Monroe County Master Gardener Association

I took these pictures last spring when I was starting my pepper seeds.  Today the snow is blowing outside and the new seed catalogs have been coming in the mail.  It is time to start thinking about what seeds we want to order this year.  I like to use the Jiffy peat pellets for starting pepper seeds.  I grow many different varieties that I don’t want to mix up and I only want a few plants of each variety.

Pellets in Container

Here are the peat pellets in containers.  The ones in the back two black trays have had warm water poured in  them and are beginning to swell up.  The white pieces of  plastic are going to be dividers to separate varieties.  I  don’t know if you can see it on here or not, but the black  trays are labeled “A”  “B”  “C”  “D” and I keep notes of what is planted in each tray.  The clear ones on the left are just deli containers.  They do need to have lids to  keep the growing medium moist until the plants come up.

The pellets are now fully swelled up and ready to plant.

Pull the netting back some with a toothpick.

Open a small hole in the peat with the toothpick

Open a small hole in the peat with the toothpick.  Planting  depth about three times the size of the seed.  Drop a seed  in the hole and use the toothpick to cover the seed, pressing  lightly for good seed to soil contact.

Warm location

Trays in a warm spot to germinate.  (My kitchen floor next  to the radiator)  This was March 12.  On March 18, the first of the seeds were up.

Temporary Greenhouse

March 18, putting up our temporary greenhouse on the door opening of my husbands heated barn.  Starting March 22, the peppers spend days in the greenhouse in the sun and nights in on the barn floor with the door closed.

Pepper Plants

April 4, here the peppers are on the heated floor of the barn,  with the door open from the barn to the greenhouse.  The  largest ones have a second set of leaves and are ready to  be transplanted into single squares.  Although technically you can leave the netting around the pellet when you plant  it in a larger container, I gently pull it off, so you want to do  this before too many little roots have grown through it.

Pepper Plants April 30

Pepper plants on April 30th.  Some have been in their single squares for over 3 weeks now.  They are gradually  getting used to outdoor conditions, either with the greenhouse doors open, or as here spending some time  outside on the cart in direct sun. This year, they were  planted in the garden the first week of May.