This Week’s Focus in the Greenhouse
This week, our primary focus in the greenhouse was planting and watering as production continues to scale up. With a larger number of flats moving through the space, the team concentrated on keeping newly planted seedlings properly watered while staying on pace with ongoing planting.
These efforts help support steady availability and reduce the chances of plants going out of stock as the season progresses.
Live Pepper Plants: Production Update
Current Growth Stage
The oldest plants in the greenhouse are now around nine weeks old. At this stage, plants are well established and continuing to build the structure and strength they’ll need as they move closer to being ready for the next steps in production.
Our weekly Ghost Pepper check-in, showing seedlings at around nine weeks old and growing steadily as they fill out.
Recent Changes in Care
This week, the oldest plants transitioned into their third and final fertilizer stage, receiving the maximum amount of fertilizer used in the growing process.
This change reflects where the plants are in their growth cycle and ensures they continue developing consistently as they mature.
Why the Change Matters
This fertilizer progression is based on testing that measures how long each pepper variety takes to grow. While varieties may move through the first stage quickly and spend more time in later stages, this structured approach helps ensure each plant receives the right level of nutrition at the right time.
Moving plants into their final fertilizer stage supports steady growth and helps prepare them for the next phase of production.
Growing Plants for Seed Production
Varieties Grown for Seed
There are no updates to seed stock production this week.
How Seed Production Differs from Live Plant Growing
Seed stock plants follow a different timeline and remain in the greenhouse longer than plants grown for transplanting into home gardens. While there are no changes this week, these systems continue to be monitored and maintained as part of ongoing greenhouse operations.
Quality Control This Week
Routine monitoring of planting, watering, and nutrient delivery continued throughout the week to ensure plants stayed on track as planting volume increased.
Rows of pepper seedlings at different growth stages, with newly emerged seedlings in the foreground and progressively older plants further down the table.
Observations & Challenges
What Didn’t Go as Planned
No major issues were observed this week.
Ongoing Challenges
As planting volume increases, ensuring consistent watering across all newly planted flats remains an important focus.
How We Adjust
With a higher number of flats in the greenhouse, the team is closely monitoring watering daily to ensure all plants receive the moisture they need as they establish.
What This Means for Home Growers
Planting a larger number of flats this past week helps support better availability moving forward. These efforts are aimed at keeping plants in stock more consistently as the season continues to ramp up.
A Few Personal Notes from the Greenhouse
- Variety Spotlight: Alongside peppers, the greenhouse is also home to Ukrainian purple tomato plants that are beginning to ripen, adding a pop of color and a reminder of the variety of crops growing in the space.
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Small Win: The team planted 75 flats in just two days, totaling 7,350 seeds, a strong step forward as planting volume continues to increase.
- The flood tables with newly planted flats following a high-volume planting push this week.
Keep Up with the Greenhouse
Missed a week?
👈 Week 5: Last Week’s Update
Want to see how the season started?
👉 Start at Week 1
Stay spicy and we're excited to have another busy week of planting in the books,
🌶️ The Pepper Joe’s Growing Team