lighting How long under lights?

[MGOLD86]

Hey whats up my fellow fiends? I, like most of you I'm sure, are obsessing over next season's grow. I have been getting ready for a few months now, and the time is almost there to start putting seeds in soil. I had initial intentions to start all my seeds about the first of the year, and plant out by May 1 in soil. Our last frost seems to be iffy, since this year we had some pretty low (30-40) in April. The last thing I want to do is plant too early and have some freak frost and loose everything!

Anyways, I was just wondering what you guys think about the maximum I should have everything indoors. My setup is here http://www.thehotpepper.com/topic/24406-cold-garage-germinationgrow-new-pics/page__st__20 (#22) has a final-ish shot. Do you think about 100-120 days is too long inside? Do you think they would benefit by switching to an HPS bulb at the last few weeks? Anything else?

I was really not thinking about it until I saw someone post today about how too long indoors can produce wiry/leggy plants.

Thanks for the help.

Matt

 

[PIC 1]

Hey Matt,
the longer you can wait to drop in the seeds the better. A good 12 to 14 weeks is plenty enough time to grow some sturdy indoor plants with sufficent lighting. If the resources provide it then I would upgrade to a stronger light that will penetrate into the canapy of the plants. Otherwise you'll end up with a plant with long thin stems that will need to be staked when planted outdoors. You want to have a sturdy plant that can support heaps of pods......right?
If you don't purchase a HID or other similar light for the future than I'd wait to start your seeds until late Jan or early Feb. C.Chinense varieties tend to start out slow, but once they start to branch out they really start to move. If you decide to start earlier than you can always pinch back the lead growing tips. That will slow the plant down, also resulting in a more "shrublike" plant. Once planted outdoors in May the plants will take off with new vigorous branching.....only my opinions.

Good luck with your grow

Greg

 

[JesterJoker]

I planted in July my plants that are big now. They were only under 6500K fluorescent lights and still are until I get my HPS, I have trimmed very little, and they are about 17-19" tall, and the canopy is about 2' square.

I have heard that if you were to use HPS to grow seedlings until plant out they will be leggy, because of heavy red spectrum reaching for the light
But the MH should keep it compact and bush like.

I joke about my pepper trees. I lost a lot of lower foliage. (probably lack of light with my floros)

a few other specs.


My brainstrain has 1 main stem and when it splits out the stem is big as a rake handle, probably about 2" around at least. Its starting to get bark on the stem because its aging now.
Same thing with my Butch-T. Its almost identical sized.

My chocolate bhut has about 9 main stems and looks like a house plant, for some reason the branches were reaching out and engulfs my 5 gallon buckets, I have to chop half of it off soon
its double the width that I want.


I have very low light and must have gone for about 2-3 sets of flowers, but I think my plant is slowly learning to grow in a colder environment, I have about 10 peppers from what I can see growing on my Butch-t, they are very small and I won't know how hot until I get them taste tested.

The good news is my peter pepper plant has pollen falling out of it like snow and every flower that has opened has peppers growing all ready.


My plan is to pick one of them, and just clone the hell out of it and get a bunch in pots outside and keep these inside all year round as a mother plant. They are VERY sturdy.

Matt, some clones might hold up in the mail its seasonable warm outside, since we have multiple feet of snow usually and we have NONE, I could send you some if they root good.


O and my roots.... LOL... are probably 2/3 the size of the whole plant, its like a tree of life or something.. the roots are long and huge!!

 

[PIC 1]

Hey JesterJoker,
That sounds interesting....can you post any photos I'd like to see the chocolate bhut, ....those can grow massive!

Greg

 

[JesterJoker]

I have a planned water change tonight, for the chocolate bhut and peter pepper. I went back to my normal feeding schedule now that I lowered my nitrogen to almost nothing for a month.

I will snap a few pics.


I'm trying to redesign my grow area, its a bit of a mess now, I need to pull everything out and line the walls and maybe build something temporary for heat retention down there.
plus I need to spend 150 bucks and get that decent light so I can grow these suckers to pods and make some of my investment back... LOL..

started as a hobby but can grow into a business soon.

 

[nitwit]

so the q was "how long under lights?"

i need to learn things the hard way

if i were you i might try some NOW and some more later and see if
there are any different production results from different strategy

maybe plant some now and then some more later
see what happens and let us know what that is

i think some varieties may work better starting now

 

[Spicegeist]

i think some varieties may work better starting now

I've started quite a few by now for this season... some get real leggy like the Aji Limon and others stay compact like a few of the Naga Morich varieties. Personally because I don't have the optimum indoor setup... I start what I want and rotate them under the light as needed (12 hours), the goal being just to keep them alive until plant out... so far so good, just a few more months!

 

[Siliman]

This is a great discussion, as everyone eventually has to guess the optimal grow time required prior to the whims of their local mother nature. I'm going with 12-weeks start prior to my area's last average frost date. Not exact, but a good 'starting' point.

Your indoor structure looks awesome with plenty of lighting firepower. Question is will the early starts outgrow that space before you're ready to go outside with them? How big and how many containers needed after 100+days? How much floor space and horizontal foliage space do you have in the tent?

You might consider a small outdoor grow area to use as a half-way house in April-ish to alleviate indoor crowding. This can be a sheltered sunny porch, a pre-fab mini greenhouse or just a small structure of PVC covered with plastic in a sunny spot. Supplement with a portable heater if an exteme cold snap hits, or just be prepared to shuffle plants indoors at night.

Also consider keeping a few plants entirely in containers for their entire lives. Surely you can find a border area for a few container peppers. Eventually, pot up some into 5-gallon buckets, a hedge bet against those 'ground' troops for some of your favorites.

And don't call me Shirley...

 

[nitwit]

again i am late for planting already
my last chance for frost locally is jan 31
like seven weeks from now
i have three varieties sprouted already indoors and
plan on 1.5" cells for their first
and beer cups for second containers
then outside to the #5 about feb 3 or so

when is last chance for frost in the carolinas?

good growing

 

[MGOLD86]

Hey Matt,
the longer you can wait to drop in the seeds the better. A good 12 to 14 weeks is plenty enough time to grow some sturdy indoor plants with sufficent lighting. If the resources provide it then I would upgrade to a stronger light that will penetrate into the canapy of the plants. Otherwise you'll end up with a plant with long thin stems that will need to be staked when planted outdoors. You want to have a sturdy plant that can support heaps of pods......right?
If you don't purchase a HID or other similar light for the future than I'd wait to start your seeds until late Jan or early Feb. C.Chinense varieties tend to start out slow, but once they start to branch out they really start to move. If you decide to start earlier than you can always pinch back the lead growing tips. That will slow the plant down, also resulting in a more "shrublike" plant. Once planted outdoors in May the plants will take off with new vigorous branching.....only my opinions.

Good luck with your grow

Greg

Hey Greg, thanks for the reply. I think I should be good penetrating the foliage (600w MH). I plan to run the MH bulb until I plant in May. 12-14 weeks sounds like a good time as well. I have seen a bunch of growers follow that timeline.

I planted in July my plants that are big now. They were only under 6500K fluorescent lights and still are until I get my HPS, I have trimmed very little, and they are about 17-19" tall, and the canopy is about 2' square.

I have heard that if you were to use HPS to grow seedlings until plant out they will be leggy, because of heavy red spectrum reaching for the light
But the MH should keep it compact and bush like.


Matt, some clones might hold up in the mail its seasonable warm outside, since we have multiple feet of snow usually and we have NONE, I could send you some if they root good.

July! The wife would have a fit! lol! I threw out the HPS option, but I know that they are better for flowering/fruiting and the MH is for seedlings and growth.

HOPEFULLY I wont need any clones. I am fighting the space issue now, even with a ton of room in the tent, so I will let you know on that. Thanks for the offer!

so the q was "how long under lights?"

i need to learn things the hard way

if i were you i might try some NOW and some more later and see if
there are any different production results from different strategy

maybe plant some now and then some more later
see what happens and let us know what that is

i think some varieties may work better starting now

I think most of us learn the hard way. I considered planting a handful now, but I am heading down to FL for the holidays so I wouldn't be able to monitor them. So i can get started when I get back on a few "practice plants".

I've started quite a few by now for this season... some get real leggy like the Aji Limon and others stay compact like a few of the Naga Morich varieties. Personally because I don't have the optimum indoor setup... I start what I want and rotate them under the light as needed (12 hours), the goal being just to keep them alive until plant out... so far so good, just a few more months!

I think I am planning on growing the Aji Limon, that is good to know. Thanks!

This is a great discussion, as everyone eventually has to guess the optimal grow time required prior to the whims of their local mother nature. I'm going with 12-weeks start prior to my area's last average frost date. Not exact, but a good 'starting' point.

Your indoor structure looks awesome with plenty of lighting firepower. Question is will the early starts outgrow that space before you're ready to go outside with them? How big and how many containers needed after 100+days? How much floor space and horizontal foliage space do you have in the tent?

You might consider a small outdoor grow area to use as a half-way house in April-ish to alleviate indoor crowding. This can be a sheltered sunny porch, a pre-fab mini greenhouse or just a small structure of PVC covered with plastic in a sunny spot. Supplement with a portable heater if an exteme cold snap hits, or just be prepared to shuffle plants indoors at night.

Also consider keeping a few plants entirely in containers for their entire lives. Surely you can find a border area for a few container peppers. Eventually, pot up some into 5-gallon buckets, a hedge bet against those 'ground' troops for some of your favorites.

And don't call me Shirley...

Shirley, I mean Silman,

I am leaning more to the 12 week idea now, with maybe a few tests. I am planning on growing about 150 seedlings and keeping about 45 or so. The inside dimensions are about 5'X'5'X7' High. I will have PLENTY of room for that many pants for at least 12 weeks, at least I think. I keep re-reading beaglestorm, AJ, and SS's growlogs and I think I have enough room for growth. I can always cut the legs down a few inches to give more top growth!

when is last chance for frost in the carolinas?

It is early April, so 12 weeks would be about mid Jan for me.

Thanks for the input so far everyone! I haven't finalized the grow list, BUT here is what I am working with. I am planning about 3 seedlings of each variety and keeping 1. Maybe one more in a few special cases I will keep in containers like Sillman said. But here is what I am planning.

Red TScorp-AJ
Yellow TScorp-Brian
TScorp Marouga-Pepper Lover
ButchT-Chad/Judy

Indian:
Red Bhut-Pepper Lover
Assam Bhut Indian Carbon- Pepper Lover
Giant Red Bhut-PGM
Choc Bhut-PGM
Peach Bhut-Aji Joe
Naga Morich- Brian

7's:
Yellow 7: THSC
White 7: Pepper Lover
Douglah: THSC
Brain Strain: CMPMAN
Yellow Brain Strain: Pepper Lover
Infinity: Wouter

Habs:
Red Savina-Pepper Lover
Red Hab- Pepper Lover
Orange Hab- Pepper Lover
Hab Mix- Aji Joe

Crosses:
Douglah X Douglah Shape-Chad
Peach Habalokia-Aji Joe
Red Scorpanero #2-Aji Joe
Yellow Habalokia-Aji Joe

Wilds:
Amish Bush-Pepper Lover
Most Prolific-Pepper Lover
Pi 1441654-Pepper Lover
Besslers Cherry-Pepper Lover
Pi 260595-Pepper Lover
Red Cheiro-CMPMAN
Whip's Tail-Pepper Lover
Inca Red Drop-Kevin

Others:
Fatalii-Pepper Lover
Trinidad Perfume-Pepper Lover
Tabago Seasoning-Pepper Lover
Aji Yellow-Aji Joe

Medium:

Biker Billy Jal- Burpee
NuMex Jal- NUMEX
Cayenne- Jamie
Hot Salsa Delight- Burpee
Ancho- HM

Mild/Sweet:

Joe E. Parker- HM
Red Bell Orion F1- HM
Yellow Bell Catriona- HM


I have all the supers, but I am still looking for a 7 Primo and a 7 Jonah. I am still acquiring/yet to order everything from the Medium down. I got a great variety thanks to the people here and Judy. I didn't need everything in the bags, so I was sure to spread the heat around, something that I learned here!

Matt

 

[IndyHot]

I was also wondering what the ideal timeline for starting indoors would be, but realized I'd probably get a different answer from each person... so I decided to experiment myself with my current setup! I started a couple yellow cardi scorps on 11/1/11 and they have been growing like weeds ever since. Here's a picture of them today in regular 6" pots:

The average last frost here in Indianapolis is mid April. I think I can comfortably support about 16 plants under my four 4ft T5s up until they get about 8-10". If they get much bigger than that they will start crowding each other out and will seriously need to be potted up. The way that these are growing it looks like they'll be to that point in just a couple more weeks. I was originally planning on starting 12 weeks early, but I'm starting to think 10 weeks might be a safer bet for me with the limited space I have vs number of plants. I also started a Jonah about 4 weeks ago and it's growing much slower than the yellow scorps above. It's only about an 1" tall with a couple sets of real leaves. I suppose to summarize all this I'd experiment with your set up and what you plan to grow and count backwards from your last frost. Ok, i'm done rambling

Indy

 

[MGOLD86]

Couldn't resist, just ordered some 7 Primo, Jonah, and Barakpore from Judy. DAMN YOU JUDY AND YOUR AWESOME PEPPER COLLECTION! Also, the Jameson probably prompted me to break out the credit card....