sinensis grow log 2018 (2019 early start!)

Malarky · Jun 5, 2018

Best of luck!
I hope you have room in your house. by winter you will have a bunch of enormous plants to take care of

sinensis · Jun 12, 2018

i made a substantial improvement to the germination chamber by adding a gallon of water (preheated to 85°F) as a thermal reservoir.
the thermometer i have in there records high/low, and it's stayed within the range of 84-85°F over the last few days without any fiddling. not bad for open-loop.

also, the first of the seeds has germinated!
in first place is I Scream Scorpion (8 days):

sinensis · Jun 12, 2018

unfortunately, i'm noticing mold in a couple of spots on the paper towel (including one of the seeds).
i removed the moldy seed, but i wonder if i'll be plagued by damping off.
it's probably safe to assume that the whole paper towel is contaminated with mold/spores.
maybe that's what i get for not doing H2O2/chamomile soak.

i transferred the the sprouts to rapid rooter plugs. 4 sprouted so far:
2x I Scream Scorpion
7 Pot Brain Strain Yellow
Aji Ahuachapan

i put the plugs in a little tray and put that in a ziplock bag.

do you think the rapid rooter plugs are better off in the germination chamber (pretty dark, 85°F) or on my garden window (daytime light, but in the 60s-70s (currently 75°F)).

should i get rid of the ziplock bag and leave the tray of plugs uncovered?

thanks

sinensis · Jun 12, 2018

i ended up taking the seeds that hadn't sprouted yet and swirled them in 3% H2O2 for around 30s. this produced noticeable bubbling seemingly from inside the seed.
i wonder if the embryos got damaged from this...

i then put them on fresh paper towel in a new container, moistened it with water, and put it back in the incubator.

sinensis · Jun 17, 2018

update:

i still don't have seedlings for Bahamian Goat, Scotch Bonnet WHP, or Scotch Brains yet.

also, i started new seeds today:

Aji Painapple
Yaki Blue Fawn
Safi Red
Galapagos Isabella Habanero
Jays Peach Scorpion
Fatalii (Yellow)

this time, i did a H2O2 soak (diluted 3% with water 1:20) for a couple of hours and am now doing an overnight chamomile soak (one teabag strong brewed in a normal mug, diluted to 1:4).
they're each in their own little takeout sauce containers.

sinensis · Jun 22, 2018

small progress report

got a scotch brains seedling finally!

also, here's one of the better looking pods i've gotten so far from my 'reaper' plant:

it seems to be putting out cooler looking pods as the plant matures

sinensis · Jun 29, 2018

i have three of the above 'reaper' plants. i kept one inside, but the others are outdoor container plants.
here's the combined harvest from all 3:

pretty big range of fruit size and appearance. i wonder if they will ever grow out of putting out tiny, dime-sized peppers. i actually haven't opened up any of the big ones to compare, but the small ones have all been seedless so far...

here's an unripe, nicer sized pod from the same plants:

sinensis · Jun 29, 2018

here's my outdoor stuff:

all peppers except for a couple of tomatoes.

here's one of the outdoor 'reapers':

this plant is kind of my pride and joy -- a nice size san marzano tomato:

it's doing much better than a brandywine i put in a 5 gallon bucket SIP. it's in a bigger pot, but i think the media made a big difference too. i think the potting mix i made isn't that great. this one's in miracle grow...

and here's an update on my indoor seedlings:

sinensis · Jun 29, 2018

today, i added a fan for my indoor plants

fan:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000J07RMU
timer:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0752PHMTL

the timer is pretty darn nice. easily the best one i've ever owned due to its relatively flexible programming options.
i've got the fan set for 3 minutes on, 30 minutes off.

sinensis · Jul 9, 2018

a small harvest today

seedling update:

i love the purple foliage on one of the I Scream Scorpions!

sinensis · Jul 9, 2018

yesterday, i played around with calibrating an inexpensive ppm meter (HM Digital TDS-4).

i prepared a standard NaCl solution. the concentration doesn't matter so long as it's accurately known and in your typical measurement range. because my meter's manual suggests calibrating with 342ppm NaCl, i went with that for fun.

does anyone know the significance of 342ppm?? i don't.

consider:
s / (w + s) * 10^6 = ppm
where s is mass of NaCl, w is mass of water, and ppm is NaCl concentration.

rearranging the above equation:
s = p * w / (10^6 - p)

i added 448.8g distilled water (measured 0ppm on my meter) to an empty bottle. for the salt:

s = 342ppm * 448.8g H2O / (10^6 - 342ppm) = 0.1535g NaCl

using an analytical balance, i measured 154mg Morton non-iodized table salt and added it.

assuringly, the meter read 354ppm. for the heck of it, i nudged the calibration pot until it read 344ppm at 24.9°C.

who knows if my adjustment made it more or less accurate.

that was fun