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Why are supers hard to grow?
- Thread starter Comptine
- Start date
No experience with super hots but savinas fataliis and different habs have all sprouted and grew with ease. Look for near 90 degrees ambient temp for germination for chinenses and baccatum. Then after that temperature will only determine growth rate. I honestly feel they need less attention than my tomatoes and eggplant. They are slower growing, and give more room for error. Those eggplant are real bitchy. The Chinenses are dark green, shiny, strong and... amazing. Eggplant are flimsy, and I know the tomatoes are vines, but leggy and pale in color. Same family go figure. I experience this every year but when the tomatoes hit the soil, they explode. The peppers keep on their gradual pace. As far as difficulty in growing, chinenses don't even match tomatoes and eggplant and are very similar to you run of the mill jalapeno, just slower.
If you don't live down south maybe invest in a heat mat to put your bio dome on. I'm using a bio dome with biodegradable sponges and have had 80% of my ghosts come up. Currently growing yellow and white while waiting on my red to come in the mail. The mat seems the best bet.
I live in Florida and have had some 70 degree nights (hot days though) due to the rain and they still pop (leave the dome on screened porch) so maybe I'm lucky or the humidity is helping
I live in Florida and have had some 70 degree nights (hot days though) due to the rain and they still pop (leave the dome on screened porch) so maybe I'm lucky or the humidity is helping
hmm... My methods included a heat mat and a thermometer. I kept them around 80 degrees 100% of the time. Maybe a fluctuation would be better (like @robbyjoe01 mentioned)... Stuff to experiment with! Though I am long since out of bhut seeds.
I get almost 100% with all other varieties too... I may have also gotten old seeds both attempts.
I wonder if bhut varieties happen to come out with higher sterile percentages... Just throwing ideas out.
I get almost 100% with all other varieties too... I may have also gotten old seeds both attempts.
I wonder if bhut varieties happen to come out with higher sterile percentages... Just throwing ideas out.
I struggled with emulating a hot humid climate, playing the waiting game and not nurturing them to death.
My first try at bhut germination took two weeks. The second took 4.5 days.
They grew like this:
I have the most difficult time waiting on plants that are not changing on the surface. Every day I had to tell myself to leave them alone. It was even harder looking at everyone's massive plants.
My first try at bhut germination took two weeks. The second took 4.5 days.
They grew like this:
- Wait a week or two, hook.
- Rapid cotyledon growth.
- Nothing for week(s).
- First true leaves.
- Nothing for week(s).
- Explosive growth.
I have the most difficult time waiting on plants that are not changing on the surface. Every day I had to tell myself to leave them alone. It was even harder looking at everyone's massive plants.
NeedsWork said:
They grew like this:
- Wait a week or two, hook.
- Rapid cotyledon growth.
- Nothing for week(s).
That is how 1 out of 2 of my chocolate scotch bonnets has grown so far. Sprouted in 7 days, cotyledons for 11 days with no growth under the grow light. Moved them outside to see what would happen and schwing! the first set of true leaves is popping after 1 day. The other plant germinated at the same time is already working on its 3rd set of true leaves.
I think the Bhut can be singled out as an exception - it is a hybrid! I have noticed that most of the fruits don't have the annular constriction on the calyx when ripe! All chinense are supposed to - it is what differentiates them from frutescens. The Bhut probably produces some rubbish seed along with good ones. But I suspect the real problem to be time and quite possibly (as has been mentioned) cold stratification.
I have noticed that my frutescens will sit for weeks with no action. Everything else up and going. Then a bit of dip in night temp and BOOM! Every single one pops up simultaneously. It could well be that they need some cold stimulation - a trick to try is take a batch, sow them normally. During the day have them on the heat pad or in a warm place. At night pop them in the fridge. Do it for the first week. Thereafter only put them on the heat during the day. At night have them at whatever the normal room/outside temperature is.
other than that I find all chile damn easy to germinate - including the wilder types. Just remember how they are dispersed and it comes naturally. Birds regurgitate the seeds - they are most certainly not evenly scattered across the soil but in a nice little clump of vomit! Try sowing the seeds in a clump - 3-5 or even more if you enjoy disentangling roots! I find things like the tepin germinate like weeds in this way.
You can go one step further and soak the seeds in hydrogen peroxide solution (2%) for a minute or so. This will soften the testa and allow water to enetr and break dormancy.
I have noticed that my frutescens will sit for weeks with no action. Everything else up and going. Then a bit of dip in night temp and BOOM! Every single one pops up simultaneously. It could well be that they need some cold stimulation - a trick to try is take a batch, sow them normally. During the day have them on the heat pad or in a warm place. At night pop them in the fridge. Do it for the first week. Thereafter only put them on the heat during the day. At night have them at whatever the normal room/outside temperature is.
other than that I find all chile damn easy to germinate - including the wilder types. Just remember how they are dispersed and it comes naturally. Birds regurgitate the seeds - they are most certainly not evenly scattered across the soil but in a nice little clump of vomit! Try sowing the seeds in a clump - 3-5 or even more if you enjoy disentangling roots! I find things like the tepin germinate like weeds in this way.
You can go one step further and soak the seeds in hydrogen peroxide solution (2%) for a minute or so. This will soften the testa and allow water to enetr and break dormancy.
I have successfully grown super hots in Alaska outdoors, and now in Northern Michigan. I don't think that they are "hard" to grow, just keep them warm. The cold windy days stop them from growing and pollinating. 2 summers ago was really warm and I had thousands of peppers. Last summer was cold and I only got a few handfulls. This summer should be warmer, and I expect to get a few hundred peppers from my plants.
RobStar said:
Might be... I have never had problems germinating bhuts, but I keep my seeds in the fridge through winter.
I know I'm really late on this but it also really depends where you get your seeds! I had some problems getting my bhuts to germinate at first and thought it was the strain. Then I bought a new set of seeds from another source and head a 100% germination rate! As far as them being hard to grow...I can't say that they are. I'm completely new to growing stuff and took it up this winter to pass the time. Really just from reading up and talking to others I can safely say I now have 6 plants that are blooming and I'll be hand pollinating in a couple days. And yes I did containers and small ones since I don't have much space. But the plants are still 2ft tall and budding like crazy in one gallon pots. I'm hoping for minimal flower drop but at least I have time.
This is my first year growing from seed. It could just be coincidence but for me the superhots have been harder to grow.
I keep having major issues with my plants. Because of everyone stressing not to overwater, I keep under watering. Usually with no warning, all my plants wilt to the point of laying down. Then I will water them, and most come back. But each time I lose a handful of plants. Almost always it is the superhots that dont come back.
So over last few months I've planted around 20 scotch bonnets and fatalies , and around 75 superhots. All germinated equally, but now I have 10 of the scotch bonnets and fatalies and 8 superhots.
I don't have enough non superhot varieties to say much. But I would definitely say at least for my issues, the scotch bonnets and fatalies are hardier.
I keep having major issues with my plants. Because of everyone stressing not to overwater, I keep under watering. Usually with no warning, all my plants wilt to the point of laying down. Then I will water them, and most come back. But each time I lose a handful of plants. Almost always it is the superhots that dont come back.
So over last few months I've planted around 20 scotch bonnets and fatalies , and around 75 superhots. All germinated equally, but now I have 10 of the scotch bonnets and fatalies and 8 superhots.
I don't have enough non superhot varieties to say much. But I would definitely say at least for my issues, the scotch bonnets and fatalies are hardier.
This describes my season so far perfectly. My plants did not grow after their first set of leaves for about a month. Now they are exploding. Just in time to go into the gardenNeedsWork said:I struggled with emulating a hot humid climate, playing the waiting game and not nurturing them to death.
My first try at bhut germination took two weeks. The second took 4.5 days.
They grew like this:
- Wait a week or two, hook.
- Rapid cotyledon growth.
- Nothing for week(s).
- First true leaves.
- Nothing for week(s).
- Explosive growth.
I have the most difficult time waiting on plants that are not changing on the surface. Every day I had to tell myself to leave them alone. It was even harder looking at everyone's massive plants.
once the nights stay 50 and above the days at 80 to 85 , they'll set . also you'll need to bump up their potash , they love potash at this point .Blargg said:
Keep them warm and they will produce.
I've thought about it, but I'm even less sure how to get the right amount of water that way. And I still would have issues with knowing when to water.NeedsWork said:
I know most people can feel the difference in weight, but I can't. I've even considered.buying scales, but each cup would have different weights anyway, so not sure if even that would help.
I'm already hardening the ones I have left. So its pretty much to late for this year. I will probably try bottom watering next year.