As to the first, I'm not sure... I lean towards it finally being established... But I've never grown a Rocoto. as to the second, Your plant knows its limits, and will start dropping flowers if it needs to. In fact, the fact that not all of the flowers are being polenized may lead to the larger fruit... Its common practice for people growing giant veggies to cut all but one of them off, and let the plant put all of its energy into the one fruit.

I use a variety of pots, and it kind of depends on what I'm planting what pots I use. For tomatoes, I start out with a 12 oz styrofoam cup or a 3 inch plastic pot, then pot up into larger pots as needed as they get bigger- I will do this 2-3 times before putting them into the garden finally. Each time I put them into a bigger pot I plant them deep as well. If I don't do it this way, I sometimes use half gallon juice jugs with drain holes drilled in them and just mound the seedlings as they get taller- I do this sometimes with container tomatoes that tend to stay smaller overall. For peppers, I usually start with smaller butter tubs or 3 inch pots, and pot up 1-2 times before they get their final garden space. This depends on the pepper- some I grow stay rather small at 18 inches or under, so they don't need so much transplant- others can grow 3-4 feet tall and need it. Brassicas I tend to do 2 inch pots, and only sometimes have I potted them up to a 3 inch pot. Using plastic the whole time. I have also occasionally used 12 oz Styrofoam cups. This year I'm trying a new method with 2 inch pots that someone else posted here on GW. Last year I used recycled toilet paper tubes for my kale, and that worked well enough that I'm doing the same thing this year. The tp tubes are kind of nice because they peel off the root ball real well. A pot I use a lot too is recycled mushroom tubs. Some I have punched holes in the bottoms, some are not. These I will sow with special beans, squash, melons, lots of herbs and flowers- and sometimes even to start tomatoes or peppers if I'm out of other pots. Which does not happen very often since peppers and tomatoes are the earliest ones to be started. Unpunched tubs can be a nice water tray if I'm only starting a couple smaller pots or as a base for a larger pot. Like right now I'm using one to hold a pair of 3 inch pots I just started 7 pot peppers in- and the only reason I started those so early is because they have a super long season. I do also use a lot of base trays- because although 18 3 inch pots fit in one, rarely is that enough room once the plants get bigger, even when I leave them in 3 inch pots. This is in part due to the fact that I like to let my plants get a little bigger than what you sometimes find in the nurseries that will sell a 4 pack of tomatoes in 2 inch pots that are only 4 inches tall, or an even smaller 6 pack of peppers only 4 inches tall.

Keep in mind you can go to your local Library where they will have plenty of books to help get a good perspective on how to start gardening this way. I have a huge garden I start from seed every year. I learned from my German grandparents who where farms by profession. I live in illinios zone 5 and my "last frost date is similar to yours from the sound of it. My grandparents always sow they're seeds straight in the ground early June. I on the other hand follow thyre basic guidlines but take it a step further and start my seeds off in peat pellets in a humidity tray (for the first week or so before removing the lid) and grow them under a florescent grow light similar to what you have in mind. Everything mentioned can be bought at your local lowes, menards, or home depot. I usually plant mid june which is a week or two after when they do but then again mine have already been growing for about a month while they just sowed the seeds directly in the garden bed. I wouldn't worry about potting up. I just wait until they have grown for a few weeks or so and are not so fragile before planting them. I would say playing with them out of ground after this, especially if your like me and have ALLOT of seedlings is more trouble than its worth. But if you want to go that far you would up pot when the root ball occupy s the entirty of a pot and begins to wrap around the outside of the soil against the pot. Also if you are going to grow them under a florescent light fixture you are going to need a bulb meant for growing plants, A normal bulb isn't going to work. I'm trying to keep things basic so you can play along but once you get the hange of it and become more educated there's allot you can do to boost this early stage (and the whole growing process for that matter). for example I use I also use soluble seaweed powder fertilizer(something like 1-1-16) to stratify my seeds and to dilute in the watering to help them get a vigorous root system before planting but I know what im doing and would wait to tinker if you are new. I would say to just follow either of these basic guidelines and you should be fine. if your in doubt you can test the water by just trying to grow one or two seeds to see how things go to use them as a test basis for what you might like to change when you actually grow them (if that's anything).

Hi Jane, thanks for responding. Here in Jamaica plastic pot are easily accessible, but small clay ones are almost non existent. , as for basket still a problem large ones yes small one . Hardly ever I am trying to use clear plastic ones which I ordered from repot me.com. I am out of small ones now. So I guess I will just have to use the 4" green one. And yes I use charcoal and stones for my dens and catts I realize I do much better with them in that mix because of my heavy hand watering. So your saying repot them? Thanks. Velleta