January: Is it time yet? No, its not time yet.
February: Is it time yet? YES, ITS TIME!
I started a couple of trays of tomato seed today to have some early transplants for the garden. Have you started your tomatoes and peppers yet?
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April is a good time here.
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I didn’t know you knew April, Richard. She’s a good time for sure! 
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No 'maters, but was thinking about maybe starting some peppers soon.
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I just finished setting up my heat mat and new LED light fixture. I start 4 trays of seedlings on my kitchen counter and move them to the basement once germinated. I have a 6 tier light stand which can hold a total of 24 trays of plants under lights at any given time.
I should be doing peppers this evening, somewhere near 100 varieties. My all time favorite sweet bell is Orange Bell. I also love Stocky Red Roaster for an elongated Italian type sweet pepper.
What’s the hottest ones you’re trying this year?
Carolina Reaper, 7Pot Douglah, Trinidad Scorpion Moruga, Bhut Jolokia, and Red Savina.
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you actually eat all those Darrel? i only grow cayenne and habanero to be used sparingly as a powder and in homemade hot sauce. wouldn’t touch the ones you mentioned. there’s hot and there’s too hot. could powder them and put in a glass jar to use as a riot deterrent.
I can’t eat them either Steve. I grow them so people can tell me stories like this one.
A neighbor came to me several years ago wanting some super hot pepper plants. He specifically wanted them because there was a Mexican guy at one of the places he delivered supplies who loved hot peppers and ate habaneros like an apple. So I sold him 3 Bhut Jolokia (Ghost pepper) plants. Several months later, he came by and told me he carried a paper bag of ripe peppers and gave the bag to the Mexican guy. He described it like this. "The Mexican guy came out on the dock and I handed him a bag of those ghost peppers. He looked at them, smiled, reached in and pulled one out and bit half of it off in one bite. He stood there smiling and chewing for about half a minute then got a funny look on his face and made a mad dash up the stairs. I didn’t know the water fountain was up there, but that is where he headed. About 20 minutes later, he came back down, face flushed, obviously in pain, and looked me in the eye and said ‘them was HOT peppers’.
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LOL! i like your sense of humor.
I won’t start my tomatoes until March, unless I get the bug and plant them early. I do have them planned out, 17 or 18 varieties this year, tomatoes are my favorite thing to grow.
I’m not growing peppers this year. Maybe I’ll buy cayenne plant, but I don’t really eat most other peppers I grow, so I don’t bother.
I already started in January, together with fig cuttings. I buy heirloom tomatoes from my little grocery store. Probably hothouse tomatoes from Canada or Mexico, eat the tomato and safe the seeds. Sorry, take that back, buy just one tomato, plenty of seeds. This is all I need, get rid of a lot of plants.
What kind of fixture? I tried LED lights last year and thinking to return back to fluorescent. I never saw such a bad case of edema in peppers and tomatoes like last year. I am staring my own since 2007, so know the drill with watering and so on… But last year was really bad. This year I started onions under same LED light, they look pretty sad too.
Output is too low. Look for a high output light. I’m using a 2’ X 4’ with 7800 lumens output. It is barely enough. One light covers 4 trays of plants. If you are using a LED shop light or similar, check the output. It is probably 2000 lumens or less. Seedlings need at least double that to grow. You could use 2 shop-lights side by side or purchase a single shop-light with at least 4000 lumens output in white daylight spectrum. Caution that this is still only half what is needed for long term indoor plants but it works for producing seedlings.
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I’ve been looking and Home Depot has one. would bright white work?
It emits powerful 5200 Lumens of brightness with 4000K Bright White light output using only 57-Watt of electricity.
- 4000K Bright White color temperature of light output
Do you think this one would work?
Edit it’s for seedling starting not long term, peppers and such start in March and plant June
5200 lumens is borderline. It will work but you will have to leave it on 24/7 while the seedlings grow. I’m looking for a 12,000 lumen 4X2 light fixture but have not found one that meets my requirements yet. Also, be very careful of claimed power consumption. My experience with Chinese LED fixtures is that they often consume more power than advertised.
Ok barely might double it or look elsewhere then. Thanks
When is the weather warm enough for them to go outside (not in a green house) in your area?
I started a few trays mid-feb and already put 3 from the nursery into the ground here … taking my cue from a 3 foot volunteer that was flowering already. I know it’s early 
I usually put a few plants in the garden April 15th, however, they may have to be covered for up to 2 weeks for occasional late frost.
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