Hello everyone,

I got given some free seeds today for chillies and peppers. I am totally new to gardening. I went to the garden centre to ask for advice and told them I'm interested in growing peppers and tomatoes. They kindly gave me free seeds :-)

Looking for some tips on what to do. Any help appreciated.

JJ x

Welcome JJ.
First thing you need to do is start researching, here & other internet sources. What did your garden center say? Depending on where you are it's probably too late to start those from seeds this year.

Make a plan that involves the what, where, & how of growing veggies. There's just too much to ask & learn to get it all in one post. Thankfully, this place is very helpful.

Good luck.

I would try starting some of the seeds.
Peppers are perennial if kept from freezing, I dig and pot my favorite plants in the autumn before hard frost...
I've had plants that lived 5 years.

Sometimes the pepper seed can be difficult to encourage to break dormancy, but that may be a result of getting too hot during storage.
I would dig a nice seed bed outside, and plant a few seeds in row(s). see what happens.
Also, I've had success starting a few seeds in a large pot filled with garden soil... just set the pot outside and keep soil moist.