Just wondering what I should do because it isn't going to be warm enough for another month and a half before I can take them outside to their final resting pot
by SAMPLE_TEXT6643
6 Comments
jack_begin
These are lush! Seriously, they’re bigger than some of the starts you see at garden stores in May. When did you plant these?
Melodic_Survey_4712
Topping them is an option to buy you a little time which will cause them to bush out. I personally prefer to not top peppers but I’ve done it when I was in this situation because it takes them a little while to start growing again from the side nodes. Alternatively you could place peppers in every sunny window you have. They probably won’t be the happiest without a grow light but should survive until they can go outside. They might get a bit leggy this way and need support immediately once you transplant but they should recover once they are outside in full sun and getting hit by the wind
Washedurhairlately
Sell extras on FB Marketplace and recoup a little cash.
Don’t know if you have room to expand or not, but if you do, a wire rack shelf can handle multiple lights/trays.
I ended up buying a 6 ft shelf when I ran out of S. facing windowsill real estate. I set up my first grow light that a family member gave me, then ended up buying three more as space ran out under each light. Then I ended up buying 2 more grow lights when all 4 of the others were occupied. I was anticipating warmer weather as the average last frost date for my area (8b) is 3/12 and had cleared shelf space, but then yesterday temps dropped back into the low 40’s, so I had to move all the plants that weren’t in the raised beds back indoors. ::sigh:: The raised bed plants should be fine as they have a 3″ layer of pine needle mulch to preserve warmth in the soil, but even my six weeks before frost date no longer seedlings are getting too big for indoors.
NecessaryRaspberry58
Me too. I’m over here just constantly adjusting trying to keep them all happy
Ajiconfusion
To keep them from getting stunted and stressed I’d prune the tops off, about 8 leaves up the plant. I’ve noticed no discernible difference between letting grow as is and topping. For everything smaller than a bell pepper, I’ve gotten comparable harvests, and overall plant health is about the same.
6 Comments
These are lush! Seriously, they’re bigger than some of the starts you see at garden stores in May. When did you plant these?
Topping them is an option to buy you a little time which will cause them to bush out. I personally prefer to not top peppers but I’ve done it when I was in this situation because it takes them a little while to start growing again from the side nodes. Alternatively you could place peppers in every sunny window you have. They probably won’t be the happiest without a grow light but should survive until they can go outside. They might get a bit leggy this way and need support immediately once you transplant but they should recover once they are outside in full sun and getting hit by the wind
Sell extras on FB Marketplace and recoup a little cash.
Don’t know if you have room to expand or not, but if you do, a wire rack shelf can handle multiple lights/trays.
I ended up buying a 6 ft shelf when I ran out of S. facing windowsill real estate. I set up my first grow light that a family member gave me, then ended up buying three more as space ran out under each light. Then I ended up buying 2 more grow lights when all 4 of the others were occupied. I was anticipating warmer weather as the average last frost date for my area (8b) is 3/12 and had cleared shelf space, but then yesterday temps dropped back into the low 40’s, so I had to move all the plants that weren’t in the raised beds back indoors. ::sigh:: The raised bed plants should be fine as they have a 3″ layer of pine needle mulch to preserve warmth in the soil, but even my six weeks before frost date no longer seedlings are getting too big for indoors.
Me too. I’m over here just constantly adjusting trying to keep them all happy
To keep them from getting stunted and stressed I’d prune the tops off, about 8 leaves up the plant. I’ve noticed no discernible difference between letting grow as is and topping. For everything smaller than a bell pepper, I’ve gotten comparable harvests, and overall plant health is about the same.
Chop chop