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Pulpiteer's grow log 2012

I thought I'd do a grow log this year, since I've enjoyed reading the ones that other folks do. I'm up in Michigan and last year was able to get the plants in the garden in mid-May, but that isn't a sure thing. I'm starting a bit early, but I want the plants to be a good size when I do get them in, so that I don't have to wait until later in the Fall to harvest. If we would've had an early frost last year, I would've been in trouble. The grow log puts a bit of pressure on. If this is a tremendous failure, then it'll be public. I've been gardening for awhile, and had great luck with my peppers last year, but I'm taking a giant step up this year, so we'll see.

Here is my grow list:
1. Douglah x4 Ajijoe
2. Scotch Bonnet (Y) x4 Pepperjoe.com
3. Cherry Bomb x4 Farmers market
4. Bhut Jolokia ® x4 Dshlogg
5. Trinidad Scorpion (Red)x6 Ajijoe
6. Trinidad Scropion (Peach) x6 Ajijoe
7. Chocolate Congo Habanero x6 Ajijoe
8. Caribbean Red Habanero x6 Ajijoe
9. Aji Pineapple x4 Ajijoe
10. Peach Bhut Jolokia x6 Ajijoe
11. Naga Morich x4 Dshlogg
12. Scotch Bonnet (Y)x8 Refining Fire
13. Jamaican Red Mushroom x8 Refining Fire
14. Jamaican Chocolate Habanero x8 Refining Fire
15. Thai Dragon x4 Dshlogg
16. 7 Pot (Yellow) x4 Masschilehead
17. Avery Island Tobasco x4 Masschilehead
18. Aji Limon x4 Dshlogg
19. Devil's Tongue x4 Dshlogg
20. Fatali x6 Totally Tomato
21. Red Rocoto x6 Totally Tomato
22. Scotch Bonnet (Red)x4 Hotstuff
23. Jalapeno x4 Dshlogg
24. Bell (various) x20 (I'll buy the plants in the spring)

This website has been tremendously helpful. After some contact with MJDiamond83, I ordered some CFL bulbs. They are 100 watt bulbs that put out the equivalent of 400 watts of light, 6500 on the light temperature, I believe. I get a shelving unit on sale last year from Lowes, some pvc this year from Menards and ordered some mylar emergency blankets off of Amazon (10 for $8) and put up a cheap frame that gives me two levels, with the CFL on top and some florescent strip lights on the bottom. With the lights on, it gets to about 84, and with them off its in the mid 70's. I hope that's enough to get the seeds to pop.

Here's a shot where you can see the three lights and the mylar around the three sides. For the front cover I just have a mylar sheet that drapes down and it's all basically enclosed.
growroom1.jpg


Here's a shot of everything planted. For the most part I have at least two seeds in each cell, sometimes a few more than that. I figure I can cut down if I have too many that germinate.
growroom2.jpg
 
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Lookin' good! Impressive grow list!
 
In the soil pinned topic, I found a soil mix recipe that calls for 5 parts sphagnum peat moss, 3 parts compost, 1 part vermiculite, 1 part perlite. So, I mixed accordingly, using "Dr. Earth Organic Choice" compost. I also added some fertilizer, "Happy Frog's Jumpstart" which is supposed to help get a plant going. The package called for 2 tablespoons per gallon of soil. I have 144 containers filled with soil. I added some water from our 90 gallon fish tank, and some from the tap. I plan on watering from the bottom, and using cinnamon to avoid dampening off.
Here I am with the three kids, stirring up the seed starting mix.

soilmix.jpg


I soaked the pepper seeds for about 18 hours in a half-strength chamomile tea, so the seeds would have steady nerves and would remain calm for the growing they were about to do. I got the seeds all in Wednesday, January 25, so we'll see how we do.



Thanks PaulG, I think I just read the beginnings of your grow log as well just a moment ago. We'll see how impressive mine turns out - I have this fear, now that the seeds are in the dirt, that I'll lose them all and be stuck with whatever I can find from the local nursery :doh: . By the way, I saw that you mentioned the ghetto growing thread in your posts - that's one of my favorite threads. Lots of fun to read through.
 
SocalChilehead said:
Great setup and list hopefully sprout soon for you and best of luck through the season.
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Thanks! I hope so.

I am unsure as to how much to spray the soil since I'm bottom watering and four of my trays were dry on the bottom today, so I rewatered them. I know I'll have to cut back on watering when they get some leaves, so hopefully I'll do that right. If anyone has any guidelines, I'm all ears.

I peeked in at the cherry bomb seeds, some were just beneath the soil or just where I could see them. One seed has something coming out already, so I'll have a hook popping up soon, I think. Good stuff.

Also, I had been overwintering a hot lemon pepper, or Lemon drop I've seen them called, but was battling aphids. I had them under control, but couldn't totally wipe them out, so I pulled the pot out from the grow area when I put the others in. I just trimmed it back today and put it in the basement. I'll water it, and maybe it will go dormant until spring. I hope. It would be too bad if it died, but I can't have aphids all over my seedlings.
 
And the winner is...
The peach Trinidad Scorpions! Which surprises me. Looks like Ajijoe's seeds are quick to germinate!

firstsprout.jpg


The Cherry Bomb peppers are just about to break the surface, so I suspect they'll be second.

btw, I've got a fine, almost cob-web like white fungus or something on the surface of my soil. Anyone else had this? Does it matter? They're getting plenty of light and heat. I've also put a couple doses of cinnamon on it because I've heard its an anti fungal. Any ideas?
 
Pulpiteer said:
Thanks PaulG, I think I just read the beginnings of your grow log as well just a moment ago. We'll see how impressive mine turns out - I have this fear, now that the seeds are in the dirt, that I'll lose them all and be stuck with whatever I can find from the local nursery :doh: . By the way, I saw that you mentioned the ghetto growing thread in your posts - that's one of my favorite threads. Lots of fun to read through.
Click to expand...

I know what you mean. You put so much energy into getting 'em ready and under the lights that you hold your breath until something happens. Your peach scorpions sound like they are doing great! Can't wait to see photos!

Long live the Ghetto Growing Gear thread :fireball: Way fun.
 
For February 6, 2012 - the 13th day

Here are my germination rates, kind of...
I planted multiple seeds in each cell or planter when I could, depending on how many seeds of that particular pepper I had. So what I do have is a record of how many cells I have with seeds in them for each pepper and how many have sprouted.
Here you go:

1. Douglah (Ajijoe) 4/4
2. Scotch Bonnet (Y) (Pepperjoe.com) 4/4
3. Cherry Bomb 11/12
4. Bhut Jolokia (Dshlogg) 6/8
5. Trinidad Scorpion (Red) (Ajijoe) 3/9
6. Trinidad Scropion (Peach) (Ajijoe) 8/9
7. Chocolate Congo Habanero (Ajijoe) 0/6
8. Caribbean Red Habanero (Ajijoe) 8/8
9. Aji Pineapple (Ajijoe) 5/6
10. Peach Bhut Jolokia (Ajijoe) 5/9
11. Naga Morich (Dshlogg) 4/4
12. Scotch Bonnet (Y) (Refining Fire) 0/8
13. Jamaican Red Mushroom (Refining Fire) 7/8
14. Jamaican Chocolate Habanero (Refining Fire) 0/8
15. Thai Dragon (Dshlogg) 4/4
16. 7 Pot (Yellow) (Masschilehead) 3/6
17. Avery Island Tobasco (Masschilehead) 4/4
18. Aji Limon (Dshlogg) 6/6
19. Devil's Tongue (Dshlogg) 3/4
20. Fatali (Totally Tomato) 7/9
21. Red Rocoto (Totally Tomato) 5/6
22. Scotch Bonnet (Red) (Hotstuff) 4/4
23. Jalapeno (Dshlogg) 4/4


Total 105/150 = 70%

Overall it's doing well. For some reason the habaneros are striking out, but they may take awhile. Same with the Scotch Bonnet from Refining Fire. I'll stick with them. The temps inside the grow room continue to vary, but today they were in the upper 80's, so it should be warm enough. Hopefully I'll get some of those congo habs to sprout.

Here are some pics to go with it:

First, a picture of my smaller growing cells with the seedlings doing well.
update3pic1.jpg


Next, some of the first "true leaves" coming in on my peach trinidad scorp - I'm excited for those!
update3pic2.jpg


Finally, a pic of a fatali sprouting with a little one right beside it.
update3pic3.jpg
 
Looking good! Glad to see you had such high germination rates. Best of luck to you this season. Can't wait to see more pics!
 
Dshlogg said:
Looking good! Glad to see you had such high germination rates. Best of luck to you this season. Can't wait to see more pics!
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Thanks! Yeah, I'm pleased thus far, just hoping for a few more of those habs to come in. I'm having good luck with the seeds I got from you - so thanks! Good luck to you as well - I've been checking out your grow log too.
 
PIC 1 said:
Nice progress, those seeds are popping up like crazy!

Greg
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Thanks Greg! I've just been perusing your grow log - wow! Cool stuff. It's good to read how other midwest chileheads are doing it, I think our seasons are very similiar - the last frost/first frost dates are. Last year I was lucky the frost held off until late, because all my hots came in mid to late October. It'd be great to get them a bit earlier this year.
The only thing I'm a bit afraid of, is if all goes well I may run out of room before I can get them outside. Do you run into that problem?
 
Darn good germ rates, Pulpiteer! You're off and running!
Great pic of the smaller germ cells - way to go, they look great!
Just be patient with the choc habs ; )
 
PaulG said:
Darn good germ rates, Pulpiteer! You're off and running!
Great pic of the smaller germ cells - way to go, they look great!
Just be patient with the choc habs ; )
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Thanks Paul! I'm trying to be patient with the habs, but still nothing. :banghead:
It's the chocolate congo habs from Refining FIre and the Scotch Bonnets from RF, as well as the Chocolate Habs from Aji Joe, nothing at all from any of those seeds. I have other seeds from both those folks that germinated just fine, so I'm really at a loss right now. Oh well, keep waiting...

So, today is February 9, the 16th day and I haven't gone through to chart how many cells are full today, but I can say, besides the three varieties listed above there is only the odd empty one - so things are coming along great! I'm especially excited for the peach bhuts and the peach scorps, which are both doing well.

Here is another pic - which is actually three put together. I dug out one of the scotch bonnets from RF and put it on a wet paper towel in a baggy to see if that would start it up. So that picture is in there, as well as a pic of the seedlings, and one of the first one to sprout, the peach scorp, which is developing some nice leaves.

update4pic1.jpg
 
Ok, I did a bit of work today on the peppers. Well, I should back up.

I still haven't gotten any sprouts from the scotch bonnets or Jamaican Choc. Habs, or the Choc. Congo Habs, and I came into a little bit of extra money, one thing leads to another and I'm ordering more pepper seeds to replace the ones that didn't sprout. But I don't order the same or even just three varieties. I decided to try out pepperlover.com due to the awesome reviews online, and purchased some red brain strains, aji lemon peru (which I am sure I've now doubled up on), Bishop's Crown, and red and yellow trinidad scotch bonnets. Realizing that I did not get any habaneros, I jumped over to pepperjoe.com and ordered some spicy mustard habs and some datils. Pepperlover.com must've been waiting at the computer, because I have my seeds already (awesome!) and soaked them last night in chamomile and planted them today. I'm doing 4 cells of each listed above, except for the aji lemons, which I believe I already have, but I planted 2 cells just in case. I don't know about anyone else, but it's like a drug, you get online, see cool peppers, want to plant them, next thing you know, you're giving your house a hard look over, wondering where you can add on that extra room for a mega grow room...

Besides planting today, I did a bit of culling. I went through the cells and for most left only one good strong plant, but for many others left 2 at most. There are a couple, like the red scorps, that I am growing two good ones out in one cell, because I have a few empty cells for that type. My hope is that this pruning process will help the remaining plants grow better, stronger, faster. :fireball:

For my Red Rocatos, I had an empty cell and then one with 4 plants growing up all together, so I decided that today was the day I'd move those a bit. Here is a shot of the uprooted plant.

update5rocottoroot.jpg



And here it is planted in again with the others. It's in the front far-right corner:

update5rocottosoil.jpg


Now for some plant pictures
Red Bhut Jolokia:

update5ghost.jpg


Red Jamaican Mushroom:
update5rmush.jpg


Peach Trinidad Scorpion
update5pscorp.jpg


And finally, a shot of the growing area again. You can see the many various green popping through. The blue covered container is my new seeds, I'm trying to keep the humidity in. Most of the rest were planted on January 25, so this is day 19, I believe.

update5all.jpg



Who knows, perhaps there will still be a sprout of two from the habs, :pray: but I'm not holding my breath...
I'll update my numbers when I get a chance.
 
Hey just stumbled on this thread. Everything is looking great. I am not looking forward to culling my doubles, may have to pour one out of the dead homies...

Keep the updates comin and good luck!
 
MGOLD86 said:
Hey just stumbled on this thread. Everything is looking great. I am not looking forward to culling my doubles, may have to pour one out of the dead homies...

Keep the updates comin and good luck!
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Thanks MGold! I've been following your glog through its ups and downs and it's been a great read - and great to see your bounceback. My homemade pvc setup doesn't hold a candle to your grow tent and finely engineered shelving and heat regulation. Pretty cool.
Yeah, culling the doubles... I'm not going to lie, I had a tear in my eye and with a shaky voice told them it was for their own good. It's funny, you wait for the seeds to sprout, but only to thin some out. Also, there is that lingering fear that the one I leave will suddenly die and I'll want the one back I clipped. I also look at each extra plant and start to calculate exactly how much of my yard I can till up...
 
Hey Pulpiteer! Your starts are looking just fine as can be! Way to get after transplanting that red rocoto
I'll bet it's doing great! Sorry you had to sacrifice some of your seedlings. Just one per cell next year!
Your grow area looks like it's working really well. You know, my choc. habs were slow,
and the second set to germinate is still small and growing slow, but I guess one can only be so patient!
Anyway great update, the pics of the seedlings are way cool!
 
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