Just for what it's worth, I'm in central/N.E. Pa. and last year it
gave the last frost date as early May. I started my pepper plants in
late Feb. to early March, and didn't wind up putting them in the
ground until Memorial Day week, because it was too cold.

Things were screwed up because of the excessive heat and drought, but
I was glad I started as early as I did. The plants didn't begin to
produce until late in the growing season (some never did), and I
didn't get fully ripe peppers until way after labor day. And, the
bells didn't produce that much.

This was a mix of hot and bell peppers, some of which take a pretty
long time to mature. The bottom line is, I thought I'd started them
too early, but it didn't hurt at all. In fact, this year I'm going to
start some in early Feb., just to see what happens.


On Wed, 15 Jan 2003 04:46:06 GMT, "Jean S. Barto"
wrote:

Hello--

When should I start my pepper and eggplants inside (from seed)? I'm in Zone
7b, almost Zone 8--and this will be the first time I'll be growing these
from seed. Last frost here is supposed to be around April 15, but has been
sooner. It gets consistently warmer the end of April.

I've also ordered 3 eggplant plants from Burpee and I suppose they'll be
sent to more or less when they're supposed to go outside?

Thanks in advance,

Jean Barto
Newport News, VA