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Stefan_W's Great Big Beefy Pepper Adventure: Grow List

Here are the baby pics I promised. I guess that makes these guys New Years babies :P
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For New Years we always order from our favourite Indian place. The butter chicken is to die for, and is the best I've ever had. I always get a helping of tandoori chicken ramped up as hot as it gets, and the thing about Indian cuisine is that they really know the meaning of "make it really hot"! There was also the usual naan break, along with some spinach dish that was tasty but looked suspiciously like what came out of my daughter when she was a baby after we fed her strained peas.
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Happy New Year everyone! Rock on, and kick ass in your grows this year!
 
Grats on the new babies Stefan.

You're a much braver man than I am to tell an Indian cook to "ramp it up."

Hope you have a great grow and an even better year.
 
DocNrock said:
Looks great, man, both the little guys and the Indian chow. Small world. We used to have those same plates!
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Cool! We got them at Jysk, which is a store that is basically a poor man's Ikea. "Poor man's Ikea" sort of boggles the mind.

patrick said:
Grats on the new babies Stefan.

You're a much braver man than I am to tell an Indian cook to "ramp it up."

Hope you have a great grow and an even better year.
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Thanks for stopping by! The first time we went to this Indian place they refused to allow us to order food hotter than a 5/10 on their heat scale. As time has gone by they have uponed things up for us, and this was the first time I was able to taste the full fury of "make it as hot as you can, please." And let me tell you, it was even worse (in a good way) today as leftovers.

DocNrock said:
Looks great, man, both the little guys and the Indian chow. Small world. We used to have those same plates!
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Hey Brent, I forgot to ask you a question that was on my mind. I found a hydroponics store in Ottawa yesterday that carries rapid rooters. However, they are 25 bucks for a flat of 96, which is insanely expensive. I remember you used them for this grow and it looked like they worked great, but did you notice enough of a difference to justify that type of cost? I would be looking at 2 or 3 trays that would total almost 90 bucks after taxes, and all of that would be to increase germination on seeds that cost me 3-5 bucks a pack. Maybe I'm just having a slow day, but the math of all of that just isn't computing in my head.
 
Stefan_W said:
Hey Brent, I forgot to ask you a question that was on my mind. I found a hydroponics store in Ottawa yesterday that carries rapid rooters. However, they are 25 bucks for a flat of 96, which is insanely expensive. I remember you used them for this grow and it looked like they worked great, but did you notice enough of a difference to justify that type of cost? I would be looking at 2 or 3 trays that would total almost 90 bucks after taxes, and all of that would be to increase germination on seeds that cost me 3-5 bucks a pack. Maybe I'm just having a slow day, but the math of all of that just isn't computing in my head.
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Value is relative to everyone, so I will just relate my experience. Mine didn't come in a flat, they came in a bag, like 50 per bag. It might have been about $10 - $12 a bag, so not too far off from your 25 for 96.. I definitely got faster germination with the Rapid Rooters. Some that didn't germ in soil did germ in the Rooters. It was also much easier to set things up. I used 72 tray flats (purchased separately) and the Rooters I used were a perfect fit. Soak and pop in the flat, then add seeds...done. No soil or starter mix...no mess. With the hole in the top you would think there would be a lot more helmet heads. There were a few more than with soil, but not that many more. Seems the seed hull hangs up on the edge of the hole and the cots can (usually) pull themselves free.

Another thing I did was to put about five or six seeds per Rooter. Once I got a good sprout I just culled any others that popped in that cell. That cut the number of Rooters by five or six per variety.
 
Stefan I've found that soil temp is the single most important thing for germinating seeds. I've used all kinds of growing medium, cheap to expensive, and haven't found a significant advantage to any. Spend the money on a heat mat and a decent thermostat. Keep your stuff medium moist and temps around 82F/28C and you're germination rates will rock.
 
Thank you Patrick, that is great advice :P I've got a pretty good heat mat that I got from Lee Valley, along with the floralight lighting system. I have actually never lost a pepper or tomato plant once it germinated.

What I was looking for was a way of increasing my germination rate for some of the pepper varieties, mostly because of my experiences last year. The biggest thing I improved was my seed source, and I went with Judy at Pepperlover, a couple from Peppermania, and even two or three from Wildfire chili over in Australia. That change alone should give me what I am looking for, but I am always looking at different soil media that increase root health and give my plants an extra edge. There just isn't a lot of room for error or sub-par performance when you are growing long season varieties in a relatively short season climate.
 
Stefan_W said:
Here are the baby pics I promised. I guess that makes these guys New Years babies :P

For New Years we always order from our favourite Indian place. The butter chicken is to die for, and is the best I've ever had. I always get a helping of tandoori chicken ramped up as hot as it gets, and the thing about Indian cuisine is that they really know the meaning of "make it really hot"! There was also the usual naan break, along with some spinach dish that was tasty but looked suspiciously like what came out of my daughter when she was a baby after we fed her strained peas.

Happy New Year everyone! Rock on, and kick ass in your grows this year!
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Dam you guys, every time I take a peak ... food, you making me hungry :D I too love Indian, plus Thai cuisine. In all seriousness, great job on the "New Years babies!" hoping my babies planted on 1/1/13 come out soon. Keep up da great grow ...
 
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