Sowing pepper seeds

Februari is coming to an end, which means that it's time to sow pepper seeds indoors. The temperature has to be 20-30 degrees (celsius) for them to germinate, it usually takes 2-3 weeks. I sow them so early, because they have to recieve as much light as possible to grow into sturdy crops.

This year, I'm sowing the following varieties:

Sweet peppers (paprika):

• Red Marconi, long red sweet peppers
• California Wonder, classic bell peppers
• Marconi Purple, have a bell pepper shape with a deep purple shade

Hot peppers:

• Bird's Eye, little hot Thai peppers that you can buy at most toko's
• Prairie Fire, ornamental peppers with bright yellow-orange-red colours (not for eating)

Last year I went for more special pepper varieties, like Rocoto Orange and Monkey Face, but 2011 was a very bad pepper year in the Netherlands and the special varieties all withered. I also realised that, while hot varieties are fun to grow, I know no one besides my father who actually likes them. Therefore, I decided to focus on sweet peppers this year: we all love those!