Is it too early to start peppers?

I dunno. But, seeing as how I had some bell pepper and cayenne seeds that were leftover from the previous two seasons, I decided to give a few of them a go.  I figured that this early in the year, it they don’t germinate then it’s no big loss. Then again, if some do, I’ll have some early transplants to put out in the raised beds.

I prepared two 6 cell starter trays using some Miracle Gro potting mix that was left over from 2011. The mix was bone dry so I re-hydrated in the sink using warm water. Since it is so high in peat moss content, it took forever to get moist and even then, it doesn’t seem to want to held moisture very well!

In tray A, I planted two seeds each of cayenne seed in the front two cells and Cubanelle seeds from a 2009 batch in the back four.  I had collected from plants that were grown last year. Tray B has 2 seeds each in the front two cells and Sweet Hybrid Experimental pepper seeds from God knows when in the back four. I’ll be surprised to see anything come up in this tray although all these seeds were maintained in the fridge in a sealed container! Still, I feel it’s worth it to try. Especially, after paying a dollar a piece for bell peppers at the grocery store this week! Now, while my approach may look haphazard (it was), I feel it’s better to do something than to sit and think about it for so long it never gets done!