So, you’ve learnt how to grow peppers from seed, carefully planted them, patiently waited for them to germinate, and have lovingly nurtured the tiny sprouts until you got seedlings with several sets of true leaves, that are now big enough to comfortably handle. Well done! Now it’s time for transplanting pepper seedlings to larger, roomier pots.
The process for transplanting pepper plants is exactly the same whether you’re growing sweet peppers or hot peppers. We’ll show you how excessively transplant pepper plants every year, moving them from the cells of the same trays into comfortably roomy pots where they can continue to grow on until they’re big enough to plant outside.
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Why Should I Transplant Pepper Seedlings?
In the simplest terms, if you don’t transplant your young plants, they won’t thrive, and most likely die before they produce any fruit. Whether you’re growing them in small pots or seed trays with cells, as the young plants develop the root systems will run out of space to grow.
The developing roots will quickly become bound, and the plants will become stunted and failed to grow. Small pots and seedling cells also have limited room for compost and therefore nutrients, so young pepper plants will rapidly run out of food
When to Transplant Pepper Seedlings
Everyone has a different answer when it comes to the right time for transplanting peppers. I generally transplant pepper plants around four weeks after they germinate. By this time, they should have around three sets of true leaves, and be robust enough to handle without damaging them excessively.
You still have to be careful of course, because they’re still delicate, but at this size they are large enough to handle with care and the root ball should still be healthy and not bound. The risk of leaving it in later is that while the plants may be larger and easier to handle, the roots may be rebound in the tiny cells, leading to the health problems described above.
Having said that, different pepper varieties take different times to grow and mature. Hot peppers for example, generally grow slower than sweet peppers. And even among sweet pepper varieties, some, such as those suited for short seasons, tend to grow much faster. Therefore, usual common sense. If, at the four week mark, you look at your plants and they still look too small or only have one or two sets of true leaves, don’t pull them around. Instead, leave them an extra week or so before you transplant them.
How do I Know It’s Time to Transplant Pepper Seedlings?
As mentioned above, you’ll know it’s time to move your pepper plant to a larger part when it has three sets of true leaves and the stem is large enough to handle without causing excessive damage. You may also notice fine root tendrils starting to appear through the drainage holes in the bottom of the pots.
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How to Transplant Pepper Seedlings Step by Step
Here is our easy method for transplanting pepper plants without causing excessive transplant shock.
Step one: Gather your supplies
First things first. Gather together everything you need for efficient transplanting. Thankfully, you don’t need too many items. Here are our recommendations.
Step 2: Pre-moisten the soil
Put your compost into a large pot or bucket and lightly dampen it with water. Add a small amount of water at a time and mix it in thoroughly. You want your soil to be a little bit moist, not soaking wet. It should stick to your fingers and stick together, but it shouldn’t be muddy, and if you squeeze it between your thumb and forefinger, you shouldn’t be able to squeeze out lots of water. If you think you’ve overwatered your soil, add fresh compost from the bag and mix it through until you achieve the right consistency.
Step 3: Add soil to the pots
Add around an inch of soil to the bottom of each pot, assuming you’re using the 3 inch pots. The idea is to add enough soil to the bottom of the pot to let your peppers grow bigger, stronger root systems. Tamp down the soil gently.
Step 4: Unpot the Young Plants
To avoid transplant shock, you need to handle young plants with care. You need to remove them from their pots or cells without damaging the roots, stems, or foliage. The number one thing to avoid is pulling on the plant. Instead, loosen the plant in its container by gently squeezing the container on all sides. You should then be able to hold the plant by the base of the stem, and gently remove it from the container.
If you started your pepper seeds in small pots, you can loosen them using the same method as above. But, to remove them, put one hand over the top of the pot making sure the stem of the pepper plant is between two of your fingers. Turn your hand palm-up, with the pot upside down. Using other hand, gently but firmly tap the base of the pot, and the plant and compost should come free of the pot.
Step 5: Loosen the Root Ball
If the root of your young plants look excessively tangled rootbound, you can loosen them a little by gently rolling the root balls in your hand. However, don’t pull at them or try to prise them apart as you can do more damage. If the roots look like they really need some help to loosen up, you can soak the roots for an hour or two in a pot of water before moving them into the new pots.
Step 6: Place the Plants in the Pots
Gently pop the plants into the new pots, letting the roots spread naturally. Now fill the pots with more pre-moistened potting compost, gently tamping down the soil to help support the pepper plants. Fill the pots to around half an inch below the pot rim. Make sure you don’t plant the seedlings to deep. No leaves should touch the soil.
Step 7: Water Gently
Water lightly and gently to help the plants adjust to the new environment and to encourage a quick and healthy transition.
When to Move Your Pepper Plants to Large Pots
if you’re planning on growing the pepper plants in containers, you’ll need to transplant them again into large pots with at least a 5 gallon capacity. Whether you plan to grow them inside or outdoors, you should wait to transplant them to the final growing location until the outside temperatures have risen sufficiently that all risk of frost has passed.
They can stay in the 3 inch pots for at least another four weeks after transplanting for the first time. After this point, after this point, the leader need planting in large containers or outdoors in the ground, otherwise the risk getting rebound and being starved of nutrients.
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Why Can’t I Just Plant Them in Big Pots Right Away?
There are quite a few reasons why you shouldn’t just plant your pepper seeds in giant pots right from the get-go.
The primary issue is water. If you plant your peppers in big 5 gallon pot, that pot will hold a lot of water. But you pepper plant won’t use that much, so the water remains in the soil. The water stagnates and suffocates the good bacteria in the soil. Plus, the excessively damp and stagnant conditions create the perfect environment for fungal pathogens which will attack your young peppers.
Practical consideration is the sheer amount of space the multiple 5 gallon pots take up. When peppers a young their extremely delicate, if nighttime temperatures drop enough for even a frost, if the peppers are outside, they’ll die. Therefore, they need to be kept indoors or in a greenhouse until the last frost is over. It’s much easier to house 10 3-inch pots and 10 5-gallon pots.
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FAQs About Transplanting Pepper Plants
Plant pepper seedlings deep into the soil, with the bottom portion of the stem also buried beneath the soil. The bottom set of leaves should be just above the soil surface. This encourages strong root growth and produces a secondary set of anchor roots from the stem that help to support and anchor the plant.
Transplant peppers that are leggy the same way as regular peppers, but deeper. If necessary, you can nip off the bottom set of leaves to allow you to bury more of the stem beneath the soil line. This builds a larger, stronger root system and helps the stem get stronger and sturdier.
When your peppers have three sets of true leaves, they should be big enough for transplanting. Peppers that are 3 to 4 weeks out from germinating should be large enough and strong enough to move to a larger pot.