Growing chilli from seeds

 Growing chilli from seeds

“Growing instructions & How to germinate chilli seeds”

 Important information: If you aren’t going to sow the seeds within a month, we recommend taking the chilli seeds out of the little plastic bag and putting them in a paper envelope e.g. a coin paper envelope. Keep them in a dry dark place – for example in a drawer. For more information on storage of chilli seeds, please visit our website.

 

1. When: Spring is the best time to plant your seeds. If you start too early/late the seeds won’t germinate.
2. Heat: All chillies love heat. The ideal way is to germinate seeds, is to keep a constant soil temperature at 26-32 degrees Celsius. You can use a warm spot such as on top of the fridge or use your window sills. We use a heat mat, a mini greenhouse and a thermometer. You can buy a heat mat and a thermometer from EBay.
3. Different germination methods: We start our seeds in Jiffy Pellets, but you can use pots or multi-cell seed trays. It is our experience that seeds germinate faster if you plant 3-4 together. Make 3-4 holes in the Jiffy Pellet and put one seed in each hole. Please check out our “germination videos” on our YouTube Channel “The Hippy Seed Company”. If you use pots or multi-cell seed trays lightly cover your seeds with a basic seed starting mix.
4. Moisture: It is important to keep the seeds medium moist during the germination. A small mister (such as a spray bottle) is better to use rather than pouring water over them . We recommend using Jiffy Pellets and place them in a mini greenhouse or plastic container. For a visual and other different methods please use this link: https://youtu.be/JPRNZQlQRZA
5. Germination time: Between 3 to 5 weeks. Some varieties take longer time to sprout.
6. Transplant: When the seedlings have two sets of leaves you can transplant them. You can let them grow bigger if you like without any problems. If you have 3-4 seedlings in one Jiffy Pellet, remove the thin mesh and separate gently. Keep the out of the sun for some days after the transplant.
7. Sun: Once they are transplanted keep them in the shade for some days. Chillies love heat, but not full sun. We use shade cloths to protect them.
8. Fertilizer: Don’t use fertilizer, before you have transplanted your seedlings as it may burn them. Chillies need fertilizer about once a month (in pots once a fortnight). We use Rooster Booster, a slow releasing fertilizer or Seasol, but you can use a fertilizer labelled for fruits and vegetables. Too much fertilizer can burn plant roots.
9. Watering: It is of the utmost importance that your chillies do not dry out; give them a bit of water every If the weather is particularly hot, watering them twice a day will do wonders.
10. Video instruction: Check out The Hippy Seed Company’s YouTube Channel. We have an instruction series containing helpful videos, which demonstrates a variety of ways to germinate your chilli seeds, how to prune your plants, and so much more.

Happy growing from Neil & Charlotte

Your Chilli Experts

We hope this information about growing chilli from seeds was helpful – check out these instruction videos:

“Happy growing from Neil & Charlotte – Your Chilli Experts”