I know the feeling. I have 26 varieties of seeds started, 8 of which have already sprouted. all I gotta do is bring the trays inside the few times it gets cold this "winter". I'd have started the other 15 or so varieties I intend to grow next year, but I gotta drill holes in more cups. I don't do any hardening off. I just start the seeds outdoors, and let them do their thing. it dropped down to the 50s a few times, but all that did was make the seedlings take slightly longer to sprout.

you don't have any problems starting them outdoors? With the weather being what it's been the last week I'd be worried about them drying out and baking... if I put them on my front porch which only gets a little afternoon sun they'd get pretty leggy. how do you get around that?

I've been keeping mine on a heat pad till germination then move outside immediately (back in under the lights when it gets a little too nippy.) so far this is working great for me and I'm a dash north of you guys.

By the way judo, 5 of 6 c. Scorp and 4 of 6 brain strain on my first tray have germinated. I started another six pack of each a couple nights ago.

well, I watered them more often to compensate for the heat. in my limited experience I've found that they like a bit more water as brand new seedlings than they do as adult plants.

I have them in a spot in my back yard that only gets 2-3 hrs of sun each day. as they get a bit older I'll move them out to where they get 4 hrs of morning sun, and 6 hours of filtered sun (oak tree above).

to be fair I don't do it this way because I think it's optimal. I'm doing it this way because I live in a 1 bedroom condo, with no room in my budget for grow lights. so I don't have many other options.

chuck, that's not a bad germination rate, thank you for the update.

Ah ok. Yeah you don't have too many options there. I'll probably just stick to my original heat mat then lights plan til it's time to harden off.

Impatience is the cause of much chile plant mortality........:)

I agree, you must be incredibly patient with Peppers, especially with watering. Peppers Prefer a dryer environment, so be sure to let them dry out before watering again. It is very easy to stunt the growth of a pepper seedling by overwatering.

I learned by trial and error.

This post was edited by Slade122 on Mon, Dec 9, 13 at 11:09

My light fixture arrived today. Ran to the hardware store and got some materials to build a pvc stand for it. In the pic, I just used rope to tie the fixture up temporarily. I should be getting ratcheting rope hangers in the mail shortly to make it super easy to raise and lower the lights. At least doing stuff like this helps with the waiting ;-)

Nothing wrong with a little off-season prep work! Looks great!

I can see you, kaOttic cannot wait. I don't blame you . I can't either. I am germinating already and my SHISHITOES are about 6" tall(started a month ago). A few others are(habs ..) coming along too. The earliest I can take them out would be in April , to my cold frame. Then keep there few weeks before planting.

BTW, I have a similar setup with 3/4" PVC