Monday, March 17, 2008

Pepper Progress

Here's a quick rundown on the pepper plant germination after two weeks:

Aji Dulce – 4 seeds out of 12 (Southern Exposure)

Ampuis - 10 seeds out of 10 (Amishland)

Ancho Gigante – 15 seeds out of 16 (Seed Savers)

Fish – 0 seeds out of 5 (Baker Creek)

Hot Lemon – 6 seeds out of 12 (saved)

Kevin's Orange – 10 seeds out of 16 (Southern Exposure)

Orchid – 0 seeds out of 8 (Baker Creek)

Thai Birdseye – 0 seeds out of 12 (Baker Creek)

Trinidad Purple Coffee - 8 seeds out of 10 sprouted

So the sweet and mild peppers are doing well while the hot peppers are not as productive. In fact, the only chilies to germinate so far are saved seeds from last year. Mark is particularly surprised and disappointed to see the Baker Creek seeds performing so poorly. We're willing to give them at least one more week before moving to Plan B: find some transplants.

There is one other trick to pepper seed sprouting that we've employed. We've been placing the seed cells directly on top of the heating mat rather than placing them inside a tray and then on the mat. The soil seems to warm better this way.

3 comments:

nachmanfam said...

you should make mark try the recipe first, and take pictures. a youtube video perhaps?

Kate said...

The purple coffee peppers are doing awesome. We'll post some new photos soon. I can't remember if Mark actually ate any last year; his primary focus was on saving the seeds. I'll bet he'll try to eat some this year, though. There's a good Caribbean coconut rice and bean recipe that would be perfect to use one (or a sliver of one) in.

BTW, Mark still wants to go to that awesome nursery where you first found the peppers.

nachmanfam said...

i told him that you should let us know when you plan to come. you can stay with us and we'll make a valley view run together.