chilli pepper help

[helly]

Hello all, I'm iching to start growing my chilli's from seed, I will be starting them off in a heated propagator. I know on the packets it states sow march but do you think I can start them off now .
types:
Tabasco
tequilla sunrise
pinocchio's nose
cheers Helen

[Herbgardener]

Hi Helen

Unless you can provide good light things can get a bit leggy if started off too early... remember to turn your trays to stop the plants bending towards the light too much. You can give it a try but personally I think I'd leave it another few weeks.

[veg4681]

Not sure what to say, I'm sowing mine this weekend but my chilli variety (Fuego F1) says Jan for sowing on the seed packet. Someone said it's an early variety. There is always that issue of leggy plants and that later sowing will always catch up anyway. I'm trying both early and late sowing for experiment, nothing to lose.

[SarzWix]

After a few years of experimentation, I've decided that mid February is the optimum chilli seed sowing time (in my area), as I can get them out into the greenhouse where they get better light once they're potted up (early to mid march), without it costing an arm & a leg for heating

[rustylady]

Germination is easy and quite possible now, but once you have seedlings they need enough warmth and light to carry on growing into sturdy healthy plants. Day length (as in number of hours of good light) also affects plant growth, and if you start them off too early you may end up disappointed. I find that later sowings grow faster and soon catch up with the poor little things you have cossetted.

[Alison]

I've started my longer season chillies off already but only 2 per variety and will be sowing more later. The shorter season ones aren't worth sowing really for normal folks until March as shown on the packs. Good luck with any you try through as it can be worth trying the odd one or two.

[veg4681]

I've started my longer season chillies off already but only 2 per variety and will be sowing more later. The shorter season ones aren't worth sowing really for normal folks until March as shown on the packs. Good luck with any you try through as it can be worth trying the odd one or two.

Thanks for bringing the point on the different seasons of chillies which I gather is also appropriate for other fruiting veg like the tomatoes. I just realised how 'unprepared' and a total novice I am with my varieties.

So any early varieties is obviously a good thing but they would finish off early too and for this reason, we must make sure to have a chilli variety (or other similar veg characteristic) for growing over longer period Only thing is I wouldn't know how to choose a good mix of variety (for a given veg type) if there is any...is the different sowing times the indicator for this?

It appears potatoes are more straigtforward by the cropping groups. I have noticed that Real Seeds have few recommendations on the ones to grow for early starter and for longer growing season called the maincrop...although we, the newbie don't always think to have both. Sorry I'm babbling on a bit of rubbish.

[momol]

I personally won't be sowing chilies until mid february as they need lots of light and warmth once germinated but if you have grow lamp, it should solve your problem but again it is not very green. If you really want to sow, go for peas and beans as they are ok to be sow now.
All the best,
Momol

[momol]

Veg,

I am not really sure what does it means with early varieties with chillies, as far as i understand, early means it need less time from sowing to flowering but not really meaning earlier sowing, correct me if I am wrong as I am no chili expert.
Is there any way to find out if your Fuego a green house type or for outside ? if it is a green house type, it make sense, most green house farmer in NL ( seedlings producer too) start their seedling from the 1st week of january (you will know it from their glow lamps...) as January is still pretty short day and pretty low in light.

What ever type chillies you grow, they will keep producing if you keep picking the fruit away, and provide them their optimum requirement and infact they are biannial in tropic( some can even live up to 10 years).

Hope it help,
Momol

[Cutecumber]

Chillies and tomatoes are perennials, I believe. They can keep going as long as there is food and water if there is steady warmth & light. I had a tomato plant in the office that I had to kill after three years as I was just sick of it!

I tend to think about different varieties of chillies & tomatoes as taking different lengths of time to mature - some are planted early because they take longer to fruit rather than they like cooler and darker conditions to start with. Other vegetables have varieties which do prefer different temperatures/ seasons, but I don't see this as the case for chillies & toms.

What do you think?