well in the past i found seed starting tough. plants get to stringy and fall over. this time i retried it. got some b-hut jolokia seeds from ebay and had to grow them. there the worlds hottest pepper now at 1,000,000 + scovilles. i also got some african fatili pepper seeds and had some scotch bonnet habenaro and texas chili pequin dried that billy " texas select " sent me last year. i peat potted them. out of 25 3 didnt sprout. and i put the plant light on em sonn after they popped open. there about 4" tall and firm now. looking good. i hate it but now ive got roma tomato seeds and serreno. i just put them it peat pots today. hope they turn as good. this is a little cheaper than buying plants but i just had bad experiences in the past. the first batch i have in 5oz plastic cups with a whole in bottom in potting soil. the roots were just making thier way from the peat pots. most hot peppers need heat to germinate. i sat them behind out houses wood stove. probably 80-90 back there all the time. they did well. any one seed thier own inside early? what types of fertilizer is best for fragile seedlings? to early for rabbit poop?:0a36:
Have never really give it a try but it's a good thought.my only problem is the way this darn weather is going the plants might be tall as the house before a person could get them transplanted . Just might give it a try though.Thanks for the thought.
i know what ya mean. i have a big slop sink in my shop i havnt hooked water to yet. got them in there now with the light on them. government will probably kick my door down soon thinking im growing weed,lol.:angry:
Never started any of my own plants but momma use to. She always had a fine garden. Last year i spent a bundle re-planting after the killer freeze we got late. By the way, ya like it hot don't ya. Them peppers would send me to the bank i'm afraid. Thanks
well those jolokias in inda are rubbed on fences and posts to keep elephants away from plants and gardens. figured maybe they would keep rabbits and blackbirds out of mine lol. ya i love heat. cant wait to make a jolokia salsa. be mostly green bell with just a sliver of chopped jolokia per gallon. still be xxxxx hot. and most coulndt eat it. but ill try.:roll_eyes:
So how long before last frost do you guys plant starts? I never have had much luck with starting vegs. Tomatos get leggy. The others just don't do well.
Ive tried starting seedlings indoors before but I keep getting the dates wrong for starting because my plants come to bear late. Some dont at all because of one of the trees in the yard casts a shadow over part of my garden. then what does has to contend with those darn earwigs (poor sweet corn they chewed all the silk off the ears. I witnessed it).
ya i got those earwigs bad myself. all aroung the house in the mulch. i tried spraying last year. hopfully i wont see so many this season.oooh:
Im starting to think mulching my beds are a bad thing. I got slugs in my berry patch and earwigs everywhere else. Im not remulching this year. I'll just turn over the ground with leaf litter.
I have 1 and 2 year old, giant piles of saw dust and horse manure. I'm thinking of taking the tractor and loader, and putting a layer 3"-5" thick around all my tomato's this year, as I'm planting them. trying to keep the weeds down. Those Japanese beetles eat the silk up here. Then those darn ear worms eat some corn too.
For those of you wanting to start plants from seeds this year...here is some of my hard learned hints. I start my tomatoes....peppers.....cabbages....ect. from seeds every year now for about the last 15 yrs. It saves a ton of money instead of buying a bunch of over priced plants. I used to sprout the seeds and sit them in the window sill....this produced very tall thin and weak plants. Now I have a grow box that I built and it uses 4...40watt sun bulbs that are 48 inches long. All this light is trapped inside of the grow box and it is literally the best way I have ever seen to grow plants for about 4-6 weeks.As soon as the seeds emerge from there soil or medium...keep them moist everyday..never allowing them to get dry. Place the lights about 1 inch above the plants at all times...this will produce strong bushy plants. I have made my shelves so that they can be adjusted everyday if needed. When the temps are right for the plants to be set out...I just slit the plastic cups and the root ball stays together and with little or no transplant shock. I posted once on the measurements of the grow box in a thread sometime ago. It is perfect for my needs and can support up to 75-100 plants for 4-6 weeks. I keep seeds from my peppers every year and would like to trade some maybe next year.:crazy:
When the kids are not living at home I have a spare room where I start my seeds. Usually I start tomatoes and green peppers along with a lot of jalapenos. I start some cukes and squash and pumkin inside also. My peppers and tomatoes are all up and doing great. oooh: Now if I can just keep my thumb this green for the rest of the year. Pray for no hail or late snow storm.
I got my seeds started last week and they are coming up already. I have about 36 tomato plants and 36 pepper plants and 9 cabbages,9cauliflower,9brocolli,9 brusell sprouts. Everything else I will plant directly in the ground around may 1.:smile2:
Im new to pepper growing, this is what Im gonna try this year from seed. Hungarian Wax Anaheim Large Cherry Long Red Cayenne Jalapeno Santiago Hybrid Hot Portugal Sweet Cayenne So far so good,I have a jiffy greenhouse starter kit and they are a growing. Wish me luck, :wink:
i started my real hot peppers lol, including the worlds hottest (ghost) jolokias and african fatili and scotch bonnet habenaros real early. i jiffy-ed them behind the wood stove where it was good and warm. they are 5-6"tall now and should be well established to have good production. gonna start my roma tomatoes for salsa this week and some regular peppers like orange habenaros, red hot chili, sorreno, and cayanne. and the really sweet ones like tobasco, jalapeno, and hungarian wax. might get some tomillitoes this season.
