How to Start Pepper Plants Indoors

Peppers are a hot planting choice of gardeners everywhere. From the popular, sweet bell pepper to the spicy jalapeno, there is a pepper for every taste. Peppers are easy to grow once they are established, but the seeds are a bit difficult to get started and can take up to three months to germinate. In the garden they will thrive in the hot sun. Start your seeds, indoors, 6 to 8 weeks before the last expected frost in your area.

Things You'll Need

• Peat pots, 2.25 in size
• Shallow pan or tray, 11 by 20 inches
• Potting soil
• Pepper seeds
• Bottom heat mat or a water-proof electric heating pad
• Tweezers
• Florescent shop light or two 40-watt grow bulbs
• Plastic mist sprayer bottle

Instructions

1. Place potting soil in peat pots and pack firmly. Arrange them in the tray or pan, allowing room for them to expand.

2. Water the peat pots until they are saturated. Tamp down the soil again and pour the excess water from the pan.

3. Place a few seeds on top of the potting mix in each pot and, using the tweezers, push the seeds about a quarter of an inch deep. Cover the pan with plastic wrap.

4. Place the pan on the heating pad, set at medium. Check the tray twice a day and remove pots as plants sprout.

5. Place the new sprouts in another tray and put them under light, as close to the bulb as possible, for 15 hours a day. Mist several times a day. When the plants are 4 to 6 inches tall they can be planted outside.

Tips & Warnings

• If a white, powdery mold forms on the soil in the peat pots, remove the plastic wrap for a few days. Replace the plastic wrap when the mold is gone. When you plant them in the garden, give the pepper plants an application of 15-15-15 fertilizer.

References

• Floridata

Resources

• University of Illinois Extension