If you found this video helpful, please "Like" and share to help increase its reach! Thanks for watching 😊TIMESTAMPS for convenience: 0:00 Hot Pepper Planting Schedule 3:00 Recommended Seed Starting Equipment 5:06 Preparing The Seed Starting Medium 7:10 How To Plant Pepper Seeds 11:09 Transplanting Pepper Plants 14:20 Adventures With Dale
Cut the part of the seed that the radicle comes out of, soak the seeds in warm water for ten minutes then warm chamomile tea for ten minutes then place in paper towel and put that in a ziploc bag.....i guarantee you those seeds that take a month for you will now take a day.
Great video! One thing I would add is that if for some reason a pepper sprout DOES get a bit "leggy" or tall, simply plant it deep when putting it in the new pot. Roots will grow from the buried stem portion and the little plant will grow healthy and strong outside or in a sun room.
That will work if you catch it within a day or two. If you forget to check and they begin to fall over, it can be too late. It’s very important to keep an eye on them daily.
It’s warming up here, but I know the weather is trying to trick me into starting seeds this early so it can freeze and snow on them in April 😂. I will wait. I envy you your beautiful weather ❤
It’s been pretty awful here. It has been 45 and raining for the last 3 days straight. The rain finally left, but it is going to be 22-23 degrees tonight. Winter is far from over here.
I’m in Jamaica growing habaneros and scotch bonnets and we can just throw the seeds in our garden and they will germinate, grow well and bears lots of hot peppers with consistent watering. However, the technique I use without a heat mat is the planting cells or pots with a humidity dome and place them in an area that receives full sun and ensure they don’t dry out. You would be surprised how heated the soil gets.
Good and timely info. Only two things I'd add, from my experience, is soak the seeds overnight and always water from the bottom. Maybe add a small fan airflow across the seedlings too. I grow micro greens and have applied things I've learned there to almost all seed starting.
Here's my crazy technique to seed start without a heat mat in the past: line up seeds on paper towel so they will be in a horizontal line when hung. Wet the papertowel and place in a ziplock bag. Then I clip a magnetic clip(office supply at dollar store) and hang it from my hot water line from water heater! It has germinated well! Not only my pepper seed...
The seedling heat mat I used in this video is less than $15, and it isn’t even the cheapest one. There are mats even less expensive. While there are ways to germinate seeds without them, it will pay for itself after its very first use and you’ll wonder why you didn’t get one sooner.
That guide per zone is exactly what I need for me done for each vegetable. Do you have one for each vegetable? by chance? It’s perfect! Easy to read and understand for me (and its focusing on one vegetable)
Thanks for another great video. Brilliant use of a chopstick! I've been using tweezers to gently pick up and plant individual seeds but I love the moist chopstick tip idea. I'll be starting my seeds this week so the timing of this video is perfect for me.
I germinated pepper seeds 3 years ago .now i have same plants for last 3 years do not have to wait for peppers . less than a month i started getting peppers every spring. In fall dig them out from ground . Prun the plant to few leaves and prune the root ball . Put 6 to 7 plants in pot add potting soil keep em moist in garage through winter . Bring them out in spring and start getting peppers right away. 😂.Why do you have to do all that every year and wait a long time to get peppers.
Thanks for all this information. This year is my third year of trying to grow chillies. I'm in Cape Town, South Africa and all I have to do is to count 6 months later on. So happy.
I kept my pepper plants from last year. After cutting them back I put them by a basement window. They're already starting to sprout leaves and will be ready in Spring to go right back to work.
Very nice. I would recommend starting some fresh ones, though, just in case. My cherry pepper is going on its 4th season. I eat off it all winter. They'll live 5-10 years if you care for them as a houseplant.
Started my pepper this week even tho in my zone 8a they can’t go out till mid may. When the day temps reach 20c regularly and nights stay above 10c. Will use the tips if a resow is needed! Loved the vid
Dale's a cutie!💓 Great presentation! Very informative. I'm in Chicago and we had snow so I started the last week in January with some seeds. I'm going to start hot peppers mid February.
We lucked out with our handsome boy 🐕 It's been brutally cold here the past 2 days for us (cold for us, anyway). But the next 2 weeks look pretty decent. Hoping for an early spring.
@@TheMillennialGardener Hi there, You stated a couple of weeks ago that I won the Mystery box. How do I claim my prize? P.S. Give Dale a big kiss for me. Thanks. Annie.
I've planted some and I've used soil from outdoors and a plastic cup and kept it by the window with natural light and I have one coming up now on February 20th
I sift and sterilize my seed starting mix by baking the soil and hydrating with a 50/50 water/H202 solution in a spray bottle. Last year I learned the hard way that I basically had a fungus gnat farm instead of a seed starting system! 😕 so far this year is MUCH better. I will try the pellets for my pepper seeds. Great chart on frost dates! Very handy!
Oh my, Dale is such a cute pup! I know it's fun introducing new yummies to him.😃 Have you tested the method of soaking your pepper seeds in warm tea from a used tea bag...soaked overnight? Seems to work. Looking forward to seeing all the beautiful peppers you will grow this year.👍 Dale sure was enjoying the sunny day and I noticed your new shed.👍
Funny I just came across this video today. Great video, by the way. I just started my pepper seeds earlier this afternoon. Like you said, peppers take a long time to germinate, but this time I'm trying something different. I'm doing the "paper towel method". So I have my seeds in moist paper towels, in glass containers, on a seedling heat mat. Let's see what happens 🤔
Awesome video. Very informative! I grew Big Jim’s last year and they did grow very spindly and began to tip over and hence I lost several of them. Great advice! Will try this this year with my Big Jim’s and Ghost Peppers we have planned for. Looking forward to more of your videos! You just gained a subscriber! Thank you again!
They are required for numerous varieties of peppers. Some varieties will not germinate unless soil temps are in the upper 70’s and 80’s. There is no good reason not to have and use a seedling heat mat.
I start with a 40 cell seed tray and cut them into sets of 6 cells. I put a coir pellet in each cell. Each 6 cell tray is planted with the *same* pepper type and placed under a humidity dome on a heat mat. This technique means I can move the faster germinating peppers (the milder varieties) off the heat map and move to under my grow lights, leaving the super hots to remain on the heat mat until they germinate. I live in the Southern UK so I start the propagating process in the week between Christmas and New Year. This way by early March I can move the plants into my conservatory and then into my greenhouse in early April. BTW I use a thermostat with my heat mat, set to 29 deg C. Without the thermostat I measured the plug temperature with a meat thermometer and was horrified to see it was 39 deg C!
My type of video! I actually got heavily into gardening after being hooked on hot peppers. I'm going all out this season with sugar drop orange, Numex Orange suave habanero, star scream, purple death and mattapheno X mutant F2.
Thanks. I didn't realize how intricate hot pepper germiniation could be, but it explains why I've had such poor results with my attempts! I always thought those peat starters were a waste of money, but the fact that they are sterile is a good point, and they certainly are affordable. The heat mat might help too, as you point out-and probably also for other seedling starts? Enjoyable video and I sunscribed.
I love using peat pellets. I don’t like the trays for them tough. Very hard to label. I use little plastic cups and drop each pellet in and write on the cups. Cover them with cling wrap or put them in sandwich bags and put on the heat mat. I open the bag everyday to check moisture and give them air. I’m growing the super hot peppers this year. Patiently waiting for the seeds I ordered to come in. 🌶️
The hottest peppers I grow are Tobasco... and it's too early to start summer plants. Anaheim are my most successful pepper variety so far, trying pepperocini, red cherry, and Cubanelle varieties this year but it'll be hard to beat the 2 year old Aniheim pumping out peppers next to me right now... middle of winter and it's got a dozen peppers growing on it.
I like this method as you are not having to worry about bugs from potting mixes. I personally did a large purchase of OrganiPlugs. I have five, 5-gallon buckets with gamma lids storing them. These make it so easy to start plants in 6-cell trays. When I bought them, last fall, I paid about $0.09 per plug with shipping…2,100 of them. This may seem like overkill, but I have used similar plugs many years after and just need to rehydrate them (soak them in some water). The peat pots look like they are about $0.15 per pot. Scale this for the future and you could change your method.
I live in south Texas...do I need to do this for jalapeños or bell peppers? I don't care for extra spicy peppers so probably don't need that heat mat...plus it should hit 65 today😃
Hi Anthony, Can you please make a video to address some of the techniques people use for helping seeds to germinate, such as: -Refrigerating seeds for 3 days before sowing to simulate winter-to-spring conditions -Soaking seeds in black tea for 30 mins before sowing -Soaking seeds in hydrogen peroxide before sowing -Scarification of seeds before sowing Do these things help, hinder, or do nothing either way for germination? Thank you so much. I trust your advice more than any other gardener!
I have never had to use any of those soaking techniques. I use the same method shown on this video for all my seeds, and I routinely get close to 100% germination. Believe it or not, I already transplanted half of these peppers. I just up-potted 8 of them today, because they've already sprouted and developed leaves. I've never found any of these steps necessary. The one thing I do recommend everyone own is a seedling heat mat, because for some reason, people seem dead-set against them for no good reason. That is the real technique for success - owning a *real* heat mat designed to give proper soil temps for germination. The one I use in this video is less than $15. It's the one thing I suggest every person starting anything from seed own. The only technique I've ever had to use is refrigerating my seed starts for my fall garden. It's just too hot here in August to get my lettuce, spinach and some other cool crop seeds to germinate outdoors, so I pop the trays into my fridge overnight and take them out during the day to simulate spring conditions. That does work, but it's useless for any of the seeds we're sowing right now. It's only valuable for a small number of cold-loving plants in the dead of summer.
Love your videos. Have you ever tried chitting the seeds in a container? That’s how I start mine and then you plant them when the root sprouts. Mine have come up in 3-7 days
No. I try to minimize steps wherever possible. My method has close to 100% germination for myself, so I’ve never needed to search for a different way. This makes it all one easy step.
Oh this was exactly the video I needed. Going to buy that heat mat. I just planted aribibi gusano, Carolina reaper and Bulgarian Teardrop. Last year I had my seeds soaking in water before planting. Don't know if it's recommended at all but it worked so I did it again this year. Love your dog ❤️
Best pepper starting video I've run across--thanks! I often have hot peppers' first leaves stay "caught" in the seed husk. Any recommendations? Much appreciated.
I've never soaked any of my seeds. Mine are mostly up already, surprisingly. Even my tropical peppers came up in 6 days. I personally believe the bottom heat is what makes the difference. Without it, they probably would stay dormant.
rehydrated coco coir bricks are just as sterile (and probably cheaper) and can fill normal trays with it and to save more money instead of a heating mat the propagator can be placed in an airing cupboard (aka water heater cupboard) or ontop of a desktop pc etc, even a warm room 20-25c will do. to stop leggy seedlings have them placed under "cool white" cfls or tubes or led lights, even warm white will work but nowhere near as good. video reminded me its probably time to start mine
Hi Anthony, great video. I have never had a good experience with peat pellets. I switched to coco coir toward the very end of the planting season last year. Will they work just as well for peppers? I have experimented with winter sowing some of my peppers this year but it is way too early to tell with those. I will duplicate my efforts with coco coir if you believe that will work just as well as pest pellets.
Peat pellets work best when used in conjunction with a heat mat and those greenhouses designed to hold them. Because they're small, they can dry out quickly. The greenhouses hold in moisture, so it keeps them at the perfect level. You also have to remember to vent the greenhouse every day and pour the water off. Fresh air is a must, so taking off that lid for a few mins and draining off the condensation cannot be skipped. Coco coir can be used the same as peat moss. I'm not sure if you bought coco coir pellets, which are basically the same thing as peat pellets, or if you're using expandable bricks and filling your own trays manually, but you can treat coir and peat the same once hydrated.
Maybe I'll try putting seeds on a damp paper towel, put it in a Ziploc and carry that around in the pocket of my hoodie like a kangaroo mama :) I'll be wearing a hoodie for another 5 weeks at least, that might work!
I am trying to over winter my hot peppers for the first time and this time trying to avoid spider mites. So i pruned my Thai Dragon chill that i bought from the garden centre last year and just went wild on the stalk and growth, like an indeterminate tomato plant! Not even a week later after pruning, it started growing leaves but then died. What should i do? a) Leave it, it is normal and will still spring back b) No it's a gonna after the initial re growth, toss it. It won't grow back c) I don't know as i have had both success and failures from this
In the Uk most of our central heating system radiators are located underneath or beside a window sill to heat the bricks and help with condensation. We have ours on a timer so like 6am - 10 am and then 4pm - 10 pm. It also kicks in if the ground floor gets under 17c. We keep the first floor cold for sleeping and the second floor we use to dry clothes in the winter and the bathroom there houses the succulents, like aloe vera, Christmas cactus, jade/ money plants, orchids and mushroom box. Would we still need a heat mat? The shop bought sweet bell peppers are still holding after also being grown inside last year. As a bigger plant will hold itself better than it's twin outside i think this year?
It depends. That means you probably won't be planting the transplants out in your garden until sometime around May 20-June 1. Do you have a long enough warm season to get them to flower, produce fruits and ripen? If so, yes, it's fine. I can do that here in Wilmington, NC, with ease. But some places have short warm seasons.
Onions, shallots and leeks are the first thing I sow in terms of spring transplants. Hot peppers are the first summer vegetable I sow. That is a good plan in my opinion. Broccoli, cabbage, etc. can be sown, too.
My son and I lined cardboard boxes with tin foil and cut a hole for a grow light. One side is open and we used tin foil curtains to keep the light in, lift the curtains to water. Last year the light was probably up too high, so the plants were a bit leggy, but most survived. Any thoughts on this strategy? Sadly our "sun room" is north facing, so we don't get a lot of direct sunlight in our home.
Vermiculite holds water. I have never used or needed it for pepper seeds. The peat pellets work pretty fantastic. If you prefer to use your own mix, adding vermiculite isn’t a bad idea if you want more moisture control, but make sure it doesn’t get too wet.
Trying ghost peppers for the first time this year...heat mat is ready to go, but I think I'll give those peat pellets a try. We always have issues with mold and fungus gnats, and I don't want anything getting in the way of torturing myself with super-hot pepper sauce! 😆
The peat pellets are a bit of an extra step, since you'll have to up-pot them, but it is great to keep that fuzzy mold and fungus gnats away. It minimizes the chance of problems.
Any suggestions for getting rid of green algae and old off top of seed starting pods? I've been using Nurture Grow Plugs in a floating seed starting kit for the last few seasons with pretty good results. I usually dump the condensation inside the seed starting tray but will dump it out instead and will take the line off for a little why to let in dry out. Cheers!
If it is forming, it probably isn’t getting vented enough. You can buy 3% hydrogen peroxide, mix it 50/50 with water and spray the tops. That kills it quickly.
@@TheMillennialGardener I’ll give that a try. Thanks! When is your tomato seed selection video? I might try some 50+ day northern varieties for an early tomato harvest in our SW desert climate. I tried Siletz last year, but it didn’t do well out here. Your sun run is going to give you a jump on the weather this year. Cheers!
I don't. They're just images I made. If you are on a computer, you can pause it and hit the Print Screen key, then paste the image into a program like Microsoft Paint and just print it out.
Air temperature is different than bottom heat. Things always germinate better when on bottom heat as long as it isn't too hot. Will they germinate at those ambient temps? Yes, but they will germinate faster on a seedling heat mat. If you want them to germinate as quickly as possible with the highest % possible, you want a heat mat. I think it's worth the $15 investment.
You don't really need heat mat. It's optional. It's good for people who grow a lot of peppers and the good thing is that it keeps the stable temperature for germinating, but it can cause even a problem later on, when the peppers grow. They might be not hardy enough or the might stop growing completely. I would say use heat mat, if you are experienced gardener and have a lot of space, otherwise don't use it.
Seedling heat mats are specifically calibrated to maintain a constant, ideal temperature for germinating warm weather crops like peppers, tomatoes, cucurbits and the like. They also are excellent for rooting cuttings. The heat mat in this video costs less than $15, and I don't believe there is a reason why anyone shouldn't have one. They're dirt cheap and work too well to ignore, so I will always consider them a mandatory piece of equipment for anyone growing food. They aren't going to impact the growth of the plants. They're only used for germination. Once the seeds germinate, you transfer them into another pot. Half of my peppers are already germinated and up-potted. That's how fast the seedling heat mat works. For something like hot peppers, they may never germinate without bottom heat unless you have another way to warm the soil, and it's going to dramatically increase the speed of germination versus other means.
@@TheMillennialGardener I didn't say they're not useful, I just say you don't need them to germinate seeds. It's just another human invention that is helpful, but completely unnecessary. My grandfather has never used it and never had any problems germinating the seeds. I also didn't use it only two years ago I bought and everything it does is that it saves me like 4 days of actual germination. I had a problem with how you said in the video that "when you don't have a heat mat, don't even bother trying to grow peppers", which is just not true at all.
I had always germinated them that way but even so they took a long time. This year it occurred to me to put them in the hottest room in the house and wooo the not so hot chilies started to germinate in 4 days and the super hot ones in 6 days first year whit all seeds germinate now I have lost o pepper seedlings ❤❤❤❤❤
@@TheMillennialGardener That's how that room is kept between 70 and 80 Fahrenheit day and night and I cover them to maintain humidity every day I uncover them for a while and they germinated everything in record time which I couldn't even get with the heat mat, from there I went to their pots individual, light and ventilation
Just curious if an old fashion cheapy heat pad would work? They get warm but never really hot enough for good relief...anybody try? I'm in FL & don't really NEED 2 do indoors...but should I want to, I do have that cheap heat pad😉
Do you mean like a warming blanket or something for a person to sleep on? If so, that's fine as long as you're 100% sure it isn't a fire hazard to do so. Seedling heat mats should operate around ~80 degrees, so the warmth must be gentle. Too hot and things will get scorched.
Peppers need to temps in the 70's and 80's to germinate. A greenhouse in the 50's is too cold for germination. The seeds will likely stay dormant. A heat mat is certainly necessary. All warm weather crops, and even some cool crops, germinate far better on bottom heat.
It depends. Peppers will cross pollinate easily, so if you're growing numerous varieties of peppers, they may not grow true. If they're very stable open pollinated varieties, they may save well, but you'll probably still get some mixed plants here and there due to cross pollination. I've been successful saving my seeds from my peppers from Martinique, and they grow true (or true enough), but I wouldn't be surprised if I got an odd plant here and there. The only way to almost guarantee they'll grow true is to grow open pollinated varieties in isolation. I jam 6-8 varieties in a single bed, so it's less reliable.
Can I give you my email to talk to you? Because I really don't want to mess this up and I have some question, I am in Montreal Québec Canada and this is a weird season place like New York kind off...
All i grow are hot really hot peppers no sweets. I start the seed in red solo cups with happy frog and put the cup in my dome over heat mat and they thrive, Simple is best those peat pellets are unnecessary extra $ and time. Sugar Rush Stripped is a beautiful hot pepper i tell everyone to try at least once
A heat mat isn't mandatory.. I literally have superhots sprouting now (and have for the past 5 years, never owned a mat.. if fact, the entire video is full of misinformation, all the things you say are mandatory, are absolutely NOT mandatory, they're just good practice..
@@gvc56100 1.49-1.55 "and it's so important you use a heat mat, they are so super tropical, without one, they may never germinate at all" 3.25-3.30 "Now, the mandatory piece of equipment you must have is a seedling heat mat" This is misinformation, I've been growing peppers for a number of years without a mat and have a high germination rate.
I don't think it's a good idea to contaminate the seed with bacteria from your mouth. Your mouth is incredible bacteria infested. Just dip a clean chopstick in some water instead
