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Loafers' GLOG 2012 - Learning the Hard Way

This is my first year growing peppers from seed and I've made a lot of mistakes so far. I've been gardening for a long time and have worked on farms since I was thirteen but these superhots are giving me a it of a challenge. Still, I'm loving every minute of it.

In late March I started some Tabasco, Cayenne, and Thai seeds in a jiffy Greenhouse. Not knowing that they need heat to germinate very few did. These are the survivors. The ones on the left just sprouted yesterday. I've checked the soil and none of the seeds have rotted, some are still in the process of germinating now that it's getting hotter. Call me an optimist but I think there'll be more where these came from.


Here is my tray of relatively hot/superhots. The labels are impossible to read so I'll just list them. From left to right there are Naga Morich, Bhut Jolokia, Trinidad Scorpion, Orange Habanero, Red Scotch Bonnet, Yellow Scotch Bonnet, Amish Bush(came as a free gift from pepperlover), and Thai. They were planted at the beginning of march.



I figured I'd wait to post until I had something to show. This place can be intimidating with all the master growers. So, although It's impossible to see. If you look hard enough you can see a Naga seedling poking it;s head out in this pic.



probably isn't much but it's my first superhot that's germed! I'm freakin' ecstatic!


Well, this journey probably won't go well. I've bitten off way more than I can chew, but here it goes.
 
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Yep ive got the same as you growing (from Judy as well) they need the heat to pop for sure, but once there up & away you can keep them going without to much dramas. Heat mat & propagator seems to work with a lot of the people on here, if your letting them cool down overnight its going to take a while (ive learned this lesson).

Good luck.

Mezo.
 
Nice work. I'm new to growing peppers from seed too, and found a heat mat invaluable. Then I got this thermostat and the process became foolproof. But I've also started seeds outside in warm weather. As long as you're having fun, you're doing it right!

One tip from one new pepper grower to another:
I put some plants into the ground when they were about a month old and they got eaten by animals and bugs. Some survived, but I lost quite a few plants this way. Holding off on planting out until the plants are robust was something I wish I had known a few months ago.
 
Went out of town for a few days and left the peppers in the care of my parents. I left the ungrrminated trays in the boiler room for extra heat so I guess only time will tell
 
Put the trays on top of the water heater as suggested. The result was some sprouting!
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It's probably too late for most of them though.
 
Update:

Sorry that this has taken so long, guys. In the past month I have been gone and back a million times taking care of work things and so as a result I had to leave my peppers with my parents. They killed the majority of them but luckily I have a brother with a green thumb who salvaged what he could.

Planted in the garden and some Cayennes and Tabascos that he saved:



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Because I've done so poorly so far I bought some plants from my local nursery. Cayenne and Habanero. I want to make some hot sauce and owe a HUGE karmic debt to this community in terms of seeds so I figured I should have a few guaranteed pods to see seeds from.




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Lastly. I've been spending the last month and a half meticulously researching germination and pepper care and so I've germinating a large group of seeds. I know it's late in the season, but luckily I have plenty of space and plan to overwhelm at least fifteen plants this year. Probably more.




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I got the water heater idea from a ghetto gear thread where it worked well. I have my seedling starter mix and heat mat ready for as soon as they pop.

LASTLY BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY:
In the past month I've experience an enormous generosity from this forum. The amount of seeds I've received free of charge is staggering and know that I intend fully to pay it forward and buy any and all of you a beer when I get the chance. I want to shout out special thanks to:
Stickyman
Griff187
midwestchilihead
compmodder26
Ajijoe
EephusMan
BamaBoy1975
CycadJungle
MuskyMojo
 
Don't give up the fight... search back to the forums from November through March. There's valuable info from all who started indoors, under lights. We've all made mistakes and have learned progress through each others. Good luck there's still alot of season left and maybe you can clone or overwinter a plant or two this fall

Greg
 
Yep, it's a live and learn deal... take what ya learn into the next year's grow :)

This is my first year, and so far it's been spent dealing with:

Overwatering (I was just trying ta keep em alive, honest! lol)
Underwatering
Fungus Gnats
Aphids
Whiteflies
Leaf-footed bugs
Aphids again
Caterpillers
Leaf-borers
Rats/mice
Aphids yet again
And now back to overwatering (Mother Nature's fault this time)

Even with all of that, still having a blast... in fact, of all the above, the one that irritates me the most are the rats/mice. They apparently went around "sampling" all my pods. They just took bites out of the hot ones, but they tore off some jalapenos, chihuacle negros, and a few other types I was waiting to ripen...

Good luck on your grow! I think we'll both be starting a bit earlier next year... heheh :)
 
Hi Guy, just checking in to see how you've been doing. Sorry you've had so many setbacks, but if you remember your earlier mistakes and don't repeat them, each succeeding year will be better. A suggestion... you might want to keep a garden log. I always do, and re-read it during the winter months when I'm thumbing through the seed catalogs and planning the coming growing season.
 
stickman said:
Hi Guy, just checking in to see how you've been doing. Sorry you've had so many setbacks, but if you remember your earlier mistakes and don't repeat them, each succeeding year will be better. A suggestion... you might want to keep a garden log. I always do, and re-read it during the winter months when I'm thumbing through the seed catalogs and planning the coming growing season.
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That's an idea so good and simple I feel like an idiot for not having done it yet. Will start ASAP. Thanks for your help and seeds!
 
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