Here we are 10 days after planting and I have lots of little green sprouts peeking out of the soil!  There is just something so magical about watching Mother Nature unfurl her little stems and see teensy-tiny leaves open to the waiting sunshine.  The tomatoes were the first to appear, followed by the tomatillos, then the cilantro.  I also have Iceland Poppy seeds breaking the surface and my Parsley isn’t too far behind either.

My peppers have not sprouted yet, they are very fickle plants that require a longer germination time and are VERY particular about the air/soil temperature.  They need to be kept in a 75F to 80F warm place and usually take almost 3 weeks to sprout.  Lots of PATIENCE is needed with Pepper Plants!

 Tomatillo Sprouts

To manage an even temp for them, I keep them downstairs in the family room instead of the living room window as we have a wood stove in this room that is kept going all day and into the evening and then I place them on to a heating pad bed for the night to keep them warm after the fire goes out.

This worked out very well last year and I found keeping them on the heating pad nightly for a month after they sprouted allowed for them to grow quickly too.  If Pepper plants are kept in too chilly of an environment, this will stunt their growth and make for longer fruit maturation time, and we want to be able to harvest them in July and August – not September!

Stay tuned to see the pepper plant sprouts hopefully coming soon!