Chilli seeds - propagation

[ugley_matt]

I've just checked my tomatoes and they look very similar so i guess its time to prick the leggy ones out.

Sorry to hijack your thread but, is it a general rule for all plants that once the seedling has broken through you need to reduce the temperature and give them even light. The theory being you want them to be nice and compact and sturdy, so a little bit cooler and light will do the trick?

[Hockeynut]

You would be better with J.I. Seed compost for seed sowing - that has the least nutrients (and seeds don't need any / much). J.I. No 1 is the "weakest" and No 3 the "strongest", so perhaps you have them in the wrong sequence?

You're right, I got the compost the wrong way around when I wrote on here. And it is seed compost I have at the moment.

Would you stick to seed for putting them into their first pots? Or move onto No1?

My future inlaws bought me back a pressie from the Edible Garden Show... A Dorset Naga seedling!

[FionaH]

I've just checked my tomatoes and they look very similar so i guess its time to prick the leggy ones out.

Sorry to hijack your thread but, is it a general rule for all plants that once the seedling has broken through you need to reduce the temperature and give them even light. The theory being you want them to be nice and compact and sturdy, so a little bit cooler and light will do the trick?

Yeah pretty much. I take plants out of the prop as soon as they break the surface

[Kristen]

Would you stick to seed for putting them into their first pots? Or move onto No1?

Best to move on to J.I. No. 1 at that point (or multi-purpose). J.I. tends to be more expensive than multi-purpose, and I fine multi-purpose works well for getting seedlings into baby plants

But for things in long-term pots I much prefer a compost with some soil in it - e.g. J.I. No 3

[VirginVegGrower]

Completely OT - but I used to be a regular in roller snakes in notts, spent so much there on inline kit. Moved over to ice now though! G'luck with the seedlings

Hey are you Christopher Dean really? Sneaky!

[Two_Sheds]

is it a general rule for all plants that once the seedling has broken through you need to reduce the temperature and give them even light.

Yes. In the wild, in ideal surroundings, the plant will germinate at the right time for the conditions, ie when it's warm & light enough for growth.

In gardening we are forcing the seeds to be a bit unnatural, so we need to replicate the ideal conditions as far as possible.
When we plant veg indoors we aren't giving them enough light (a sunny day outside is about 100,000 lux and a flourescently lit office is only about 400 lux) , so they grow leggy. If we give them too much warmth in the absence of enough light, they will get even leggier (and weaker)

[Newton]

Yes. In the wild, in ideal surroundings, the plant will germinate at the right time for the conditions, ie when it's warm & light enough for growth.

In gardening we are forcing the seeds to be a bit unnatural, so we need to replicate the ideal conditions as far as possible.
When we plant veg indoors we aren't giving them enough light (a sunny day outside is about 100,000 lux and a flourescently lit office is only about 400 lux) , so they grow leggy. If we give them too much warmth in the absence of enough light, they will get even leggier (and weaker)

How then do you grow on the chillis in the house as I hear that you can grow them successfully on the windowsill. But i note your earlier comment about keeping them at 16 degrees day and night and windowsills getting rather cold at night.

I have just popped a few of mine back in my Vitopod to ensure a constant temperature at night. but will the light be sufficient??

confused but exited of Wirral

[chilliking]

heat and lots of light are the main requirements of chillies.

Heat - moving them away from windowsill at night is a very good idea and something i do every night at this time of year.

Light - at this time of the year a south facing windowsill may not provide enough light due to both the cloudy days and shortish days.

At this time of the year i supplement my chillies using regular fluorescent tube lights. key is to get the seedlings near the tubes (about 15cm away).

here's the setup i use:
let there be light | The Chilli King

the light these tubes give off should help avoid leggy plants and give them enough light to grow strongly until the days get longer and sunnier. i just realised our new house has tube lights under the kitchen cupboards so now at night i move the seeds trays from the windowsill to under the kitchen cupboards ;-)

of course if you are a bit more serious (and richer!) you can invest in a proper grow light. i use a 125Watt CFL (more details here: Grow Lights for Chillies | The Chilli King)

Also the variety you grow can make a big difference. Easy to grow varieties like Cayenne, Apache and Jalapeno will be much more tolerant of things like lack of light than habaneros for example.

[Kristen]

At this time of the year i supplement my chillies using regular fluorescent tube lights. key is to get the seedlings near the tubes (about 15cm away).

I reckon fluorescent tubes need to be quite a lot closer to seedlings than that. Assuming they are cold (well, "not hot") I think 2cm would be enough - the light benefit to plants from fluorescent tubes falls off very rapidly with distance (much less so with Metal Halide, for example)

[Hockeynut]

Wow, thanks for the great replies. Well just over a week ago, I planted a couple more sets of seeds, some Apaches and some Joes Long. This morning the Joes Long are starting to come through.

See attachment for image.

What should I be doing at this stage, I've opened the vent slightly, but not fully yet (as some seeds haven't come up yet. And I've still kept it covered up, so no light yet. I was thinking it was best to wait until more of the seeds have popped above the surface.

So should I be taking these out to pot on already into 10cm pots? And if I should, should I take them without soil at this stage, just bare?

Sorry for so many questions.

HN

[chilliking]

don't move them until they are a bit bigger and slightly less fragile. if possible get you propagator onto a windowsill to give the seedlings some light. or you can try and use artificial light.

i just wrote a blog post about how i sometimes use existing light sources at the early stages - useful if you haven't got purpose built grow lights: Grow Lights on the Cheap | The Chilli King