This Week’s Focus in the Greenhouse
This week in the greenhouse, nearly all of our time continued to be focused on preparing and shipping live pepper plant orders.
Over the past several days, our customer service team identified that a number of orders placed during our pre-order season had not shipped as expected. After digging deeper into the issue, we believe a technology or order processing issue may have prevented some orders from being properly pulled into fulfillment during the busy pre-order period.
As a result, some pre-order and regular live plant orders are currently delayed while we work through the backlog.
First and foremost, we want to sincerely apologize to everyone impacted. We know many customers carefully plan around grow zones, planting schedules, and the longer growing season required for many super hot pepper varieties, and we understand how frustrating these delays can be.
Our priority remains getting healthy, high-quality plants safely out the door as quickly as possible while continuing to work through impacted orders.
Every plant is individually inspected before shipment, including checking leaf health, pests, damage, and overall plant structure.
Live Pepper Plants: Production Update
Current Growth Stage
Pepper plants throughout the greenhouse continue to span all stages of growth, from newly planted seedlings to fully established plants waiting to be shipped.
At this point, much of the greenhouse operation has taken a backseat to shipping preparation as the team works through the current backlog of orders.
The greenhouse team has continued spending most days focused on cutting rockwool, performing quality checks, labeling plants, staging orders, and preparing shipments.
Even with the increased workload and longer hours, plant quality remains one of our top priorities. Every plant continues to be individually assessed before shipment to ensure customers receive healthy, established plants.
The plant prep process from start to finish: uncut rockwool, a separated cube, labeling, and a Biquinho White pepper plant ready for shipment after passing quality checks.
Observations & Challenges
Working Through Delays
The past several weeks have been extremely demanding for both the greenhouse and customer service teams.
As customers began reaching out for order updates, our customer service team helped identify that some orders had not been processed correctly during fulfillment. Since then, the team has been working through a high volume of emails and phone calls while also helping identify impacted orders.
We are a small but incredibly dedicated team, and everyone has been working hard to keep plants moving out the door while making sure customers receive healthy, established plants and clear communication throughout the process.
SHOUT OUT- We also want to give a huge thank you to our shipping team. The past several weeks have been demanding for everyone involved, and there have certainly been some frustrating days along the way, but both teams continue pushing forward with the shared goal of getting healthy plants safely into customers’ hands.
Our shipping team loading prepared plants for transport to the shipping department, where orders are packed and sent out to customers.
Pre-Order Shipping Update
Last week, we shared a tentative total for pre-order plant shipments. Since then, we’ve identified additional impacted orders that still need to be fulfilled, meaning the final number of plants included in this season’s pre-order shipping phase is significantly higher than originally reported.
While we’re excited to get these plants into their new homes, we recognize the delays have impacted many customers and truly appreciate everyone’s patience as we work through shipments.
Seed Stock Production
There are no major updates for seed stock production this week. The grower plants for seed stock are still growing and almost ready to go outside!
Most greenhouse operations outside of shipping preparation have temporarily slowed as the team remains focused on fulfilling plant orders.
Seed stock grower plants after soaking up fresh water on the flood tables as they continue progressing toward the outdoor growing season.
Looking Ahead
Over the coming week, the team will continue focusing almost entirely on shipping operations and working through delayed orders.
Our priorities remain:
• Shipping impacted orders as quickly as possible
• Maintaining plant quality and health during the delay
• Responding to customer emails and calls as quickly as we can
• Continuing to improve order processing and fulfillment workflows moving forward
Thank you again for your patience and understanding as we continue working through impacted orders.
What This Means for Home Growers
We know ordering live plants requires trust, especially when timing matters for your growing season.
Our goal has always been to provide healthy, high-quality pepper plants that arrive ready to thrive in your garden. While this delay is not the experience we want customers to have, we are committed to making things right and continuing to improve our fulfillment processes moving forward.
Keep Up with the Greenhouse
Missed a week?
👈 Week 19: Last Week’s Update
Want to see how the season started?
👉 Start at Week 1
Stay spicy friends, and thank you for sticking with us through a challenging few weeks!
🌶️ The Pepper Joe’s Growing Team