F
irst potting on
Two of my Rocoto Chillies have been potted on. Not for the same reason, though. One was repotted because it is developing its first set of true leaves and has grown taller than its “pot” (see final note). The second, however, was potted on simply because it was in the same space as the first. Somehow I managed to plant two seeds into the eggshell I used to start these seeds. Doing his is usually a standard procedure for me when I start seeds. I
typically sow more than one seed into the pod or pellet I use to start seeds, because it is insurance against failed germination. However, in the case of the Rocoto, the seeds‘ quality was exceptional, and I decided to use only one.
This potting-on was an interesting one for me. It is the first time I have repotted from eggshells. It was a bit finicky, and next time I will do things slightly differently. The finickiness came from breaking the shell to do the repotting. Where previously with peat pellets, I would have repotted the seedling still in the pellet. Here, I had to break the shell before I repotted the seedlings. I wet the soil in the eggshells before breaking them so that it would hold together. But obviously not enough. It broke up when I removed the shell, and I was left with two seedlings with not much soil around them. It made repotting somewhat more difficult. There was a silver lining to this, though. It certainly made separating the seedling easier. That both survived and have taken to their new containers quite happily.
Intermediate potting on
Same pot rule
Talking containers. The seedling with true leaves was potted on into a fibre pot 80 mm high (just over three inches). The smaller one went into a smaller plastic 50 mm (two-inch pot) pot. When it develops its true leaves, it will also be potted on into a bigger container
Both seedlings were potted into the new repotting soil I recently developed. I expect great things from this new mix, and will be keeping a keen eye on how well the seedlings do
My other Rocotos are also reaching the stage where they need to be potted – on. Another two have started developing true leaves, but they have a while to go. I expect to pot them on in the next couple of days. The rest still only have cotyledons, so they will stay in their shells for the meantime
Once all the Rocoto have been repotted, I will wait until they grow to the same height as the fibre pots, and then the same size as the pot rule will kick in (see final note). It means these Rocotos will be over 3 inches high when I pot them on again. They will be potted on into containers twice their current size. This means they will be repotted into pots that are 6 inches high
It is unlikely they will need to be potted on again after that, until they hardened off and placed into the containers they will spend the rest of the season in
Until then, it is a matter of keeping them fed and ensuring they are kept warm enough. On the feeding front, I will up the dosage of Chilli focus they receive from 2.5 ml of water to five millimetres per litre when they are potted on for the second time. They will get Chilli Focus at this dosage until they are hardened off. After that, I will use my usual final potting mix fertilisation, but this year will also try some other methods
Final note
The same size as the pot rule means that once the seedlings reach the same size as the pot they are in, they will get repotted into a container twice its current height. For the first potting on two conditions need to be met. The seedling must have developed true leaves and exceeded the size of the container, pod or pellet that it was started in. The Rocotos were started in eggshells. All the seedlings are now taller than these shells. However, only those will true leaves will be potted on. The second condition of the first potting on needs to be met