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Marge
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Best Time to Plant Chilis

When is the best time to start growing chilis from seed (I am in Yorkshire)? I had some success a couple of years ago with some mild chillis but they took forever to germinate ... any tips? :)

grandpasrose
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Hi Marge!! For chilis or any peppers, you need to plant your seeds indoors 8-12 weeks before the average last frost for your area. Everyone has a different frost date, so you will need to find out, maybe from a local nursery, what yours is.
All seeds need two things to germinate. Warmth and moisture. The seed's internal pressure rises as it absorbs water, and ruptures the seed coat. Most seeds need to be at a temperature of 75-90 degrees farenheit. They also need air. Start them in a porous soil, that is kept evenly moist, but not soaking wet. Seeds will rot if they sit in water for days, and the seedlings will suffer from damping off if they are kept too damp.

Pepper roots do not like to be disturbed, so when you start them, put them in peat pots, so that you don't need to remove them from pots or flats. You may want to plant 2 or 3 in each pot to ensure germination in each pot.
Peppers take about 3-4 weeks to sprout, so you need to be patient. Once they do, they need at least 5 hours of sun or light a day.
Once the peppers are about 2-3 inches tall, thin them, leaving one plant per pot. Once they are 4-6 inches tall, they are ready for the garden or greenhous, but only if it termperate outside. Do not plant them out if the soil temperature is less than 60 degrees farenheit. Provide a bit of covering for shade for the first few days to prevent any shock from transplanting, and they are set to go!!

Best of luck, and if you have any other questions, feel free to stop in again! :wink:

Val

The Helpful Gardener
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Root zone heat is a help, and for those looking for a bit more bite I have found wood ash and lime are great soil ammendments...

HG

opabinia51
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Be sure to plant your plants in a warm area with lots of sunlight this spring.

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Marge
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Wow - excellent and comprehensive advice there. I feel more confident about my chilli growing this year :D

The Helpful Gardener
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Grew one called 'Super Chili' this year and was amazed by the crop from a small compact bush. Nice!

HG

darlochileman
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Location: Darlington

Hi Marge,

I live only a few miles North of you (Darlington) and the advice the guys have given you is very good. If your starting your seeds off in doors, I would get planting in late Feb/ Early march so that you have some nice sized seedlings ready to be transplanted outside in May/early June (assuming the threat of frost has passed).


Best of luck in 2007

mark

Biscombe
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This has cheered me up!! Our last frost date is late march so I can get sowing!! Will they germinate in my greenhouse? Its heated and the night temp is 10 Degrees/ 51 F?

opabinia51
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Hi Biscombe, you can purchase heating cables at local nurseries to speed the germination process when in the depth of winter.

Though, I usually opt for buying some grow lights and start seeds indoors, if you have a basement, use that. I unfortunately don't have a basement.

Biscombe
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Sowed a variety of peppers on the 15th Dec with enough light and heat. No signs yet!! Hows that for impatient!!!

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Marge
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thought you might all be interested to see how things have been getting on:

[url]https://margeland.co.uk/blog/2007/03/05/chilli-news/[/url]

Thanks again for all your good advice. :)

Newt
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Marge, what wonderful news! I hope discovering which chili is which won't be a 'painful' experience. :oops:

Newt



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