Time to start pepper seeds

[Sun City Linda]

My experience with "helmet heads" (stuck seed) of tomatoes is if you rip off both leaves the seedling will not grow. One leaf, maybe. This condition is often associated with old seed. Carefully apply moisture, either spray or with a cotton swab works the best. Patience is also helpful, as in apply moisture and give it a couple days. I'm not particularly good with that last point

[jahwarrior1423]

I'll just take the stemed plant out of the humidity dome. I'll try and take extra care of the 1 leaf reaper.

[Sun City Linda]

Well, I've never beheaded peppers, only tomatoes. The wet cotton swab seems to be more successful than my finger nails when trying to free those helmet heads!

[jahwarrior1423]

I'm hoping to have at least 3 sprouted of each pepper I started. So far my jalapeños sprouted the fastest. My reaper was doing decent until I had 2 helmet heads and I ruined 1 of those and going to try and save the one with 1 leaf. My chiletepins are slowly coming.

I'm just a small hobbiest. Not too worried about it all. I grew a chiletepin last few years and did decent with that pepper plant. I'm experimenting this season to see how well I do compared to last year.

[Father'sDaughter]

Originally Posted by Sun City Linda

Well, I've never beheaded peppers, only tomatoes. The wet cotton swab seems to be more successful than my finger nails when trying to free those helmet heads!

I've never had pepper helmet heads, but with tomatoes I have been fairly successful removing the. Using saliva as recommended by Carolyn and a few others here.

[shelleybean]

I agree, the spit-on-the-fingers method works if you keep at it. Sometimes you have to do it several times.

I'm about three weeks away from starting pepper and eggplant seed but I have all my seeds and supplies and I'm ready to start. I have more hot than sweet planned this time--Satan's Kiss, Hinkelhatz, Rooster Spur, Anaheim, Ashe County Pimento and Jimmy Nardello's. We always dry a lot of hot peppers but I also want to dry some of these Nardellos for sweet flakes. I also want to make some hot pepper vinegar from the Hinkelhatz and the Rooster Spur. When I make pulled pork in the slow cooker, I use cider vinegar and a bunch of red pepper flake as the cooking liquid and seasoning, but I bet I could just use the homemade hot pepper vinegar and it would work just as well. I'm really excited about this season, ready to get going! Hurry up, Spring!

[jahwarrior1423]

Sad news for me...

I had one of our dogs getting into my plants and knock all of them out of their cups. I think I'll be able to save them but I don't know which plant is what now. They were all labeled on the cup but since they all got knocked out of the cup, I have no clue now.