by putting them outside in a shady spot for a while each day, gradually letting them have a little more sun over a period of about a week to 10 days. When they can take full sun without damage, you can plant them in their permanent spot or container.
    Personally, I would use 1/4 strength MG or even hold off on it until planting time, so as not to burn the plants or cause too much tender growth too quickly.
    Please post back with your location information.

  • 17 years ago

    I agree... Start hardening them off and plant them out. If they were started from seed outside, they would be fine. By starting them inside, they aren't used to the full strength of the sun. A smaller plant has less growth that is used to the mild indoor environment. So, ease them into it and they should be moving along in a week or so.

  • 17 years ago

    Thanks for the responses. Good to know that all is not lost! I live in the Willamette Valley in Oregon. Night temps are 45-50....On a side note, last night I put my Pablano seedlings on the garage floor to help transition to outside temp. Woke up this morning to find all the leaves and stems gone! Looks like a critter (a mouse??) had a feast! Hope his gut is on fire! LOL. I am growing several types of peppers for my husbands home brew, so will need to start over on the pablanos. He made a fantastic chili beer last year and wants to experiment this year with different peppers. Cheers! Kathy

  • 17 years ago

    The Pacific Northwest has a longer, but cooler growing season, and some gardeners there use greenhouses, cloches, or plastic hoop covers to help heat their peppers and tomatoes. The soil in raised beds and containers warms up faster and may be better for growing your peppers. Also choosing earlier maturing varieties will help. Hopefully, you will get responses and growing tips from other PNW pepper growers. Chile beer sounds interesting. Keep us posted on your progress.

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