If you’re in the States, have a climate similar to that in ATL, and are in any sense interested in peppers such as the boonie, it’s time to start thinking about how to get seeds, germinate those seeds, and prep the plants to be ready for the spring thaw. My recollection after two seasons of working with boonies is that the ideal germination time for them in a Hardiness Zone such as 7a or 7b is about mid January.
You would germinate them inside of course. A heating strip markedly increases germination rate. With lights set up for the big boonie, once they sprout I can set up the small plants alongside the big ones using soda bottle greenhouses. Once they are big enough and the outside low gets substantially above 40 degrees fahrenheit, they can go outside.
I may do some tomatoes at the same time. I have a yellow fruiting tomato variety that germinated well from seed, but didn’t like my local soil. If, instead, we pot them, as we did last year, we should get markedly superior results.
January 12, 2011 at 11:47 pm
The gardening impaired of us thank you for the update. I will put the tomato seeds that I saved from last year in the peat pots now. I planted the seeds directly into pots last year way too late and barely got a harvest. Now, since you posted this, I will start them tomorrow. Thanks!