The Moruga Project

I am here to grow moruga plants. It's been a month since I planted the seeds and have tiny little plants.

How do I add images from my computer to this post??

https://www.facebook.com/TheMorugaProject?ref=ts&fref=ts#!/photo.php?fbid=424751760942548&set=a.424751757609215.1073741825.421422021275522&type=1&theater

 

[armac]

If I breed a german shepherd and find traits I like, and have it cloned, it is still a german shepherd.no matter what the dna is.....

 

[Nightshade]

Exactly people renaming varieties that already exist just because they see something slightly desirable causes a lot of unnecessary confusion

 

[moruga]

I suppose you're all right. Still would like to clone though.

 

[armac]

cloning is easy with peppers, you should have no problems

 

[holyhotpeppers]

Put some more light on those babies... They are beggin for it.

I would focus more on learning how to create "alive" soil so your crop is healthy and resistant to insect and disease issues before even thinking I could tackle cloning or making my own strain etc.

 

[moruga]

The plant on the left is 1 month old. The plant on the right is 2 months old.

Re: lighting, heat, soil etc... I think I didn't do too bad considering I don't have the ideal system. Maybe they're leggy but they're really leafing out in the second month. What do you guys think?

 

[Nightshade]

I think you need some more lighting seriously it will help you later on because they are far behind at 2 months they should be relatively big

Add a fan also to strengthen the stem

 

[Sawyer]

I was about to come in here to defend your effort against the criticisms expressed by the others. But then I saw you are simply planning to clone a random plant and give it a new name. Is that correct? If so, then I have to agree with the critics. It is true that the cloned plant will have a subset of the genetic diversity of the parent population, but unless it's something special, like expressing a desirable recessive trait or random mutation, it doesn't really contribute much to the pepper world and, as noted by the others, does add to the confusion over names. Even in the case of an unusual desirable trait, planning to propagate that trait solely through clones is, in my opinion, not likely to be hugely successful. Chiliheads like to grow from seed. Breeders would buy your clones, and then embark on a breeding program to stabilize the expression of the desirable trait in a self-consistent breeding population.

Your reference to Monsanto misses the mark. I've read a number of Monsanto's plant patents for their various glyphosate-resistant varieties and there is more to it than simply finding a resistant strain and patenting it. The initial resistance was found in an Agrobacterium. The responsible gene was isolated and transfected into desirable agricultural crop varieties. This required a lot of time, effort, and expense, and (regardless of how you feel about GMO) was reasonably entitled to patent protection. I have heard of people/companies simply finding a previously unknown, but useful, plant in the wild and patenting that. This I disagree with.

You are more on target with your analogy to a certificate of authenticity for an autograph. If you did find a mother plant expressing some particular desirable trait or combination of traits, then sure, you could sell authenticated clones... if you could find buyers. Your success in that case, I think, would depend on your marketing skills.

I agree with holyhotpeppers, focus now on developing your expertise in growing. Keep your eyes open for that particular expression of desirable traits and try to propagate that. Given that the Moruga Scorpion is not a strictly homogeneous genotype and given the large number of plants you'll be growing, you might get lucky.

Hey, you have live plants after two months, so you can't be screwing up too badly.

 

[holyhotpeppers]

The plant on the left is 1 month old. The plant on the right is 2 months old.

Re: lighting, heat, soil etc... I think I didn't do too bad considering I don't have the ideal system. Maybe they're leggy but they're really leafing out in the second month. What do you guys think?

We all think they need more light. A cheapo T8 will work or a window with natural light.

 

[Jeff H]

Another vote for more light.

 

[moruga]

RE: Lighting
TOP SHELF

SECOND SHELF: Now with two lights:

THIRD SHELF: Two 4 foot flourescent:

I want to grow the hottest pepper in the world the best way it should be grown. And all of you have been showing me the way. I think I have proper lighting now having added 66% more light to the same space. I don't want to be the bad guy here, I want my own little niche from doing this and thought clones was the way to go. If seeds are the way to go then so be it!

 

[holyhotpeppers]

RE: Lighting
TOP SHELF

SECOND SHELF: Now with two lights:

THIRD SHELF: Two 4 foot flourescent:

I want to grow the hottest pepper in the world the best way it should be grown. And all of you have been showing me the way. I think I have proper lighting now having added 66% more light to the same space. I don't want to be the bad guy here, I want my own little niche from doing this and thought clones was the way to go. If seeds are the way to go then so be it!

4ft Fluorescent is perfect! Try to cram all of the seedlings you can under it. You want your seedlings to be compact so when they grow they grow more nodes. More light= More nodes= more pods. Try hanging your lamps upside down so the light is closer to the seedlings for the time being. Who cares if it looks ghetto as long as it works. Also get a small fan on them if you have not already. This will make them strong.

Your not the bad guy, I think we all didn't understand why you wanted to build an airplane before learning how to fly it.

If you really want to learn read the AACT sticky. This is priceless information and will get you going for feeding your plants and making your soil "alive" .

 

[moruga]

I remember a documentary years ago about the Amazon Rainforest and what they call their soil- "terra negro". It's loaded with microbes so much and has been for so long that the microbe is a community of microbes as big as the rainforest. They mentioned that if you slash and burn the rainforest and destroy the topsoil, the terra negro grows back. Amazing stuff, very similar to compost tea, I guess. I will have to look into AACT.

 

[Sawyer]

Your post reminded me of the concept of terroir.

 

[BakersPeppers]

Been following this thread for a bit and thought this may help...a thread of mine from early last year...hope it helps

http://thehotpepper.com/topic/26029-indoor-grow-area-build-grow-pics/page__fromsearch__1

 

[moruga]

My neighbors offered me their planters:

There's 7 of them and they're 48 X 48 X 9. I have 7 and only need wood and nails to make 5 more. A 2 X 10 X 8' costs $8.59 and I need 10 of them- $89.50 in wood. I can do that.

I also have those 9 29 X 14 planters- they go on the side and hold other stuff.

I need topsoil for them- I think a ton per planter should do it @ $13.50 a ton. Then I will AACT the plants and soil.

12 planters.

____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
____XXXX____XXXX____XXXX____XXXX____
____XXXX____XXXX____XXXX____XXXX____
____XXXX____XXXX____XXXX____XXXX____
____XXXX____XXXX____XXXX____XXXX____
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
____XXXX____XXXX____XXXX____XXXX____
____XXXX____XXXX____XXXX____XXXX____
____XXXX____XXXX____XXXX____XXXX____
____XXXX____XXXX____XXXX____XXXX____
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
____XXXX____XXXX____XXXX____XXXX____
____XXXX____XXXX____XXXX____XXXX____
____XXXX____XXXX____XXXX____XXXX____
____XXXX____XXXX____XXXX____XXXX____
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________

12 planters on space 28 feet across and 28 feet deep.

48 moruga plants.

Can we all agree to this plan???

 

[holyhotpeppers]

Are you setting them on top of your grass or are you planning to till and amend i hope?

 

[moruga]

I'll be tilling away.

 

[sicman]

you get
"top soil" for $13.50 a ton? are you sure this isnt fill dirt that some people are trying to dump?

im also confused? you think you need 2000 pounds of medium for each of those planters?

 

[P. Dreadie]

I'm with sicman ...that sounds to cheap for decent soil and you don't need that much soil. You'll also need to dress up the soil too more than likely. And tilling to break up the ground underneath is a MUST. The deeper the roots can go the better it is for the plants.

Raised beds are great. The taller the sides the deeper the loose soil. If you don't step in them the soil doesn't get packed tight again. Less work next year.

Goggle Square Foot Gardens. With raised beds you can grow more plants in that area. To use your "X"'s here

In a Row plants may be 3' apart. 3' is just an example and keeps things simple ...

Rows X X X X X X then 3' to next row


X X X X X X

With raised beds you can plant more

X X X X X X
X X X X X
X X X X X X

Peace and good luck ,
P.Dreadie