• Blog your pepper progress. The first image in your first post will be used to represent your Glog.

Thebats 2012 glog

So this year I wanted to grow some peppers after being bored at work and browsing the internet. I found out that the ghost chili isn't the hottest pepper in the world anymore. That got me interested in what was and all sorts of other things. Then I found this website and am constantly on it reading. Because of this my girlfriend says I have problems because of how much I'm on here. So that's a bit of a backstory on how I got started on this. :)

So for my first grow I'll be growing

yellow bumpy
australian lanterns
white habs

provided by muskymojo:
trinidad scorps red
chocolate habs
7 pot barrackpore
7 pot yellow
7 pot douglah
7 pot brain strain
fatalii
bhut jolokia indian carbon

Hoping to have a good grow from this for my first year! :)
I'll be ordering some more seeds that aren't c chinense soon to start a little later.

Lets start with my light
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I picked this up at menards with 2 sets of lights, 2, 5000K bulbs and 2 6500K bulbs.
The fixture is a 4' T8 25-40W supporting fixture but my bulbs are 32W.

Then I have my 72 cell tray with a dome and heating mat
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I have 2 different thermometers and a new one in the mail. I have a long tube one that sits on top of the tray and one that goes down into the soil to measure the temp closer to the water/heat mat.

I filled my trays with Jiffy seed starting mix
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Then added water to the bottom and placed it on the heat mat for 2 days to soak up water and get a good regular temp idea.
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I soaked my seeds for 8+ hours today to prepare to transfer to the soil.
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After I got all my seeds planted and covered in soil with all the excess water drained from the bottom of the tray I put the dome on. I was able to achieve ~90F with a blanket over the top of the dome ally haveat the soil and air temp. Without any covering I usually get ~80F at the water and ~78F air temp. I'm hoping with partial covering that isn't too heavy I can have 80-85F air and soil temp.
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(Planted 2/5/12)

If I can't maintain a good air temp I'll have to break out my heat lamp to raise it 2 or 3 degrees.
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I bought a 48"x25' roll of mylar for when the seeds sprout.
I am currently in the process of making mylar reflective shields for my light fixture and a mylar tent that will cover everything. Maybe this will help raise the temp if I can't keep it high enough. If I get hot spots in the tent for some reason or another I have a spare computer fan I can wire up and put in the tent to circulate air. It can also be used to "harden" up the plants before I transfer them outside.

Sorry for the cell phone pics bit I don't have a very good camera (I do have a decent video camera though so I may make my glog video based and have 1-2 min updates every so often)
 
Good luck with your grow, you seem determined with a plan.....that's the sign of a good startup in progress. This is a good time to start the seeds from where your located. Hopefully we can get an early warm and dry spring. I'd like to be able to plant mine out in mid May if possible. You have a nice selection of super-hots. The chocolate habs are a good tasting pepper with out the blistering heat, The fatali has so many uses and the bhut carbon is such a bushy plant that produces loads of pods. I like that pepper dryed and ground into powder......that's my "cayenne" replacement good luck Greg
 
:welcome:

You're off and running, bat! I think we all got here in a similar manner -
THP is like a magnet :cool:

Will be fun watching your progress this season
 
Good luck this year. It's great to see more Minnesota growers. They seem to be few and far between compared to most other states.
 
I'll be updating with some more pictures when I get home :)
I got a digital thermometer in the mail today
 
No need for the heat light I found out. A blanket over the top for the time being keeps the tray/dome at a toasty ~85F! I ordered an electronic thermometer online not too long ago and it came in the mail today.
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Its accurate within +/- 1C I can take a sway within 1 degree for the convenience of this. Still feels more accurate than my traditional glass case thermometers that are normally used for fish tanks.
I returned to this after being out all day.
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(~86F)
I slid the blanket about half off and now it sits at 29.x C which is so close to exactly 85F! :)

Also, I can't leave home without some form of pepper.
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I think that does the job quite well. A pepper shaped air freshener. :D Don't worry, I was at a red light for a good 4 min.
 
Good luck with the grow this year!I really like the idea of using ice cube trays for soaking.Sure beats labeling a benchload of dixie cups!Then just transfer the plant markers
 
Good luck with the grow this year!I really like the idea of using ice cube trays for soaking.Sure beats labeling a benchload of dixie cups!Then just transfer the plant markers
I first was using dixies then realized the ones I had wouldn't hold water very well so I found the ice cube tray. Really simplified everything by just labeling the sticks!
 
I checked my temp this morning and half uncovering my seed tray dropped the temp to 27C so about 80F. Now its 3/4 covered and hoping it will bring the temp back up close to 85, maybe 84. Need to go out and buy some chain and elmers glue soon. The chain is to hang my light and the glue is to make reflective shields with mylar for the lights. I'll probably get the heat light going regardless of necessity when the seeds sprout and a little computer fan to circulate the air and to keep the heat around 80-85 since my grow station is in my basement.
 
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