6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed

I don't have experience with this pepper specifically, but my pepper plants are often forming fruit before I plant them out, with no ill effects that I have seen. Last year I know I harvested a few small seranos while they were indoors.

This however, is much earlier than I have ever started them. You should probably pot them up to larger containers if you are going to let them fruit.

The typical suggestion is to remove any flowers so your plants aren't expending energy early setting fruit, but rather directing that energy to roots and stems. They should catch right up and flower again when you do get them outside....I don't think your overall harvest will be any fewer peppers, it seems to be easier on the plants which may then be smaller overall if allowed to fruit under 'less than ideal' conditions. For many of us, hours spent inside are less ideal than outside. (our hobby lights)

1st set of leaves like the 'starter' leaves? Or the first set of true leaves?

I'm no expert, but I think the 1st set are starter/baby leaves, like baby teeth (I like analogies XD). They fall out after true leaves start to form. At least, that's happening for me.

Nearly all seedlings start with a set of them, then their true leaves grow after that. x_x *tries to be helpful and a contributing member!* Posting a picture though will help you get more correct info too.

The image I included is a two week old tomato plant of mine and my 'baby teeth' leaves have begun to curl and die. I think that's normal, but maybe someone will come tell us its not in a while. ^_^

The first leaves that emerge from the soil are cotyledons which supply food to the new plant until it gets its first true leaves. They then dry up and fall off.

Ideally, the cotyledons should remain at soil level. When there is a lot of stem showing below them, it usually means the plants aren't close enough to the light source, and are stretching too much to reach the light. Move the light closer, about one inch from the plants.

With most plants, when you plant them outdoors, bury the stem in the soil right up to where those cotyledons were.

Hi Duncan_Forster and welcome to GardenWeb!

Well, IâÂÂve never grown tea plants before but a quick check on the web indicates that the seeds should be planted one inch deep. That means they donâÂÂt need any light, until they germinate (which should take between one and two months). So for now, donâÂÂt worry about lighting.

As for watering, there should be very light condensation on the inside of the dome. If the condensation runs down the side of the dome, youâÂÂll know youâÂÂre keeping things too wet. Since the seeds take so long to germinate, youâÂÂll have to be very careful about not over-watering. It would probably be helpful to remove the dome altogether for awhile, when you're home and can watch that the germinating medium doesnâÂÂt dry out too much.

For warmth, I understand that the medium should be kept between 70 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit.

Hope this is helpful and I wish you the best with the tea plants!

Art

Ah, thanks so much, that answers my question! It seems I may have watered them a little much so I'll remove the dome and let the soil dry out a bit before replacing it. Thanks for the help, all of the internet sources I looked at were rather unclear about watering.

All the best,
Duncan

The Clothiers Site is great for approx. timelines and suggestions for germinating all types of seed. Understand that these are methods that have worked, and not necessarily the only method that will work.

Not all seeds benefit from stratifying. Most digitalis doesn't need it. Your Rudbeckia hirta may respond well to as short as two weeks moist chill to improve germination, but the R. nitida could be better at approx. 40F for many, many weeks and will germinate while still at those cool temps, that one I would place outside to sprout after preparing the pots, let mother nature provide the temperatures.

Calamintha Blue Cloud may germinate well with no moist chill, but sometimes a brief cold period may improve germination and as little as 2 - 4 weeks can be helpful.

Seeds that need stratifying can be placed in tiny ziplocks (look at Staples, office supply or craft stores) with as little as a teaspoon or two of moist sterile sand or moist vermiculite. Date the bags. A small lidded container in your refrigerator will hold seeds/zip locks for a lot of species ;)

When time to sow, you can sow the contents of the bag, vermiculite and all, no need to try to extract smaller seed...with the sterile medium, you shouldn't have mold. You want damp, like a squeezed out sponge, not soggy.

Here is a link that might be useful: Clothiers database

I agree with morz8, the Clothiers germination database is quite reliable. I depend on it often and I've found it to be quite useful.

Regarding your question about stratification medium, you can use a wide variety of different types. I have used paper towels, cotton facial cleaning pads, children's play sand, various potting soils, pine bark, peat moss, etc. So feel free to experiment with any soil-less media.

One thing to keep in mind, as morz8 mentioned, is to keep your media damp, not wet. If you use coffee filters make sure they are damp to the touch and not dripping wet. If you use polyethylene bags in a refrigerator for cold stratification you will find that your media typically stays damp a long time. If your media is soaking wet then the chances are very good that you will end up with moldy seeds.

One thing that I have done in the past to help reduce the chances of mold during stratification is to soak seeds with hard seedcoats in a weak hydrogen peroxide solution for a couple of hours, then move the seeds to a plain water soak for 24-48 hours. I have found this works well with tree and shrub seeds, and I rarely, if ever, have any mold problems. I have *not* tried this method with veggie or flower seeds so I cannot recommend this to you. However, if you have some surplus seeds and wish to experiment, it might be interesting to do so.

Hope this helps.

TYG

bump down

Very good doc. I found several great books doing a search in Google Books. Once the in "Google Books " screen, select "search tools" and pick "Free Google ebooks".
Try it using the word "gardening".
Some of the great Agricultural books were written many, many years ago and are available.
Bob

You could leave it on for a while, but what I would do is to leave the lid just slightly ajar so that it still helps conserve moisture but also allows the soil to begin drying and the plants to harden off just a tad. In other words a happy-medium might be the best choice.

....and it won't be long before you can remove the lid completely.

Have you checked all the germination databases posted here for the how-to info? I think the list is just a bit further down the page. Lots of info on them so they make excellent bookmarks to have..

Generally grown from cuttings as seed has limited viability time frame. Sow fresh seeds 1 inch deep in very well drained soil and keep barely moist and very warm (77-80 degrees) until germination, which takes 10 to 30 days. Work up in pots and transplant out 5 feet apart. Open pollinated.

Dave