i could use some guidance

[tjg911]

i'm not sure how to proceed and would appreciate some info from those that have done this.

background - if you read this thread you will see all the data about these plants from day 1 in the 1st post http://www.thehotpep...970#entry525970 but i will summarize things below.

• i started some fatali seeds on 9/25/11 to check for germination.
• i transplanted some into a 6 pack on 10/17/11 to monitor how they would grow, i never started peppers from seed before and really had no idea what to expect and had no intention of keeping them for too long.
• well i just couldn't bring myself to tossing them so on 11/14 transplanted the 4 largest into 4" X 4" X 4 1/2" (deep) pots with promix. i kept them in a south window if it was sunny or put them under a 4' shop light, 2 cool T8 tubes if it was cloudy.
• i have never added anything to the pots except water (ie they have never been fertilized) and i am doing that just 2 times a week. each plant was getting 1/3 of a cup of water 2x a week. one started to wilt so i increased the water from 1/3 to 2/3 of a cup 2x a week for each plant.

it is warm in here as i heat with a wood stove, typically it is 70-74 and sometimes upper 70's so they are not cold. up to a week ago all was well but i felt that the sun was so weak that it may be better to keep them under the shop light even on sunny days. the shop light is 2" above the top of the plants. they get 16 hours of light either sun or shop light and 8 hours no light. i decided that the sun was too weak because i noticed that the leaves were lighter green than they had been a couple of weeks ago. i see some yellowing in the leaves, not obvious but if you look the leaves are getting a little yellowish green. now from experience with other vegetables this would indicate that they are way too root bound and need to be transplanted into a larger container or they need some fertilizing. i assume the lightening of the green and the yellowish tint is a lack of nitrogen not a problem with being root bound, i see no roots coming out of the bottom of the pots.

i question whether should fertilize them or are they root bound and need to be put into larger pots? i use nature's harvest fish and seaweed emulsion which is 2-3-1. the plants are 4" tall and the upper leaf spread on all 4 plants is 5" wide. i'm concerned that fertilizing them will cause them to grow larger and require transplanting into a larger pot. i can't plant these outside until memorial day, so i'm looking at 5 full months to go! i know people bring in established pepper plants at the end of the season and sometimes multiple years but these are plants i started in late september. i hope i don't have to transplant them into larger containers cuz i am restricted to how high i can raise the shop light tho it is possible to drop them down to a lower level if they need to be in a larger pot and get a lot taller.

i need some advice from people that have done this before.

thanks.

tom