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Guru's 1/8 Acre Fabriculture - 5 yr mothers

Hows everyone's season going? Hope you all have a great Fourth of July! :mouthonfire: This is a perfect time to think about us as a nation and our current state in how it relates to what our Independence is about. :) Enjoy your families in this time more than ever, and cherish the connections you all have with others in the world. Its all we have on this rock :)

Now onto some growing info: this is a pm sent to me that I thought would be of use to other growers just passing through the journal this season. I've omitted names for privacy purposes and included the information only. We as growers should always strive to share our information and in turn we all can learn exponentially. :)

op:
Hi, I have read your post on cuttings numerous times and I think I am ready to get some of my own going for the Fall. I had a couple quick questions if you have a moment to answer them, I did not want to clutter up your grow log.

1. How warm is too warm to keep the tray? Can I keep it outside in ~100 degree weather if it stays in the shade? I have the same tray that you do and it came with a humidity cover if I want to use it.

2. Is there a certain time of day I should start them?

3. If my local soil is nothing special should I use a good potting mix (I have a small bag of Fox Farms Ocean Forrest) instead of the 2 shovels of my soil?

Thank you for your time.


My reply:
No problem dude. I don't mind at all. Honestly, the thread is probably the better place. Then everyone can get a bit of the info! :) The only way we can become better growers is to share :)
Answers for ya:
1. I wouldn't keep the tray above 85 if you're rooting indoors. Outdoors is a different story. There is constant fresh air flow, and airborne microbes that help out with disease that oen may experience indoors. With the tray you have, just open the vents and maybe put the dome on half snapped. Ya know? Put it in the shade and check it EVERYDAY. Keep the soil moist but not wet.
2. I would take them in the evening after the plant starts "relaxing". This isn't just for the cuttings sake either. Your mother plant will thank you for not cutting her during the mid day sun.
3. If your soil is not going to be used, then by all means, mix up a great sterile soil. FF is wonderful. Its essentially that mix I made anyway. I just use my soil here in GA as a source of mineral rich sand. To make my mixes more "loamy". A little sand in the grow medium never hurt any plant. It actually increases drainage ability and air exchange. If you're worried about soil borne diseases, you could bring some in and bake it in your oven. Then your all sterile. :)

Now, having said all that. As a new person to cuttings, I would highly suggest that you get your feet wet in all this cutting business with a cloner (or air layering for that matter). Whether it be aero or just dwc, a simple diy project could get you a MASS of successful clones quite easily and fast. There are many different designs, models, prices, but you could build one for under 10 bucks if you some of the stuff already laying around. I read a lot of you guys here at thehotpepper writing about using rock wool and doing hydro, so that already lets me know the cloning "discussion" can't be too far off in the distant future. Point being, for your first round, cheat a little. Make a cloner, become familiar with the whole process, adapt your habits when using soil to try and mimic what the cloner did. High oxygen, high moisture level, fresh air and water exchange all the time. You'll start to understand what the cuttings "need", and start thinking of them for what they are...Plants without roots... :lol: Some "plants without roots" root and clone faster, like tomatoes, flower varieties, cannabis, woody perenials (peppers) its just nature, but ya gotta be one with your plants and communicate. :think: They will tell you what they need.

Hit me up anytime, man.


Hope this can help anyone to a better direction for gaining garden success. And in the future if anyone wants to contribute or ask questions, don't be shy! Chime in, all input is welcome! THEHOTPEPPER ROCKS! :welcome:
 
Did you graft it with a Redwood or what? Or was it magic beans? Not sure, but when you have to cut the stem with a chainsaw, you are officially a Jedi in my book. Ha
 
Did you graft it with a Redwood or what? Or was it magic beans? Not sure, but when you have to cut the stem with a chainsaw, you are officially a Jedi in my book. Ha

**in yoda voice**
Very funny, you are. Strong in this one, the humor is :)

edit: under the canopy as the storms move in today. 10 min ago
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Hope everyone's Fourth was fun and safe :) Took a shot of mother Fatalii after the rains tonight. As you can see by the recent pictures, it came time to stake her up. Otherwise branches tend to get to heavy with fruit set, and cant really stand up to high winds. I see some pretty quickly forming storms this season to come and the added security helps me sleep at night to the sounds of rain rather than worrying what I will find in the morning. For my staking, I just cut a 12ft 1x2 in half and hammer it down through the soil on the side of the plant with less branching. This way I use it as an anchor point, and simply use cotton rope to weave into the main branches, making sure to create at least two levels of support. This way I can just keep letting her grow like the "vine" she is, and not worry about the weight splitting the stalk (notorious issue with large pepper plants). When storms move in she just sways in unison as one mass, rather than different branches blowing opposite directions. :)
5904314372_e15678f477_b.jpg
 
Here's a pic of yesterdays modest harvest. I usually get a harvest like this every other day or so, until the middle of this month, and then they start coming in hordes and waves. As much as I can pick as fast as I can pick them!
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Great looking harvest love the Peruvian White Habs got to be one of my all time favorites and beautiful plant loaded up with lots of little white pods is pretty cool to see. The Fatalii tree..mmmm :onfire: I guess the others are nagas and a couple scorpion from the harvest? Good times ahead for sure.
 
Not a bad way to start off the weekend either. Those Fatalii are amazing.
Not too bad, like I said I have been getting harvests like this about twice a week for the first part of summer. Then when August rolls around, I'll have more than I can handle. thanks dude!


Just found this.....going to be a good read. Great looking mothers
Thanks man. yeah mothers are the way to grow! Genetics stay stable, plants get bigger, more fruit set, just overall greatness!


Great looking harvest love the Peruvian White Habs got to be one of my all time favorites and beautiful plant loaded up with lots of little white pods is pretty cool to see. The Fatalii tree..mmmm :onfire: I guess the others are nagas and a couple scorpion from the harvest? Good times ahead for sure.
Yep! LOVE white bullets and aribibis. They are very similar in taste just different shape structure pods! No nagas here, never had my hands on the seeds, but Im sure they taste similar to Bhuts right? Those are red fatalii in the pic. And yep, a couple scorpions! Good times INDEED!


nice harvest.
Those egg plant have me wanting som egg parm.
The wife had me some squash/eggplant/zucinni rice made for my supper last night! Mmmm
 
Wow finally got the time to go through it since I had it open in a tab for 2 days and works slowly through the beginning. Love the cloning guide +10 on that. Overwintering cuts should be easier for space confined growers.

You spoke of corn. I enjoy Gentlemens Corn. Somewhat sweet with shotgun kernels instead of genetic straight. Cobs will fill. Mine tend to hit 11-12 feet tall when the genetic straights stop at 5 feet. 18 foot would be awesome but impractical here as the wind we get can drop them when too high.


......... Clover fixes nitrogen in the soil and is used as ground cover on many no-till farms..........................
After telling me that last year I have a new found love for clover once my plants get tall enough. I am sure his Mother Fatalii loves it for sure.
 
Wow finally got the time to go through it since I had it open in a tab for 2 days and works slowly through the beginning. Love the cloning guide +10 on that. Overwintering cuts should be easier for space confined growers.

You spoke of corn. I enjoy Gentlemens Corn. Somewhat sweet with shotgun kernels instead of genetic straight. Cobs will fill. Mine tend to hit 11-12 feet tall when the genetic straights stop at 5 feet. 18 foot would be awesome but impractical here as the wind we get can drop them when too high.



After telling me that last year I have a new found love for clover once my plants get tall enough. I am sure his Mother Fatalii loves it for sure.

Great! I will get me some of that gentlemens corn! I like a good corn, but this years crop has been crap. They literally got 2 ft tall and stalled! Horrible. I have never bought seed stock from homedepot before, but this year I thought, "well, the corn can't be bad".....WRONG! LOL Back to saying no to the "depot". :) Thanks for reading through the journal dude!
 
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