Hi folks,

I am looking to start growing my own hot peppers from seed - I do a lot of sichuan cooking, which requires varieties of peppers that are expensive and hard to find where I am. As a cost saving measure, I'm planning to try my hand at growing my own.

However - I live in a 700 square foot fourth-floor apartment in Portland, Oregon. My parents have vegetable gardens I can use some space in eventually, but the peppers themselves need to be started indoors early and it's not warm enough to grow them outside here until usually May or June.

So I figure I'll give growing them hydroponically a shot, at least to get the seeds started. I'm looking at one of the "idoo" systems on Amazon, which appears to be an Aerogarden with 20% the price tag. I know little about hydroponics but I'm a competent outdoor gardener and a quick learner - it looks like there are different nutrient blends that are good for different types of plants, which makes sense to me.

So, two questions!

One, is what I'm doing feasible? Does anyone have experience with growing chili peppers hydroponically and have any tips?

Two, anyone have a recommendation on plant food/nutrient blends for this experiment?

Thanks so much!