Growing Up

Out of the 20 starter pods, 12 of them had germination. I think a lot of this came down to not sufficiently covering the others and keeping the soil as damp as it needed to trigger germination of the rest.

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I ended up moving the 3 more aggressive ones to slightly larger containers in hopes that they would retain moisture a bit better. The seed starters were just dropped in on top of a little soil and filled in so the cardboard material could help retain some moisture. This ultimate got abandoned though as I was still having to water them as much as everyone else.

New Homes

After fighting with keeping the soil from drying out, I ended up just moving them all to larger containers. 2 seedlings were lost in the process, as one took a dive off the railing before being re-potted and another died shortly after germination. I also abandoned the rest of the seeds. Even though they had another 2 weeks left to germinate, I figured having 10 plants at this point was sufficient. They were all removed from their seed starter pots in order to encourage the roots to grow a bit better. I don’t think the coconut husk was the best choice for a seed starter since their growth has been slow since they germinated. I know reapers are known to be slow growers in the pepper world, but I wouldn’t want to hinder them so much if I had to do it again.

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At this point, I will take the clear front runners and let them grow up however they like and will prune them if necessary. They should be getting plenty of light and nutrients at this point so I shouldn’t have to fight off them trying to get leggy. The others will be subject to some experiments and probably some bonchi action. I’ve got 2 double sprouts. The one shown in the gallery above is the best pair, while the other pair has just started getting their true leaves. The younger pair I’ll be attempting to twist them together as they grow and bonchi them. I’ll save that update for part 4 once they’ve had time to acclimate to their new homes.