The Secrets to Starting Pepper Seeds: Healthy Pepper Plant Seedlings EVERY Time!
The Secrets to Starting Pepper Seeds: Healthy Pepper Plant Seedlings EVERY Time!
Beautiful, young Bell Pepper Plant grown from seed.
Want healthy pepper seedlings started right the first time? You won't fail with these tips- I've started peppers for ten years now, and I've made all of the mistakes so that you don't have to! Once you get the hang of it, you'll never have issues out of your pepper seedlings again.... well, unless you forget to water them, or accidentally leave them outside on a cold night... you get the idea!
If you'd rather watch, see the video linked below!
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| Super hot peppers that I grew from seed in 2026. JP Piranha, Scorpion Pepper, MOA Scotch Bonnet, and Peter Pepper seedlings. |
#1: Pest Free Substrate
This is one of the biggest problems I've come across when starting pepper seeds.
Fungus gnats are such a widespread problem. Grab some mosquito bits, soak them for 30 minutes, strain off the granules, and water your flats with the liquid once per week for fungus gnats.
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| Mosquito Bits are an excellent way to get rid of fungus gnats in your seedlings! |
These pests can populate quickly- the larvae will eat seed embryos, germinating seedlings, and the roots of sprouted seedlings; the worst part is, you won't know you've got a problem until it's too late.
I've lost nearly entire flats at a time of seeds and seedlings to fungus gnats. Other pests can hitch a ride in bagged soil, as well. Starter mixes, coco coir, and moss all have less of a risk.
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| Fungus gnat larvae are tiny and clear, almost glass like. They can be very hard to spot if you don't know what you're looking for. I dug up these seeds, and sure enough, there were fungus gnat larvae inside of and around them; these seeds were a total loss. |
#2: Herbicide Free Substrate
Some potting mixes may be contaminated with herbicides. Grab a $1 bag of beans from the grocery store, toss a handful into a pot with a sample of soil a week before you start your peppers, and see if the seeds germinate into healthy seedlings. I do this with each new bag of soil. If the bag is contaminated, doing this germination test with some cheap beans will save your pepper seeds.
If you encounter herbicide contamination and have already sown seeds, the pepper seeds may not sprout at all, or seedlings may begin to germinate and fail quickly. If they make it past the seedling stage, you'll typically find extreme leaf curling, spindly stems and leaves, poor growth; it'll usually be very clear that there is something very, very wrong with the plant's health.
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| The significant leaf curl and distortion you see in this seedling is due to herbicide contamination. It's a poor-quality photo, but you can see the damage. That was a terrible year for my pepper seedlings- I lost a lot of rare varieties due to herbicide contamination in bagged soil. |
#3: Heat Mats
Heat mats aren't totally necessary, so don't listen to the people who tell you that you have to have them for starting peppers. However, if you're starting them in a colder location like a basement or garage, you may actually need them as pepper seeds are not particularly fond of germinating in 50 degree weather. If you're starting them inside your home, just put the flat by a warm vent or sunny southern window.
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| Heat mats are a great help if you are starting seeds in a cold room within your house, such as a garage. |
#4: Don't Allow Trays to Remain Saturated
You need plenty of drainage for your pepper seedlings. The soil should be moist and somewhat fluffy, not waterlogged. Waterlogged soil means less oxygen and more anaerobic bacteria. Seeds may rot before sprouting. Once sprouted, saturated soil can lead to issues like dampening off, which wipes out a flat of seedlings quickly. Try to always bottom water and keep your plants from sitting in standing water. All pots should have drainage holes.
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| Water logged soil increases the risk of disease among pepper seedlings. |
#5: Air Circulation
Put a small fan over your pepper seedlings, get a breeze going! This aids in drying the surface of the soil and improves airflow. Both lead to less hospitable conditions for fungal growth, and diseases like dampening off. Sprinkling cinnamon over the flats helps with fungal concerns, too.
One more benefit to utilizing a fan? The wind produced helps to strengthen the stems of the seedlings, reducing the risk of falling over or breakage when they're transplanted into the garden.
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| Airflow helps to decrease the risk of certain diseases such as dampening off; adding a fan can help to strengthen seedlings, making them more resilient in a windy garden. |
#6: Adequate Lighting
Have good lighting ready for your pepper seedlings. You don't want them to get leggy as they reach for light. Make sure that the light is strong enough and close enough to the seedlings; if a good light is too far away, it'll still cause seedlings to become leggy. Window light typically isn't strong enough, unless the window is south facing and unobstructed.
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| Without adequate lighting, pepper seedlings can become tall and leggy. It will make the seedlings weaker overall, as they'll struggle to stand upright against the wind in the garden. |
#7: Fertilizing
If you're using a seed starting mix, or another nutrient-less medium such as coco coir, be sure to fertilize your seedlings weekly once they sprout. Weak liquid fertilizer is great. Without nutrients, seedlings stop growing. This can delay growth by a week or two, or even longer if you don't fertilize at all.
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| Adding 3 seeds per cell reduces the chances of having an empty cell among your seed starting trays. |
#8: 3 Seeds to a Cell
Planting three seeds to a cell guarantees at least one plant per cell. This can be wasteful with seeds, but not too terribly much for the average home gardener. Your average seed packet has 25+ seeds, which would result in 8 cells planted.
Many plants, such as tomatoes, peppers, and basil, can have seedlings teased apart if you'd like to transplant extras. However, this method ensures that each cell is utilized rather than empty, as space and lighting is usually more valuable for a home gardener.
I'd also like to remind you not to use permanent marker on plant tags, especially if they're the white plastic ones. Porous surfaces, like popsicle sticks, will hold the ink. However, the sun bleaches it on the white plant tags, making it impossible to read.
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| Peppers are warm weather plants; they're actually perennials in warmer climates! Therefore, they're not very tolerant of colder temperatures, especially in the seedling phase. |
#9 Avoid Drafts and Cold Temperatures
Pepper seeds take longer to sprout if they encounter cold conditions. Seedlings will also stunt a bit, almost as if they want to go dormant. This is common among plants when exposed to cold weather, but it can slow your progress if you'd like large pepper plants in the garden once the danger of frost passes.
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| This was a very large harvest from a previous year, everything having been grown from seed. Some of the boxes and baskets are outside of this frame, but we ended up with 40 pounds of peppers during that final fall harvest! |
#10 Hardening Off Pepper Plants
Don't just throw your pepper seedlings out in the garden- harden them off. You know how it doesn't take much for that first sunburn of the year? It's the same with plants. You have to gradually expose them to sunlight until they’re acclimated to it. If you pull them out from under grow lights and toss them out into the garden, you'll have scorched silvery leaves.
The plants mostly survive, but it takes them quite a while to recover. Sun scorched leaves slowly die and aren't able to produce energy for the plant. Once your plants are a few weeks from transplanting, take those tiny seedlings out for a few playdates in the afternoon sunlight. Try to plant out into the garden on an overcast day.
I like to plant my pepper plants in twos, as twins. When planting two pepper plants together, you'll reduce the risk of sunscald on the fruits, and you'll slow water evaporation while cooling the root zone more efficiently due to the larger leaf canopy.
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| Quick bell pepper harvest from a previous season. |
In Conclusion
I've grown peppers for many, many years at this point, and I've had such wonderful luck with these incredible plants. I've learned a lot of lessons along the way, so I'm hoping this post helps you to prevent problems before they begin.
Ultimately, I hope that it'll help you to have an incredible year of peppers, without having to learn the hard way yourself!
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