Germinate pepper seeds: how to do it and care

The best time to germinate your pepper seeds is when temperatures are warm, but not excessively so. around 26 ºC. Depending on the type of climate you live in, this will mean doing it in spring or in the middle of summer, and you may even have to resort to heated germinators in very cold climates.

The most common method to germinate peppers is by seedling, which you can prepare yourself in a polystyrene tray, in coffee cups, perforated yogurt containers or in simple purchased seedlings. follow these steps to germinate pepper seeds in a seedbed:

1. To begin with, it will be necessary to get the seeds, which you can buy at any nursery or directly extract them yourself from a pepper of the variety you are looking for. Choose a good fruit from the best bush or plant you have at your disposal, waiting for it to fully ripen before picking it, when it is completely red. It is also convenient that it is a fruit of the first flowers.
2. Cut the crown or head of the pepper and, carefully and with your hands, extract the seeds and place them on kitchen paper.
3. Let the seeds dry in the sun for about 72 hours before germinating or storing them.
4. Once the seeds have been selected, prepare your seedbed substrate. We recommend using the usual mixture, with one part of peat, another of earthworm humus and a third of coconut fiber, along with a few handfuls of perlite and vermiculite. Fill the seedbed with the mixture, without weighing down the substrate too much, and spread the seeds, covering them later with no more than 1 cm of substrate again.
5. abundantly after this, spraying so as not to drag the seed.
6. If you live in a cold climate you may need to use a heated bed seedling, but in temperate or hot conditions it will not be necessary and it will suffice to place it in a warm and lighted area, but protected from direct sun.

Germinate pepper seeds in water and absorbent paper it is entirely possible and can help ensure that the process is successful.

1. Obtain the seeds as described above, and if they are dried seeds from another season, leave them submerged for 24 hours before starting the process. When you go to collect them, get rid of those that float, which will not germinate.
2. Prepare a tupperware or similar container and add a layer of absorbent paper, on which you must deposit the seeds to germinate.
3. Moisten it and add another layer of absorbent paper, until it is completely moistened but without dripping or soaking.
4. Wrap them in aluminum foil to protect them from light and place the container on top of a gentle heat source, such as a router, without resting on it completely.
5. Open the container once a day to oxygenate or leave it slightly open and moisten again when necessary.
6. In a very short time the roots will have appeared and your seeds will be ready to go to the ground or pot.

Depending on the variety and the method used, times can vary widely. The pre-germination method or with a hot-bed germinator, in less than a week pepper seedlings will begin to appear.

Without them, instead, the pepper can take several weeks to sproutso don’t rush to get rid of your seeds thinking they won’t grow if you’ve used other methods.

follow these easy care for sprouted pepper seeds:

• Once the seeds have germinated, the ideal is to transplant them to a seedbed if they were not already.
• Keep them constantly moist, always without flooding.
• Move them to a warm location with as much light as possible to prevent them from becoming clogged, although always with an incidence of indirect light.

follow these tips for planting peppers:

• When your pepper seedlings measure about 15 cm, they will be ready to be transplanted to their final location, either outdoors or in a pot.
• Peppers need rich soil, so use potted seedling mix, or add humus or compost to the soil if planting outdoors.
• Use pots at least 30 cm deep, with drainage holes.
• Transplant carefully so as not to damage the plant, keeping the seedbed substrate if you do not feel safe removing the small root ball.

Here you can learn much more about how to plant peppers step by step.

These are the main care that your pepper plant needs:

• Light: at least 6 hours of sun, direct incidence.
• Water: they need a lot of humidity, padding is recommended to retain it better. We also recommend reading this other post about When to water plants.
• Temperature: warm, around 25 ºC.
• Tutored: from 20 cm of plant.
• Fertilizer: organic if possible, every 15 days in the warm months.

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