Pepper seeds planted Hot and Sweet

[KLorentz]

Hi all,

Will I got a good group of pepper seeds planted.Hope to get them in the garden around mid May.It will be a very busy year for me. Still got a few more to plant but sweet peppers are done.


Sweet peppers: Red Ruffled Pimento,Yellow Bell,Cal Wonder,Buran,Purple Bell,Grandpa Stella,Doux d' Espagne,Pimento Blanquino ,Earliest Red Sweet,Canary Belle,King Arthur,Sweet Boy, Napoleon and two as yet unnamed Large bells.

Hot Peppers: Fish,Jamaican Yellow Scotch Bonnet,Bhut Jolokia,Aji Crystal,Fatali,Cayenne Long Red,Serrano,Hidalgo, Jalapeño and Habanero.


Will have more hots planted in a couple days.


Kevin

[GooberStraw]

Originally Posted by KLorentz

Hope to get them in the garden around mid May.

I live in Toronto and I was thinking of putting mine out in the second week of June. This is my first year growing peppers, so maybe I'm being a bit paranoid about making sure they don't get cold feet. I remember reading (can't remember where) that peppers should be planted when the soil temp. is around 55F or above for a few days. Do you use black plastic to warm up the soil a few weeks prior to planting?

[KLorentz]

I really have not felt the need to use black plastic but in climates that tend to be colder I would advise it just to get things going quicker. I think you would be fine for the second week in June but also ask your Department of Agriculture to be sure. I am by no means expert on Canadian climate. I would also ask other Canadian gardeners for advice. Do you have a local garden center that could advise you? This would help you.


Kevin

[remy]

Goober,
Hi neighbor! I used black landscape fabric which is porous unlike black plastic. It works well to warm the soil. I also plant peppers in pots and that works well too. I also keep an eye on the long range forecast. Sometimes the bad weather is gone by the beginning of June.

Kevin,
I planted
Hot- Sandia A, Fish, Red Dominica, Pasilla Bajio, Scotch Bonnet
Sweet/Mild - Doe Hill, IGA(cheese type from Poland,) Zavory
That's it for me. I wanted to plant Beaver Dam also. I thought I had seeds, but I don't.
Remy

[Blueaussi]

Nice spread of heat and sweet, Kevin.

The cold is lingering here, and I've been in a bind for space and light. We're still not getting nights above 50F. Josephine solved the problem, though, we had a puppocalypse last week, and I lost a whole shelf of pepper and tomato seedlings! I've started a bunch over, and I'm planning on buying some replacements. I'm trying to be philosophical about it; she is still a puppy, and I did forget to close the door tightly.

*sigh*

[KLorentz]

Hmmm.Blue it seems we had the same prob but caused by different parties. Mine was my nephew. The plant room is not up and running yet so the kitchen window is temporary spot. Well my nephew went to get a drink and some how manged to knock down two cell packs of my peppers.We managed to save the seeds but they are all mixed now. So I guess I will have a mixed peppers section in the garden Another pack has two tags missing so now I do not know what they are.Lord anything to make my job harder. I know it was an accident but man he could have knocked over something less important Don't worry I didn't bark to much but it was kind of funny after the incident because he was apologizing so much. He really did feel bad.



Kevin

[GooberStraw]

Originally Posted by KLorentz

I really have not felt the need to use black plastic but in climates that tend to be colder I would advise it just to get things going quicker. I think you would be fine for the second week in June but also ask your Department of Agriculture to be sure. I am by no means expert on Canadian climate. I would also ask other Canadian gardeners for advice. Do you have a local garden center that could advise you? This would help you.


Kevin

Thanks for your response, Kevin.

I can't seem to find much info on growing peppers in Canada on our government websites. I was hoping to learn from more experienced pepper growers on this forum who have had experience growing them in colder climates.

[GooberStraw]

Originally Posted by remy

Goober,
Hi neighbor! I used black landscape fabric which is porous unlike black plastic. It works well to warm the soil. I also plant peppers in pots and that works well too. I also keep an eye on the long range forecast. Sometimes the bad weather is gone by the beginning of June.

Remy

Hey Remy,

I'll be growing some in 5-gallon containers as well. The rest gets planted at the front yard, right against the house - it's facing south so I'm hoping it'll help warm up the soil faster.

The black landscape fabric sounds like a good idea, since it is porous. I'd be worried about "cooking" the microbial life in the soil if I were to put down something that doesn't let air & water through. Maybe waiting a week or two is not a bad compromise after all.

[velikipop]

The traditional planting date for southern Ontario is the May long weekend. If night time temperatures are above 10 C then there should be no problem with planting the peppers at that time. Your soil temp is important and I would think that by the end of May it would be warm enough. If you want to use a plastic mulch try the green one sold at Dams Seeds in Flamborough. I use it for melons and peppers and it does provide the extra warmth and will not harm the microbes in your soil.

Alex

[GooberStraw]

I found this post on GW where someone mentions ideal conditions for growing peppers:
(see third post by okiedawn - http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/l...323311328.html)

...Keeping the transplants inside and good and warm until the ground and air temperatures are really, really warm. Plant them in their permanent location only after the soil temp is 55 degrees or above for several consecutive days. (You can speed up the warming-up of the soil by covering it with black plastic for a couple of weeks, but the air temps. need to be warm also.) IF peppers are exposed to soil temps below 55 degrees, the roots can be seriously damaged. The plants may recover and grow just fine, but the pepper production likely will be negatively impacted. I plant peppers about 2 to 3 weeks after I set out tomatoes in a normal year (i.e., when I set out tomatoes on time, not early).

I don't know if the soil and air temp are warm enough to plant peppers out by the end of May here in Ontario. I plan on measuring daily soil temp starting the end of May just to be on the safe side. My tomatoes go out around the first week of June. Since this is my first year growing peppers, I'd rather err on the side of caution. I have about 30 pepper plants and I'd hate to lose productivity in the rush to get them outside.

[Blueaussi]

Well, Josephine was not in the least apologetic. She was so excited! "Look, look, I can dig in the house!" "Look, look, I put these little plastic things all over the bed!" There wasn't a single plant I could salvage.

[rxkeith]

i lived in the U.P. for 10 years and never had a problem getting a pepper crop. this is a place where you have to worry about frost the 3rd week of june. they sit there for a couple weeks till it gets warmer then they will generally take off. i was always too lazy or too cheap to get any black plastic or landscaping fabric.


keith

[korney19]

Remy, let me know how your germination is on Pasilla Bajio, mine are going on 2 weeks now and none showed up yet. Maybe we can trade--Beaver Dams are up!