I bought a tricolore ornamental pepper tree last spring, and after the peppers had dried and fallen off, I left them in the pot. Now, to my surprise this spring, what I initially thought were weeds in the pot were little baby pepper trees! So I pulled them out of the mom's pot and replanted them in their own containers. I did a bit of reading on them, and they seem to be pretty straightforward. My one question is that because I didn't expect the seeds to propagate, I didn't take them out of the fruit's dried case. So as you can see in the picture, I have clusters of plants in each pot. I don't want to damage them, so should I just let the plants fight it out and give survival to the fittest seed? And any other tips for working with these babies? I read that you should use soil-less potting mix. Is that necessary? I'm currently using Miracle-Gro Seed Starting Mix, but it doesn't say that it's specifically soil-less. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

If you wish to easily thin your seedlings and don't want to risk separating the crowded emerging roots, use small scissors. Snip off all but the strongest.