The Nightshade's Tale

It was inevitable that my fascination with heirloom tomatoes would spawn an equal devotion to the mysterious Capsicum: the juicy sweet, the searing hot, and all manner of in betweens.

Before the 2005 garden I had never had a lot of luck growing peppers. But last year’s crop was successful enough to produce plenty to freeze, dry, and make custom chili paste (wonderful!!). This success also introduced me to what all the fuss is about. The flavor complexities, beautiful shapes and colors, and fascinating histories draw the unwary gardener in to the chilihead world. Once exposed to this cult-like group of enthusiasts there’s no turning back.

Witness my current level of involvement:


Last year’s pepper germination rate was somewhat unsatisfactory. I knew that some peppers are finicky when it comes to germination but when I had 0% germination for one variety I decided that this year I would try something new. After reading this thread over at the Gardenweb pepper forum I settled on a method.I placed seeds for each variety in half a coffee filter folded in quarters. These were layered between paper towels and placed on a tray, sprayed with water and slipped into a plastic bag. This bag now sits in a covered flat on a heat mat set to 80 degrees. (Can you say overkill?)

As soon as the seeds germinate they will be transferred to soilless mix in 128 cell plug trays to grow big enough to transplant into 4” pots.

This babying requires a bit more work than planting tomato seeds. (These were seeded directly into plug trays and I expect to see near to 100% germination.) I’m sure that such effort was probably not necessary for many of this year’s varieties but if it helps along the germination of some of the more recalcitrant seeds then it will have been worth it.

Here is a list of 2006 pepper varieties.