Three Tips for Sowing Shishimai Pepper
Ready to sow your Shishimai pepper seeds? Here are three tips to get your seeds started successfully.
1. Sow indoors early: plan to sow indoors 8-10 weeks before your last frost date.
How do you find your last frost date? You can find out when your last frost date is by searching your location or zip code here. Count back 8 weeks from your average last frost date, and that will tell you when to sow. (If it's a little later, that's okay too.)
2. Keep them warm: sow into trays and keep on a heat mat at 80-90˚F until they germinate (8-10 days).
Sow 2-3 seeds directly into 72-cell (or 50-cell) trays and thin to one per cell. You can also sow directly into small pots (4" or less).
3. Keep soil moist: wet-dry cycles can create a crust-like soil layer and delay germination. Bottom-watering trays and tray covers can help.
You can get clear plastic tray covers or even use clear plastic wrap so that you can see when your seeds germinate. If using plastic wrap, make sure that there is at least some air exchange (poke a few holes, or wrap loosely on one or two sides).
Bottom watering trays are trays that you would put underneath the row or cell flat. They hold water so that it can be absorbed into the cell tray soil through the holes.
Do you have questions? Please feel free to send us an email at oishiinippon@tokitaseed.us.
Happy sowing!
