‘Hot Curry’ chilli pepper seedlings
It has been 3 weeks since the Mudlets sowed the tomato, chilli and sweet pepper seeds and, for the most part, we have had a good number of seeds successfully germinate, resulting in a respectable quantity of seedlings standing tall across two propagators. The propagators have been housed on two windowsills during the day but have spent the night-time on the kitchen worktops, near to the Rayburn, to keep warm and help with germination. It has been bitterly cold most nights which is why I have been moving the propagators away from the windowsills – it is quite surprising just how much cold air window glass can generate, rather like a greenhouse in reverse I guess.
Mudlets sowed the first seeds of the season.
My decision to relocate the propagators overnight has paid dividends and there are now 30-40 tomato seedlings over three varieties which is slightly more than we need, in spite of Middle Mudlet wanting to keep each and every one. The first of the true leaves are starting to grow now and it won’t be long before Mudlet and I will be having to plant them on into small pots which will of course bring about the whole new problem of where to put them all. I suspect I may need to buy a load more fleece, as the long range weather forecasts are hinting at a very cold snap in a week or two which makes the greenhouse a risky proposition without the added protection.
It’s hard to imagine that in a few short months we could be munching on tasty tomatoes straight from the vine
As well as the tomatoes, the first of the sweet pepper ‘Mini Red’ seedlings have emerged as well. These have taken much longer to germinate and have only emerged over the last couple of days and, as yet, there is no sign of life in the ‘World Beater’ row. I have never had much success with sweet peppers which is frustrating, as we use loads of them and the Mudlets would happily eat them like apples, so I am hoping that the ‘Mini Red’ sweet peppers will prove to be as prolific as the chilli peppers usually are.
These fragile seedlings hint at the promise of Chilli Dipping Sauce, sliced pickled Jalapenos and dried chilli flakes
And talking of chilli peppers, we have around 40 seedlings across 4 varieties. So far the ‘Tabasco’ chillies haven’t made an appearance but we have a good number of ‘Jalapeno’, ‘Paper Lantern’ and ‘Hot Curry’ chillies and the first of the ‘Patio Sizzlers’ have appeared over the last few days. I haven’t given up hope on the ‘Tabasco’ chillies because one thing I have learned about growing chillies over the years, is that they can take from a few days to over a month to germinate, so I won’t be sowing any replacements quite yet!
The Land Rover Owners Ex Wife 
February 4, 2018 at 11:02 pm
I hate destroying little seedlings, it feels like infantatomatocide or something. But there is always that terrible problem of caring for too many plants, especially through the winter. I don’t know what the answer is really, perhaps some kind of plant sharing thingie on a giant scale, where everyone grows one type and then does a giant swap!
February 7, 2018 at 4:40 pm
Thank you for taking the time to comment and apologies for the delay in answering Jane but your comment was put into spam instead of moderation for some reason.
I’m with you on the destroying seedlings front but, luckily for me (and my surplus seedlings), my spares can go to the school garden for my little gardeners to look after and, if we still have too many, be sold to parents to raise funds 😀