Spice up your harvest

Are you sowing any spiciness this year? January is a great time to get excited about this year's gardening season. In our hardiness zone (NL: 8-10) you can pre-sow the chili peppers now to have a longer harvest season.

Beautiful harvest of chilipeppers at Stadsboerderij Osdorp in Amsterdam

Follow these steps for successful growing:

1. SEEDS

Have a look at your seed collection, sort out and find those chili saved seeds or buy your organic free seeds (avoid F1/hybrid if you want to save seeds).

CAREFUL: Seeds can be superspicy; while sowing don’t touch your eyes and wash your hands well when ready!

2. SOIL

Mix your own used soil with compost and a bit of sand or buy organic peat free potting soil. Make sure it’s not lumpy.

3. POTS, TRAY, CHOPSTICKS

This is why you’ve been saving those used plastic pots and trays and wooden chopsticks! The tray is useful for catching dirt and water. Grow a few extra plants for back-up and sharing seedlings later on.

4. NAMETAGS & MISTER

Really important to always name your seedlings. You think you’ll remember but we tend to forget. Writing on the pots with a white permanent marker works well also. The mister helps to prevent “swimming seeds” when watering (see below).

Optional:

HEATING MAT

Chilipepper seeds have a germination temperature of 23-27*C so they need some warming up. A windowsill above a central heating usually does the trick. Don’t have central heating? Use a vivarium heating mat. These can often be found at online 2nd hand websites (check reptile mats).

GROWING LIGHT

After germination, to boost the daylight you can use a growing light.

All set? Let’s go!

Fill your pots with the soil(mix) -without pressing down- right up to the edge. Tap the pot gently to compact it slightly - you want to keep it airy for the tiny roots to easily find their way. The soil level will lower when you start watering.
Water the pots before sowing so seeds won’t be swimming around. Use a spray head or water mister.
Make small holes of max. 1 cm deep with a (chop)stick (seed depth is 2,5 x size of the seed). Per P9 pot (9 x 9 cm) you can do 3-5 seeds. Thin out the smallest/weakest when they come up and if roots start coming from the bottom they need repotting in single pots! You can also use a seed tray.
Drop one seed in each hole.
Write your name tags -you can also include the sowing date- and add to the pot.
Close the holes and gently pat the surface making sure no lumpy soil is on top.
Mist (or very gently water) the surface so seeds will connect with the soil all around.
Place your pots in a tray to catch the water and put it in your warm spot of choice.
Make sure the soil stays moist, with the extra heating they will dry out faster.

After about 7-12 days first sightings of the seedlings can be expected. After germination the heating is no longer necessary. Move them to a place with maximal sunlight. Tease your chilibabies daily to imitate a light breeze, it helps prevent them getting leggy. If needed transplant to individual containers and add a stick for stability (loosely tied).

If you have a greenhouse they can be planted out in April. Going outside in the garden? Wait until the last night frosts have passed (NL: 15 May). Include the added wooden stick to help them grow tall and strong.

Enjoy your first spicy harvest in early July!
And don’t forget to save early pickings for seeds. We look forward to your comments.

Want to know more about F1/Hybrid seeds?