Help - novice needs advice!

[wannabebetter]

This summer we planted pots along a strip of garden - great success, mainly flowers & some herbs. Buoyed by this I bought a greenhouse (!) and planted tomatoes which, for a first attempt are not too bad (about 50 toms from 3 plants). So, on holiday in Canaries I bought pimento pepper & tomato seeds, but have no idea what to do with them, or when!! No instructions in packet so appealing to mn gardening brigade - please help!

Plant the seed shallowly in a pot in moist compost, and keep the compost moist not wet or dry - I usually put a plastic bag over the pot, or a clear plastic propagator lid. Start them at room temperature. They need to be started as early as possible in the year which may mean February if you have a warm greenhouse or windowsill space, or may mean March or early April if not. So don't plant all the seeds - keep some back for later attempts so you can find out what works best for you. Gardening is a matter of trial and error - it's good to have things go wrong because then you have a better idea of what is right for you.

The tomatoes will grow faster than the peppers. Both will first produce a pair of "seed leaves" to help the seedling get established (in something like a bean, most of the bean is seed leaf, already formed to give the seedling a head start), and then will start producing "true leaves". Once you have "true leaves", you can start "pricking out", transplanting each seedling to its own small pot (about 4cm dia). Hold the seedling by the leaf, not by the stem, which is fragile and will snap easily.

You can avoid "pricking out" by sowing one seed in each small pot to begin with, but few people have the space for that.

You'll have to grow the plants on indoors until late May or early June until all frosts are past. And then acclimatise them gently to being outdoors, eg by spending a fortnight taking them out for the day and bringing them in at night.

From then on you'll know what you're doing because you've done it before!

Thank you so much - brilliant comprehensive advice! Looking forward to having a go at these next year