If grown in proper season, peppers are pretty easy to grow. In June and July we can seed peppers to be set out into the garden in August and harvested up until the first frost, which usually happens in December. I seed peppers in styrofoam trays leftover from mushrooms. They are free and have sufficient depth to start pepper seeds. You will have to poke some holes in the bottom of these trays to allow drainage. After the seedlings come up and show second leaves, they are ready to be replanted:
In this close up you can easily see that pepper seedlings have four leaves, two of the original seed leaves, which are called first leaves, and two of the seedling leaves, which are called first "true" leaves.
I use 16 oz styrofoam cups for my seedlings. Poke some holes in the bottom of the cup for drainage. I use a pen for that:
Fill the cup to about one-third with soil, I use Miracle-Gro potting mix for that. It is pretty cheap, about eleven dollars for a two cubic foot bag, and works very well. Carefully insert a teaspoon into a seedling tray and pick up a seedling from the bottom. Hold the seedling by the leaves, not the stem, and set it into the cup:
Fill the cup with the potting mix up the leaves. Water thoroughly so that some water runs off from the bottom holes:
Now the seedlings can stay outside, preferably under a tree where they will be cool, but still have some dappled sun. When the seedlings are six inches tall, or in about a month, they can be set into the garden.
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