when to plant sprouted chilli seeds

[mic]

hi

ive germinated 3 seeds on the radiator, have just checked and all 3 have little shoots coming from the bottom (i assume bottom). should i leave them to grow a bit more or are they ready for planting now? i dont want to waste the seeds if they need more time, but also itching to use the grow lights!

cheers

[Small pumpkin]

Plant them now.

[Small pumpkin]

I should of also said cover the seed with a thin layer of compost as you would if you were sowing the seeds.
And to give them the very best start put your pots of compost on the heater or in the airing cupboard to warm up a little before you put your seedlings in.

[mic]

done. have covered with a little soil but not deep. i did take surface soil from a planter in the greenhouse, so although not heated at least its not cold damp like out of the bag.

cheers

[mic]

how high would they grow under a light, roughly? inch a week? month?

[Mitzi]

how high would they grow under a light, roughly? inch a week? month?

It depends what variety they are. Some, especially chinenses, grow really slowly for the first few weeks and then suddenly take off, whereas some of the annuums and baccatums shoot up right from the off.

If you have a south-facing windowsill, you probably don't need grow lights at this time of year. They are extremely useful in January / February when we have really short days, though.

[mic]

Carolina reapers they are. And no, I'm using the only window vaguely south facing and only get a few hours of sun in the afternoon

[Mitzi]

OK well my Reapers, started off really compact growing a few pairs of leaves but hardly gaining any height at all, for weeks. Then whoosh, up they shot. I topped one and the other one is the tallest of all my plants now.

[Mitzi]

This post shows the first couple of weeks' growth after potting up (the Reaper is in the green bottle.) The tall plant at the left is an annuum so you can see that they grow much faster. I potted up (from a Jiffy 7) when the first true leaves had come through, so the plant was already a few weeks old.

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ml#post1507684

It's a bit late in the year for sowing Reapers so I hope they grow well for you and you get some pods.

I'd recommend giving them as much natural light as you can, once they're up, because unless you have ridiculously powerful grow lights, the sun will be stronger than the lights at this time of year and for the next few months as we move towards maximum day length. I "migrate" all my plants on to windowsills in the morning and move them back under the lights when I get home, so they get a few hours supplemental light in the evenings. Once I pot them up into their final pots, I'll stop doing that and they will live on the windowsills full time.

[mic]

normal pepper plants went in the greenhouse when they had 4 leaves and are growing well, ill do the same with the reapers then. yours look great thanks for that

[Mitzi]

Mine are getting on for 2 foot tall now!

[mic]

nice!

planter i was gonna use are filled with water at the bottom, will that be too wet?! should it be in drained soil?

[Mitzi]

Like Mary Berry's cakes, chillies don't like to have soggy bottoms. You definitely need drainage holes.

[Mitzi]

There's lots of advice and far more knowledgeable people than I, who hang out on the Chillies - Growing and Overwintering thread. Come over and join in!