Anyone germinating chillies yet??

[Philthy]

As binley100 said..

They're too warm with insufficient light. I'd move them off the radiator and onto a window sill. If you have curtains, be aware that closing them on a cold night can sometimes create a cold pocket between them and the window which won't do your seedlings any favours. Turn the tray 180 degrees every few days. In the absence of grow lights, you want to aim for good, natural light, but fairly cool temperature, so the seedlings grow steadily but strongly (they'll pick up pace anyway as spring approaches). Don't over water; the seedlings are still at a very vunerable stage.
Don't worry to much about them being leggy. When you come to re-pot, just bury the stems up to the first pair of leaves in compost; over time the buried stem should sprout additional roots, which is only a positive thing.

[Chiiliwilly]

Cheers guys. Yeah I'm planing to bury the unwanted leggyness so they ain't as lanky, cheers for the time Philthy, they are now on the window. I grown three plants last year but they were given to me by my brother so this is my first germination experience, two of my plants are over wintered and hopefully should get an even better harvest than last

[The Cobra]

Well I came in for a bit of a shock yesterday. As described in other posts, I started to germinate 4 types of chilli in dishes of compost and covered with clingfilm. Then I invested in a heated prop and sowed a further load of chilli seeds, but left the ones under the clingfilm. Came in yesterday and there were sexy little shoots from the Naga Jolokia seeds! I thought these would have been the last to germinate (not sure why, maybe I'm thinking the hotter the chilli, the harder it is to germinate???). So I'm over the moon, and if the others do the same I'm gonna have a fair few chilli plants going this summer!

[The Cobra]

Just another point - thanks to all you guys with the excellent tips and advice, I've learnt so much from this forum so a big thankyou

[PyreneesPlot]

First jalapeno has appeared this morning.
They are in an unheated prop in the living room so having to cope with dropping to 17 or 18 overnight, although I do sometimes remember to throw a throw over the prop at night.

[Chiiliwilly]

Do any of these guys need potting on you reckon? I've taken the plastic cover off for the picture and also turned the tray round. I feel like I'm in a hury as I've planted 2 seeds in each cell except for the last 4 cells where I put a few in each. My scotch bonnets are catching up a little and don't seem to look as leggy so far. The weather is so horrid!!

[Kristen]

Do any of these guys need potting on you reckon?

I think they need more light I'm afraid.

Do you have a supplemental lighting rig? Sowing this early in the year is difficult as they need heat, that makes them grow, and they then need decent light to sustain that growth.

Don't pot them on. Potting on will put them in a bigger pot, that will mean more soil, and moisture, for the roots to have to drink, and it will be very hard (with a small plant) to get the watering right, and not to overwater.

They don't look good as tall / leggy as that and I think they will be too weak to grow well. You could replant them, in the same size modules as they are in, planting them up to the first seed-leaves, but I don't think you will have enough depth available. Or wait until they have filled the modules with a decent amount of root, and then pot them on (deep) but you will need a tall but narrow container.

In the meantime they need a lot more light I reckon.

[Chiiliwilly]

Spot lights?

No Kristen I havnt got a lighting rig, I mentioned in an earlier comment that I'll be getting all the propper stuff next year as I've got a little commitment on the way lol.
Yeah I'll take your advice on lowering them in the soil, all's I could use for supplemental lighting are the spot lights through out the house and I could put them as close as needed to be?? the lights bring off quiet abit of heat also so probs wouldn't put them too close. Cheers

[Chilli-head Huw]

I did that last weekend. Put some seeds from chillis I grew last year on some damp kitchen paper, left them in the airing cupboard for a couple of days and planted the seeds in jiffy plugs on sunday. The seeds were softer and I could see the bit where the root will come out from. Hopefully they will start to show in the next few days. Will let you know if they do.

[Kristen]

all's I could use for supplemental lighting are the spot lights through out the house and I could put them as close as needed to be?? the lights bring off quiet abit of heat also so probs wouldn't put them too close. Cheers

Worth a try. You can try holding the back of your hand under the lights. You need to hold it still for a while - half a minute or so. If it doesn't feel hot to the back of your hand then the plants will be OK at that distance.

Watch out in case the plants dry out more quickly than before.

I'm not sure those leggy seedlings will make it, but worth a try with the lights.

[Chiiliwilly]

Ill give it a try and if they don't make it hopefully the scotch bonnets which ain't as tall will be ok, a couple still haven't popped out yet. And if that fails then ill just get some new seeds and sow them later on. Thanks

[Chiiliwilly]

What you think?

I'm going to see how this goes and if all fails I'll start again later on.

[Chiiliwilly]

Might put them a bit closer to the light tomorrow when I actually start to use the light on them, not sure if to leave the lid on or off so for now it's on.

[Kristen]

They need to be as close as you can get them without the heat from the light burning them - that might be only a couple of inches.

The "power" of light falls off according to the inverse square law - so double the distance and you only get 1/4 of the "power" of the light.

[Chiiliwilly]

Ok thanks Kristen