Kitchen Garden Forum

would be grateful for any help here,
sowed some chilli peppers for the first time on the 13th and still nothing has come up.
They were out in an unheated greenhouse.
should I give up and try again?
How long do they take to germinate?
Sorry to ask such simple questions
donedigging

Chillis can sometimes take a while to germinate - eg 7-14 days.

Personally all the varieties I've tried have done best germinating with some warmth. However warm your greenhouse is during the day, it's probably cooler during the night. Try bringing them indoors to somewhere like the airing cupboard & maybe keep them inside a plastic bag to prevent drying out (but check results daily, for mould etc).

If it's any re-assurance I've done two batches recently that looked like they were "gonners" & I was about to throw them out, then they suddenly sprouted after a couple of weeks.

Hi Donedigging

I'm happy to be corrected, but my understanding is that chillis need quite a bit of heat to germinate and are best started in a propagator that has continuous warmth.

Hi Chantal,
I agree with you. Chilli's, to get the very best results, should never ever experience a temperature of less than 10C and this goes for Tomatoes and Aubergines.
JB.

I agree they all need heat to germinate. You don't say what type they are but I have also found the hotter the pepper the more heat they need to germinate and the slower they grow, my habanero types are half the size of the others despite being left in the propagator.

Hi and thank you to all that have replied.
I think I will start again, but as you all seem to suggest, I will give them more warmth this time.
Thank you again
donedigging

If you've got space heat up the original sowing as well - you never know!

Thanks for that idea Geoff, will give it a try.
My only concern is they may have rotted?
donedigging