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Stickman's 2012 Gochu Pepper Glog

Well, here we go... Started about 35 Korean Gochu Peppers and a few Korean salad peppers, jalapenos and orange habs. All are mostly up today but the habs. I started them early last week in my heated grow tent down in my cellar on top of a grow mat, but didn't have the thermostat quite dialed in. When I left it it was 70 degrees f. in the tent. When I checked again the next morning it was 85 degrees, and I was afraid I'd cooked the seeds, so I moved them onto my kitchen windowsill on the grow mat and awaited developments. Looking much better now. I'll give the Habs until the weekend to pop, then move the flat down to the grow tent.
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You are getting great germination, there, brother! I bet the 85 degrees
didn't even phase 'em :D Great grow tent set up. Should keep your
babies warm in the NE winter! Good luck going forward, Stickman!
 
Thanks Guys!

PaulG said:
You are getting great germination, there, brother! I bet the 85 degrees
didn't even phase 'em :D Great grow tent set up. Should keep your
babies warm in the NE winter! Good luck going forward, Stickman!
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I figured that the grow mat added another ten degrees to what the air in the tent stood at. How hot does it have to be to cook the seeds?
 
armac said:
I germinated seeds outside last summer in 110 degree weather. Higher temps always worked well for me.
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Thanks! It's good to know that I've got a little margin. So far my biggest problems have been the creepy crawlies. I lost 2 out of 8 pepper plants last year due to cutworms, and the year before that all of my peppers got the dickens chewed out of them by asiatic garden beetles. The interesting thing is that both are nocturnal feeders. The cutworms I found in the soil at the "scene of the crime" next to the plant they'd cut down the night before. The beetles I found by waiting 'til an hour after dark, strapping on a headlamp and looking for them. The remedy in both cases was to crush every one I saw. I haven't had a recurrence of the beetles, and this year I think I'll put some kind of protector around the stems of the transplanted peppers so the cutworms can't chew through them. I'll bury it al least an inch deep too.
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When I started this round, my little germinator set up was at or above 90 for about 10 hours (94.2 high)
and didn't seem to affect the seeds too much. Maybe the few that didn't germinate for me did
succumb to the heat. Guess I'll never know, actually. I think the main thing is that the high temps
don't dry things out. As long as their moist they should be fine according to what I have read on
the forum.

Way to hunt down the critters! We have them
in our rhododendrons here - hate them!
 
PaulG said:
When I started this round, my little germinator set up was at or above 90 for about 10 hours (94.2 high)
and didn't seem to affect the seeds too much. Maybe the few that didn't germinate for me did
succumb to the heat. Guess I'll never know, actually. I think the main thing is that the high temps
don't dry things out. As long as their moist they should be fine according to what I have read on
the forum.

Thanks Paul, that's a load off my mind...

Way to hunt down the critters! We have them
in our rhododendrons here - hate them!
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I figure the best non-chemical way to deal with the cutworms is to give the plants plastic collars when I transplant. From what I've heard, the best way to deal with beetles and grubs is to put down a soil dwelling bacterium called Bacillus Thuringiensis. Apparently it's harmless to people, pets and beneficial insects but it controlls beetle grubs.
 
hooda said:
I'm growing Gochu as well, good luck and I'll be checking back to see how yours come out. :)
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Good luck to you too... This is my third year growing gochu peppers. I'm such a kimchi-head that I'm going to try to grow enough peppers to make at least two quarts of gochu garu this fall, and I'll use all of it making P'aechu Kimchi and kakduki.
 
stickman said:
Good luck to you too... This is my third year growing gochu peppers. I'm such a kimchi-head that I'm going to try to grow enough peppers to make at least two quarts of gochu garu this fall, and I'll use all of it making P'aechu Kimchi and kakduki.
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Yeah my girlfriend is Korean and we make Kimchi every month or just about. I really love eating gochu with Gochujang. It's funny at work my co-workings think I'm nuts for eating peppers with pepper paste lol.
 
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Looks like pretty much everything is up. My fan was doggin' it and tripped the circuit breaker so I'll have to replace it. Probably with a couple of muffin fans so they'll fit inside the grow tent and cover two shelves. Hopefully they won't draw as much current and won't trip any more circuit breakers...
 
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First true leaves coming and my muffin fan in the grow tent. 3/4 orange habs, 3/4 coyame jalapenos, 4/4 long green salad peppers, 4/4 Andy F1 hybrids (C.Annuum Johnny's seeds of Maine) and 53/56 gochu peppers. I also started a half dozen black globe eggplants at the same time. Night temperatures about 65 degrees, Day temperatures about 85 degrees. Watering twice daily with recommended strength of miracle gro and foliar feeding Neptune's Harvest seaweed extract 0-0-1 twice a week. When the seedlings get out a second set of true leaves I'll take them out of the plug tray and pot up in 2 1/2 inch pots.
 
I had a jalapeno and an orange hab hook up today so I'm 4/4 with them as well. The fan appears to be doing its job... the seedlings were all quivering when I first plugged it in, but half of them are standing firm now. With the fan blowing over the plug tray the cells seem to dry out fairly quickly. I have to water twice a day to keep them from wilting. I have the fan on the same timer as the lights so when they go out for the night, so does the fan.
 
Gradually getting the heat dialed in... Adding the fan cooled things in the grow tent about 10 degrees, and I didn't want to add too much too fast. Besides, I can't plant outside before mid-May and I didn't want the peppers to get too leggy. Seeing what PaulG had to report about clipping his plants above the third node, I think I'll go ahead and crank up the heat to a better growing temp.
 
Bootsieb said:
I hope mine arrive- and in good time
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I reckon they will, and thanks again! Even if I don't plant them this season, I will next. I'm glad I have a place to plant in quantity at my Mom's where I don't have to worry about cross-pollination so I can save the seed and keep it going for another year.
 
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