Starting summer chillis

With snow forecast for the weekend here, it may seem strange to be talking about growing chilli peppers. However, in the northern hemisphere, it is important to get chilli peppers started early in order to have any chance with the short summers. Between now and mid March is ideal for starting the seeds indoors with a hope of moving the slow growing small plants outdoors in May or June.

Do not be too ambitious, select medium heat varieties (see below). Starting chilli seeds can be a slow process. Seeds can take 10-15 days to germinate or longer. Seeds are sown just below the surface of compost. They key point then is maintaining a constant damp (not wet) soil and temperature level. A propagator is best for this but sealed inside a plastic bag works also.

When the delicate seedlings appear it is time to move them from the climate controlled environment out into natural light. This involves potting the seedlings up into larger pots and finding them sunlight to sit in. A windowsill away from drafts is good. In recent years artificial lighting has become more available at a reasonable cost. LED lighting is ideal for encouraging the leaf growth at this stage.

Once new leaf growth is established (about 3 weeks) it comes time to pot up again, moving the seedlings to larger pots. Growing chillis from seed requires several stages of potting up. This encourages root growth. Judging this stage involves inspecting the roots in one pot to see if they are well developed and ready for a larger pot. The new pots are then onto a windowsill for the long wait until warm days allow visits outside.

Gardeners like growing chilli peppers because they require quite a bit of attention and fill in the space before real summer planting begins (next month). By sowing new varieties every week for the next month, the gardener can have a considerable range ready when warm weather finally arrives. It is not too late to order some seeds by post and get started on some hot summer chillis.