Golden433 - First Time Grow

DonLava · Nov 14, 2012

Nice set up! :welcome:

birdfather · Nov 14, 2012

megamoo · Nov 17, 2012

You might be watering them too much.

I sow my seeds in coco coir in small trays and then as soon as they sprout they go into a flood and drain system that floods every morning for 4 minutes only. This is all the time it takes for the coco to be saturated. I have a fan blowing on them for 15 minutes every hour or so and they aren't completely dry by the next day.

After reading lots of hydro instructions online I thought they needed more frequent watering and I set the tray to flood twice every day, but they started culring and leaves dropped. Changed it back and its all good.

A lot of hydro info you find online is optimised for marijuana which needs different conditions to chilli peppers. Coco is a little different to rockwool and expanded clay but I'd cut back on the watering until they stop dropping leaves. If you underwater too much they'll wilt before the next watering, so water them just before that would happen.

golden433 · Dec 3, 2012

I thought I'd post an update, since the plants seem to be coming along. I am still dropping a few leaves, but overall the peppers seem a lot happier.

I made the following changes:

I switched nutrients to General Organics VGanic
Light is on 18 hours per day (Fluorowing 125W CFL)
PPMs are about 500

Any observations or advice is always welcome!

I even see some little buds coming along!

That's lettuce in the back left.

Joshuap2000 · Dec 3, 2012

From what i can see they look pretty good.

JDFan · Dec 3, 2012

They are looking pretty good -- I think the leaf drop in the beginning might have been the leaves coming into contact with the bucket - since you had the soil level pretty low where the lower leaves were hitting the sides of the plastic - now that the plant is getting a bit taller they are not contacting anymore and are not dropping.

golden433 · Dec 22, 2012

Here are some current pictures. I'm seeing lots of flowers on the plants, but nothing that looks like a seed pod. Is there something I should do at this stage, e.g. change the light cycle on the plants that are flowering?

megamoo · Dec 23, 2012

Chillies aren't sensitive to photo period like that, they veg and bloom simultaneously. Its mostly about temperature.

Too hot or cool day and night temps will cause flower drop. You want the night temp between 55 and 80F and the daytime not more than 95F.

Are the flowers and their stems dropping off? With no insect pollinators inside you might have to do it manually. You can give the plants a gentle shake or use an electric toothbrush and touch it against the stem so you can see the flowers vibrating. Just need to shake the pollen loose and get it on the end of the stigma. You could also use a cue tip or paint brush.

Its best done between 12noon and 3pm because apparently that is when pollen ripens.

If it works the flower petals will die and the pod will start growing out.

They look pretty good