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Planting peppers? First, get out the calendar

Jessica Damiano | Garden Detective

February 28, 2008

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My son wishes to raise green peppers from seed. When should you plant the seed indoors to get seedlings? And when should you transplant them outdoors?

Joe Bednar, Franklin Square

DEAR JOE: Seed packets generally advise starting seeds indoors a set number of weeks before the average last frost date, and depending on where you live - even within Long Island - that date varies.

In Franklin Square and the rest of western Nassau County and Queens, the average last frost date is generally before April 10.

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In Eastern Nassau and most of Suffolk, the average is April 20. There's a small part of Suffolk, in the center of the island, that remains cooler. Folks who live there should wait a bit longer.

Find your average last frost date and count back the number of weeks recommended on your seed packet. That's when you should start your seeds indoors to ensure they grow big and strong enough to transplant outdoors at the right time, allowing a week for hardening off, or slowly acclimating them to the great outdoors.

But if the instructions read, "When the danger of frost has passed," that's a different story, as the average last frost date doesn't guarantee anything.

In our area, the danger of frost is considered to have passed in early to mid-May for Nassau and mid- to late May for Suffolk.

I like to wait until Memorial Day. As a coincidental bonus, you have a nice long weekend to get the garden going.

If you're planning to start your peppers from seeds that came from a pepper instead of a pack and you don't have written instructions, allow seven to eight weeks before the danger of frost has passed. For you, that means starting at the beginning of April.

Cut open the pepper and scrape out the seeds with a butter knife. Give them a rinse and let them dry on a paper towel for a couple of days. Shake them up a bit during this process to ensure even drying. (If the peppers are hot, wash your hands after handling the seeds. The capsicum oil that invisibly coats your skin will make your eyes miserable, should you unwittingly rub them.)

Keep in mind that if the peppers from which you're collecting seeds are a hybrid variety, their offspring will be quite different from what you expect.

Sow the seeds a quarter-inch deep in commercial cell packs, clean yogurt containers or egg cartons filled with a moistened soilless seed-starter like ProMix. Never use garden soil because it's too dense and can contain organisms that could lead to disease. Plant two seeds in each cell, and water gently. I poke holes in the bottom of my containers and set them in a pan. Then, instead of sprinkling water over the top where the seeds might get washed away, I water from below by filling the pan.

Cover tightly with plastic wrap and set in a warm spot where it's at least 70 degrees and away from direct sunlight. You can even buy warming mats to provide the bottom warmth necessary for germination. The top of your refrigerator is nice and warm, too. Check moisture levels periodically and water as necessary.

Depending on the variety of pepper, you could expect sprouts to emerge in seven to 10 days. When seedlings pop up, remove the plastic wrap and place containers in a bright, sunny location or under fluorescent lamps, where they'll be exposed to a good 14 hours of light daily.

In six to seven weeks, when nighttime temperatures are consistently above 50 degrees and daytime highs are above 60, begin to "harden off" your plants by placing them outdoors for increasingly longer periods each day.

Pick a shady spot that's well protected from the wind and start off with a half-hour the first day. Over the next week, work up to about eight hours of outdoor exposure daily. Plants that aren't hardened off will go into shock and may die. Those that are hardened off for too long before being transplanted will grow slowly.

For transplanting, choose a sunny spot with well-drained soil and plant 12 to 24 inches apart. Mulching will keep the soil warm, hold moisture and discourage weeds.

For a list of suggested planting dates for other common vegetable plants, visit my blog atnewsday.com/gardendetective.