I’ve been starting some early seedlings. I’m going to try for a bunch of peppers this year. In and around the great lakes, peppers must be started from seed indoors or in the protection of a greenhouse. They need to be started in late winter to early spring. I have started them as early as mid-February and as late as the first of April. What is important with peppers is maintaining a temperature above 50ºF. If temperatures on plants fall below this point, the plants grow much more slowly and the leaves will even yellow and flowers drop off in certain circumstances.
The seeds for sweet peppers are slow to germinate and require constant warmth. If the temperature falls below 70ºF there is a good chance the seeds may rot before they germinate. Use a seed warming mat or germinate your seeds in a location that is very warm. I presently germinate my seeds on growing racks in the basement with domes, and warming mats. If these were not available I would consider starting peppers near a wood stove, on top of the refrigerator, or near a furnace outlet. Again keeping these babies warm for the duration of germination is critical.
I will typically start the seeds in a light loose starting medium with a high percentage of fibrous material. I’ve never had any problems with this choice so I keep using it. The seeds are planted about 1/4″ deep in 1″ cells and placed in the germination environment. At about 70º it takes about 8 to 10 days for germination. Even with seeds up to 5 seasons old, I still get about a 80% germination rate.
Peppers just after germination.
The seed beds need to be kept moist throughout the germination. With a lengthy germination time this introduces a problem of possible mold or fungus growth. This is usually treated by increasing airflow around the seed beds. This makes it harder to keep the seeds warm and moist. Supposedly if the soil temperature can be increased to about 80ºF the seeds will germinate in about 5 days. I am going to look into a heat cable arrangement of possibly a warming lamp from the chicken brooder to increase the temperature above 70.
The Banana Peppers are up!
