This Week’s Focus in the Greenhouse
This week in the greenhouse, our team continued shipping pre-order live pepper plants as part of our three-week pre-order shipping window.
With the second week underway, nearly all of our time has been spent preparing plants for shipment, from cutting rockwool and labeling to performing quality checks and staging plants for pickup.
As we work through this process, we’re also refining and adjusting some of the changes we introduced this season to improve plant quality and ensure a better experience for our customers.
Live Pepper Plants: Production Update
Current Growth Stage
Pepper plants throughout the greenhouse continue to span all phases of growth, from newly planted seeds to fully established plants being prepared for shipping.
This allows us to maintain ongoing production while fulfilling orders at the same time.
Shipping Preparation in Action
This season, we introduced a few key changes to how we prepare plants for shipping.
- Each plant is now individually labeled in the rockwool before leaving the greenhouse. In previous seasons, trays of the same variety of plants were sent to the shipping team and labeled during packing. This new process helps ensure each plant is clearly identified when it arrives at your home.
- We also began cutting rockwool earlier in the growth cycle. This gives plants time to adjust to being separated before shipping, helping reduce transplant shock once they arrive and are planted.
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After plants are prepared and staged for shipment, they are sent to our shipping team to be packed the following day. We always include a few extra plants to ensure orders can be fulfilled if any issues arise during packing.
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- If any plants are not shipped, they are returned to the greenhouse at the end of the day and re-inspected before being included in the next round of shipping preparation.
A greenhouse team member cutting rockwool to separate individual pepper plants, an important step in preparing plants for quality checks and shipping.
Observations & Challenges
Adjusting to New Processes
As with any improvements, there is a bit of a learning curve.
Individually labeling each plant, cutting rockwool earlier, and performing quality checks at the same time has taken longer than anticipated. Some rockwool cubes are still being cut as part of the prep process, which has added time to each day’s workflow.
When preparing a minimum of 1,500 plants per day and over 2,000 on our busiest days, even small changes can have a big impact on timing.
While this has slowed us down slightly, these updates are designed to improve plant quality and ensure a better experience for our customers.
Jedi Jalapeño plants in an uncut rockwool slab (left) compared to fully prepped plants (right), where each plant has been separated, quality checked, and labeled before shipping.
Seed Stock Production
There are no major updates for seed stock production this week. Plants grown for seed stock continue progressing and are looking strong. These plants are grown specifically for future seed production rather than being sold as live plants.
Seed stock plants continuing to grow in the greenhouse, including some unique varieties like Mattapeno showing cool white variegation on the leaves.
Looking Ahead
Next week will be the final week of shipping for pre-order plants before we transition to regular shipping turnaround times.
We’re excited to share the total number of plants shipped over these three weeks, it’s going to be a big number.
The team will continue focusing on:
• Preparing and shipping remaining pre-order plants
• Maintaining plant health across all greenhouse stages
• Continuing to refine and improve the shipping preparation process
What This Means for Home Growers
The adjustments we’re making this season are all focused on improving the quality of the plants you receive.
By labeling each plant individually and allowing time for plants to adjust after being separated, we’re helping ensure your plants arrive healthy, clearly identified, and ready to grow successfully in your garden.
A Few Fun Finds in the Greenhouse
With the whole team jumping in to help this week, we also took a moment to capture some of the unique pepper plants currently growing in the greenhouse:
• Purple Carolina Reaper – showing unique white, purple, and green variegation
• Pink Tiger X – featuring an iridescent purple stripe on the leaves
• Jay’s Peach Ghost – displaying striking white variegation
• Purple Cayenne – leaves shifting to deep purple tones
A few of the unique pepper varieties we’ve spotted in the greenhouse this week, showing off some incredible colors and unique variegation.
🌱 Keep Up with the Greenhouse
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👈 Week 15: Last Week’s Update
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👉 Start at Week 1
Stay spicy friends, we’re in the final stretch of pre-order live plant shipping and can’t wait to share the totals next week!
🌶️ The Pepper Joe’s Growing Team