Thanks SS Tupp, SpicyC and Bodeen. Yes, about to kick into high gear. And I may have made the basic error of starting things too soon for my clime, but I will deal with it down the road. I think another light station is my not so distant future.
I'm following in BigCedar's footsteps and posting a really basic report for now. This might be useful for the new growers out there staring a new dome in the face. I am, after all, a second year grower...sniff...so I pretty much know it all. NOT! Fer goshsakes, some of you old hands help me and bail me out if I say something stupid.
To recap: I'm germinating a big pile of C. Chinense and one C. Bacatuum in baggies on my water tank. This is mainly to get my confidence up about growing some of the harder to grow varieties. I hope to get a feel for time frame for germination, as well as observe the close-up action of seeds swelling up and popping.
Recent events: Nine of the varieties had at least one 'soldier' pop in each baggie. So I began planting in some starter medium in 72-per flat cells. Any seed that germinate, the remaining ones in that baggie also get planted prior to germination. Usually putting in 2 seeds per cell.
While waiting for my Hoffman Seed Starter to arrive, I made one batch of my own stuff. It was 1 cup peat moss, 1 cup perlite and 1/2 cup Garnder and Bloome potting mix. Then I put it in a blender and pulsed it some to make it fine. I sure hope the wife unit doesn't find out. But it seems to have worked. Now my Hoffman's stuff is here and I'll be able to compare my stuff to theirs.
Big event: I have moved from the hot water tank germinating into 21st century technology with a heating mat. Without further ado, here is the setup.
So a couple things going on 'under the hood.' I've cut my cells into groups of nine for easier handling and to accomodate the unstructured chaos about to begin. Marked cells with tape and a code for what's in each row of three. Keeping plastic over the cells for now for increased humidity. Temp target is 80F. Middle area shows one tray with Hoffman's, one behind it has my special blend. Container on the right has the remaining baggies. Sidebar note: I put a really weak tea solution (black and green) in my baggies as the solution to speed germ. Just something I do--saw it on the internet--it must be true. The black wire is the probe from the thermometer. By the way, the heat mat, tray, dome, cell insert and some free Mycrohaziaie (sp) was $21. The thermobombeter was $30. Got on Amazon free shipping.
Notice a foil bubble wrap insulator under the heat mat. Some use styrofoam sheeting. It will help the efficiency of the mat.
Okay, all bundled up doing its thang. I put the towel over for more insulation and I read seeds germ better in the dark. Not sure--but I did read it on the internet--here inf fact.
Will be hanging up the lights (T8) on my ad-hoc light stand as soon as the first hooks arrive.
P.S. The first germinators from the hot water tank era took 5 to 8 days. Here's the order of popage:
Aji Amarillo (thanks Kentishman), Scotch Bonnet yellow (thx Tomato Growers), Maui Purple (thx Wayright), Trinidad Scorpion Red (thx PepperLover), Tobago Seasoning (PepperLover), Chocolate Hab (Kentishman), 7Pot Brain Strain (thx Patrick), Datil (Kentishman) and Datil (thanks Aphahydroponics). Plan to triple up on Datil!
Like I said, this is a basic post. Hope you didn't get bored. I plan to keep about 57 plants from this batch. Then start my main grow around January 24. Whenever Windchicken and Beth say the moon is right!