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Naga Morich feeling the blues

Smiffler

Smiffler

The UK can be a right hit and miss affair when it comes to reliable weather conditions. So, this year I've been testing my newly built ~30w DIY LED light & lets say 'Artificial Environment', and what better than to thoroughly test it on a pepper I've never attempted before... A Naga Morich from Bangladesh.

Instead of waffling on too much about the ins and outs and how it was all built; I thought I'd just show you how my peppers are dealing with this environment. I started various peppers in there until it was no longer possible to sustain them all when potted up. So, once they were ready for potting up only the naga would remain throughout it's growing stages. i.e. veg > flower > ripe fruit.

Here's a picture of the AE with seedlings that have just got their first true leaves.
ae.jpg


07 Feb:
Five naga seeds were started on 28 Jan and now I have all 5 just shedding their seed casings at the moment inside a small heated propagator. They are under the brown paper to cut out the light. The seedlings you see are all various Annuums started 28 Jan and potted 2 days ago. If you are wondering what the plastic dome is for; A seed casing is stuck on a Jalapeno so I wet the seed casing and kept it under the dome until it got free, which happened the next day.
1.jpg


10 Feb:
The seed casings are all now free and potted up in 7cm square pots.
In the picture my Annuums are in the left tray and Chinense in the right one, the naga's are in the 1st column of the right tray.
2.jpg


17 Feb:
3.jpg


24 Feb:
4.jpg


29 Feb:
5.jpg


13 Mar:
By this time most plants were potted up and moved to a windowsill, one Jalapeno and one Naga remained but were also potted up.

05 Apr:
This was an anxious time for me because the Naga had just started growing buds and I didn't know how well it will do from here under my light. It also had outgrown its intermediate pot so it was time for it's final pot (so I thought).
6.jpg
7.jpg


Potted up in a 1 litre pot.
I know, I know... that pot is way too small for a final pot. However, I did give the roots a little more room but I'll show you that later.
8.jpg
9.jpg


continued in post 2
 
21 Apr:
It was time for the Jalapeno to be moved to the windowsill due to overcrowding. Now the Naga has all the space there is and will live alone. I wouldn't like it but the Naga don't seem to mind.
10.jpg


27 Apr:
Let there be fruit... I couldn't believe it would set but it did and kept on setting fruit.

04 May:
More fruit setting... This is going too well I thought, and because over the last few weeks this plant was needing water every day, I needed to pot up again. Nooooo! It's growing fruit and I daren't disturb it.
11.jpg
11a.jpg


05 May:
Well a cunning plan was needed because I didn't want to risk losing one pepper. So, what I did was to sit the root bound pot inside a bigger pot, this at least gave those roots poking out the bottom somewhere to go. I'd like to point out here that although the pot doesn't look too root bound it's when you poke a moisture meter in the soil you can feel how packed it was in there.
12.jpg
14a.jpg
13.jpg


12 May:
It looks like the plant is continuing business as usual.
14.jpg


19 May:
It was difficult for the camera flash to get past the blue light so here's a picture on my dirty desk.
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15a.jpg


continued in post 3
 
That looks gorgeous. If you wouldn't mind i would love to know more about how you build that 30w setup. Great results. What are you using for heat?
 
Thanks for your kind comments, I'll answer your questions but let me just finish the rest of my post. I had to make seperate posts to get all the photo's to display.

Naga Morich feeling the blues, continued...

04 Jun:
First pepper starting to ripen.

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10 Jun:
More ripening.
20.jpg


16 Jun:
What a beautiful sight, dispite the fact these are gonna hurt.
21.jpg
22.jpg


I'm really pleased that the light and environment got the plant this far... but what will they taste like or should
I say hurt like. I'll find out next week because I'm going to make a beef curry with one. Any good recipes out
there?

Here's the tech bit:
Seed sown: 28 Jan
Germinated: 02 Feb
1st true leaves: 13 Feb
First bud: 03 Apr
First flower: 21 Apr
First fruit set: 27 Apr
Average high day temp: 25 degC
Average low night temp: 19 degC
Average peak light heatsink temp: 28-32 degC
Average high humidity: 78%
Average low humidity: 60%


Thanks for reading!
 
They just look EVIL! Haha, plants look great though.
I started my plants with a blue LED light, and then changed it to a more pinkish colour as I read somewhere that the red light is used in fruit prodution :)
Mine aren't as far along as yours as I started about a month later.
 
Ok, back to your questions,

@loafers
It would take a bit too long to explain it all but I can give you a watered down version.

Equipment used:
1x Computer PSU
3 diy heat sensitive drivers running at 9.6v 750mA, heatsink and fan cooled
9x 440nm 3w 1A LED's
4x fans for circulation (2 intake, 2 exhaust)
1x fan for exhaust
1x Big heatsink for the LED's
3x small fans to cool the LED heatsink

Including the PSU (which is old) I have tested the Mains wattage used at 75w. I must note that this PSU was using about 45-50w on its own. Now if I had a more efficient PSU I bet this would be lower.

As for my heat source: Most of the heat came from the lights and what extracted from the heatsink, a little came from the PSU and drivers. The circulation fans would distribute it around the growing area. There is also a heat mat there on a thermostat if things cooled due to outside temperatures dropping at night. And to retain the heat there is thermal insulation all around which would help considerably because the LED light doesn't get that warm.

Strange thing about the heat from the lights is that if you touch the perspex that I used to protect the led's it is cold. Then place your hand a little below the perspex and its warm... must be some kind of radiation going on there me thinks.

@Jamison
Not quite a paint brush but something as good as. It was a homemade one using shoelace threaded through a thin plastic tube. I don't buy anything if I can get the same outcome diy. lol

@Matty_89 from my home town!
I have my light setup ready to take more LED's, just incase I thought I'd need to add some red. So far it seems that blue is working just fine for me. All plants on the windowsill are well behind this naga, including all the annuums I have.
 
The plant are wonderfull, and why do LED tend to be so expensive on the built :(, all blue light, i thought you need red also?
 
Beautiful plants, I have a ? Though, what did you use to start your seeds? I mean soil wise. I can't use jiffy pellets next year because they can't fit in my tray :( so I need a seed starting mix that can actually work. Thanks in advance.
 
@indochilli
For peppers; I think the red only helps where blue is the dominant wavelength needed. And yeah, it does cost a little to set up but I'm sure it works out over time compared to other types of lighting.

@CarvinGuitarist
Thank you.

@Joseph Stalin
I don't use any kind of soil for starting seeds, I use a method which I call a 'hydrairgator'. The seeds will germinate using a constant warm moisture in the air. It also benefits getting the seed casing off quickly.

Lots of people in this forum use this kind of method by placing seeds on or in a damp kitchen towel within a clear plastic tub. This works well but I found that if you don't keep an eye on it the kitchen towel can dry out too quickly or be too wet and rot the seed.

So, I took it a little further and used material that's draped in a reservoir of water to keep a constant moisture. I'm still experimenting with different materials to keep the seed surface as dry as I dare, because the moisture in the air is enough for them to grow.

How it works is the surface material wicks up water from the reservoir and creates an even damp surface for the seeds which then evaporates in the air within a propagator.

This pic (showing tomato seeds) gives you an idea of what it looks like. It worked but was a little too wet for my liking.
3.jpg


Here's a pic of a pepper just starting life using a much dryer method. See the tiny droplets of water on the delicate root hairs.
1.jpg


This is a pic of a few peppers that have shed their seed casings and are now ready to pot up.
2.jpg
 
so what do i need to try one?
Click to expand...

For the reservoir:
I use a small propagator tray filled with 2 layers of clay pebbles (the absorbent ones used in hydroponics).

For the seeds to sit on:
I am still experimenting with this but you need some material that will remain only slightly damp at all times. The heat (from a heat mat in my case) should slowly evaporate the water from the material into the air trapped in the propagator. The wicking should be sufficient to keep slight moisture on the surface of the material. You may need to adjust the vents in the propagator if it becomes too humid. i.e. raining down from the roof of the propagator.

My current method is different to what is pictured in my last post, which uses a highly absorbent ribbed cloth and a single layer of cotton sheet on top. As you see it worked really well and the seedlings would easily be pulled off without breaking, but after using it a few times I couldn't get the same results. The roots decided to penetrate the cotton and right through the absorbent cloth into the reservoir. I tried new sheets but the same happened and I didn't know why.

Now I use a 'slightly domed' (this helps to prevent puddles) sheet of plastic big enough to fit inside the propagator tray without touching the sides (this way you can easily see if the reservoir is ok). Then I split a kitchen towel to a single layer and lay it on the plastic sheet so it overhangs either end. I fine spray it to get it started as a wick. Then wrap the overhanging kitchen towel underneath the plastic and sit it on top of the clay pebbles. The seeds go on top, then another sheet of damp kitchen towel on top of the seeds ONLY FOR THE FIRST 24 HRS to give the seeds a pre-soak. Then place the lid on and keep the heat ~28C. Wait until the cotyledons are free from the seed casing then pot up.

also what's your lighting schedule?
Click to expand...

whilst germinating = very little light 16 hrs on / 8 hrs off
from seedling = 16 hrs on / 8 hrs off
11 days after budding started = 14 hrs on / 10 hrs off
 
@indoChilli
hope it works as well for you.

I said:
but what will they taste like or should I say hurt like.
Click to expand...
Me and my GF tried a (thin) slice of raw naga on Saturday night before having a naga curry the next night. Oh my...

The first 2 seconds was great, it had a lovely aromatic fruity taste then oh no here it comes,.. oh that's not too bad,.. oh my god it is,.. it's getting worse,.. ah it's settled,,, no it hasn't,.. jesus christ what are you doing to my throat and my ears, and why am I dribbling from everywhere... Meanwhile my GF is pacing about pleading "that's it, you can stop now". lol

It took about the usual 7ish mins to calm down but was still a little hot for quite a while. And for the life of me I can't remember what that taste was, it tasted familiar but that's it. I think it was trying to get me to go through it again. Not until tomorrow I thought.

Well that next day (yesterday) I did make a curry with almost the rest of the chilli pod and it did taste great, it was hot but I could still taste my dinner.. Looks like I will be growing these again next year.


So, to conclude whether my setup worked... well, it did! and I'm well chuffed about it.


Thanks for reading my short story of 'Naga Morich feeling the blues'.
 
ok so that was a really nice common story about how hot they are going down..
without detail specifics ..are they as painful or worse when they exit the earths atmosphere?

do you get that ugh-ooh ..hope I can make it "not so good" feeling before the mighty volcano erupts?
or is it really not so bad? .. & don't LIE to me!!

this is the only reason I have not been stupid enough to try a super hot myself.
my stomach is rumbling just thinking about it.

also I want to know what my family is in for after the next chile cookoff *big grin*
I will be serving a brain strain, jolokia, pequin & orange hab chile mix
 
I'd never tried super hots before so, unless there is a delayed reaction I've been fine playing dodgeball with the rats today.
 
They do that sometimes, the heat just kick in after a while, once it kick, well lets just say like putting a hot burn wood inside ur mouth, my first encounter is a bj, it burn everything, but amazingly I can taste the flavour, after that eating common chili is like eating a cracker.
 
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