Jay,
Your pepper seedlings are looking so good, lush green and sturdy, how often you feed them with blue water? My re-potted seedlings are not looking that good, I not yet fed them any blue water... looks like its time feed them. I am planting few peppers in ground today, couple of them in WOW. -Chandra

Chandra, I repotted my peppers into Fox Farm's Ocean Forest, and they are looking nice. It has more nutrients, so I don't have to use blue water. It is an expensive mix, so I only buy a bag of it cuz I don't have many seedlings to pot up. You can get it at OKC Organics, if interested.

I also bought some plants at Horn's and they are already setting blooms.

Jay, FANTASTIC looking pepper seedlings. I went thru your album, though, and one particular pepper or tomato was new to me - it was black and furry. Is that an heirloom or hybrid? LOL!

All of your tomatos looked fantastic! Were those last year's fruit?

Susan

Jay, They look great. How can you imagine there ever would be any unkind comments? Your plants always look great.

Today is pepper-planting day here. Any that don't go into the ground will be potted up into larger cups to grow on until it is time to take them to the Spring Fling. I have been waiting for the cold nights to pass, and I think now maybe they have. Our coldest night in the last week was 43 degrees.

Some of my plants already have blooms and are setting peppers, so it definitely is time to put them in the ground. I'm glad today's weather is both warm enough and dry enough because these peppers are going into the lower end of the garden. The tomato plants are hogging all the space on higher ground.

Chandra, Feed the plants and they should perk right up. I feed mine with liquid seaweed once a week as long as they are in the starter mix. Once they are in the ground I don't have to feed them because the soil has enough nutrients to keep them happy.

Dawn

Chandra,
I fed those that were in the tray with BM-2 potting soil the most often. That is a germination mix. It is basically what I call sterile. It was developed for plug trays where they pot up soon after germination. It will work well if you continue to feed them a little. I try to feed at a diluted rate when feeding on a regular basis. I fed the other plants in the trays I held a little long before potting up with blue water also. Once they have went in the 16-18 ounce cups nothing has received a feeding yet. They are doing great and I don't feel need anything. If I have to hold those I potted up first much longer in the cups I will either have to feed them a little or pot up again. I'm happy with the pepper plants. They are where I want them at this time. My tomato plants looked as good but have become a little leggy in the lean to. I have had to restrict the daylight because of heat issues. They will be fine once they get in the ground. I also have a liquid Fox Farm product I may try on some later.

Susan that is a one of a kind "helper". She isn't near the help as her sister was but she feels she needs to inspect and help with most everything I do. She has created herself a spot on the bright sunny days in the lean to under my potting table. Some grass has germinated under it so she has made a bed out of it and will lay there for hours enjoying life. She will get up and venture over for a few pats and some rubbing and then go back. I went into the lean to the other morning to do something right quick before I left. I had left a small opening when I closed the door. She managed to slide it open enough and knew she shouldn't be inside so she went right to her spot. I let her stay till I had to leave and she was very unhappy when I booted her out. I trust her but my "boy's" cat might go in and decide she wants in the house and try to jump through the window between the lean to and the utility room and knock plants over, ect. So I only allow them in the lean to when I'm around.She is 18 years old and a "barn cat". Her and her sister are the only cats I've ever had that I saw kill a rattle snake. For probably close to 15 years there were no snakes on my property. Her sister went to cat heaven two years ago I think it was and she is really slowing down. But overall is in good health and continues to make sure I do things correctly. LOL. Jay

Jay, Your peppers look wonderful....and numerous. I think you may have a few too many, even for a pepper head. LOL

Carol it seemed they started germinating a little slower this year unlike the tomatoes which germinated faster. And maybe after having the pepper germinate so fast it just seemed it took longer. But as you can see there is very few empty cells and most have 2 in them and why I need to get busy potting them up. I'm very happy with them. And feel they should be good sized by the time to plant them in the ground. As you know I keep records of most things I do with my plants. I mainly mentioned the BM-2 because I had mentioned it in the potting mix thread. And thought it might be of interest to some how they grow in it and also what it takes to grow a good plant in it. I learned by stunting 2 trays of maters last year in it. It has been around ten days since I fed them and you can tell the color getting a slight bit of yellow to it. They will take right off though when potted up. Jay

On my way to the garden yesterday to plant peppers, I got distracted by fruit trees groaning under a stupendously heavy load of peaches and plums. So, I went and dragged out the ladder and started thinning. Three or four hours and about 2500 tiny fruit later, I stopped. I think I still need to remove about half of what is left on one plum tree, and another 20% of what is on the other plum tree. I didn't even thin anything off the peach tree, so still need to do that. This tree has borer issues and needs to be cut down, but one side of it has a lot of fruit, so we may leave it until those fruit ripen. Its replacement tree was planted to its east a few weeks ago.

As I was thinning fruit, dark clouds started rolling in and threatening rain with some little rumbles of thunder so I put up the ladder and came inside, figuring there might be lightning with the approaching thunder. Thus, I didn't plant peppers either. I was afraid it would rain heavily and drown them. Today it is indeed raining heavily.

Instead of putting peppers into the ground I guess I'll put some into containers and pot up the rest into larger paper cups. It is raining hard enough here to delay the planting of the peppers by another week or two. I like rain, but not on planting days.

Except for a few tomato plants that will go into more containers (I have 21 in containers already), I've through planting the main crop of tomatoes. I have a late planting of about 8 or 9 varieties that are just a couple of weeks old and they'll go into containers near the end of this month as soon as they get a little bigger. I planted too many tomato plants in the garden which is why the pepper plants don't have a raised bed this year, unless I build them a new raised bed.

Jay, I think my peppers germinated about as quickly as the tomatoes, but the young peppers always seem to grow more slowly when they're in flats. It seems like it has taken them forever to size up. I haven't been feeding them much--sort of haphazardly giving them a little liquid seaweed here and there but not on a consistent schedule.

Since I can't plant anything today, I may pre-soak my main season corn, squash, melon and okra seeds and pre-sprout them inside in baggies. Then I could put them in the wet ground in a couple of days and figure they'll emerge and grow even in the wet ground before they can rot.

I'd say "rain rain, go away, come again another day" but I'm afraid I'd jinx myself and that the rain might go away for too long of a time period.

Dawn