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Bike808's first GLOG

Hello.
 
So, i drug my feet doing this whole thing; started late for my zone (7a) but at least I got it going at all.  I have a bunch of little sprouts going on with cotyledons and all that, but DANG, i feel like i'm way behind, with the final frost s'posedly coming in the next few weeks.  So, I also ordered some plants from Cross Country Nurseries (aka chileplants.com) as a Plan B.  
 
I gotta get a bunch of pictures up, but all i have right now are some nondescript sproutlings in some dirt.  I also gotta build some raised beds and whatnot.  So, yeah, I'll take some pics once i have interesting crap to take photos of.  The plan is to put a few 8'x4' beds into my tiny backyard, and work a few beds over at the local community garden.  And, then I'll put whatever i don't have room for in buckets or grow bags or whatever.  
 
Enough babbling; here's the list of stuff i've successfully germinated, and hoping to grow:
chinense
-7 Pot SR CARDI
-Trinidad Scorpion yellow CARDI
-SBJ7 (reds and yellows)
-White Fatalii
-Cream Fatalii
-Orange Habs (seeds were sold as "organic" and those things germinated right away and are growing most quickly out of all of'm)
-Various Scotch Bonnets (special shout-out to Trident Chilli for some of the more esoteric stuff...) specifically, I got Schneider Farm,              Beth Boyd, Papa Joe's, Saraga, TFM (I got TFM seeds from Semillas and from pods i bought up at the Trenton Farmer's Market-          the latter had a very high germ rate, and are coming along better than anything but the Habs...), and some seeds i saved from              some tasty red bonnets i bought at a nearby Asian Food Market ( http://www.asianfoodmarkets.com/ )
-Frontera Sweet
-Ecuador Sweet
-NuMex Suave (reds and oranges)
-NuMex Trick or Treat
 
annuum
-Hot Rod Serranos
-"Early" Jalapeños
 
 
Shit I ordered from Cross Country Nurseries, in case i'm way too late and/or i otherwise fail:
-7 Pot Brainstrain (yellow and red)
-Naga Morich
-Congo Trinidad
-Yellow Fatalii
-Orange Habs
-Red Dominica Habs
-Jamaican Hot Chocolate
-Paper Lanterns
-Generic Yellow Bonnets
-Safi Red
 
Yeah, most of it is redundant to the seeds i started, but that's the kinda shit i want to grow, and the idea is to have a back-up plan for the seeds.
 
I started everything with paper towels, and transferred them to one of these plastic starters with the tray and the clear plastic high-top lid, with like 72 little cells... I tried to germ some Yellow Fataliis, but they're running far behind. I checked'm again earlier today, and just one has the beginnings of a little hook. I'm hoping they'll do ok in the end. I'm really looking at this whole project as a first year learning experience; even if the whole thing crashes and burns, i feel like i've already learned from the whole ordeal.
 
Advice is, of course, welcome and appreciated. Thanks for reading, and i promise to get some pics up once i start dickin' around with building these beds...
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
tctenten said:
Nice start and don't worry about starting them now. Our season in NJ is long enough that you will be fine. My last few seedlings just emerged this past weekend.
That's definitely reassuring,,,and i;m sure you're right.  But, my plan is to keep worrying, but to just keep trying anyway.Worry motivates me....
 
moruga welder said:
nice list !   and remember never to late !   
 
Yeah, I'm gonna make it work, one way or another.  I know i'm probably way out ahead of the game as far as the annuums go, and getting plants from CCN will no doubt help me fill in some blanks.  If we have a real late first frost again, I'll get some pods from most of the plants; i just would've got more if i'd started earlier, i guess.  
 
It's cool b/c I'm already feeling bummed about slacking off, but in the end, that's a lesson learned.  I'm gonna get'm started in January next year.  Really, getting them soaked and germed was quick and easy.  Harder part is going to be the lighting....
 
Bicycle808 said:
 
Yeah, I'm gonna make it work, one way or another.  I know i'm probably way out ahead of the game as far as the annuums go, and getting plants from CCN will no doubt help me fill in some blanks.  If we have a real late first frost again, I'll get some pods from most of the plants; i just would've got more if i'd started earlier, i guess.  
 
It's cool b/c I'm already feeling bummed about slacking off, but in the end, that's a lesson learned.  I'm gonna get'm started in January next year.  Really, getting them soaked and germed was quick and easy.  Harder part is going to be the lighting....
I am in Monmouth and in my opinion that is very early unless you have the lighting and the space for them.
 
tctenten said:
I am in Monmouth and in my opinion that is very early unless you have the lighting and the space for them.
 
Oh yeah, that's right.  You are very close.  When do you start your chinense?  As I recall, you grow some really rad peppers... I got plenty of room indoors; I gotta work on the lighting but that's totally within the realm of possibility.
 
I would have to look but pretty sure mid to late Feb. That gives you about 10 full weeks before plant out. I also only pot them up one into 4x4 containers and they are usually pretty rootbound by then. There is no real harm in starting them that early, I just enjoy the down time a little bit longer and the results are similar.
 
Update: I got some lumber for my raised beds today.  The things are gonna be 8'x4', and like 23" high b/c i have a bad back so it'd be a bit less stoppin' to pull weeds and otherwise dick around with the beds.  The plan is to line the things with landscape cloth, fill'm up with something cheap for drainage (wood chips, probably?  I can get those cheap/free....) and then a topsoil/compost mixture.  I can get that pretty cheap, too.  I need to clear out the yard, flatten things out, and put the beds together, then fill'm up.  Hoping to get that done by this time next week, b/c the following week, I'm picking up plants from Cross Country Nursery, and hopefully my seedlings will be big enough to get in the dirt a little while after that.  
 
Looks like the bulk of everything I'm growing is to be chiles.  My wife and I were negotiating garden space, and she's just claiming 4'x4' of one of the beds.  I'm thinking i'll plant most of the hottest stuff at the community garden, so as to deter and/or punish any produce-thieves.  I suspect that any tomatoes and Jalapeños and stuff would probably get stolen right quick....
 
PS- I've got at least 2 seedlings of pretty much everything I tried to germinate, except some P.Dreadie seeds, which is a huge bummer, but i guess there's always next year.  I'm a bit disappointed b/c I got some pods from a few different THP members last year, and they were as delicious as any Bonnets I've tried thus far, plus of course I've been reading old threads, and Erin was a really cool guy who contributed a lot of information, enthusiasm, and wisdom to the chile community.  Definitely looking forward to giving it another go with the PDreadie Bonnets in 2018...
 
And I guess that's how this thing works.  Beyond the seeds I sowed that didn't germ or that had lower germ rates (and therefore, fewer seedlings), I'm also already scheming and planning for other varieties for next year's grow.  I mean, my plants don't even have real leaves on'm yet, but I'm already ogling photos online of plants that I've just gotta try next season.  It's probably normal, but it feel goofy about it.  
 
I tried to limit my selections this year based on space, time, and practical limitations (plus my own rather narrow preferences, TBH) but I have a lot of similar varieties in the works, which might seem redundant, but the whole point was to grow them and pick a favourite based on factors like flavor and productivity. I'm trying to narrow the field down quite a bit here; next year, maybe I'll just have one favourite yellow bonnet and one favorite red one, and a favourite low-heat chinense and a favourite highly prolific "workhorse" hab-type. That'll clear up more space and time to delve deeper into finding a favourite superhot, and maybe even messing about with other Capsicum species.  (But I kinda doubt it...)
 
Some updates and whatnot....
 
I've been busy; i tried to sow some more seeds.  Mostly annuums, due to time constraints, but I also found some P.Dreadie seeds i had saved from some pods i got last season, and they're hookin' up nicely.  So, there's that.
 
Other good news is, i've been busy readying my massively overgrown/weed-choked beds at the community garden.  I got plants coming in from CCN in like 2 weeks, and seeds started, so one things are sufficiently warm around here, i'll be putting plants in the ground.
 
 
 
Well, I haven't been updating this, in part b/c I haven't taken any pictures, and in part b/c I haven't made much progress.  My plants are all still indoors under lights, b/c our overnight temperatures have been low.  The plants I got from CCN are suffering from it; they've dropped some leaves and I'm a bit worried, but I think that the weather should be permanently warm enough after the rainfall we're expecting this weekend, so those will be in the ground early next week.
 
All the plants I've started from seed look healthy enough and I've only lost very few to damping off and the like, but I'm pretty sure they're stunted, which isn't something I'd expected, but there ya go.  (I'm going to start a new thread about stunted seedlings in the "Growing..." section...)  I tried to sow way too many seeds, b/c I expected to have far more fatalities early on, but that hasn't been the case so now I have like a bazillion solo cups with some tiny seedlings in them.  
 
I've already learned a lot from this, and I'm still hopeful that my first real Grow will be at least mildly successful.  Some things I've learned:
 
-One must learn to crawl, before he can walk.  I think my plans might have been too ambitious for my current level of experience.  
 
-In addition to starting fewer seeds to begin with, I think I'd have been better off working with fewer varieties but starting more seeds of each variety.  For example, I've only got one seedling each from the Frontera and Ecuador Sweets I'd sown.  I also had really bad germ rates from some PDreadie seeds, so I tried starting more from seeds I'd saved from some PDreadie pods.  I got a few of those that are doing pretty well, but I didn't see nearly as nice germ rates with those as I did with every other variety I'd started.  This year, I'm hoping to pick one or two "favorite" varieties each of Bonnets, Hab-types, Supers, sweet chinense, etc...  so next year i can focus on those and improve my chances.
 
-I think I stunted my plants by using too much water, and not enough light.  I've got better lights now, and revised my watering strategy, but I noticed that the slower periods of growth were accompanied by slightly yellowed leaves, which I'm pretty sure came from too much h2o.
 
-I'd considered maybe starting seeds directly in solo cups next year, b/c I put 3 seeds per cell in the jiffy tray I had, and my germ rates were such that most cells had 2 or 3 plants that I needed to de-tangle before I could re-pot.  I think this could also save me some work, and make it easier to keep the footprint of my indoor grow manageable.  But, it might be a waste of time and soil to try to sow one seed per solo, assuming i don't have as much luck with germination and early growth as I did this year.  No one wants to pay to light a bunch of cups that are empty, aside from dirt, right?  So, I'm kinda on the fence about this.  FWIW, the roots didn't seem overly crowded when I transplanted to solo cups, so I don't think it was the small volume of soil that had stunted my plants.
 
Overall, like I said, I'm learning a lot b/c I'm starting to get good at translating what my plants are trying to "tell" me with their colour, growth patterns, etc.  THP has been a huge help in trouble-shooting.  I'm just hoping that the plants will continue to grow at a sufficient rate so I can actually get some kind of harvest this year....
 
Brief update-- I feel pretty sure that most of my biggest problems were caused by bullshit soil, which led to bad roots, anaerobic situations, stunted plants, etc.  It was a frustrating lesson to learn, but there it is.  After I moved my plants to solo cups, all the plants that were planted in the one type of soil ended up fine, and something like 70% of the ones I put in the other type of soil ended up pretty awful.  A few of the ones in the shitty soil did quite well, so there is that, but 100% of the stunted plants were in the cheap, shitty "potting soil" that i got for cheap and seems to be pretty dang woody and weird.  Should've known better, but live and learn.
 
Other updates: all the plants I got from CCN are planted out at the community garden; maybe half are setting pods, most of the rest have blossoms or at least buds.  Some of'm are growing nice, but just aren't flowering yet.  Still, it's nice to actually see some pods already.  Most of the pods are still quite small, so i know i got a ways to go before i get to eat any, and we've already seen at least one pod get chewed up by a grasshopper or a caterpillar or something... but at least i got some pods.
 
Currently, I'm fighting the good fight against aphids.  I feel like I'm winning, but just barely.  Been using neem oil, and i got some aphid-killing critters on-order
 
     I agree with Jub (edit: and Paul). It sounds like you're a good gardener in the making. Most of it comes down to paying attention to your plants and thinking rationally about what it is that you're doing right/wrong.
     My first season was a trainwreck. Mostly soil issues. Don't get me wrong, I f**ked up plenty more than just the soil, but that was the most important limiting factor. Every season since then has seen improvement, though. The last few seasons I had to start selling pods (as you may know  ;) ) just to keep from having to compost them. And I typically only grow one of each variety of chinense. 
     Keep paying attention to your plants and reading about other growers' successes and failures and you'll be selling pods soon enough. 
 
Jubnat said:
Good to hear things are coming along for you, despite the setbacks!  It seems that you're 'learning a lot', the hard way, this year(as am I).  The best way to learn, I think, even though it can be aggravating as hell.
 
and whenever those pods start ripening, get some pics up for us :party:
 
As soon as i have pictures that aren't embarrassing, I'll share some. 
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crazy.gif
 And yes, I've learned a whole lot, and it has been aggravating, but the lessons are what keep me at it.  It'd be easy to just say "f**k it" and let the plants die off and move on with my life, but I can already see how rewarding this hobby is.... even with all the tragic shit that's befallen my chiles, seeing these first pods hanging on these plants is still inspiring.  And, my wife is digging it, too.  I'm also stoked that, despite my late start and my multiple snafus, I've been getting a lot of the plants that i started from seed looking quite respectable... when, a few weeks back, i was ready to toss'm in the worm bin.  Thanks for the encouragement, Jub.... it means a lot.
 
 
PaulG said:
You are off to a good start, and have learned
some valuable lessons for next time. Your
grow will get better every year

Looking forward to seeing some pix of your plants.
Like i told Jub above, i'll take some pics if i have anything good enough to show.  
crazy.gif
 To be honest, a lot of my seedlings look pretty awesome, just way too small for June, y'know?  Maybe I'll post a few cute shots of these little runts....  The plants from CCN are setting pods and bouncing back, but man, i nearly murdered them.  they all look a whole lot like Charlie Brown's Christmas Tree.  
womens-charlie-brown-christmas-tree-t-shirt-logo.jpg

Thanks for the pep talk, though... I'm thinking that even my runty seedlings will end up giving me a few pods in September, and even if they don't, i'm not giving up on them b/c I'm learning about how they respond to different situations so it's still worthwhile trying to keep'm progressing.  It's mostly about the pods, sure.... but i'm learning some garden kung fu, too, and that's valuable shit to learn. I bet my grow WILL be better next year; it certainly couldn't get too much worse....
 
Hybrid_Mode_01 said:
     I agree with Jub (edit: and Paul). It sounds like you're a good gardener in the making. Most of it comes down to paying attention to your plants and thinking rationally about what it is that you're doing right/wrong.
     My first season was a trainwreck. Mostly soil issues. Don't get me wrong, I f**ked up plenty more than just the soil, but that was the most important limiting factor. Every season since then has seen improvement, though. The last few seasons I had to start selling pods (as you may know  ;) ) just to keep from having to compost them. And I typically only grow one of each variety of chinense. 
     Keep paying attention to your plants and reading about other growers' successes and failures and you'll be selling pods soon enough. 
Thanks, HM01.  I'm definitely tryin to make myself a decent gardener.  The key word in your advice, i suspect, is "rationally;" when these setbacks get me down, i typically take a break, a deep breath, and come at it again logically and calmly.  I gotta resist the urge to set all my plants ablaze to kill these aphids, right?  
 
Soil is one of those things that i definitely dropped the ball on.  That, and timing.  And recognizing other little details, like the constraints of time, space, and reality.  
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 But yeah, i definitely appreciated the pods i got from you last season, and I've got some plants that came from seed i'd saved from your pods. (TS CARDI, PDreadie Bonnets...)  Y'know, THP has been a huge help--- from reading/learning from other growers' experiences, to getting delicious pods for pretty cheap, to saving seeds and getting 100% hooked up by friendly fellow chile-heads on the site, to the direct advice I get on my dismal little grow log here-- it's all really a huge help.  So thanks for the good vibes and all those excellent pods, and the seeds that came from'm.  You got more dried pods sitting around?  I've been going through a lot of those... 
 
Here's some hardening-off solo cup shots, just to prove that i do, in fact, have a few green plants in the mix:
 
dtPiAxQ.jpg

 
W2ue2ja.jpg

Yeah, those are some pretty embarrassing pics, but i can't really pass post #17 in a GLOG without ANY pics, now can i? 
 
They look great in the solo cups, nice and green and lush! Don't beat yourself up so hard, my first couple grows were awful. I remember the first year I lost half my seedlings, and the second year I forgot to water them and cooked a few bone dry. Loss and learning by error is part of the experience. 
 
Im pretty close to you and when you started was not late at all. This year I started around late February and I had to deal with plants in my house for far too long before they could have gone outside. Plus with the weather the way it's been in NJ the last few years, you can usually leave out the plants until late October before freezing temps, and even then, just drag them in the garage and wait for the last few pods to ripen. 
 
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