REQUIREMENTS:

*Potting Soil (try the Miracle grow Cactus Mix or any other potting soil that does not contain PEAT).

*Seed starter tray with clear domed lid.

*Soil thermometer or indoor outdoor thermometer.

*Pepper seeds.

*Distilled water.

*Miracle grow.

Make a "Seed Starter Solution" by mixing one tablespoon of Miracle Grow into one gallon of distilled water.

Start with the seed starter tray. Fill the holes 3/4 of the way with potting soil and sprinkle with the seed starter solution to settle the soil. Plant seeds, one or two per hole, and cover with no more than 1/8" of potting soil. Water with the seed starter solution and use the solution instead of tap water whenever the container needs the soil needs to be re-watered. Do not use tap water or well water on very young seedlings because the chlorine or minerals may damage the seedlings.

If you want to use other containers to start your seedlings, buy some 8 inch diameter plastic pots and fill with potting soil. Plant pepper seeds, spacing them 1/2" apart in each direction and no more than 1/4" deep.

Keep containers 80-85°F during the day and 60-70°F at night. Make a hole in the clear plastic top for the thermometer to go thru. For a few hours each day, take the cover off the container in the afternoon to let the air in. This will keep the soil from staying too moist and help control damping off fungus which is a disease that attacks the seedlings and makes them topple over.

Once the seedlings appear, remove the cover completely and put tray/pot in a sunny place. Once seedlings are two to three inches tall, transplant into individual 3" diameter pots with potting soil and let grow in these containers until strong. Plant young plants outside when night time temperatures are consistently above 50°F.

Work about one teaspoon of BONEMEAL into the potting soil of the 3" pots before you transplant the seedlings into them. BONEMEAL is available at any hardware or garden center and is usually used for roses. Give each plant a sprinkle of BONEMEAL every two weeks during the growing season.

Once trasnplanted into their own individual pots, start watering with an organic fertilizer or fish fertilizer. Do not continue to use the Miracle Grow solution once the seedlings have sprouted.

GERMINATION SPEED: Regular sweet peppers are very quick to germinate, usually 6 to 8 days.

HOT PEPPERS always take longer, a minimum of 15 days, but up to 100 days.

*Habaneros always take a minimum of 18 to 25 days.

*East Indian, Malaysian and Thai hot peppers take 20 to 55 days.

*Bird peppers like Pequin and Tepin are always the longest, 21 to 100 days. Daytime temperature of 80-85°F and fertilizers will cut the time down to 25 to 30 days.

TROUBLESHOOTING:

DROOPY SEEDLINGS? Do the seedlings come up and then suddenly droop and die? That's called dampnig off fungus which grows on the soil surface when it is kept too wet and when there's not adequate air circulation. Keep the potting soil on the dry side, always give good air circulation and always let the very top surface of the soil dry out before re-watering the seedlings.

YOUR PLANT MAKES FLOWERS BUT NOR FRUIT? Most hot peppers and some sweet peppers require insect pollination to form fruit. If the proper insect is absent or if the local insects are not attracted to your pepper flowers, you may see the plants flower and never set fruit. This is especially true for the blue flowered Capsicum Pubescens or hot peppers grown in a green house.

Pollen is produced on the stamens and usually ripens between noon and 3 PM every day. Take a small moist paint brush and pick up some pollen on your brush then transfer it to the other flower centers. You can get close to 100% fruit set with hand pollination.

FERTILIZERS: Watering pepper seeds with a fertilizer solution helps speed germination by breaking a natural dormancy that is inherent in some pepper seeds. When the seedlings appear we recommend switching to a diluted organic or fish fertilizer. These can be used to feed frequently and never burn. Feed every three to four weeks during the growing season.

Habaneros, especially, will need calcium many times during the growing season in the form of BONEMEAL. A few tablespoons per plant. Sprinkle the bonemeal around each plant and water in. You can tell when you need calcium if the plants stop growing and if youg leaves start to pucker; they are running out of calcium to build new leaves.

SPACING IN THE GARDEN: Sweet peppers are usually dwarf and can be packed in at about 1.5 feet apart. Most hot peppers need about 2 to 3 feet.

CONTAINER PLANTS: All peppers are perennials and can be grown in 2, 3 or 5 gallon containers of potting soil year-round. Just bring in the plants when the nights drop below 50°F and put them back outside when the nights are consistently above 50°F.

TIME TO PRODUCE: Once your pepper plants are out in the garden, how long will it take them to produce? Green unripe fruit is generally produce in 55 to 75 days after setting plants out into the garden and ripe fruit is produced in 90 to 150 days.