Homegrown Peppers

Posts Tagged ‘Pepper Seeds’

Germinating hot pepper seeds is a little different from germinating sweet peppers, at least in my experience.  And the more exotic the pepper, the more particular they may be about sprouting.

Here are some tips for growing hot chile peppers from seeds.

Peppers Like it Hot!

While you can coax sweet and bell peppers to germinate in a moderate soil of 70-75 degrees Fahrenheit, the chile peppers like their roots warmer…sometimes much warmer!  In fact, some of the hottest of the peppers — like habanero, jolokia and scotch bonnet — prefer soil temperatures of 85 degrees or more before raising their little heads.

If you’re lucky enough to be gardening in a warm climate where the soil is already 80 degrees or more, you’ll likely be able to get the seeds to sprout.  If you’re like the vast majority of us, those hot pepper seeds will need a little help.  Even I need help in S. Florida during the winter and early spring! 

Have They Spouted Yet?

Another trait hot peppers like jalapenos, cayenne, datil and more share is a long germination time.  While sweet peppers can spring above ground within 7 to 10 days, hot peppers tend to take longer.  Sometimes a lot longer!

I’ve found that most of my hot peppers sprout within a 12 to 18 day period.  However, the very hottest can take up to a month (and boy, is the wait ever hard).

Help for Germinating Hot Pepper Seeds

Warmth is the biggest key in successfully germinating the chile pepper seeds. If you have a very warm spot in your home, like on a radiator, you may be good to go. For the rest of us, a seed germination mat is the best way to safely and gently warm the soil.

Something else I’ve found very useful, which surprised me in my trials, is using Terracycle. Terracycle is a gentle liquid fertilizer made from worm castings. After I moisten my seed-starting mix normally, I plant my seeds. After lightly covering my seeds with more soil mix, I spray Terracyle on the soil to dampen. Then, I give the soil a spritz every 2 or 3 days, to keep things moist.

Between the heat mat and the Terracycle, I’ve been able to shave time off the normal germination period, between 2 and 7 days.  That may not sound like a lot earlier, but for anyone who’s (impatiently) waiting, any time saved is helpful.

One thing you don’t need for germination is light — seeds germinate fine in the dark. However, once the seeds have germinated, you’ll need to ensure the seedlings get 12 to 16 hours of light a day. A sunny windowsill is great, but I’ve also found that using fluorescent light bulbs works well (especially when I run out of space on my windowsills).

So, if you’re interested in learning more about Terracycle and a heat map, you can click on the photos below.  I’ve also included some hot pepper seeds I like and grow.  Happy hot peppers!

It’s been quite cool here in South Florida during January, and now we’re set to get more near-freezing weather this week — it doesn’t bode well for chile peppers!  I’ve got one out in the garden already — Thai Hot — but none of my other chile seeds (except for Pretty Purple Pepper) have germinated.  My sweet peppers, on the other hand, have pretty much all germinated fine.

Hmm.

The Need for Heat

Thinking that warmth may be the issue (it’s been awfully cool inside the house as well), I decided to spring for a new .  If you’re not familiar with them, they provide a gentle heat to the bottom of the seed tray.  Think of these as heating pads for seeds!

Note:  you cannot use a regular “people” heating pad to warm your seeds — they are not designed to operate 24/7 and the seed germination pads are.  If you use a regular heating pad, you risk starting a fire (or at the very least developing hot spots and give too much heat to the little seeds).

Now my new one is about 20″ x 10″ in size, and I can put two of my 8″ x 8″ trays on it with room to spare.  I generally like only only do smaller trays, in cycles.  That way, while one tray is sprouted and enjoying the grow lights, I can be starting another set.

Today’s Chile Pepper Seeds

Some of today’s seeds are new (I just bought them recently) and some are from 10 years ago — treasured seeds that I can’t help but try and grow again.

The new seeds are:  Cambuci Hot, Jalapeno M, , and .

The older seeds are:  Tam Jalapeno, Jaloro, Hot-Banero and Brazillian Rainbow.  The last two especially, since they were both from saved seed in my garden.  Hot-Banero was the absolute hottest pepper I have ever grown and Brazillian Rainbow is rare.  I’d love to see how my Hot-Banero stacks up against Mustard Habanero and Bhut Jolokia!

Unfortunately, it’s going to be awhile before I really can expect any “action” from my plantings.  Chile seeds seem to take quite a bit longer than sweet peppers, so I’m thinking it will be around Valentine’s Day before I see the first of the chiles popping their heads above ground.

Germinating pepper seeds isn’t really hard, except for the waiting part.  But given my weather of late, I’d have to wait to plant them even if they were already sprouted and grown enough.