Edible Pepper Garden. Rosalind Creasy
much of the country but much earlier in warmer areas, such as along the Gulf Coast and low deserts. In my USDA Zone 9 climate, we have no frosts after early March, but it is May before the weather gets consistently warm, so I start most of my peppers in the middle of February, earlier for some of the slow-growing wilder varieties. Folks in the warmest winter climates often start their peppers in January. I seed mine in either the plastic pony packs that I recycle from the nursery, or in compartmentalized Styrofoam containers variously called plugs or speedling trays (available from mail-order garden-supply houses). Whatever type of container you use, the soil should be 2 to 3 inches deep. Any shallower and it dries out too fast, and any deeper is usually a waste of seed-starting soil and water.
All containers, equipment, and surfaces should be clean. If you have had a history of damping-off, a fungal disease that kills seedlings at the soil line, then disinfect everything as well. Also, if you are a tobacco user, wash your hands well with a strong soap or disinfect them with rubbing alcohol. Tobacco products may harbor tobacco mosaic virus, which can be passed on to your seeds and plants.
Make sure to use a loose, water-retentive soil mix that drains well. Good drainage is important because soil kept too moist can lead to damping-off disease. Resist the temptation to use garden soil. Commercial starting mixes are best since they have been sterilized to remove weed seeds and fungus diseases; however, the quality varies greatly from brand to brand, and I find that most lack enough nitrogen, so I water with a weak solution of fish emulsion when I plant the seeds and again a few weeks later. (Some sources claim that early fertilizing with nitrogen encourages damping-off disease. I have not experienced this, but if you have had this problem, wait until your seedlings are established before fertilizing with a nitrogen fertilizer.)
Renee’s Garden seed company offers a mix of three varieties of cayenne peppers—red, yellow, and purple—all in one package. She dyes them before packaging so you can tell which seeds will produce what color pepper.
Fill your containers with potting soil and smooth the soil surface. (Some gardeners like to premoisten the soil.) Plant the seeds about inch deep and 1 inch apart. Pat down the seeds, and water carefully and lightly to settle the seeds in. With a ballpoint pen or permanent marker, write the name of the species or variety and the date of seeding on a plastic or wooden label and place it at the head of each row.
Keep the seedbed moist but not soggy. Water gently with lukewarm water sprinkled from a watering can, or use a turkey baster to apply the water. Some growers like to cover their seeded containers loosely with plastic, in which case the containers do not need to be watered as often, but you must watch them closely and remove the plastic as soon as germination starts. Germination rates tend to be better when seedbeds are watered from above than when the containers are set in water to be absorbed from below. Bottom watering tends to keep the soil too cool.
Pepper seeds usually germinate best when the soil temperature is in the range of 70°F to 80°F. (They can tolerate higher temperatures, from 90°F to 100°F, and may even germinate faster at those temperatures, but the number of seeds that germinate is usually lower.) Putting the seed trays on the top of your refrigerator may help. However, most gardeners have the best results by using heating cables under their seedling trays. These heating systems need a thermostat to control the temperature (some systems include one). These are available from garden-supply houses or can be ordered from many of the suppliers listed in the Resources section. I don’t normally use propagation mats, because I get great results by putting my seed trays in my gas oven with the door ajar, where the pilot light keeps the seed-starting soil in the preferred temperature range. This method does not work with the newer gas ranges that do not have a pilot light.
Seedlings a few weeks old have been thinned and fertilized.
The peppers are moved into two-inch containers once they develop true leaves and the faster-growing ones are moved up to one gallon pots. At this stage they are almost ready for planting and can “harden off” in the cold frame.
Check your seed containers every day for germination and moisture content. The seeds of some pepper varieties are slow to germinate, and some may need special treatment—especially if you are starting seed from wild plants. If saving seed yourself, make sure the pods have fully matured before harvesting the seed. If germination rates are still low, or the seeds take longer than two weeks to germinate, you might try soaking the seeds in warm water for 2 or 3 days before planting; or soaking them in a 10% bleach solution for 5 minutes and then rinsing them well.
Once your seeds have germinated, it’s imperative that they immediately be given a quality source of light; otherwise, the new seedlings will be spindly and pale. A greenhouse, cold frame, sun porch, or south-facing window with no overhang will suffice, provided the area is warm (about 70°F during the day and 60°F at night), receives plenty of light, and is not drafty. Or you can get very good results by using cool-white fluorescent lights, which are available from home-supply stores or from specialty mailorder houses. The lights are hung just above the plants for maximum light (no farther than 3 or 4 inches away) for 16 hours a day and are raised as the plants get taller.
Fertilize your seedlings weekly with a quarter-strength solution of fish emulsion, and continue to water them gently. Once all your seedlings are up and have two sets of leaves, you can let the surface (about 1/2 inch) of the soil dry out between waterings. Test with your finger to see how moist the soil is. Overwatering can encourage damping-off.
If you have seeded thickly and have crowded plants, thin out the weaker ones. Thinning is important because crowded seedlings do not have room for sufficient root growth. It’s less damaging to do the thinning with small scissors. Cut the little plants out, leaving the remaining seedlings an inch or so apart. Once seedlings have at least two sets of true leaves (the first leaves that sprout from a seed are called seed leaves and usually look different from the later leaves), move the seedlings up to a larger container, such as a 4-inch pot.
Transplanting Your Peppers
Once the peppers you have moved into 4-inch pots are 3 to 4 inches tall and have several sets of leaves—and the weather is warm—transplant them into the garden. Ideally, the peppers should be just at the bud stage and the weather nicely warm. (They should not have open flowers. If they do, pinch the flowers off when transplanting them.) I know from experience that if I get too anxious and set the peppers out too early, when the weather and soil are too cool, the plants just sit there waiting for warm weather, become stressed, and often don’t catch up all season. The ideal time to transplant peppers is when all danger of frost is past, nighttime temperatures are reliably in the mid-50°F range, and the soil has warmed up.
If warm weather has not yet settled in and your peppers are ready to be transplanted, move them to larger containers (at least 1-gallon size) while you wait for the weather and soil to warm. Some gardeners with superior growing conditions, in a greenhouse or such, deliberately start their seeds early to extend their short growing season, and move their plants up to ever larger pots until weather permits putting them outside.
When transplanting peppers out into the garden, first prepare the soil well by working in lots of organic matter and adding organic fertilizers.
Make a hole and place the transplant so it will be at soil level.
Put in a label, and gently press down around the plant. If you are using drip irrigation, install it at this time.
Young plants started indoors should be “hardened off” before they are planted in the garden. This means placing the containers outside in a