First time, opinions wanted

[Monkey Hunter]

I'll be starting my first serious pepper grow soon and thought I'd run my plans past everyone first. I'm open to any and all opinions or critiques, especially as I really don't have any experience with hot peppers.

The strains I was planning on growing are: chocolate bhut jolokia & habanero, naga morich, fatali, trinidad scorpion, tabasco, golden rocoto, jalapeno "cracked" and piquin (from pepperlover.com). I figured a wide mix of plants would be best until I figure out which grow best in this area as well as indoors. I do plan on over-wintering plants, as well as growing some in containers year round.

For growing indoors, I'll set up a 4x4' table with a drain under a 600w HPS light. I'll use a 16" oscillating fan for circulation and grow in a soilless mix (spaghnum peat moss, coco, perlite. Light mix that'll hold water well) using pure blend pro (from botanicare) as the nutrients. I was thinking of using 1-2 gal pots, watered by hand or possibly a drip system if I dig it out of storage.

Once we're well past the threat of frost (mid to late june, last frost is usually by may 24th) I'll move the healthiest plants outside to a roughly 4'x8' raised bed at a community garden. It's all organic soil with lots of chicken manure and some compost in it. I add dolomite lime and bone meal each fall, should I add anything else to the soil before planting?

I think that's all for now, any suggestions or things to consider would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Phil]

I've grown habs and nagas, but I'm much farther south than Ontario, so I can't offer much on that. All I can say is that they did quite well, and my habs survived the winter down here outside. They're full of flowers as we speak.

You'll get plenty of good info from northern growers on here who are used to the conditions you're trying to grow in. Good luck!

 

[Gotrox]

Just observations.
Superhots take a longer time, and grow slower.
If you plant them with faster peppers---Jalapeno's for instance---indoors under lights you run the risk of having to raise the light often to keep from burning the fast ones, and the slow ones get "leggy" with weak support.

Fans.
Just figured this one out on my current grow.
Sprout in one place without a fan, transplant to a different place with fan after first true leaves are happy.
The evaporation effect of the fans on the sprouting medium drastically drops the temperature, and many may fail to sprout.
Personally, I wouldn't add lime until after checking the PH.
Using nutes.
Very weak solution for sprouting, if any at all.
I use 1/4 regular recommendation for veg growth mix.
Keep the sprouts warm.
Many will recommend heat mats or something to raise the temp.
Mine had no trouble at room temp----65-70 F. (I can't convert to C in my head )

Some of these things are so obvious to long time growers, that they don't even think about them, but for newbies, it can be the difference between a harvest, and empty planters or plots.

I know.
Been there.

 

[Monkey Hunter]

Thanks for chiming in.

@ Phil: I also grew habs last year, other then being stunted by a freak hail storm in early july they grew well. It's the more tropical ones that I assume will struggle more.

@ Gotrox: I didn't think about the different growth rates, I can either use screens to train the fast growing ones lower or use blocks/upside down pots to raise the slower growing ones. I also have lots of supplemental lighting if I need to add more to the lower growth.

I didn't mention it but I'll start my seedlings on heating mats under 45w compact fluorescents in 2" pots. I don't have a fan blowing directly on them, but have a very gentle breeze (just enough so the leaves barely move). That way they have lots of fresh air but don't dry out like you mentioned.

You'e totally right on ferts, I start using them after vegetative growth starts. For seedlings I just spray them with kelp occasionally and give them pH balanced tap water. Once they start growing I adjust the fert concentration based on how often they get watered, how quickly they're growing and how the leaves look.

I usually add lime to outdoor beds just to keep the pH balanced and to add calcium/magnesium to the soil. I assume peppers like a slightly acidic soil like tomatoes, around 6-6.5, is that going to be a problem?

Thanks for the input, like you said it's usually the simple or obvious thing you've overlooked that nips ya in the rear.

 

[Gotrox]

Yah.
I only had one really freaky fast grower.
I just chopped the tops when they started to burn.

Now it's an octopus.
You can see a pic on my glog.

This year I have Thai Dragons I harvested from last years crop. Double the size of all the rest of the seedlings.
No decision about how I will handle them this year yet.

 

[Monkey Hunter]

My favourite ways to control growth is either low stress training (LST), where you tie the branches off the rim of the pot, pulling them lower as they grow up. Or by building a screen out of pvc tubing and a fairly wide mesh, then pulling the branches under as they grow too tall.

I prefer those to clipping the growing ends as it's less disruptive of the hormone levels, so the overall growth is higher. Of course if you're trying to keep it smaller, clipping the highest points will keep it short, longer.