1) Don't treat peppers like tomatoes in this regard. They will root from farther up the stem, but aren't anxious to do so. When potting up seedlings, I'll bury the stem a little deeper (3/4"?) than it is in the cell, but not so it will root.

2) Heat mat not required, unless you keep it cold in the grow space.

3) Nonsense. They dislike over watering and will often die to tell you about it. Wilting they don't mind at all. In fact, peppers protect themselves from extreme heat [I]by[/I] wilting (losing turgor) to drop their leaves edge-on to the sun.

Use wilting to get the rhythm of when to water. After a while you'll be able to tell when they just look thirsty.

Now, will water deprivation encourage capsaicin production? Seems to be the consensus.

Yes, water pepper plants less often. I've read so many different things about pepper lighting. When they're seedlings, they need lights like tomato seedlings. After being potted up, I find that while they are still small - they still need the lighting like tomato plants need. Once they get larger than what you buy in six packs, they prefer sunlight. Just be careful with temperatures. Pepper plants do not like 50 degrees and colder. For me, if it isn't 60+ degrees outside - they stay in the house.

Here in this area, you need to provide some shade during the hottest times (July through mid-September.) We think of peppers as loving hot days. They are actually tropical and like air temperatures between 70 and 90 degrees.

April 3, 2017 - We now have two rows of pepper plants planted in the main garden.

[B][U]Row 1[/U][/B] - not planted yet.

[B][U]Row 2[/U][/B]

Sweet Cayenne TWO
NuMex Big Jim TWO
NuMex Heritage 6-4 TWO
Pepperoncini from Pisa, Italy TWO
Pepperoncini TWO
Leutchauer THREE
? Stray Seed ONE
Tabasco EIGHT

[B][U]Row 3[/U][/B]

Poblano THREE
Ancho San Luis THREE
Santa Fe Grande TWO
Pinot Noir Bell F1 ONE
Enjoya Bell ONE
Red Cheese TWO
Orange Cheese TWO
Mini Bell Chocolate TWO
Mini Bell Orange THREE
Mini Bell Red TWO
Yolo Wonder Bell ONE
Margret's Bell THREE

The Tabasco has so many planted because I want to make sauce with them in mid-season before they get 50,000 Scoville hot and hotter.

Nice variety you have there. Question: Is the sweet cayenne really sweet, or does
it mean it's not hot like a regular cayenne.

Ours tasted not hot, but not really sweet either. They gained taste in stir-fries.

Dang Salt, that's a lot of peppers. Is Row 1 going to have Shish!to peppers? I have grown them the last 2 years and I really like them. I like to blister them on the grill with steak,
Burgers, chicken and they go well with them all. A little EVOO and sea salt and yum.

Our Shish!to seeds must have been old or something. We had 0 germination.

The first row will have

NuMex Twilight EIGHT - We were going to plant them elsewhere, but changed our minds.
Gemstone FIVE - for the same reason as above.
Aji Fantasy TWO
Chili de Arbol THREE
Purple Jalapeno TWO
Mammoth Jalapeno THREE
Fooled You Jalapeno F1 ONE