starting my seeds

Bayvistafarm · Post by **Bayvistafarm** » Sat Feb 18, 2017 2:02 pm

Last week.. as in two days ago, I planted a flat of hot peppers, 2 geranium flats, and 1 begonia flat. Today I am seeding petunia's and snap dragons. All flowers are red and white.

We are holding a family reunion on the farm, that has had the same family on it for 200 years. So... all the flowers I plant this year will be red and white.

I will direct seed red sunflowers and mexican sunflowers in the fence row between the houses. I may start some sweet peppers today also. The nice day just puts you in the mood for spring!!

Skinny rooster · Post by **Skinny rooster** » Wed Mar 29, 2017 4:24 pm

I sowed my heritage petunias 1 1/2 weeks ago and they started coming up yesterday and today. Yay!

TomK · Post by **TomK** » Wed Mar 29, 2017 7:39 pm

I'm only starting tomatoes(5 varieties) bell peppers, jalapenos and egglant early this year and they are all up and growing unde the gro lights...decided to plant all the gourd type plants in the ground directly...they don't seem to win much by planting sets and i get a lot of stem rot, especially on the zuchinni....every year a test..lol.. :running-chicken:

labradors · Post by **labradors** » Wed Mar 29, 2017 8:49 pm

I too have started my tomatoes, peppers and eggplants already, and they are under grow lights in the basement, but I fear that it's a bit chilly down there for them. I wait until much later to plant melons, cukes and zukes since they grow so fast and don't appreciate being transplanted.

KimChick · Post by **KimChick** » Wed Mar 29, 2017 9:53 pm

We have started some seeds, too. Eggplant, peppers, tomatoes.... hmmm... not sure what else; husband did it. :-D
...and leeks.

labradors · Post by **labradors** » Thu Mar 30, 2017 7:58 am

Ideally, we need to start peppers before tomatoes. This has taken a few years to dawn on me when I go to plant out my big tomato plants and puny pepper seedlings. This year, I started bell peppers (and eggplants) a couple of weeks before the tomatoes and now they have their cotyledons and are shivering in the basement......

Bayvistafarm · Post by **Bayvistafarm** » Thu Mar 30, 2017 9:25 am

Peppers are basically a tender perennial.... and need to be started early. I learned the hard way... when I got peppers in September... and then they got frosted out.

By the time my peppers hit the garden, they already HAVE peppers on them. I know they say your to pull off the fruit/flowers at planting, but I don't bother, and by the end of June are eating good sized peppers.

I also put black plastic down, with holes cut out. This keeps them moist. Also surround them with a straw bale border, to keep winds/critters from bothering them. I stake them too... after they get a bit bigger. No matter now big the stake... they still end up falling over and breaking with the heavy loads.

Skinny rooster · Post by **Skinny rooster** » Thu Mar 30, 2017 10:21 am

I find of all the garden vegetables, peppers are the biggest fussy babies lol. I don't have grow lights so I only start a few flowers indoors. I found the trick for me is to plant peppers early, even if it's cold I protect them and plant early. If I wait until June first, it seems too late, the plant will grow huge but no fruit until it's too late. My other trick is I get the red peppers, they seem to produce faster than green peppers and I can just pick the fruits early if I want green. Bayvista I use tomatoe cages on my pepper plants for support, and in years of really high production I drive a steal rod into the ground and tie the cage for extra support. Maybe that would work for you.

Post by **WLLady** » Fri Mar 31, 2017 9:17 am

Guess i am behind again. I want to get out into the greenhouse next week and get some flats planted.....

labradors · Post by **labradors** » Fri Mar 31, 2017 9:23 am

Those puny cages (sold for tomatoes) are great for pepper support.

Something I learned recently is to plant two peppers close together as they apparently like company, then leave the usual spacing and plant two more together, and so on down the row. My peppers had a very concentrated taste last year, due to the drought, but were great cooked. They are easy to preserve just by freezing and storing in baggies.