First log, Will follow with weekly updates

mpicante · Feb 26, 2017

Your plants look great.Good luck to you on the season

PaulG · Feb 26, 2017

Yeah, what mpicante said! Your seedlings are nice and healthy looking.
Be prepared for some mega-bushiness from your topped plants! How
many nodes did you leave on the stem? Looks like four, if I'm seeing clearly

to the glogosphere, Alex - looks to me like you are off to a

great start :metal:

Nice set-up - the cupholder shelves are awesome!

Blitz527 · Feb 26, 2017

Thank you, Im not sure what you mean by nodes... but I left 4 to 6 true leaves on each one that I topped. the seed leaves were trimmed at transplant from pods to cups, most are at or below the the soil line. What do you feed with? how often?

moruga welder · Feb 26, 2017

plants are looking nice and healthy ! :party:

stickman · Feb 26, 2017

Looks like you're off to a good start Alex! Does the sprinkler I see in one of the pics mean you're top-watering? If so, you might want to set up a fan to occasionally blow a gentle stream of air over the top of your pots to dry out the soil surface (and prevent damping off), and encourage a shorter and sturdier growing habit for your plants. The spot on the stem where each leaf pair grows out is a node, and side branches will grow out there after you clip the top of the plant. Peppers aren't heavy feeders, and if you used a potting soil with fertilizer added you should be good until time to plant outside. Keep up the good work!

Blitz527 · Feb 26, 2017

Stickman, No there is not sprinkler, Generally I take them all out of the set-up and place them in a tray (bottom of jiffy tray) and I fill it half way with water, Every cup has 3 holes in it so they bottom feed, I moisten the tops when they dry up. I have a moisture probe so I know im not over watering. The tops dry out pretty quick but the mid level to bottom is usually good for 4-5 days. I don't water them until I see the probe at the 3rd or 4th marking which is at the end of dry and the beginning of moist. my soil contains 1/3 of: a potting mix (not MG), Peri-lite, and an "organic" soil called Vigoro, It contains a composted manure.

stickman · Feb 26, 2017

Blitz527 said:
Stickman, No there is not sprinkler, Generally I take them all out of the set-up and place them in a tray (bottom of jiffy tray) and I fill it half way with water, Every cup has 3 holes in it so they bottom feed, I moisten the tops when they dry up. I have a moisture probe so I know im not over watering. The tops dry out pretty quick but the mid level to bottom is usually good for 4-5 days. I don't water them until I see the probe at the 3rd or 4th marking which is at the end of dry and the beginning of moist. my soil contains 1/3 of: a potting mix (not MG), Peri-lite, and an "organic" soil called Vigoro, It contains a composted manure.

Sounds good Alex! Glad to hear you're bottom-watering... a lot of folks make the mistake of top-watering and end up losing all or part of their sowing to bacterial or fungal diseases. Will you be transplanting to the ground or into pots?

Blitz527 · Feb 26, 2017

I will be doing probably 10-12 in pots/buckets the rest in the ground or raised beds with 18-24 inches of soil. I bought a small 6x8 green house. Not exactly sure what will fit in it yet. I bought it after the grow season last year. I'm thinking of topping some of them at 2 1/2 ft and setting up a couple shelves in the green house but I'm not 100% sure yet.

stickman · Feb 27, 2017

Blitz527 said:
I will be doing probably 10-12 in pots/buckets the rest in the ground or raised beds with 18-24 inches of soil. I bought a small 6x8 green house. Not exactly sure what will fit in it yet. I bought it after the grow season last year. I'm thinking of topping some of them at 2 1/2 ft and setting up a couple shelves in the green house but I'm not 100% sure yet.

You might want to check out Spicy Chicken's 2014 glog. I'd say he's the authority on trimming seedlings to get bushy plants. http://thehotpepper.com/topic/45426-spicy-chickens-mmxiv-glog-hobby-grow/
If they're really happy, I'd have a three-foot spacing on your pepper plants unless they're dwarf varieties. Baccatums might need even more. For your in-ground plants you might want to read up on plasticulture. I've been doing it for 4 years now, and getting great results. This far north the chiles need all the warmth they can get.
https://ag.umass.edu/home-lawn-garden/fact-sheets/season-extenders

Cheers!

Blitz527 · Feb 27, 2017

SO, To add to the menagerie of things I already have going on for my garden this year, My lovely bride has spoken up and has taken an interest to growing something because... "Its pretty".. So she wants to grow some Chocolate Habs. Of coarse I ordered them (along with a couple other seeds that I wanted). So next to her pretty chocolates we will have some Bertha Sweets and some Peter Peppers HAHAHAHAHA. Ordered from Pepper Joes, So as soon as they arrive, I will begin soaking and I will also update if I receive the "2 free packs of pepper seeds" this is my first time ordering from them. Lets see what happens.

Blitz527 · Mar 1, 2017

Well, in my boredom and my semi-constructive mind, I decided to add on to my indoor grow "closet" this will not be able to be used outside come the warmer months. I plan to add a fan for air circulation as soon as I can find a smaller one that I can mount onto the back side of this. if you have any ideas or suggestions, Please let me know.
Before:
:

After:

Let me know what you think.

Blitz527 · Mar 3, 2017

Well my seeds from Pepper Joe have arrived. I received:
Chocolate Habanero
Peter Pepper
Big Bertha Sweet
And my "free seeds" are the Pumpkin Habanero and the Red 7 Pot Brain.
All of these peppers are new to me. I will be trying to germinate 5 of each, possible 25 new plants. Let's see how much room I can make HAHAHAHA anyone in western NY interested in a couple ghost chili, reaper or moruga scorpion plants let me know HAHAHAHA

stickman · Mar 3, 2017

Blitz527 said:
Well my seeds from Pepper Joe have arrived. I received:
Chocolate Habanero
Peter Pepper
Big Bertha Sweet
And my "free seeds" are the Pumpkin Habanero and the Red 7 Pot Brain.
All of these peppers are new to me. I will be trying to germinate 5 of each, possible 25 new plants. Let's see how much room I can make HAHAHAHA anyone in western NY interested in a couple ghost chili, reaper or moruga scorpion plants let me know HAHAHAHA

If you're not expecting it, the 7-pot Brainstrain and Moruga Scorpions will clean your clock for ya. Good job enclosing your grow area... it'll hold in more heat and humidity. :thumbsup:

Blitz527 · Mar 5, 2017

stickman said:
If you're not expecting it, the 7-pot Brainstrain and Moruga Scorpions will clean your clock for ya. Good job enclosing your grow area... it'll hold in more heat and humidity.

I am also looking for a desk top fan or 2 so I can get some air circulation. I had an enclosure like this once before (a long time ago) and because of the lack of air circulation, it started growing mold. I definitely don't want that. So I have a small opening on one side and a larger on the other, I'm thinking of putting in a fan or 2 and keep air moving, it will also help with making the plants a little stronger I hear. Will be updating on plants in a little bit.

stickman · Mar 5, 2017

Blitz527 said:
I am also looking for a desk top fan or 2 so I can get some air circulation. I had an enclosure like this once before (a long time ago) and because of the lack of air circulation, it started growing mold. I definitely don't want that. So I have a small opening on one side and a larger on the other, I'm thinking of putting in a fan or 2 and keep air moving, it will also help with making the plants a little stronger I hear. Will be updating on plants in a little bit.

Yup... That's exactly right about using a fan to stimulate a compact growth habit in the plants and keep down fungus issues. +1 on air exchange as well as air circulation. Carry on. ☺

Blitz527 · Mar 5, 2017

Todays Growth Update:
All looking healthy, Pruned plants have almost no growth upwards, where as control plants show between 1/4 and 3/4 inches of upward growth in a weeks time. The pruned plants (or i should say topped) are producing shoots from where they were snipped on either side. Very cool to see, this is my first time doing anything like this. Here are some Pictures from this week.
Pruned Carolina Reaper:

Pruned Trinidad Moruga Scorpion:

Pruned Ghost:

Pruned Habanero:

and a few Over all shots:

Some Shots of the best looking so far:
Reaper:

TMS:

Ghost:

Blitz527 · Mar 12, 2017

Todays Growth Update, Seems as though growth has slowed a little. Ambient tempurature has been fluxuating with the outside temps being so crazy. I will have to change up my plan for spring as a recent wind storm in my area completely ruined my green house :censored:

That being said, Still had between 1/4" and 3/4" of upwards growth this week. Pruned plants are doing very well. side shoots are getting healthier and I keep clipping the larger leaves to keep the light coming through.
PICTURE TIME!!!!!
Pruned Reapers:

Pruned Morugas:

Pruned Ghosts:

Pruned Habs:

Reapers and Ghosts visiting the watering hole HAHAHA
Reapers:

Ghosts:

Just a beautiful little plant, in my opinion.

Digging the root development:

Lemme know what you think, Comments, Suggestions and all that are very welcomed.

Wiriwiri · Mar 12, 2017

All of your seedlings look so healthy & compared to last week's photos they have grown significantly...good work & continued success.

Blitz527 · Mar 12, 2017

wiriwiri said:
All of your seedlings look so healthy & compared to last week's photos they have grown significantly...good work & continued success.

Thank you, I think part of the reason they are looking healthier is due to enclosing the grow area, it was open to the "elements" of my back room which could vary in temp as that is the main door we use to go in and out of the house. As Stickman said, Humidity is also heightened as now it can hold in more moisture, I sprat them daily with a spray bottle, moisten the leaves a little and keep some moisture in the air. I'm still looking for a little desk top style fan to mount inside of the enclosure so that I can get some air movement. I'm happy so far, just a little down about my reapers, they seem to be growing a lot slower than the rest. but all in all, everything is healthy. I am very impressed with the thickness of the main stem so far, they are pretty tough little guys.
Again, Thank you for the compliment.