Germination Time for Yellow Peppers

Starting Seed Indoors

• Start seeds for bell pepper plants indoors in late winter. If you live in an area with a long growing season, you can also plant the pepper seeds directly in outside soil. Whether indoors or out, plant seeds in well-drained soil with enough nutritional content to support healthy pepper plant growth. Be sure to carefully control the temperature in the room in which you are sowing the seeds; peppers do not tolerate cold air temperatures well.

Germination

• So long as you sow indoor seeds in late winter and take care of them properly, the pepper plants will germinate by the spring. If the seed was under-watered, if the soil was not well drained enough and became water-logged or if the seeds were subjected to cold indoor temperatures, germination may take longer. If you choose to plant seeds directly into outside soil, wait to do so until the spring has warmed the soil temperature. Due to the later planting time, these seeds will take much longer to germinate.

Transplanting

• To transplant seed started indoors to outside soil, you must first prepare the soil. Soil for pepper growth should have moderate fertility, good tilth and a pH reading between 6.0 and 6.8, though pepper plants are not particularly sensitive to soil acidity. Adjust soil conditions with fertilizer and other amendments if the soil will not support pepper growth. Carefully transplant the peppers to outside soil once you are sure the last damaging winter frost has passed and the soil has warmed to spring temperatures.

Other Considerations

• Starting pepper plants from seed is surely the more labor-intensive method for starting pepper plants. Nurseries sell young, pre-germinated pepper plants that are ready to transplant to outside soil. Note, however, that if you opt for pre-germinated pepper plants, you still need to consider the soil fertility and temperature requirements discussed in order to grow peppers successfully.