[rhysdad]

Hey!! Amazing but true, i germinated some chill seeds and now have five or six reasonably small but healthy looking chilli seedlings in my heated propagator! After the trouble i had with seed compost etc, i'm chuffed to bits now i just used bog standard multi-purpose and the results speak for themselves!

Anyhoo, now i've got those five or six plants, what do i do about potting them on? Do i do that now or leave them to grow on a bit?  They are about an inch tall with two folded up leaves at the moment. I read that some people would say now remove the lid and turn off the heat but it's the other plants struggling to stand up that i'm in a pickle about. they are still pushing up through the compost. If i take the lid off and remove the heat they'll suffer won't they?

With regards to potting on, i'll be potting into 3 inch square pots and leaving inside on the windowsill, which is warm in the day but fairly cool at night. Will they take that?

Any advice appreciated muchly!

[DD.]

You MUST take the lid off or your first seedlings will go leggy. If the others have started to germinate they should be OK. I'd let them get more established before potting them on.

I'm not going to repeat myself - again - just do a forum seach on "aluminium foil", it may just be your saviour!

[rhysdad]

Thanks for the reply DD and already on to the tin foil! Do I keep the heat on then in the propagator or should I turn it off as well as removing the lid?

[DD.]

Personally, I don't use heated propagators, a polythene bag does me! I'd be inclined to leave the heat on a bit, but certainly remove the lid.

[stompy]

I always wait until they get their first set of true leaves.
I did once only, pot them on when they had only their seed leaves and they stood still for about 3 weeks until they started to grow again, that year i got about 6 chillies from 8 plants.
I now use as DD said a pot with a plasyic bag on the windowsill in a tray and a box cut in half coated on the inside with foil, they don't bend or get leggy.
I do the same with my toms.

[rhysdad]

When you say a pot with a plastic bag, do you mean a 3" pot with a bag or a seed tray slipped inside a bag? I've seen advocates of both each discounting the others method!
I' m going to take the lid off, turn heat off and place trays on an ironing board in front of our 3m bedroom window and place the foiled cardboard behind to reflect the light. I can leave them there all the time can I? It's just that it cools down quite a lot at night right In front of the window.

[stompy]

Yeh, just a 3" pot with a plastic bag held in place with an elastic band so it forms a large bubble over the top of the pot then stand it on a seed tray.
That way if one set of seed in a particular pot germinate first you just remove the bag off that one pot leaving the others still fitted.

I start chillies and anything else that needs more heat off on top of the radiator cover, then move them to the windowsill light box.
Never fails 

[stompy]

P.S. so long as the inside of your house never drops below 5deg's they will be fine on the windowsill 

[rhysdad]

Thanks stompy, a great help. I think I'll go with pots for the toms as they are my real passion! It's funny though because when I asked re sowing directly into the 3" pots someone said "oh no don't do that, you'll wash all the nutrients away etc etc and that's very bad etc etc" and yet others swear by
it! So do you sow one seed (toms/chilli/whatever) per pot or a few in a pot and then pot up individually?

[stompy]

I sow 6 toms/chillies etc equally spaced around the side of the pot about 1/2" in.
Then when they have their first set of true leaves i pot on individualy into a 3" pot.
when about 6" to 8" tall i plant into the borders of the greenhouse and feed on comfrey tea only and get a fab crop every year

[eeedowls]

Sorry to butt in...

my query relates to the "when about 6" to 8" tall"

I would like to keep them in pots - what size pot should I go up to and can I house more than one plant in it?

two questions for the price of one!

 

[stompy]

IMO,you only need to go upto an 8" pot for one plant, and personaly i wouldn't put more than one plant per pot.
Or use grow bags, when you think of how much compost is in a grow bag and thats only for 3 plants.

[eeedowls]

cheers Stompy.

So, essentially the same rules as tomatoes then?

[barbarella]

P.S. so long as the inside of your house never drops below 5deg's they will be fine on the windowsill 

I have still got my peppers, aubergines and toms  in a propagator in the greenhouse, set at  15 degrees and take the top off during the day.  I have been it putting back on at night as the temperature on the greenhouse heater is set to min. 6 or 8 degrees, but maybe I will be okay to move them out on to the benches do you think?  They really need pricking out but I have been hesitant as I don't know what minimum heat I should provide and haven't got the propagator space for all those pots. 

[stompy]

They will  be fine on your benches so long as the temprature doesn't drop below 5degr's if you can guarentee that you can pot them on, so long as they have their first true leaves.

They will be slow to start off again once they are re potted due to the colder night time temp "no less than 5degr's" but will take off like a rocket when the average temp rises 

These sort of plants only need a high temp to germinate not to grow, for them to grow well they need an average temp of around 15degr's.
They are not hardy hence the min temp of 5degr's, this will guarentee a frost free environment.