Hello, For those of you with green thumbs... can I get some tips or help on growing jalapeno peppers indoors? I don't have a balcony in my apartment, so unfortunately, I'm limited to a window sill. I do have a light for the plant, when it is dark/not sunny/night time - to extend the "sunlight" a bit longer than nature intends in the wintertime. I am growing the plant from seeds, so I'll probably have to wait a long time - months, from what I've read - to even see any progress. What should I do in the meantime? Should I continue watering the soil? I don't have the means to start a compost, nor do I want to go out and buy compost for a pot that is so small. Is it OK if I use coffee grounds? Or water my plants with leftover tea (unsweetened)? I've read those tips on the internet before, but am not sure if it'll be OK with jalapeno plants.
If you have just started your seeds keep the soil moist at all times . A good spraying of water twice daily should do. Collect your coffee grounds, tea residue, banana peels, egg shells and dry them out in the sun. You could use an old meat grinder to mince the stuff you have and keep them until your plants sprout and start needing them.. most of this stuff- coffee grounds, tea leaves, banana peels and egg shells can be directly put into your plant container. You could feed your plant once fortnightly with this mix for good results. This is what I do now... as I have no more space to compost.
I agree with Maddie as far as what to put in the plant. Coffee, banana peels, your jalapeno plant should love it. There is a lady that lives in the same complex that I do, she grew some peppers with seemingly no compost at all, and those peppers thrived and grew. She planted them sortof in the front of my house (she lives upstairs, I live downstairs), and I would water them periodically. They were in a small plastic tub, deep enough for a bit of soil depth, but nothing humongous. They grew just fine, I don't know how long they took to grow, but grow they did. As far as compost, you can start a compost by just putting food scraps in a paper bag and storing that bag in the fridge, just like a sack lunch. You can grind those scraps and put them into all of your plants. Compost does not have to be real high tech. Brown paper bag and a shelf in the fridge is all it takes really. Put the whole lot inside of one of those plastic grocery bags if things get messy, and store the plastic bag out of the way somewhere, like on the door inside of the fridge. Scoop out the bits as you need them, grind and put on your plants. Easy peasy.
I hope that you do better than I did. I have only tried it once and didn't do so well. I think it is simply because we do not get enough sunlight in the winter months. I have had much better luck with growing herbs indoors than any other plant.
Thanks for your advice. I may just do that. Should I start now, even though nothing as sprouted yet? I just want to make the soil as ideal as possible, so I don't kill any chances of a plant actually growing. I had some luck growing my basil plant indoors, but I realized that I don't really use basil too much. And then I started to neglect the plant, and alas - the pot was empty, waiting for another plant. I decided to go with jalapeno peppers because I can honestly put them in anything I eat. I'm not quite sure if I get enough sun, either - but I am hoping that setting it on the windowsill, giving it its own lamp at night, and moving it around to more lit places will help. Who knows!
Setting them in the windowsill is what I would do, and yes starting now with the compost ingredients is best. The sooner the better. In a way, you are making your own compost like you said you didn't want to do when you first started. However, this is the easy and ideal way to do it, and you will benefit from starting sooner. Good luck with the jalapeno peppers!
Have you considered an indoor growing kit with a plant light? I was in a similar situation in a previous apartment I lived in and was trying to grow a few potted ferns, but found it difficult to keep them alive due to the lack of sunlight - particularly in the fall and winter months. Plus I had to keep rotating them all the time because they would grow towards the window. They also sell an indoor kit to grow your own herbs that comes with a plant light. I'm not sure how big jalepeno plants get but you might be able to use it for something like that instead.
I actually do not have a growing kit. I don't know if I'll have room for a growing kit, to be honest. I don't even have a grow light, but do have a small solar lamp from Ikea. It was a cute purchase and looks great on the windowsill. During the daytime, I leave the plant out on the windowsill to try to get as much natural sun as possible and I charge the solar lamp. At night time, I just flip the solar lamp on, directly onto the plant. It only lasts a few hours, but it is more light than it would have gotten otherwise. The lamp itself (other than the initial charge of it) doesn't take any electricity so it works out great for me. I don't really do any extra effort.
Concerning the coffee grounds, are there any special requirements (decaf vs. caff, instant?, cheap or better brands, freshly ground from beans, used or unused). I clearly have no clue, but I'm trying to get into being more self-sufficient and growing simple foods (especially indoors). It just seems like the right thing to do. I'm also looking into growing sprouts.
I would recommend buying a bag of compost because the soil you grow your peppers in is important, the plant needs nutrient-rich soil. You shouldn't need to grow the plants under artificial light, they need natural sunlight and plenty of it.
I have successfully grown peppers in artificial lighting, because all the space I have is mostly indoors. Making sure that your plants gets sufficient light for 8-10 hours is important. I have done a few colored bell peppers too indoors without any issues.
