It’s still a few weeks before I’ll start planting peppers, but post here when you start yours!
4 Likes
I sowed peppers today on a heat mat.
3 Likes
Yay! I’ve been selecting for germination without extra heat.
2 Likes
I started sweet and hot peppers in mid January, and potted them up a few days ago. They’re mostly descendants of GTS seed I got a couple years ago, with a couple heirloom varieties of each type that I’m hoping will help get the fruit size up.
2 Likes
I decided to sow in smaller trays this year instead of solo cups. Got super sick for nearly two weeks and they all dried out and died….
Hi everyone, today is day 1 of my first year of my first landrace project, and I’m excited to get started! Looking forward to seeing how the GTS seed mix does in my hot and humid Delaware (7b) summers.
I usually have four problems with peppers. 1. They seem to grow real slow as seedlings, 2. They never start producing before the end of August/beginning of September, 3. Some varieties are very prone to sunscald and something that looks like blossom end rot but I think is actually a nutrient deficiency, and 4. The yield is always underwhelming.
This year I’m soil blocking for the first time, and I’ve set up a grow station inside my breakfast nook and I’m starting everything in there first. In years past, I’ve started everything under grow lights in my garage, and I think it’s just too cold out there for my peppers and tomatoes, so I’m planning to keep them inside until they’ve got 3 sets of true leaves, then harden them off to the garage. I’m hoping that the early start first on a seed mat, but then inside until they’re past the super tender stage will allow me to move them on out without them stunting as they always seem to do. I’d love to eventually select for seeds that are okay with the cooler start, but I’m more interested in early fruiting and yield first, and we’ll try for easier starting later.
Here’s everything I tossed in the mix, and my 60 little guys just getting their start in life. Happy to be part of this community!
6 Likes
I hope you’ll have some luck with the GTS mix. I’ve been selecting for seeds that germinate without supplemental heat, and produce in cool summers. There’s a good percentage of that mix from my garden this year. They won’t be selected for sunscald though, not a problem here!
2 Likes
Wild Mountain Seeds had a variety called “Holy Italian” that produced really big peppers. I think they shrunk over time mixed in with my others though. Highly recommend their pepper offerings: Peppers - Wild Mountain Seeds
It sounds like your conditions are quite different than mine, so it’ll be interesting to see how it goes. I’m hopeful that at some point GTS will divide their seed offerings by hot/cold and dry/humid climates, but for now we’ll just give it a try and see what happens. At what temperatures do you usually germinate? My garage is in the 40s-50s this time of year, and it hasn’t gone great the last few years. Those that have germinated have grown exceeeeeedingly slowly.
3 Likes
I have a variety of sweet peppers and some spicy peppers going. Last year, I killed them all at one point, so here’s to hoping I get some nice plants this year! They have all started to sprout. One sweet is from seeds I saved last fall, other sweets are from the seed box. The spicy peppers are all from the seed box. I did have them in a southern facing sliding glass door, so they warmed nicely. the tomatoes got the warming mats for the first week. But everything is coming up nicely. I moved everything outside yesterday, where I can easily cover if a night is getting cold, but on my back south facing covered patio that stays warmer than the outside air. Hopefully, I’ll remember to take some pictures.
I know peppers like it warm, much like tomatoes. And they don’t like it when temps drop below 40 or so. But if we are trying to select for strong plants, maybe seeing what survives the night that gets down into the 30s is a necessary trial? I like cultivating my plants and animals, but I got remember that struggle makes them stronger. Yeah, my kids, too!
Planted mixed peppers yesterday. They’re planted in clay mixed with potting soil (2 to 1) and just like everything else they’ll have to thrive with no water after transplant. 3 survivors last year.
I usually don’t bother with bottom heat, but my planting bins are full except the one with fig starts. So that’s where they got put. I suspect they’ll struggle more as seedlings, since the heat will dry out the soil faster.
I’ll be primarily planting hot peppers this year, with the goal of planting only sweets the following years so I can segregate them from any hot genes.
Is there any way of telling if a pepper has hot genes before the fruit comes on?
I am also doing a section of in-ground test.
3 Likes
a bit warmer than that, temps in the 40s are probably pushing it. Standard recommendation is more like 70-80, and I’d say my temps are usually in the 50-70 range. I start in a sunny window in an unheated and drafty room, so it does get warm during the day if the sun is out, which it isn’t always. That said, I hope you’ll benefit from my selection for cooler germination, and continue to push it.
We do sometimes offer more specialized mixes, like the ‘polar melons.’ If we receive enough contributions with different adaptations, it’s a possibility. In general though, selecting for strong plants and fewer days to maturity benefits all growers.
I don’t know of any way to test for heat before they set fruit. That would be handy.
When you say in ground test, do you mean direct seeded outdoors?
Yeah. There’s some weird cobwebby stuff in the random seeds that were loose in the jar, so I decided to plant them out and see what happens. If nothing comes up, no loss.
Just planted my gts sweet peppers, along with a few random hot pepper varieties in a separate tray. Sweet will be planted in the backyard and hot in the front yard divided by my house with about 150ft between crops… im hoping that is enough distance that they wont cross and I can contribute back to GTS for 2027!
I am experimenting with wintersowing this year and Ive seen a few videos on YouTube with people successfully starting peppers that way so I am very intrigued to see how well that works out for me. Id like to completely eliminate starting seeds indoors and the sooner I can adapt my crops, the better!
Will post pictures when my seedings pop through the soil 
1 Like
Not sure from your post if this is your first time winter sowing or just winter sowing peppers. I had great germination winter sowing probably over a thousand plants a couple years ago. It was really going great. Then one afternoon in March when I was gone and hadn’t removed the cover it hit 68 degrees F and cooked like 70% of my plants. It’s a lovely method, but watch out that you get them out of the greenhouse environment if you get an early warm day!
Oooh im so sorry that happened… that mustve been a painful learning curve! I’ll make sure to stay very vigilant 
It is a first for both wintersowing and growing peppers, actually. I guess technically i grew a hot pepper plant last year (it was gifted to me) and that is what gave me the motivation to try it out from seed this year. I didnt think i had enough sun to grow em successfully but since I had more sun exposure in the front yard i popped it into a pot and it grew incredibly well, which was surprising to me and very encouraging! Love me some sweet bell peppers. Plus i recently chopped some trees down in the backyard, so i am super thrilled for the extra hours of sunlight and the new growing options that come with that
1 Like