Some people swear by electric propogators, others by a windowsill or kitchen worktop. I am one of the latter. These are sweet pointy peppers and were sown on the 14th giving a germination time of 16 days which is about average. What you will notice though is that they are germinating SLOWLY, with no legginess or yellowing that can often accompany propogater germinated seeds.The secret is a fairly stable temperature with moist, but not waterlogged compost. These seedlings will be pricked out into individual 2" pots to start with and will go straight into a heated greenhouse with a constant temp of only 10 degrees C. This again keeps the growth slow, giving compact stocky plants that will go out into the tunnels sometime in April.
The kitchen where all of my tender crops germinate is north facing so once germinated the seedlings do need to be moved into a lighter location but it also prevents any harsh sunshine burning through the window and shrivelling them up.
2 comments:
You make a valid point about heated propagators cusing legginess. It is so tempting to get an early start in the season, but I try to just given them a heat boost to get germinated, then gradually turn them down. Last year I sowed some tomatoes in early January, and mid April.. they both fruited at the same time!
You are right, we don't want leggy seedlings! What I do with seeds that need some heat to germinate is putting them on my bathroom floor where I have underfloor heating. As soon as they come up, I put them in my conservatory. It works very well for me.
This is my first visit here, I found your blog via Matron's.
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