Seeding Early Peppers and Tomatoes

[OpenSights]

This year i got my seeds started early. I put them in the 3rd week of January. I am reaping the benefits this year in my green house with already eating peppers and many tomatoes hanging already.

Other main help i had this year is a drip system for watering. The plants love the constant small watering every 2nd day.

The last few years we would be away most weekends at the cabin and they get neglected. Which was hard on them.

Do any of you seed this early normally?

[dodgeboy1979]

I start my seeds that early in the garage. I have a few grow lights on a timer. The flowers i started this year are going absolutely nuts right now. My tomatoes have hangers but nothing ripe yet and my jalapenos are flowering real good.

[JoshT]

Might have to try that next year with grow lights. Last year and this year; peppers have been a bust for me! Tried starting them early indoors last year but don't have any really good south facing windows.
My bell peppers this year aren't even a foot tall yet so I've all but given up.

How did you set your drip system up? Next year I'm gonna a get a small deck green house just for my peppers. They say the hotter the pepper the longer the growing season they need.

[LeroyvdH]

Bought the LED grow lights from Costco.. Might try and grab a couple plants from the garden and go all winter..

[dodgeboy1979]

Amazon has decent prices on grow lights.

[OpenSights]

I have some grow lights that I set to be on for 8 hrs a day once the seeds popped up.

I looked at the dip systems at HD and CT. They are cheap.

So I bought a timer that plumbs into the hose bib. I set it to turn on every 2nd day for 2 mins.

Then I just plumbed PEX line to all the pots and beds in my green house. I plant the same orientation of tomatoes and peppers each year. So where there is a plant I just drilled a 1/32" 4 times in the PEX above the plant locations.

I put caps on each run to blow the water out in the fall.

The PEX can take a lot more abuse taking planting and moving stuff around as I prune the tomatoes. It will last forever.

I have ate about 6-8" long Hungarian wax peppers and some chilies are red already.

I eat most of the milder ones. The Hot ones I smoke and grind up for spice when making sausage in the fall. Usually about 3 grocery bags of peppers once dried and smoked ends up with about 2-3 cups of smoked hot powdery goodness for all the meat.

[walleyechaser]

Originally Posted by OpenSights

This year i got my seeds started early. I put them in the 3rd week of January. I am reaping the benefits this year in my green house with already eating peppers and many tomatoes hanging already.

Other main help i had this year is a drip system for watering. The plants love the constant small watering every 2nd day.

The last few years we would be away most weekends at the cabin and they get neglected. Which was hard on them.

Do any of you seed this early normally?

Yeah my super hots I usually start in December. Anuums in January. Tomatoes in Februaryish. Peppers need a long growing season, the hotter the pepper the longer it takes. Chinense varieties are notorious slow growing

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[Red Bullets]

Years ago a family I knew by Leduc started watermelons in Dec/January indoors and put them outdoors the end of May. Pretty sure they watered regularly outdoors too. They had nice small watermelons in the fall.