First post, first attempt at a set-up

Hello gentlemen,
 
I thought I'd give growing hot peppers a try this year as well as a few tomato plants. I have never grown anything before so this is all self-taught/research based from what I've found on the internet. It had to have as little a footprint as possible as I live in an apartment, and well, my girlfriend would kill me if it wasn't, and cost under $150 all said and done.
 
This is what I have so far, unfortunately I broke one of the bulbs doing mock spacing for the shelving so I had to put a temporary small bulb in until the other one is shipped. I've got about 26 jalapeno plants on the go from testing different methods of germination, three Chadwick cherry tomato plants that were given to me, five 100 sweet hybrid tomato plants, and a few habanero plants as well as various herbs. I'm going to be giving a majority of the plants away and we have a garden at work that a bunch will be planted in to as well.
 
I also just received shipment of some fatalii, pepperoncini, purple jalapeno, trinidad perfume, and Jamaican hot red that will be getting planted pretty quickly.
 
As for the specs, it has 4 x reflectors, and 3 - 60W (will be 4 soon) 5500k "full spectrum" bulbs, on the top is a plastic box greenhouse with seedling warmer mat insulated with re-purposed styrofoam from the light bulbs. Since the below photos I have wired it into a timer on an 16 on 8 off cycle.
 
I've also got a mini-hot/light box next to it for the first two weeks. Works like a charm.
 

 

 

 

 

 
Any suggestions or things you can see wrong with these setups? Let me know thanks.

Cool deal! That's most people say: learn what works for you and learn as you go. You have picked peppers and tomatoes which are pretty easy and forgiving to grow. I've never used CFL's so I'm of no help there. Space may be an issue if you keep a majority of those listed plants under the lights for a period of time. Something I might add is I like to have a fan lightly oscillating on my plants to help give them strong thick stems. Keep us posted on your progress. 

WichitaChief said:

Cool deal! That's most people say: learn what works for you and learn as you go. You have picked peppers and tomatoes which are pretty easy and forgiving to grow. I've never used CFL's so I'm of no help there. Space may be an issue if you keep a majority of those listed plants under the lights for a period of time. Something I might add is I like to have a fan lightly oscillating on my plants to help give them strong thick stems. Keep us posted on your progress. 

Click to expand...

 
+ 1 also do not over water , keep them on the dry side . also what gonna be your fert program ? 

moruga welder said:

 
+ 1 also do not over water , keep them on the dry side . also what gonna be your fert program ? 

Click to expand...

 
At the moment I'm using Plant-Prod 10-52-10 plant starter fertilizer diluted as per recommendations every watering. I haven't looked into fertilizing too much as there is so much conflicting information it seems to be working just fine. Thanks for the suggestion on the fan WichitaChief I will give that a try today, I know space will definitely be an issue but as soon as they get bigger a majority of these will be going out to friends, family, and to the garden at work. As far as over watering goes, I'm bottom watering and testing the amounts to put in.

  to THP

Hello and welcome.Looks good so far.The good thing with being here on THP if any problem arises this is the place to get help.

 to THP. Nice little set up you have going. Like Moruga Welder said make sure you don't over water. Probably one of the biggest issues you can have but sounds like such a simple thing. They don't need water until they start to droop. Another good way to tell is once your plants get to the droop point pick up the cup/container and feel the weight. Then you can check to see if they need water just by picking the cup up. Fan is a great tip as well. Helps strengthen them up and provides airflow. Keep lights as close as possible without touching. If the leaves start to get burnt then move the light up a bit. Hope you have a great season. If you ever have questions don't hesitate to ask

I have set up a fan oscillating on the peppers and they are dancing beautifully. Should I have this ran into the timer also? Or is it okay to have it running 24/7. I also switched the schedule from 16/8 to 18/6. Now, as far as fertilizing goes, should I be fertilizing with every watering or every other? Full strength or half strength? I believe I have been over-watering them as they haven't needed any water for quite some time. I'll be more careful with that moving forward. I cupped up the remainder of what I will be growing this season and have transferred them into the greenhouse. I have to say www.tomatogrowers.com has been an excellent experience so far, I will keep you guys posted on how well they germinate.
 

 
All the Red Rose will be going to our work garden, and team members. 
 
Thanks for the positive feedback and suggestions so far, I'm always willing to learn. I figured I should probably give a shout out to Ratdavid9 from youtube I don't know if he frequents these forums but I've watched all his videos religiously (pun intended - if you watch his videos you'll get it) for all the starting information and motivation.
 

1st cardinal sin most people do: over watering. 2nd sin: Fertilizing too much. Depending on the soil mix peppers don't need tons of fert. Some people use a dilute mix quite often. I don't but Ocean Forrest naturally has nutrients which don't require immediate doctoring. IMHO more plants have died from over loving vs. ignoring slightly. Nice on the fan. I cycle mine with a timer. I have 3 fans set at different intervals placed a different points on a 16' long growing area. Timers because I'm subsidizing the electric company already with all my lights plus it gives the plants a break during the day. Fans help move the light heat around too. (multiple 6 tube T8's and 400w metal halide)

WichitaChief said:

1st cardinal sin most people do: over watering. 2nd sin: Fertilizing too much. Depending on the soil mix peppers don't need tons of fert. Some people use a dilute mix quite often. I don't but Ocean Forrest naturally has nutrients which don't require immediate doctoring. IMHO more plants have died from over loving vs. ignoring slightly. Nice on the fan. I cycle mine with a timer. I have 3 fans set at different intervals placed a different points on a 16' long growing area. Timers because I'm subsidizing the electric company already with all my lights plus it gives the plants a break during the day. Fans help move the light heat around too. (multiple 6 tube T8's and 400w metal halide)

Click to expand...

 
Wise advice here.   I have grown in basic soil for a long time running with good results year after year.  Thanks to a little tax refund this year I planted and potted up using Happy Frog and Oceans Forest soil along with some light fertilizer starting after 8+ weeks of big bloom and grow big.  I gotta admit the plants have gotten so big and healthy I have had to add additional lights and larger pots for the first time this season.  Before I join the bandwagon I will see how they transition to the raised beds and beyond but dear lord they are big and a pretty color green i'm not used to! PS - I grow under basic T8 bulbs only at the moment.  I will totally join in saying sometime staying simple is the key, it has worked for me for a long time.     

--- and   to THP     

One thing I can suggest - the CFL bulbs that are inverted and covered with a reflector will tend to run hot.  This will shorten the lifespan of the electronics in the base.  Suggest finding reflectors with vents near the base, or aim a small fan up from ground level to blow a bit of air up from below.
 
For that matter, the reflectors are too small to catch much of the light spilling off those big bulbs.  You might just do away with them and add a reflective 'roof' to each level of the rack.

fan on a timer , no fert . i don't fert. till second set of true leaves . then i use ecovie . it can be used at every watering . will not burn plants .  good stuff has all trace minerals and organic . i keep a small fan blowing down my cfl to keep it cool cause i keep my light right up on the plants , keep them stocky ! 
 

 
 

moruga welder said:

fan on a timer , no fert . i don't fert. till second set of true leaves . then i use ecovie . it can be used at every watering . will not burn plants .  good stuff has all trace minerals and organic . i keep a small fan blowing down my cfl to keep it cool cause i keep my light right up on the plants , keep them stocky ! 
 
 

Click to expand...

 
Nothing like a speed queen! 

Alright thanks for the suggestion. I think I killed a few plants due to over watering, but it's definitely a learning process that I won't repeat with my next set of peppers in the incubator. These bulbs are oversized definitely but they do not give off a lot of heat and the reflectors do have ventilation holes on the top. I'm considering grabbing some mylar reflective material and taking your suggestion.  
 
I have a question regarding long weak stems on pepper plants. I noticed a few of my jalapeno plants had long stems that were skinny so it's hard for them to stay straight up. I don't notice this issue with my habanero plants though. I had room in the cup to lightly pack in more soil so there was less stem exposed and they stand up straight now, but how do I go about preventing that? They seem similar to teenagers who grow too fast for their coordination capabilities. 
 
I have moved everything from the light box to the racks now, and I delivered two of the jalapeno plants to a fellow team member who's trying his hand at growing vegetables this year as well.

Long and skinny in my experience is not enough light. The plants are reaching. That is also why I like fans, to strengthen the stems. A fan won't fix an already leggy seedling though. If I have a weak stem plant I too bury plant it deeper. I did notice in your foil box that although you have 6 bulbs they aren't spread out much due to outlets being plugged straight into the outlet strip which doesn't spread your light out evenly. Plus japs are more of a bigger taller plant than a hab so it's their tendency to want to grow up. They need the strong light right from hook till transplant time. A short stubby hab will be more forgiving. 

Alright, I'm going to look at options for focusing the light from the bulbs more downward to prevent bleeding and loss of efficiency on the rack lighting set up. As soon as I see that hook should I be pulling them out of the greenhouse and putting them directly under a bulb?

Whatever it takes to keep them in a bright light. Once my seed go into dirt they are under T8 fixtures placed 2"-3" above them then raised until they go into the ground. You may be fine if you can get the lights spaced out and more evenly in your space where you germinate. Sometimes it's hard to tell from a picture how the lights are on the seedlings plus the pic is looking down so the so that can be deceiving. I don't use CFL's so I don't know which direction is their strongest light output but you may consider having the outlet strips hanging above the plants facing down and adding 2 more so you can space the bulbs out more. This way the plants off in the corners and on the ends aren't so far from the light source. You don't necessarily have to remove them from the greenhouse just make sure they have good light. Compare the ones in the picture of the rack that are under the reflectors on the upper shelf vs the greenhouse box. Having seedlings under good bright light from the start improves their development. You'll change and rearrange many times before you have the set up that does good for you.

Wichita perhaps you can help me diagnose another problem. I know that I've been over watering and have corrected that mistake in the past four days however a few plants took the brunt of my ignorance. I'm just noticing now some yellow discoloration on the ends of one of my habanero plants. The soil had a bit of algae build up on the top due to my over watering. I wanted to correct that so I transplanted it into a new cup. Could this be due to over watering or too much fertilizer? 
 

 
 
EDIT:
 
My Jamaican Hot Red and Trinidad Perfume both hooked this evening and have been transferred to the light box. Really happy with how the mini greenhouse with heat mat has increased my germination rates from low to "I have too many bloody pepper plants now then I know what to do with".

Truthfully I'm not your best to answer this. I typically have very little problems with my seedlings and young plants. It's not that I'm Mr. Pepper or such it's just that (here it comes again..) I've found what works for me and any problems are usually pretty easy to figure out as I know when I'm screwing up. Others on here are better at throwing out all kinds of scientific answers than me. Pepper plants don't need the fertilizer that most people seem to think has to be given to them early on and constantly. Discussion about salts building up and burn are foreign to me. I use Ocean Forrest potting mix either alone or mixed with basic ProMix. A plant the size of yours would not get fertilized by me yet. My soil should provide enough to get it going till it's bigger. Mine don't seem to require it. Others may disagree. My plants don't. Your fert at 10-52-10 is quite different from the Fox Farm Grow Big I use at 6-4-4. I'm not an advertisement for Fox Farm that is just what I've used for some time from the garden store I like to do business with. When I start using it I dilute it down to their seedling strength that's listed on the bottle. As my plants get bigger 4"-5" tall I use their normal strength but may only use it 1 or 2 times before they go outside and into the ground.
   When you repotted it how did the roots look? There should be quite a few of them and they should be growing fairly deep for that size plant. Over watering may have slowed/stunted their development. I tend to err on the side of too dry vs too wet. Being too dry will mess up your plants too but at least I get some warning if I ignore them too long as they droop some before they flat out wilt. Over watering sneaks up on you. Mind you this is not my norm just sometimes life interferes with my plans and I have to deal with it. Most people will tell you if the plant needs water by just picking up the pot. Too dry feels like picking up Styrofoam vs. how yours feel thoroughly soaked.  You'll develop that feel. Some others like to stick a bamboo skewer into the soil. If it comes out moist wait to water. I can poke a finger on top of my soil and tell by the feel if it is getting too dry. The only time I see algae on my soil is when I start seed and I have a clear lid on my trays and it gets swampy in there. I remove lids and let them dry some. Potted plants in open air have to be too wet to grow algae.
  I'd suggest to just monitor you plants which look like this. Not much you can do at this point regardless of it's cause (too much water or too much fert). You've repotted it so you have removed both possible factors. Stop with the fertilizer. If you are using the ProMix like in the picture from post #8 it says on their web site it feeds for 3 months. Whether it does or not I'm sure that little guy hasn't used it all up yet. Be sure to use some restraint on the water. I hope I've helped and not confused. Practice makes perfect.
 
Here are some of this years babies:
 

 
 

 

Alright thank you. Your plants look awesome. The roots were all throughout the cup I could see them along the edges, I'm probably being paranoid about it but I will monitor it closely moving forward, and yes the styrofoam weight example was a perfect description for it. I've cut out fertilizer completely and have been just using water. I'm going out to a hydroponics shop tomorrow to grab some mylar so I can put together some reflection panels to keep the light in, I've been using tin foil temporarily and it has completely cut out the plants from leaning towards the bulb which is awesome.