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Stetto's First Winter Grow ('16-'17)

Well, here we gro, October 14 and the setup has begun.
 
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My heat mat is unregulated, no thermostat, but measures (without sunlight) @ 87.5F. As can be seen, the 20+ inch deep mat is folded up at the window sill, which should help in deflecting any winter chill getting through the glass. This window will one day be a garden window extending around 9 inches out from the house, to facilitate all manner of horticultural misdeeds...But that's another story...
 
The lil' ziplock box in the photo is the start of my winter experiment, some Trinidad Moruga Scorpion seed obtained through the good graces of Jeff Contonio. My other seed is in transit from Australia:
 
Aji Amarillo
 
Jalapeno Tormenta
 
Bert the Chilli
 
I've been trying to grow Aji Amarillo for some years but have never been able to get seed to germinate. I've blamed the seed (innocuous Amazon purchases) up till now, but I have a lot more faith this time around since finding a reputable vendor. Note that only one superhot is being planted----For now.
 
After germination I intend on sowing into Solo cups (I've heard a wive's tale that you use the red ones for more than just the song), and eventually into 1.5 gallon pots. Even though I brag about the growing strength of the local soil (primordial ooze), I think I'll either hybrid it with non-soil potting mix or not use dirt from the garden at all.
 
I expect to do quite a bit of pruning, hopefully to encourage bushyness and to promote production in smaller accomodations. I'm sure I can find plety of input on that subject in these pages...
 
This is my first inside grow, let's see what happens. Any advice/pointers/warnings/pokes/prods/words of encouragement are welcome....But ya doesn't has to call me Johnson....
 
Change of plan...
 
With the limited space I have in this pantry, my darling bride has diplomatically gotten me to resize my ambitious grow...It's going to be more of a trial balloon, which if successful I'm going to have a green light to build myself a 6x6 foot grow room in the unfinished 1/3 of our cellar. So I've chosen to start a Trinidad Moruga Scorpion that was first set in damp paper towel on Oct. 14, and an Aji Amarillo, seeds arriving from Neil & Charlotte Smith just yesterday, Oct. 24...I'm full aware that some bonsai trimming may have to be in order to keep things civil with the family, besides the space being necessary for annual garden veggie starts that begin March/April 2017...
 
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I know I'm not starting some sexy greenhouse major market crop of rare, exotic, erotic pods, but I'll try to make it somewhat entertaining...
 
Well hell, I truly suck.
 
No joy on germination. The seeds have all plumped up nice, one Moruga and one Amarillo have even slightly opened in their shell, but no movement beyond that.
 
...yet. I will wait them out. It's hardly been 5 weeks on the TMScorp, and a month with the Aji Amarillo. Even my Anaheims took a month to break ground last Spring, I just need a dose of patience.
 
Good luck, Stettto.  It's really hard to be patient, sometimes!
 
Have you been keeping the seeds on your heating mat?
 
Hey Paul, thanks for the luck, and yeah, the heating pad's been on 24/7 since mid October. I think I'm dealing with a germination rate issue. I'm so used to sticking a seed in the dirt and having it out of the ground within a couple weeks. These more exotic seeds are either really taking their time or I'm trying too few for the effort. I have plenty of the Trinidad Moruga seeds (thanks JeffContonio!) but only an even dozen of the Aji Amarillo seeds to start, and as much as I want all these seeds to sprout, the Amarillos I'm hoping for most. I'm wondering what germination rates these various species have and if I shouldn't just drop the full dozen in the mix...
 
stettoman said:
Hey Paul, thanks for the luck, and yeah, the heating pad's been on 24/7 since mid October. I think I'm dealing with a germination rate issue. I'm so used to sticking a seed in the dirt and having it out of the ground within a couple weeks. These more exotic seeds are either really taking their time or I'm trying too few for the effort. I have plenty of the Trinidad Moruga seeds (thanks JeffContonio!) but only an even dozen of the Aji Amarillo seeds to start, and as much as I want all these seeds to sprout, the Amarillos I'm hoping for most. I'm wondering what germination rates these various species have and if I shouldn't just drop the full dozen in the mix...
The baccatums can be bears to germinate.  I have a ton of Aji Amarillo
seeds if you would like some.  Then you can go ahead and give yours a shot.  
I'll send a couple of different strains of Aji if you'd like.  Just PM me an addy
and I'll get them on the way.  I have had pretty good luck germinating mine in
Jiffy pellets at about 80-90˚F on a seed starter mat in little mini greenhouse
propagators.
 
 
Good luck with the morugas.
 
Again, thank you PaulG, you breathed a little enthusiasm and drive into this project.
 
A-a-a-a-and...The Momma has decided to gift me the space to go ahead with my grow room project.
 
In a few weeks (maybe more than a few) nobody will recognize it...
 
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All right, can't wait to see how your grow space turns out.
Should give those Aji Amarillos a fighting chance!
 
All right, Eric!  Is that an Aji Amarillo?
 
If so, looks like your luck is changing!
 
Interesting how some of these seedlings race to see sky and others are in no hurry at all. This guy here was the last of four aji amarillos to show themselves so far, but this morning is the only one standing tall. The other three (including the one I posted 3 days ago) still have their little heads in the ground...
 
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Glad to see you have some sprouts, keep up the good work!
 
BTW, in mentioning, the wife said Butch was one of our customers back in the day when we ran a small town ISP (96-08)
 
So, we have four baccatums above ground so far,
 
This is the first one to bust through, and the slowest to develop. At first I was afraid it was in the throes of damping off, but upon closer scrutiny it has revealed itself as a helmethead...
 
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The next two are at about the same standstill, one is obviously another helmethead (what's the technical term for that?) and I'm hoping that the other is not going to have to suffer that handicap as well, but my assumption is that they're retarding growth because they're stuck in the seed shell.
 
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Then this one, like I displayed previous, is not but a trooper.
 
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I was hoping for one strong plant to work with in this experimental artificial "season", and I'll have at least that. These seeds were from Neil & Charlotte at Hippy Seed in Sydney Australia, but I have a half dozen more incubating that I got from PaulG and some Moruga Scorps from JeffContonio, so these will have comp'ny.
 
I've had issues with the helmetheads before, mostly with my Anaheim endeavors, and as long as I don't force the issue they almost always find their way out of the shell. It just takes them longer to get to the real work of growing "up"...
 
...I'm thinking about planting a few of the seeds I won in mpicante's football contest. I may again wait till my grow space is completed.
 
You can spray the helmets with some water to soften them.  Also in worst case scenario,
you can use a pair of fine scissors or a nail clipper to snip the side of the seed
case to allow it to spread out as the cots grow.  I have used both methods with
some success.  Good luck - helmets heads are frustrating.  Did you soak your seeds
before germinating?
 
PaulG said:
You can spray the helmets with some water to soften them.  Also in worst case scenario,
you can use a pair of fine scissors or a nail clipper to snip the side of the seed
case to allow it to spread out as the cots grow.  I have used both methods with
some success.  Good luck - helmets heads are frustrating.  Did you soak your seeds
before germinating?
These, yes. 48 hours in a H2O2 bath. Your F5s in a chamomile bath for the same amount of time. They haven't germinated yet. These were started quite a bit earlier than the F5s too.

I've had the helmet issues before, nature always seems to persevere. Used to get this with tomatoes too, smaller seed, bigger headache.
 
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