Germinating Pepper Seeds Indoors

Start your pepper seeds 8 to 10 weeks before your last frost date so your plants will have time to grow before putting them out in the spring. Moisten the soil and poke 2-3 1/8 inch holes in each cell using a pencil or something small you can poke holes with, place 1 seed per hole and sprinkle soil to fill in the holes behind the seed.

Water the seeds in and cover with a dome cover to keep in the moisture.

Use a heat mat or the top of your refrigerator to keep the seeds warm through bottom heat, keep them around 85 degrees for best germination. Your seeds should begin to sprout within 6-10 days, some pepper varieties take longer than others. Once they start to germinate remove the dome cover and place under indoor lights or in a south facing window to get the maximum amount of sunlight so they don't get long and skinny or leggy. It is best to bottom water your seedlings to prevent / reduce damping off.

Of course, when it comes to fertilizing pepper plants, the best kind of fertilizer really depends on your soil. If you want to be completely accurate with your pepper fertilizer, you should have a soil test done to find specific deficiencies. Once your seedlings have 4 to 6 healthy leaves you can transplant them into 4 in pots so the roots can grow and produce a nice healthy plant. You should plant your peppers outside 2-3 weeks after the last frost when the soil temperature is around 60 degrees. You should harden off the seedlings for one week prior to transplanting. To harden them off, Bring them out into a sun shade area for 1 hour then bring them back in, the next day bring them out for 2 hours and the third day 3 hours of direct sunlight, keep doing this for a week then plant them outside in full sunlight or sun/shade depending on what zone you are in or in the greenhouse. I will keep you updated with these pepper seedlings in detail...

Enjoy growing your peppers !!! :)

My pepper seedling update ;) 3/13/2015

* * * Pepper Update * * * I will be posting updates on my pepper varieties as they ripen ;) Enjoy !!

Italian green peppers, Orange Manzano, Jamaican Hot Chocoalate, Orange Habanero, Serrano, Anaheim, Canary Yellow Bell Pepper, Red Savina, Tabasco, Ghost pepper (Bhut Jolokia), Coral Bell pepper, Moruga Scorpion, Thai Dragon, Fresno Chili, Pablano, Hot Cherry, Ethiopian Brown, Mako Kokoo, Purple Naga jolokia, Carolina Reaper. :) ~ Lawrence