The Crafty Cultivator

Most years, I start my peppers in peat pellets like everything else. This year I wanted to try something new. Mostly because the majority of my little peat pellet trays that I love using (the little 12 pellet window trays)… are all occupied with all the herbs I have started (or sitting out in the shed behind a 4 foot packed snow drift).

As you know, I have already started some Habaneros in the peat pellets. But since I haven’t done anything special with them, and because it has been sooooo cold outside (and so much colder by the window)… and because they are slow and take a while to germinate anyway… They still haven’t had any signs of life. I think they need more heat, and I will get on that in the next few days to give them a decent shot at life. The other problem may be that they are just too old and have no life left in them.

So apart from those Habaneros, the rest of these peppers I have put in wet paper towels and then in plastic sandwich bags. I’ll have them on my heating pad as often as I can keep it turned on. (It isn’t a heated seedling mat, just an old heating pad from when I tore my back/shoulder apart back in the day). Once the seeds start to germinate, I will put them in their own pots to continue growing (or peat pellets if I am short on space when the time comes).

A bunch of my seeds are getting quite old, so in those cases, I have just used whatever is left in the pack.

So, without further blabbering on, here are the peppers I have started:

• ‘Marconi Red’ Pepper (Sweet)
  • Heirloom
  • From Wildrose Heritage Seeds
  • 80-90 days
• Jalapeno early
  • “Dark green pungent 8cm hot peppers are excellent fresh or pickled”
  • From Burpee Seeds
  • 72-75 days
• 
• Cayenne
  • Saved from my own plants last year
  • If my germination is poor, I do still have the pack of seeds I started these from last year, so I might hedge my bets and start some of those too.
• ‘Medusa’ Sweet Pepper
  • This is an old pack of seeds, from 2013 or 2014.
  • From McKenzie Seeds
  • 60-80 days
• ‘California Wonder’ Pepper (Sweet)
  • Another old pack of seed, from 2014
  • From McKenzie Seeds (Organic)
  • 75 days

I also had one single seed that I saved from the “Cheyenne” peppers that my parents grew last year. It is was a hybrid, so I don’t have any expectations, I just wanted to give it a shot and see what happens.

I put these in the plastic bags on February 25 and 26th. They should start showing some signs of germinating around the same time that this post live, so I should probably get my window area sorted for them when that happens. I don’t want to leave them in the bag for long, just enough to get them to germinate.

And as always, I need to plug my Etsy shop: Back 40 Woodcraft