Just started some poblanos inside from seed. I planted them in potting soil
and put them in the six pack containers that flowers come in. I put them in
the window in the house that gets the most sunlight.
I haven't ever grown these from seed before and will take any hints. How
often do I want to water them and how much ?
i live in Iowa and the poblano plants are hard to come by. So I am starting
some from seed.
Any help would greatly be appreciated.
Thanks,
Iowa883

I started my hot peppers about a month ago. I'm in New England where the
growing season ends around September-October. If you're south of here
you shouldn't have any problem starting the peppers now and getting them
to bear fruit. I don't do Poblanos, but my recollection is that they
have a season similar to Jalapenos, which start bearing here around
August (about 5 months after seeding).

Mine get started in tiny cells (1/2" square, 288 per flat) in a coarse
starting mix containing peat, bark ash, sand, some perlite (I buy it, I
don't mix it). This allows excess water to drain out. Roots need air as
well as water. They are started in the greenhouse where they get a lot
of light and get watered heavily once a day, except when it's sunny and
warm, maybe twice a day, before going to work and when I get home.

When the roots fill the small cell, I pull them out and put them into a
larger cell (about 3/4" square, 72 per flat) in the same mix. This
decreases the water requirement until the plants get significantly
larger, so a once a day watering is generally enough. Note that watering
heavily and letting the water drain may flush out any starter fertilizer
charge in your starting mix, so you want to watch your plants for signs
of nutrient deficiency. (Yellowing leaves -- nitrogen; purplish
underside of leaf -- phosphorous).

You can buy the larger cells at garden centers, but the really small
cells are hard to find there. In that case you can just fill a flat or a
tray (with drainage) with your starting mix and scatter some seeds on
top, then cover them with a little (1/8" - 1/4") of starting mix. When
the plants get well developed true leaves you can take a handful of the
mix containing the plants, shake the starting mix off the roots and
stuff the root end of the plant into your large cell. Try not to break
the stem, but they will take a fair amount of abuse in the transplanting
process.

About 1-2 weeks after the last expected frost date (May 15 here) I put
them in the field.

Then
keep them damp but not soaking. I've over watered some seedling mix
and was rewarded with an education of damping off.

Also once they get established, I think it is better to stress them a little
and get them used to getting a little dry (not to the point of death) cuz
that's what life is going to be like for them in the big bad world

Joelle
If you want to make God laugh, tell him what you are doing tomorrow
Father Mike

??? wrote:

Then
keep them damp but not soaking. I've over watered some seedling mix
and was rewarded with an education of damping off...



Damping off can be mitigated by keeping air moving so that the plant
dries off. Put a fan in the room where your plants are, aimed in the
general direction of the plants. It won't always eliminate damping off,
but it can reduce it. (You can't cure it, so it's best to prevent it).

Of course you don't want the plant roots to sit in water: that's why
drainage is important. It's OK to have the surface of the soil mix dry
as long as there is moisture where the roots are. The best indicator of
whether or not a plant needs water is the weight of the container, not
the dryness of the surface.