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Batterhammer's 2012 G-Log

So it's my first time growing chillies from seed, and my first time growing anything in the minute space that Sydney city would have me believe is an apartment. Nonetheless, I believe I have a fairly good little germination area kicking along. Having bought some seeds last year, I decided to plant some superhots, and anything else that took my fancy. As it stands at the moment I have 5 varieties growing:
  • Trinidad Scorpion Butch T
  • Bhut Jolokia
  • Jalapeño
  • Chocolate Habanero
  • C. Frutensens (more on these later)
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This is my little grow set up in the cupboard under the kitchen sink. According to the thermometer that I have in there, the temperature I pretty constant at 26 - 27 degrees C (about 80 degrees F).

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I decided to grow in peat pucks. No really good reason why I chose to. I guess it was simply ease of acquisition and ease of transplant when the time comes. I have 2 of those little trays going:

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This one is my Butch T's (on the left, with some sprouts), and Jolokia's (no sprouts yet bhut the spring is young). See what I did there? I had just sprayed them with some H2O, hence the somewhat "boggy" look to them.

The C. Frutensens are an experiment that I am running, to see what particular soak will give me the best germination percentage. I separated the seeds into 6 roughly even groups and soaked then in a slightly different medium. The mediums were:
  • Sterilised Water (control)
  • Sterilised Water (and I "sanded" some of the seed kernel)
  • Sterilised Water and Vinegar (which I had read on some gardening site, but was highly sceptical of)
  • Sterilised Water and Epsom Salts
  • Sterilised Water and some Liguid Fert
  • Sterilised Water and some Stronger Liquid Fert
None have sprouted as of yet, but I think it will be an interesting test. I wanted to try the "age old" H2O2 soak but could get a hold of any (very hard to come by in Sydney).
 
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How about soaking in a KNO3 solution?

That is one that I am wondering about, and haven't tried yet. Supposed to loosen up the seed coat.
 
:welcome: from Brissy.

I was gonna say your jiffys look very wet. You want to try and avoid that or all your seeds will end up rotting. The best way I have found to keep 'em nice and moist but not soaking wet is to bottom water them. Fill a tray with a layer of water equal to about a 1/4 height of the jiffy, sit them in and pull 'em out as you see the water just starting to come up through the surface.

Weak chamomile tea is good for soaking too. The tanins in the tea help soften the seed shell.

I was living in a unit not long ago. My grow set up was in the cupboard in my room. :lol:
 
I read where they successfully germinated some lotus seeds that were really old (over a thousand years) and they sanded the seeds.
 
I had read about Potassium Nitrate as a possible soak. I think that as well as possibly providing some Potassium and Nitrogen to the seed, that when mixed with water would form Nitric Acid which could soften the kernel a little. As for bottom watering the jiffies, I might just do that. I was getting a little worried about them rotting. That is a problem I'm having with the jiffies is that it is really quite hard to tell how moist the internal actually is.

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This is what they look like at the moment. Since I moved the light closer the pellets have been drying a little better than before, but I think I will bottom water them
 
So, lack of space has cut my C. Frutensens experiment short. I guess my eyes got bigger than my house... Nonetheless, they have been germinating for about 2 weeks and the results are as follows:
  • Control (Water Soak): 4/6
  • Soak and Sand: 5/6
  • Vinegar: 2/6
  • Epsom Salts: 2/6
  • Weak Fert: 5/6
  • Strong Fert: 0
It should also be noted that the sanded seed also took the least time to sprout, all up within 5 days or so. As for the weak fert being better than a simple water soak, I cant explain that :confused:. But I think it may have something to do with the seeds themselves rather than the fert soak (maybe the seeds were somehow not randomised properly, and they were more likely to germinate anyway). Dunno
 
Finished my re-potting into large plastic tumblers. Gonna have to get another light, its about to become a jungle in there!

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Jalapeno have start sprouting heir second set of leaves

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batterhammer said:
Gonna have to get another light, its about to become a jungle in there!
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That can happen very quickly. Often I think about getting a second light but have so far managed to make do with the one.

You really don't have to pot up until the plants start growing their second set of true leaves. Might save a bit of space that way. ;) Usually my babies will start growing roots out the bottom of the jiffy before that, but as far as I can see, it doesn't hurt 'em any.
 
So, it's been a little more than 1 month since I started growing and here are the results
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Collection of mainly Butch T's outside in my greenhouse. Nice and Toasty in there

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Weird seed in a can. Choc Hab I think

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Bhut's still inside under lights, will probably remain that way for a few weeks, until they absolutely have to go outside

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Either a Bhut or a TSBT with a strange pattern on the leaves. Any idea on what could be causing it?
 
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