UF/IFAS Starting Transplants Indoors: start 4 to 8 weeks before the outdoor date. UF/IFAS Peppers: sow indoors (small seed washes away in the garden); late-winter start for the spring set; midsummer start for August to September. HS732 Central Florida outdoor slots are January to March and August to September.

Capsicum seedlings in a cell tray: cotyledons plus first true leaves
Catalog still · seedlings tray · the stage before pot-up
1 Sow Cell tray + mix 2 Cover Dome until break 3 Light Sill or overhead 4 Pot-up True leaves → pot
Four stages. Light vs sill is a separate cited page.

1. Sow

Cell tray, seed-starting mix, one or two seeds per cell. IFAS: small seed is easily washed away outdoors. Heat mat is optional gear when the room is cool. IFAS does not require a brand.

2. Cover

Humidity dome until the seed breaks. Then air. Damping-off is a wet, still tray, which is the overwater pitfall on a smaller scale.

3. Light

UF/IFAS Starting Transplants Indoors: a south- or west-facing sill can work; overhead fluorescent or LED if more than a dozen seedlings. Stretching means move the tray under a light. Full compare: grow light vs windowsill.

4. Pot-up

Once true leaves are on and roots fill the cell, step into a well-drained potting mix (IFAS Hot Peppers: containers use well-drained media). A 6-inch terracotta is a common first pot, not a published IFAS SKU. Harden off before the HS732 outdoor window. Cages wait until fruit weighs the plant.

Gear for those four steps sits on kits. Calculator: tools. August 2026: the outdoor slot is open. See the 2026 calendar.

Updated 2026-08-31. Publisher: Orlando Pepper Company · Tabaconda LLC · sales@tabaconda.com.