Germinating Super Hot Pepper Seeds
Step 1: Wash hands and use disposable gloves to avoid contaminating the seeds with bacteria or fungi. Add 5oz of 3% hydrogen peroxide (1oz if using 35% peroxide) and 1oz of vinegar to 33oz of room temperature water. Pour the solution over your seed and let it stand for 5 minutes. Make sure all of the seed is in contact with the solution. Drain and rinse the seed several times with potable water to ensure that all of the solution has been removed.
Step 2: In order to Germinate up to 50% faster, mix 5 grams of Potassium Nitrate (KN03) in 1 liter of distilled water for a finished solution of .5% and soak the seeds for 12 hours. (If you do not have KN03 then skip this step and germination will only take a few more days…) Then rinse the seeds in fresh distilled water. I will be adding this product to our inventory shortly.
Step 3: Use one more gallon size Ziploc bags, some paper towels and a spray bottle. Place seeds evenly on the paper towel, slide paper towels into Ziplock bag and spray filtered or distilled water till the paper towel is damp but not soaking wet. Do not squeeze all the air out of the bags as the seeds need some oxygen to germinate. I never zip up my bags as this allows new air to find its way into the bags.
Step 4: Place in a warm dark area until the seeds begin to sprout a root. Super hot pepper seeds need 85°F Degree temperatures to germinate. I use a heating pad with a separation barrier to prevent temperature swings and a heat temperature gun to check temperatures in order to maintain the correct temperature. Check daily after 7 days and be patient as this process could take 7-30+ days to first root. The hotter the peppers the longer this process can take. If needed, add filtered or distilled water sprays to prevent the paper towel from drying out. As the seeds begin to sprout a root, It’s time to transplant into fresh soil.
Step 5: Purchase seedling cell trays and fill with quality starter soil mixture that can be purchased at any gardening store. My favorite turn key soil is FoxFarm Ocean Forest Potting Soil. Avoid using plastic lid covers because this will retain to much water in the soils.
Step 6: Fill seedling containers with starter soil mixture and gently make tiny ruts in the top of the soil to place sprouted seedling in the rut, plant sprouted seed 1/4″ deep and lightly cover with soil, gently pat the soil down to reduce helmet heads and label pepper variety. Repeat this process until you have a full container of seedlings.
Step 7: Gently water seedlings with filtered water or rainwater and place in a warm area. Peppers love warm soil so make sure if it gets cold at night to place them in a small greenhouse or someplace warm. The optimal soil temperature for peppers is 70°F (18°C) or warmer. I place my seedling trays on my back porch facing south in a well lit but not in direct sunlight to prevent burning. If starting indoors under a grow light be sure to use a fan to help ventilate hot peppers and prevent fungus. Water when lights are off or in the evening to prevent light magnifying damage.
Step 8: When seeds start to sprout and grow, be sure not to over water them as this can kill them just as fast as under watering. Water once and let the soil begin to appear dry and then re-water. Once the seedlings get a 2 inches tall it’s time to start fertilizing using organic fish emulsion. Start with half-strength fish emulsion solution once a week.
Step 9: Prep your garden rows by tilling the garden area and testing the soil. Peppers prefer a soil pH of 6.0 to 6.5. If the pH is below 6.0 add limestone to the soil; if the pH is above 8.0 add peat moss to lower the pH. A safe bet is to always work aged garden compost into beds prior to planting. Also testing for which fertilizers that are already present in the soil is very important of which many local colleges will do this for free. Generally, a balanced fertilizer works for peppers. But if your soil testing shows you have enough phosphorus, you should choose a low- or no-phosphorus fertilizer. Nitrogen is particularly important for stimulating good pepper growth, but you have to know the best time to fertilize peppers to get the best results. First, broadcast the soil with a general fertilizer or compost before you put any plants in the ground. Then, front load the pepper plants with nitrogen for optimal growth. Adding the right amount of nitrogen will stimulate stem and foliage growth so that your pepper plants will grow big enough to support several fruits each. Do not over due nitrogen because this can burn your plants and kill them.
Step 10: Also lightly add bone meal fertilizers to soil tops, tilled or mixed into the soil because peppers require lots of calcium during the growing season. After required starter fertilizers are well mixed into the soil rows or pots, allow soil to sit for a few days to let fertilizers dissolve and become stable for the small plants. This will prevent the soil from being too hot and give the plants the chances of survival. You can also add sulfur, which peppers love. Sulfur powder can be found online or at any gardening center. Lightly dust each pepper plant with a sulfur mixture which doubles as an organic pesticide.
Step 11: Depending on the size of your seed starting trays, when you pepper plants get 4″-8″ tall it’s time to gradually introduce the plants to more direct sunlight over a few days. Move the plants under a shade tree that can introduce them to small amounts of direct sunlight. Gradually bring them to full sun when you plant in your garden or permanent containers. Peppers need full sun to reach their full potential. I also recommend garden beds or buckets upward to 5-10 gallons. You may also want to add root enhancing solutions to develop rapid root growth or crush and mix 250-500 milligrams of aspirin tablets in a gallon of distilled water and pour on seedlings to encourage root growth. Purchase some mulch and cover the base around each plant. This will help the soil retain moisture allowing you to conserve water. Now fully water your peppers.
Step 12: Once plants start to grow, expert gardeners suggest to use Epsom salt which delivers a immediate shot of magnesium to the plants and boost growth when applied as a foliar spray. Mix 2 tablespoons of Epsom salt in an average size spray bottle, shake it vigorously and apply to each plant every 2 weeks with a soaking. My favorite organic fertilizers are fish emulsion and bone meal. Use your choice of fertilizer every other week on alternate weeks from the Epsom salt spray. This means your hot peppers are getting fed weekly. If late in the growing season and peppers are still not producing flowers, cut back on nitrogen rich fertilizers.
Step 13. My pesticide of choice is to mix 1+ teaspoon of Dawn original dish soap in a large spray bottle and apply directly to plants and try to get a direct hit on the bugs. The dish soap is biodegradable and will stick to the plant and linger until you get a rain and reapply if needed. Another organic pesticide is Neem Oil and be sure to spray tops and bottoms of all leaves.
Step 14: If you are experiencing flower drop this could be because of high daytime temperatures over 100° F so it’s very important to keep roots cooler by adding mulch or digging holes for your pots to hide from direct sunlight.
Step 15: Most hot peppers take 90-150 days to produce ripe fruit after planting. Harvesting peppers is the fun part. Once peppers color goes from green to their end colors fully they are ready to be picked. Peppers will last the longest if stored unwashed in a ziplock back in a refrigerator or freezer. Make sure to discard any rotting peppers as they will reduce the shelf life of the entire bag of peppers. Wash peppers before eating or using.
Step 16: Before the 1st freeze you can overwinter your hot pepper plants to cut out all these previous steps above to produce fruit fast and even more plentiful by following these steps. Remove all peppers and prune back plant. Keep peppers in current bucket or transplant into a 5 gallon bucket. Bring pots into a greenhouse, indoors to a well lit room or use grow lights. Reduce watering and only water when the soil is dry. Plant will go into hibernation mode and growing will slow down or stop. After the last frost bring plant back outdoors and slowly introduce to sun. Gradually move plants into more sun over each passing day. Transplant into bigger buckets, plant in rows and burry bucket in final location with full sun.
I will be making a video to view to help with all these steps.
I will also blog in the coming months about the great uses for these world record hot peppers such as dehydrated and crushed pepper flakes, blended pepper powers, pickling, pepper jellies, hot sauces, chili oils, freezing peppers for use, sliced and chopped for stir fry and chilis.
Call us today if you have any additional questions 1-951-445-3155