Peppers Are Started
I planted pepper seeds yesterday. I was only going to start the hot ones, but then I read the sweet seed packets and saw the germination time was about the same. Four pepper varieties are new to me this year, the rest are old. One in particular, the Chile De Comida is a hot pepper that I got two years ago, and it had poor germination then- down to 36% according to the packet. So we’ll see. This particular variety wasn’t even available from Baker Creek this year, so I’d like to get a plant to save seed from.
The hot peppers this year are: Serrano, Anaheim, Chile De Comida, Hungarian Hot Wax, and Black Hungarian. The sweet peppers are: Red Marconi, Cascabelle, Ace, and the Sweet Stuffing Peppers.
Two more weeks, and the tomatoes will also be started. The only seeds I’m starting ahead this year are the peppers and tomatoes. As soon as the overnight lows get above 40, I’m also planning on trying some Broccoli Raab in a pot. Never had it, never tried it, but I thought it was time. It likes cool weather to grow, so I’m hopeful I’ll get a little something out of it to try.
How many times do you pot them up? I thought with your tomatoes you potted them up twice, and they ended up at our house in a 4″ pot. Kind of new to this 😉
At least twice for tomatoes- but once is a must for both. Tomatoes thrive better when they are potted up and have their roots disturbed.
I do the first potting up sometime after the first true leaves appear. (Not the cotyledons that shoot out first, but the real tomato leaves.) I know some people swear by waiting for the second set of true leaves, but last year I had to move them before that happened, and the plants were just fine.
So I go from starter cell to a larger 2-inch cell. Then, when the plant is looking pretty large for those cells, they go into the 4-inch pots. From there, it’s to the ground after the danger of frost is past.
PEPPERS though, I have only potted up the one time in the past. This year it might end up twice, depending on how they sprout vs. the tomatoes and how much space I have on my racks. No sprouts yet…