HelpfulGardener.com

Hello All,

My first attempt at starting some bhut seeds was a disaster! I had three germinate, 2 got stuck in their casing and died within 2 days, and the other I think from the sudden cold temps that we had from Sandy passing by. Heres what I did:

Cut open the pepper, dried out the seeds, planted 2-3 in some peat pellets and kept the dome on until I saw some sprouts. Then, I brought em outside (they were in my garage where it was warmer) and let me do their thing, which was nothing!

Any advice for me? I'm trying to start a few plants for friends, and have tons of mature peppers to get seeds from but am new at this.

Thanks

We have a thread with seed starting basics:

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=44183

It probably is easier to start them indoors under lights. I don't recommend the peat pellets, regular potting soil works better. The dome is okay if you are sure to take it off as soon as the first ones sprout.

It sounds from this and your previous post like having started them in the garage, you brought them outside too early and too quickly. I guess that was because you didn't have lights in the garage. But to me the trickiest part of getting seeds going (unless you are direct seeding in the ground), is that transition from indoors to out. Seedlings started indoors (even in your "warmer" garage) are tender, not used to harsh sun, breezes, etc. So they need to be hardened off, that is acclimatized to all of that gradually.

It will work better if you can arrange for some light in the garage (regular fluorescent tubes are fine) and keep your seedlings there until they have at least a couple pair of true leaves and then gradually transition them to outdoors.

I keep a lot of aquatic plants in my aquariums, and have a spare t5 single bulb fixture. Perhaps I'll rig it up for starting seeds somewhere! I have a real grow light for my meyer lemon, but theres no way I could get the seeds a few inches from it, as its hung at a decent height.