To all Aussies - when to start seedlings

[MiLK_MaN]

Hey fellow Australians and all other foreigners,

Being in Melbourne, when's the right time to start seedlings? I'm guessing late June, or early July? I'll be growing them under a CFL light until transplanting into the hydro setup I have.

Also, one other question. I noticed on willard's growing page for this year that he was using jiffy pellets inside rockwool cubes. I reckon that might be a pretty good idea, because I find that the seedlings outgrow the jiffy pellets quite quickly, but I dont think are quite 100% ready to be put straight into the 10" hydro pots Im using. Anyone have any negativity towards this?

[Flex]

I will be starting my seeds this sunday. so they have a good 3 months before they go in the ground in spring. I live in adelaide.

[MiLK_MaN]

Really? This early?

How big do they end up getting before you transplant them?

[Flex]

Well hopefully about 6inches. Not to big, just that i want a really good headstart, and a very productive season, remember, that some seeds can take upto 4 weeks to germinate. And i have alot of those rare ones.

And once they sprout, take another 2-3 weeks before they get their first true leafs. So you can sometimes waste 1 1/2 - 2 months just with that...

[Flex]

Thats mainly talking about the really slow C.Chinense..

[MiLK_MaN]

Thats a fair point.

Looks like Im buying a heat mat and another light shade next pay day :)

[chilliman64]

I dunno, I reckon it's too early. I started germinating with a heat pad Oct 16th last year and transplanted two months later with 15cm seedlings (they went under x2 18w Grolux fluoros once germinated). the heat was a big shock for them and they suffered. I reckon if I get them started August I'll get a better crop and more heat tolerant plants once summer starts. I can have the seedlings in the ground late Sept/early Oct and be harvesting pods by New Year (I hope).

I think if you're starting germination now you may have to repot once or twice otherwise you'll get rootbound seedlings. I hope you've got a good light setup and the ability to keep your plants warm. just MHO - I hope your plans work out - a man's got to have a plan!

[MiLK_MaN]

Going to get a Heat'n'Grow TPS 030 heat mat, it has a thermostat, so I can get the seedlings started no problem. I already have a CFL light soure, but just need a light shade for it.

I was aiming for about mid-late September for moving the plants out of my tent into a soil pot setup, and then moving the seedlings into the tent. If I look at say having the seedlings growing for 12 weeks before putting in a grow tent, that makes it about early-mid July to start.

I just wanted to know when others in Aus tend to do theirs. There arent many chilli growers in VIC given the weather.

[chilliman64]

I forgot about your grow tent - you should be ok then

[MiLK_MaN]

For me, its not really about seedling transport to the tent timings, its the moving of the plants in the tent currently into pots with soil outdoors.

According to some website I just found on google, last frost in Melbourne is late September, so I'll aim for early October to get things rolling.

[Flex]

Yeh see where i am in adelaide, spring is pretty good for us, but like you MM, i have a 400 Watt HPS light once my seedlings get big enough, that they dont really use the Fluros anymore.

So i can grow my plants pretty early, and with spring i can plant out around the start, well thats hoping its not some freak spring here with bad temps, and frosts.

Got me thinking i might wait untill June...

[billyboy]

Id be going for a Mid August - Early September. Keep them warm though.

[Flex]

Thats a bit late i think.... Some grow so slow that you dont notice much for a long time after they have sprouted... im going to go for Mid June, see what happens. :)

[chilliman64]

so what did everyone do? when did you set down your seeds?

I kicked mine off early September and today planted them all out. I'm about 50 days ahead of where I was last season and I had pretty decent results then so I should get a few more pods this season. you can see my blog for exact dates etc. next year I'm going to start my seedlings off 3 or 4 weeks earlier - early to mid August. I think if I get them in the ground too early the cold nights will wipe them out. we had hail last weekend already...

[MiLK_MaN]

I started my seeds 1st of July (couldnt bloody wait), and have some pods formed on some of the more mature plants already. I didnt get real good results with putting seeds directly into jiffy pellets, so I decided to do the whole baggie trick, followed by directly into soil once I saw the tap root, and got much better results.

Thai Red is doing the best at the moment, then some of the chinenses are flowering pretty well. The plants I cut back mid August are starting to flower too. This is my first proper season, hopefully everything goes well.

[chilliman64]

why did you need to cut back your plants? were they overwintered?

each year I have to control myself but I always start earlier the next season - I already have plans to get my seeds down early August 2009 LOL

[Brokensea]

I'm in Christchurch NZ (about the same Lat. as Melbourne) I've got about 15 plants germinating now.

From Jalapenos to Habaneros. Waiting on my 7 Pots to sprout and I am not sure if my Dorset Naga's are going to fly - they need a higher temp to germinate - but they do take their own sweet time to do it.

[MiLK_MaN]

why did you need to cut back your plants? were they overwintered?

each year I have to control myself but I always start earlier the next season - I already have plans to get my seeds down early August 2009 LOL

Well, I had 12 plants that I originally had in my grow tent, and being under lights they were big and bushy. I needed to make way for them in the tent so the new seedlings could go in, so put the plants outside. They started dropping leaves all over the place, so I thought I might as well cut them back so they focus on growth during early Spring and should be heavily flowering by end of Spring.

And yes, I'm already working out what I'm doing for next season. I've just gone and purchased a bunch of seeds from fatalii.net, 6 varities of pubescens, as I reckon they grow real well down here in our cooler climate. Also invested in some Rootrainers (seedling trays) from Scotland, will see how they go.

[moyboy]

I sowed my seeds in early August and had them under 2 x 18Watt Grolux fluoros once germinated, the same as chilliman64.

I put them in the ground 2 weeks ago after conditioning them to the outside..

They are going strong with some of the Cayenne's having 3 inch pods. The super hots are still only 4 inches tall but they are strong so all is good.

I put my tomatos out about a month ago.....

[chilliman64]

hey moyboy, did you get a lightbox with your fluoros mounted in it?

this is what I use:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ABLITE-2-X-WATTS-IN-THE-BOX-CLONING-UNIT-PRPOAGATING_W0QQitemZ220289815161QQcmdZViewItem?_t rksid=p3286.m20.l1116

[dreamboat]

I am just starting out in this chilli growing thing.... I have four jalapenos in the ground (have been for a couple of months now) and I have just ordered Naga Morich, Aji Lemon and Bruce the Chilli from the Hippy Seed Co.
Is it too late for me (here is Brisbane) to plant out the new seeds?


dreamboat

[Flex]

You should be fine in Brisbane.

[dreamboat]

Thanks for that Flex.

[Aszental]

Well im trying for the first time today.

Got some Habs, dorset naga and Tabasco from hippyseedco.

Don't know much about it all yet, hopefully its not to late.

In melbourne btw.

[RingburnDave]

I've got a few dorset nagas and orange habs that are 2 months old, on the other hand i have a few scotch bonnets that have just sprouted (cheers Neil) and one lone fatalli which was the only one I managed to germinate out of about 30 seeds! That one's gonna get babied haha.. We have a long hot summer in Perth so I think they'll have plenty of time to mature and fruit..

[chilliman64]

welcome to THP dreamboat and Aszental.

[MiLK_MaN]

I dont think it would be a massive issue starting your seedlings now, its just more preferable to start in say august or even september depending on the type growing.

I found the Thai Red and the Hungarian Hot Wax were the first to fruit this season for me. The Thai Red was the first seedling to germinate, so it pretty much had a jump on everyone else, but the Hungarian Hot Wax just insists on flowering so god damn early it amazes me.

Both of these are Capsicum Annums, and for me seem to be the easiest to grow by a long shot. If you are planning on growing the real hot ones, Capsicum Chinense, you will find that they'll do ok, but you might not get the amount of pods starting right now compared to a few months earlier.

I'm yet to see if all the varieties I am growing survive the Melbourne winter, I'm going to just leave everything I have outside over winter and see how it goes. I've been informed by Fatalii from Fatalii.net that he reckons Capsicum Baccatum has as good a survival rate over winter that Capiscum Pubescens have.

If you are unsure about all these different varieties of Chillies, check out http://www.thechileman.org/search.php :)

[dreamboat]

Thanks Milkman - I will check it out.

I will also have to take a couple of pictures of the chilli growing under my mango tree. It just appeared there a few months back, and it was only when I was about to pull it out that I saw the small green pods on it and let it live. It looks like someone has pruned it into a standard - straight, single trunk, with a round ball of foliage at the top. Though now that it gets a bit of extra water, there are some fresh growths coming on at the base of the "trunk". It must have come from a seed dropped by a bird or something and then had some very favourable conditions to germinate as it does not tend to get wet under the mango unless it is really wet. I would certainly be interested to see if it can be identified by pictures alone.


dreamboat