Starting Seeds in the Greenhouse

I started pepper seeds on February 27 between layers of dampened paper towels in clear plastic bags. On March 1, I found that four varieties of bell peppers had germinated, putting out tiny roots, ready for potting up.

 I did my first round of planting seed directly into pots in the greenhouse on March 1 and by March 7 I had tiny tomato plants emerging from the soil.

This batch of flats was from the first round and I still have about 200 more small pots to fill and seed. I still have dozens more pepper seeds in wet paper towels in plastic bags waiting to germinate. Some may take another month to sprout.

A side note on transplanting: most growing advice recommends planting tomato and pepper plants deeper up the stem whenever they are being transplanted. I know people who always bury two-thirds of the plant stems. I was recently tipped off that this is only beneficial for tomatoes and, while it might not harm a pepper plant, doesn't really help it. Why?

The tiny white hairs along the stalk of this tomato plant are pre-roots that allow the newly covered part of the stem to produce roots. More roots means a more robust plant. Pepper plants don't have these hairs and don't produce new roots without slowing down the growth of the upper part of the plant.

Potato plants also produce new roots each time the stem is planted deeper, allowing them to produce more potatoes. And speaking of potatoes, mine still haven't broken through the soil yet, however, I've discovered that my onions have.

As far as I'm concerned, Spring is officially here.

Stephen