Peppers and Tomatoes

dtlove129 · Thu Apr 05, 2012 9:58 am

I put my bell, jalapeno, and pepperocinnis in their containers on the 24th of March or there about. Tomatoes (3 different varieties) went in I think this past weekend. I have only like 2 peppers that have started to come up, but like 10 tomatoes. Is this normal for these peppers be taking so long?

Ruffsta · Thu Apr 05, 2012 11:23 am

yes, peppers are one of the things that take the longest to germinate as well as grow. to germinate them faster you should use a heat mat with a digital thermometer.

also, depends how old the seeds are... the the longer they have been stored, the less viable they will be.

rainbowgardener · Thu Apr 05, 2012 3:15 pm

My peppers germinate in about a week, but they are on a heat mat. Peppers really like warmth for germination.

But it is kind of late to be starting peppers from seed, they are very slow growing. I start mine indoors the end of January. Now I have nice 8" tall pepper plants just waiting for the weather to cooperate to get planted. They will start producing peppers early in July.

You might want to look for some well started plants at a good nursery and try the seed starting again next year. I expect in Decatur your pepper season ends sooner than mine does.

dtlove129 · Thu Apr 05, 2012 4:12 pm

Mine are on heat, but still just a couple popping up over the last couple of days. So I'm hoping they are all getting close to shooting up. Rainbow everything I read said to start them 8 weeks before last frost, and I assumed that was because you don't them out until 2 weeks after the last frost (according to what I have read).

I think my last frost will come early this year, but I know last year my peppers and tomatoes were the garden either the first or 2nd weekend of May.

Ruffsta · Thu Apr 05, 2012 4:13 pm

it's really not that late.. depends on your location really. I'm in rhode island I have until mid april to get them going. we are going to have a late summer (as far as warmth goes) - this year as we did last year. so I personally don't believe in it being late just yet as for starting peppers.

but I have a few ready just incase and I will be starting more seeds tonite or tomorrow morning.

I also forgot to mention my friend has a huge sun hut that we share at his house. he's got all the bells and whistles to go with it.. I'll have him set mine up once I buy my house.

example of his sun hut (his is a little bigger):
[img]https://botanical.com/hydro/greenhouse/sun_hut-250.jpg[/img]

klevelyn · Thu Apr 05, 2012 9:17 pm

My peppers came up about 2 weeks after my tomatoes. They can take as long as 21 days. Just when I thought they would not make it they poked out. I didn't use any extra heat just in a sunny window with grow lights.

I like to grow some peppers because sometimes I can't find the variety I want at the nursery.

rainbowgardener · Fri Apr 06, 2012 4:09 am

I start mine about 10 weeks ahead of my last frost date and plant them in the garden as soon as the night time temps are reliably above 40. And I like to have well started, good sized plants to put out. Not only do they get to fruiting quicker, but they are more resistant to pests and problems.