Nice stuff, Esox (or should I call you pike man?) I'm in zone 5 (central CT) and we don't get soil and air temps warm enough to set out peppers until about Memorial day. Some folks set them out "after danger of frost", but I can tell you that peppers and tomatoes do not like cold (or wet) feet, and will have problems if nighttime temps drop below 50 for more than 1-2 nights in a row. My point is that you've got at least 8 weeks before you should set them out, so you'd better pot them up. I start my seeds on April 1 (March 15 for the slow germinating varieties like Bhut Jolokia), and pot them up into 4 inch rounds. By Memorial Day, they are just beginning to show roots at the bottom of the pot. Your plants look like mine do about 2-3 weeks before planting in the ground. You might end up needing a 5 or 6 inch pot by the time you're ready to set out IMO.

What Bruce said. A good way to keep from overwatering is the skewer test --- take a bamboo skewer, stick it in the soil, if soil comes out on it, don't water. No soil, water thoroughly. Let dry out again before watering thoroughly again. Sounds also like you may have had damping off fungus. To prevent this, bottom water. Also, set up a small fan to circulate the air. To deter fungus gnats, sprinkle a bit of cinnamon around the seedlings. To kill fungus gnat larvae, water the plants with a 4:1 water to hydrogen peroxide(3%) solution. It does sound a bit late to start long season peppers like ghosts. An option for you could be to buy 6 plant minimum from Cross Country Nurseries. Reasonably priced and every seedling I've seen from them are in excellent condition after being shipped. Good luck. Kevin This post was edited by woohooman on Mon, Apr 14, 14 at 12:26

Sorry for your loss, but be proud of your accomplishment. I hear its a challenge to grow Ghost peppers from seed because of their slow germination and slow grrowth. Another factor is that your plant may also went into transplant shock. Usually this happens within the first 24 hours and the first signs is the plant is wilted. When I pot up, I try to do it when the roots are drier before the next watering is due. Once, I transplant them, I water using a Vitamin B1 solution formula for transplants. It works well in that it minimizes the shock on the root system and the plant will not wilt usually. Also, pepper seedlings do not like excessive amounts of water. Every few days with just enough to moisten the soil is sufficient. A little water goes a long way with peppers and they do not like wet feet so much. They like to dry out between waterings. Also, air and humidity play a role as well. If your surroundings are higher in humidity or if you live in a climate with frequent rain or moisture, it does affect your plants and the more frequent waterings your plants may be at a higher risk of dampening off which is the ultimate death sentence for seedlings. It is a delicate balance, and aftergrowing seedlings for over 10 years indoors, in a garage, and in a greenhouse, Iam always learning something. Dont give up...try again and plant lots of seeds if you can. That way if you end up losing some, you would still get a few good plants. Good luck

1. Moist, well drained soil and a neutral PH 2. that depends, are these going to be potted or planted in the ground? 3. These take a long time to produce, so be patient. i have found that hotter chilies usually take longer to fruit. if you are going for heat (with this variety i would assume you are), then let your plants, once established, stress out a little from lack of water. leave them with no water until you see the leaves just start to droop, then water them. Doing this over the summer tends to increase the heat of the peppers. Also, i strongly recommend mixing bone meal into the soil when you plant.