Chiltepin Batch 1 Day 1
I planted 10 of my Chiltepin seeds today. At Lowes, I picked up some seedling mix, a 11.5" clay dish and a 10" plastic dish insert.
These are chili peppers that are used to dry climates, and several websites I’ve seen suggest the seeds should not be watered too much. To avoid problems with overwatering, I poked holes in the bottom of the plastic dish, filled the clay dish with sand, then put the plastic dish containing the soil on top. The sand will allow water to drain out of the plastic dish, but might let the soil in the dish reabsorb the water if it gets too dry. Also, the sand might hold heat better than just air, and air was the alternative had I placed rocks between the plastic and clay dishes. Only one half of the plastic dish has holes in it, the other side is completely intact. I’ve placed 5 seeds on each side, and if/when they germinate, maybe I can tell whether the holes matter at all.
At about 2PM I put the seeds in the oven set to its lowest setting. The seed packet specified that they should be kept at about 80 F - warmer than my apartment. When the dish had warmed up, I moved it onto my balcony, in the sunlight. A thermometer placed in the dish read about 80F. I lightly watered the soil around 4:30. When the sun went down at 5:30, the thermometer read a little under 80F. I warmed the seeds in the oven again then turned it off, leaving the seeds to stay warm in there overnight.