Starting more seeds.

I mentioned in a previous post that I've had luck with seed starting trays, but that I wanted to see if I could start seeds without them.  I was able to start seeds without them, but I decided to use them again anyway. 

Why?  They are just too convenient. I picked up this one at Walmart for $6.

There are 72 individual peat pellets in a tray.  It takes about 2 liters of water to get them to expand.

Once they expand it is time to add the seeds.  I put peppers in all 72 of these pellets.  I had store bought green pepper seeds from 2009.  That's getting on the old side, so I used all of them first.  I put two seeds in each pellet in hopes that at least one of them will germinate.  If both manage to grow then I'll clip the weaker of the two. 

For the rest of the pellets I used jalapeño seeds that I saved from just four pepper plants last summer. 
Who knew that just four plants could produce so many seeds? 







When I was done, I put the lid on the tray forming a tiny greenhouse.  Then I placed the tray on the counter in the kitchen. 

 

Peppers take a long time to germinate.  I think it is close to 3 weeks.  So I wanted to get these going early.