When to Thin Pepper Seedlings for Optimal Growth

How to keep your pepper plants healthy and productive

• Consistent soil moisture levels produce the best quality fruit. Flowers and small fruits are weaker when the soil isn’t moist enough, and peppers can get blossom-end rot.
• Avoid overhead sprinkling. Wet leaves are more disease prone. Soil splashed up onto the leaves can contain disease spores.
• A light sprinkle that only wets the soil’s surface can make roots grow shallowly, make the crop more susceptible to heat and drought stress, and lower the quality of the fruit.
• If the plant doesn’t get an inch of rain a week, soak the soil well at least once a week.
• You should water more than once a week if your soil is sandy.

• Weeds can be killed before they become a problem by hoeing or troweling the soil often and shallowly.
• Only till the soil so deeply that the weeds are cut off below the surface.
• Black plastic mulch is good for peppers because it warms the soil, keeps it moist, and reduces the competition from weeds.
• Three to four inches of mulch made of herbicide-free grass clippings, weed-free straw, or other organic material can help stop weeds from growing, so you don’t have to cultivate as often.

• Wear gloves when picking hot peppers. When you touch hot peppers, go to the bathroom, or touch your eyes, wash your hands. Even sweet peppers may contain enough capsaicin to irritate skin.
• Harvest peppers when they have reached mature size.
• You don’t have to wait until the peppers turn red to pick them. Many types are good both when they are green and when they are ripe. If you want green peppers, use jalapenos, and if you want yellow peppers, use Hungarian wax peppers.
• Some types of pepper have fruits that are easy to pull off the plant. To get most of the peppers, cut off the stem with sharp shears.
• Flowers and fruit will keep coming from the plants as you continue to harvest.
• Peppers can be kept in the fridge for at least a week. They don’t like being cold, and if they’re kept in the fridge for too long, their skins may get pits.
• There are many ways to preserve your pepper harvest.

A quick guide to peppers

• Plant pepper seeds indoors about eight weeks before you want to plant them outside.
• Pick strong plants up to a foot tall when you go to a garden center.
• Transplant outdoors after nighttime low temperatures are above 50°F.
• Black plastic mulch will keep the soil warm, stop weeds from growing, and keep it moist.

Peppers (Capsicum annum, C. chinense) can be small or big, green, yellow, orange, red, purple, or brown, and they can be sweet or hot.

Sweet peppers include banana, bell, cherry and pimiento types. Hot peppers include ancho, chili, habanero, jalapeño, hot banana and serrano types.

The compound that makes peppers taste hot is capsaicin and is in the seeds and the whitish membrane inside the fruits. Removing the seeds and membrane before cooking or eating raw reduces the hotness of peppers.

• Have your soil tested to determine pH.
• Peppers do best in soil with pH between 6. 5 and 7. Use potassium (K) and phosphorus (P) as directed by the soil test. Many Minnesota soils have enough phosphorus. Use a low- or no-phosphorus fertilizer unless your soil test report says that you need to add more phosphorus. When plants get too much nitrogen, they become bushy, leafy, and slow to bear fruit.
• If the fertilizer you use has a weed killer in it (like “Weed and Feed”), it could kill your vegetable plants.
• If you want to make your soil better, add compost or well-rotted manure in the spring or fall. Do not use fresh manure because it could have bacteria that are bad for you and make weed problems worse.

If you buy plants from a garden center, choose sturdy plants up to a foot tall. Stems at the garden center should be at least pencil-width wide, and leaves should be close together on the stem. Do not buy plants with spots on their leaves because they could make your garden more likely to get diseases.

If you buy plants from a mail-order catalog, you may need to keep them indoors until it is time to set them out. Treat them as if you had started them yourself.

Check the “Days to Maturity” or “Days to Harvest” estimate in the seed or plant description.

Look for peppers described as “widely adapted” and “cold tolerant.” Some seed catalogs will classify their offerings, pointing out varieties that are the best choices for northern gardeners.

In general, smaller-fruited peppers are more tolerant of both cool and hot temperatures, so while you may enjoy the challenge of growing big bell peppers, planting some smaller sweet peppers will result in a more satisfying harvest.

• If you have had disease problems in the garden in the past, picking a variety that is resistant or tolerant to the disease is a good way to stop it from happening again.
• A resistant variety will not become diseased.
• It is possible for a disease to spread to a tolerant variety, but it will take longer and be less serious.
• Codes in seed catalogs let you know which pepper varieties are resistant to or tolerant of different diseases.
• This information is written on the signs at some garden centers and big box stores.
• The Cornell University Disease Resistant Vegetable Varieties page has a full list of all the different kinds.

Start pepper seeds about eight weeks before planting outside. This is earlier than you would normally start tomato seeds.

• Plant seeds 1/4 inch deep in flats with sterile, soilless germination mix.
• Keep the flat between 80°F and 90°F with a heating mat until the seedlings come up. Keep an eye on the moisture level of the potting mix because heating mats will dry it out faster.
• A soil temperature of 70°F is ideal. Warm soil is better than cool.
• Provide bright overhead light for the seedlings.
• Once the true leaves show, thin or move the seedlings so they are two to three inches apart. Without enough bright light coming straight down from above, the little plants’ stems will get longer and lean over.
• Pepper plants may start to flower while still indoors. Pinch off the groups of flower buds until you are ready to put the plants in the garden.
• When plants are six to eight weeks old and four to five inches tall, water them less.
• Place plants outside where they can get some sun and protection from the wind.
• Over the next week or two, slowly expose them to more sunlight. If the temperature at night drops below 55°F, bring them inside. White flower on sweet pepper plant .

• Pick a spot in your garden where you haven’t grown peas, eggplants, tomatoes, or tomatillos in the last three or four years.
• Pepper plants should be 18 inches apart and 30 to 36 inches apart in rows.
• Grow plants closer together if temperatures are below 60°F. Closer spacing requires fertilizer at planting and during the summer.

• Transplant outdoors after nighttime low temperatures are above 50°F.
• Temperatures above 90°F, dry soil, or nights below 60°F or above 70°F can all hurt plant growth.
• Transplant in late afternoon or on a cloudy, calm day.
• When it’s been warm and sunny, pepper tastes its best. When fruit ripens in cool or cloudy weather, it won’t taste as good.
• Fruits are also vulnerable to sunburn. If there aren’t enough leaves to cover the fruit and keep it out of the sun when it’s hot and dry, white spots show up on them.

Bulgarian carrot pepper plant

• Water plants well before transplanting.
• Transplant seedlings grown in separate containers without disturbing the roots.
• When moving seedlings in peat pots, make sure the top edge of the pot is not above the soil. If it is, the pot will act like a wick and quickly pull water from the root ball, which will stress the plant.
• Put pepper seedlings in the garden so that the shoots are at the same level as they were before they were moved.
• Make a hole big enough for the transplant’s root ball with a hand shovel.
• Firm the soil around the roots and water the transplant.

5 Pepper Seedlings Mistakes You Don’t Want To Make – Pepper Geek

FAQ

How tall should seedlings be before thinning?

Before you thin the seedlings, they should have at least two sets of true leaves and be about 3 to 4 inches tall. But don’t wait too long to thin them. If you procrastinate too long, the intertwining roots may cause damage to the remaining seedlings during the thinning process.

When to trim pepper seedlings?

The first time to prune pepper plants is right after planting them because this will encourage the plants to become more resilient. Not only that, right after planting is the best time because you can start shaping them into how you would want in their early stages.

Do peppers need to be thinned?

If you plant seeds in hills in the field, be very careful when you thin them, especially if the seedlings are thick, so you don’t hurt the roots of the plants you want to keep. When possible, irrigation is advised after thinning to prevent wilting. “.

How big should pepper seedlings be before planting?

Harden off the seedlings before transplanting. When the seedlings are about 7–8 weeks old, they should be 6–8″ tall. Ideally, they will have some buds but no open flowers. Harden off the plants by decreasing the day temperature to 60–65°F (16–18°C) for 1 week before transplanting.

When should seedlings be thinned?

Knowing when to thin out seedlings is crucial for a healthy and productive garden. I’ve found that seedlings should be thinned once they are a few inches tall and have at least two sets of true leaves—not just the initial seed leaves, or cotyledons. This gives each plant sufficient room to grow without competing for light, nutrients, and moisture.

Do pepper seeds need germination?

Check your pepper seeds daily for germination because they’ll need attention after they sprout. Here’s what to do once your indoor seedlings are standing upright: Remove the humidity dome (lid). (See note) Removing the lid and heat mat keeps seedlings from getting too hot. Overly warm temperatures can make young plants grow tall and leggy (frail).

Are pepper seedlings hard to start?

Pepper seedlings are not hard to start, but they are somewhat picky. And because the quality of the transplants can affect the yield, you will want to pay extra attention to what your young pepper plants need. Here are some tips for getting your pepper seedlings off to a healthy start.

Do pepper seeds need potting soil?

Use seed-starting mix as the “soil” when germinating seeds or transferring sprouted seeds from a towel. This mix provides the good airflow and drainage that emerging seedlings need. (You won’t need potting soil until you transfer pepper seedlings to larger pots.)

What temperature should pepper seedlings be planted?

Here are some tips for getting your pepper seedlings off to a healthy start. Peppers set fruit best between 65°F (18°C) and 85°F (29.4°C). Timing is everything with peppers because they perform best within an approximately 30-degree temperature range.

How often do you fertilize pepper seedlings?

In addition to weekly fertilizer, give your pepper seedlings magnesium sulfate (Epsom salt). This bonus supplement helps seedlings absorb nutrients and grow strong, green foliage. Give your plants a bimonthly foliar feeding after they have at least three sets of true leaves. How Often Do You Water Pepper Seedlings?