Windsong's 2012 Grow Log

Jan 12

This is my first year growing hot peppers. I found The Hot Pepper website a couple months back and joined. Thanks to several generous members and Judy at PepperLover I was able to get started rather quickly. Yesterday I started many of this year’s seeds. Here is the list of what seeds I set:

1. 7 Pot Jonah
2. 7 Pot Red
3. Aji Amarillo
4. Aji Yellow
5. Bhut Jolokia, Brown
6. Bhut Jolokia, Peach
7. Bhut Jolokia, Red
8. Black Naga 9 seed
9. Black Scorpion Tongue
10. Chapeu Du Frade
11. Chinese 5 Color
12. Congo Trinidad Scorpion
13. Datil Pepper
14. Fish Pepper
15. Brown Habanero
16. Orange Habanero
17. Red Habanero
18. White Habanero
19. Lemon Habanero
20. Naga Jolokia Purple
21. Peter Pepper Red
22. Red Salvina
23. Santa Fe Grande Pepper
24. Thai Hot Pepper
25. Trinidad Scorpion
26. Trinidad Scorpion Butch
27. Trinidad Scorpion Mourouga
28. Tobago Scotch Bonnet
29. Tobago Scotch Bonnet Yellow
30. Trinidad Sweet Cherry
31. Trinidad Perfume
32. Zavory

I set 12 seeds of everything except Black Naga, which I only had 9 seeds of. I had read that peat retards germination for some hot peppers, so I decided to start all seeds in Oasis Horticubes. I used the thin cut 1” x 1” x 1-1/2” cubes, there are 276 cubes to a sheet. I went this route for several reasons:

1. Nonpeat based
2. Sterile
3. Fit in standard 10-20 trays, so I could use the trays I have and the clear domes
4. Easy to start a large number of plants in a minimum of space. Top shelf of the plant rack in my office

I don’t have propagation mats so my computer, existing plant lights, and several incandescent light bulbs keep the Horticubes at 80 to 84 degrees. The cubes are only good for a few days to a week after the plants pop their head up but they'll be easy to break apart, plant in starter pots, and move to my new grow room in the garage. I'll plant another sheet of cubes tomorrow, I hope!

That is all for now. I'll try to go into greater depth on my setup and how and why in a day or two. I'm reading as much as I can and trying to apply it to my grow. There's a wealth of knowledge stored in the post on this forum and I want to thank everyone for sharing that knowledge with me/us. When I get time to figure out how to upload pictures, I'll post some.

Curt

 

[wrightdaddy]

thats a nice list there good luck. look forward to seeing some pics.

 

[romy6]

Looks like you are gonna have a ton of plants if you get good germination rates. Are you growing in ground or in pots?

Thanks
Jamie

 

[Windsong]

Thanks Wrightdaddy, I think I'm gonna need it. I'm taking a ton of pics but they will be a few days coming. I keep a photo log on the computer of each project I do.

Jamie the plan is to grow mostly in isolated colonies of pots (6 or 7 of each type in a group) but some will be in remote locations in the ground. The Georgia clay makes it difficult to grow in ground, so it may turn out to be raised beds. Of course you know what the saying is: The best laid plans of men and mice..... , so I'm keeping my options open.

Did I mention that we sell seedling plants and seeds? I may have forgot to mention that. This is our first try at "hot" peppers though. Around Feb 1st we start our first rotation of tomato and sweet pepper seeds.

Curt

 

[highalt]

With the quantity of seeds you were starting, I had a feeling you weren't just growing for personal use.

I'm way north of you and haven't started mine yet, but was considering using the horticubes. Hope you will post your experience with them.

 

[S.S.Tupperware]

I don't care for the Horticubes, they work well for some stuff... but my pepper seeds seem to get hung up in the deep hole, and never make it out. I hope ya have better luck than I.

 

[Windsong]

I don't care for the Horticubes, they work well for some stuff... but my pepper seeds seem to get hung up in the deep hole, and never make it out. I hope ya have better luck than I.

OOOPS, I hope I didn't make a mistake. I'm glad I didn't start any more seeds today. I guess I'll just give it a week or so at 80 to 84 degrees and see what happens. I was concerned about the deep holes also and had thought about filling the holes with vermiculite first and poking a smaller hole in the vermiculite, wish I had now, but like I said, we'll see.

I'll probably fill the holes, at least partially, next batch I start. I'll keep you posted.

Curt

 

[irishmaverick]

Nice list you have going. Looking forward to seeing pictures of your progress. Good luck!

 

[Windsong]

Trinidad Scorpion [font="""]Butch T, Tobago Scotch Bonnet, and White Habanero poking their heads out of the Horticubes this morning. Less than a week! Getting pics, will post when I get time. Still finishing my grow room. Big hurry now.[/font]

Curt