new ghostpepper sprout

One of my recently planted ghost pepper seeds sprouted. It sprouted in the cactus mix soil so I think that is a good alternative to the peat based soil

seeds arrived

The seeds arrived from Remier seeds even though I tried to cancel the order over a week ago. After reading their bad reviews I was skeptical if I should plant any of them. But I really wanted to grow a few of the varieties and the seeds looked pretty healthy. So I planted 1) 7 pot habanero 2) Medusa and 3) Aji red pumpkin. I will not know if what I got is correct until Fall!

sprouts from second planting

The Joe E Parker and the Suave Orange have sprouted after only six days. The sprouts are kind of hard to see in this pic. The seedlings are also making good progress.

New Seeds

I bought some new seeds from Redwood City Seed Company. I called the guy up and help me pick some seeds out that would do well in a region with a short growing season like Colorado. I bought more than I can plant. Here is the latest pic of the seedlings…

Cuttings did not root

The cuttings did not root. Next time I’m going to try some root starter.

dead cutting

planted the last ghost seeds

I planted the last Ghost Pepper seeds and a few more Suave Orange and Joe E. Parker. I planted them using this technique, except I used some cactus mix planting soil I purchased at Paulino’s Garden center for all but one of the pots. I wanted to avoid soil with peat in it. This soil also looks like it will compact less than the “back gold” soil I used the first time.

Also, I read some people use distilled water instead of tap water becasue of chlorine. I’m too lazy to by special water for the seeds but I did use filtered tap water this time.

Also, I gave up on the last pods and tossed them.

mods to grow box

Added a shelf to the grow box and transplanted another pod. I’m thinking no more pods are going to sprout but I’ll give them another week.

added a shelf

Fast Growing Peppers

Given that I live in Colorado I should mostly stick to varieties that grow fast.
Fast growing suggestions from Redwood city seed company:

Fastest maturing for cold climates

Chimayo………………………..Puya
De Arbol……………………….Squash Jamaican Red
Guajillo……………………….Squash Jamaican Yellow
Habanero Paper Lantern…………..Sqaush Red 5-in-1
Jalapeño Early………………….Sweet Wrinkled Old Man
Japones

The Chimayo hot pepper from the high mountains of New Mexico, that starts flowering as a seedling, and will produce fruit in 30 days!

Growing Tips

here are some growing tips for peppers. The seem to be very anti peat pellets and soil that is composed mostly of peat. The suggest growing the plants in cactus mix. Perhaps I’ll give that a try when I start some new seeds.

trasplanting the pods

I started moving some of the sprouts in the pods to pots. I just removed the white webbing from the pods and put them in pots with potting soil. Another ghost pepper sprouted out of a pod so, if the sprouts survive, I will have three ghost peppers. I checked one of the cuttings and it had no roots. I may try again with some root growing hormones.

I moved some of the pods into pots

possible seed catalog

This seed catalog from Redwood City Seed Company looks promising.

It seems to have good reviews.

I’m bummed I ordered with Reimer Seeds now. I tried to cancel my order with them but no response.

more ghost sprouts

Good news, 10 days after planting, the ghost pepper in the pot sprouted. So far I’m quite pleased with the pot germination technique. The New Mex chili institute warned that ghost chilies can take up to a month to sprout so 10 days seems pretty good. I removed the plastic and put them back in the grow box.

Cuttings

The cuttings also seem to be going better. The small leaves seem to be growing. However one of the cuttings under the glass cup started to get some mold or at least I think it is mold. I took this plant out of the grow box, removed the cup, and put it the window sill. Additionally, another peat pellet started molding which I also removed.

moldy cutting

sprouting already

After only 7 days, I got my first sprouting seeds using the germination pots instead of the peat pellets. I took the plastic off the top of the pot immedately after sprouting, as was suggested by the local nursery.

Bad Seed

After searching the web a bit, I found out the place I ordered my second batch of seeds from sucks. There were a lot of bad reviews for Reimer seeds. For example, seeds did not germinate and the seeds were for the wrong plants. I tried to cancel my order but I doubt they will let me. I should have searched the Internet before purchasing.

ordered some more seeds

Ordered some new pepper seeds and got some pots for germinating them.

Aji Brazilian Red Pumpkin Hot Peppers
Mushroom Hot Peppers (Yellow)
Navajo Hot Peppers
Peter Pepper Hot Peppers (Yellow) pk/20
Habanero Hot Peppers (7 Pot)

The 7 pot habaneros are all the rage now an I bought a pack of 5 seeds and they cost 3 bucks a seed!

Huston, the ghost pepper has germinated

Rising from the soggy mossy peat pellet is a ghost pepper sprout. On a less momentous note, one of the pellets started molding so I tossed it and most of the leaves have fallen off the cuttings that I’m trying to clone.

Things might work

I checked the temp in the germination pots by piercing through the plastic of one of the pots with the instant read thermometer. It was a warm 85 degrees right were it should be. I’m optimistic this is the way to go.

I think I need more light.

Thinking I need more light:

perhaps: this one, or this one, or this one or this one looks the lest expensive. I’d need this too.

Germination, 2nd Try

I gave germination a second try. This time I followed advice from our local nursery. His technique was to put some planting soil in a pot and put the seeds directly on top of the soil then cover it in vermiculite and then cover it with plastic. The theory is that the seeds start in the pots they will stay in and thus will not need replanting. No pods needed. The plastic keeps things moist and perhaps a little warmer in the pot. So here goes:

1) fill pots with potters soil. I bought a bag. I hate the idea of buying dirt but the number of bugs one brings in from garden dirt can be high. And given the problems I had with aphids on my over-wintering ghost pepper, I decided not to risk it. I then watered pots with warm water.

2) place seeds on top of wet soil

3) cover with thin layer of vermiculite

4) water vermiculite. I used a spray bottle to keep the vermiculite and seeds from floating away. Then cover with plastic

5) put in grow box. My growing box is hovering around 80 which might be a little on the low side so I increased the number of hours the light is on. This will keep the seed around 80 for a longer period. I’d need a higher wattage light to keep it warmer.

grow box getting full.