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I'm starting my seedlings by cutting a 3x4 section of rockwool cubes out. I place that in a cleaned babylon food container that comes with a lid. It keeps the seed and rockwool moist and creates an ideal atmosphere for strong sprouting.
I'm only growing one, so I will plant 6 seeds to ensure I get a good plant. I place the seeds in the pockets and then pick the area around it to cover the seed. This protects the seed from light and also gives the seed some resistance so it can push its roots a little.
From there, I seal the container and allow these type of seeds 7-10 days to sprout. I'll keep the container in a windowsill until the seedlings emerge, and from there they will go under a hanging light until it's time to move them into larger homes.
For anyone who wants to know the seeds I'm using this year, here they are. This is an heirloom variety, so the seeds will be of value to save. If all goes well, I'm going to be able to grow a lot of peppers this winter.
Update: My seedlings have sprouted and been growing for about one week now. Still not strong enough to go to the tent yet, that will take another 2-3 weeks. We had 5 of 6 sprout, which gives us an 83â84% germination rate. So far so good.
Now that the seedlings have sprouted, I have separated the cubes to ensure no roots are damaged by separating them once they are larger. Also, I have added a plastic light barrier by cutting up an old label off of yet another babylon container.
At this point, I'm watering them down every few days(once the tray feels light) with a nutrient called "Rapid Start," which is basically a very mild nutrient designed specifically to promote a healthy root start and good development of a strong root system to feed this plant.
Now that the peppers have a few sets of leaves and roots that have pushed out of the rockwool, I am transplanting the cubes into 2" net pots.
Now is the time to start adding nutrients as well. I always start with 1 mil. per gallon, you dont want to shock the plant with a heavier feeding starting out.
The pepper plants are now at a stage to be transplanted into the large clay pebble tray and be given full strength nutrients. I will get the last few items I need this week and have the tent going hopefully by this Friday.
Just got the 6x6 rockwool cubes in. This will grow a full plant, and I will be doing 4 of these in a 3'x3' tray.
