Hello from Mattoon Illinois! I am a quadriplegic and new to the hobby so all help is welcomed and en

My name is Chris and I am a Tulsa Oklahoma transplant living in Mattoon Illinois. I have lived in Mattoon since I was 2 years, so about 39 years. I am also a quadriplegic paralyzed from the neck down but I do not let that slow me down! I became paralyzed after a terrible accident involving a drunk driver on Christmas night of 2006 while on my way to visit family. It's been 12 years and while it's not the easiest life I have managed to find ways of constantly testing myself. I actually live independently with the help of caregivers throughout different points in the day. My independent lifestyle is accomplished and greatly aided by my adaptive technology such as voice recognition for everything from television, cable box, telephone, lights, computer, thermostat and more.
 
I am a heat seeker and as such I believe this is the perfect hobby to occupy my mind and to give me a sense of accomplishment that has been missing from my life since I left the poison dart frog hobby a few years back. I am in the ordering phase of setting up my hydroponic systems and room and plan to have everything up and running within the next 1 1/2 months. My intended starters will be the infamous ghost pepper plant, Trinidad Moruga scorpion and orange habanero'. My intention is to purchase an already started plant of each species from Amazon (unless someone can give me a better suggestion of where to order) using 3.5 gallon kitty litter buckets modified to hold plants as well as insert for air hose for oxygenating the water. I have ordered three quarts of Flora series nutrients, a kingbo 600 watt LED grow light, A 32" x 32" x 63 in reflective mylar grow tent and will continue making needed orders over the next month.
 
I have done a ton of studying on the subject at hand but nothing beats experience so feedback from all of you would be greatly welcomed, appreciated and encouraged!
 
I look forward to having a long stay in the hobby and to building friendships and bridges throughout the community please feel free to add me to any lists and to contact me in posts as well as the messenger feature!
 
"Warmly" yours
Christopher Cunningham
 
:welcome: to THP!
 
 
QuadPepperEater said:
 
 
 My intention is to purchase an already started plant of each species from Amazon (unless someone can give me a better suggestion of where to order) 
 
 
 
I strongly advise against buying your plants or seeds from random vendors on Amazon, Ebay or Aliexpress, unless you are OK with your exotic superhots turning out to be Thai peppers.
 
It is probably too late in the season to buy seedlings now, but CCN is a reputable vendor for them: http://www.chileplants.com/
 
Also sometimes members here offer seedlings for sale in the spring, so maybe keep an eye out for those offers too.
 
If you must start in the next 1 1/2 months, then you will probably have to start from seeds. There are plenty of reliable seed vendors to be found in the Vendor Vault here.
 
Good luck with your grow!
 
BlackFatalii said:
:welcome: to THP!
 
 
 
I strongly advise against buying your plants or seeds from random vendors on Amazon, Ebay or Aliexpress, unless you are OK with your exotic superhots turning out to be Thai peppers.
 
It is probably too late in the season to buy seedlings now, but CCN is a reputable vendor for them: http://www.chileplants.com/
 
Also sometimes members here offer seedlings for sale in the spring, so maybe keep an eye out for those offers too.
 
If you must start in the next 1 1/2 months, then you will probably have to start from seeds. There are plenty of reliable seed vendors to be found in the Vendor Vault here.
 
Good luck with your grow!
 
 
I may have to go with seeds then. I was just looking for the path of least resistance towards getting things off the ground but concede that easier isn't necessarily better. Thanks for the input
 
I'm little confused after looking at the link for chili plants because a lot of the seeds are not going to be available to order until January 1 but you can order fresh peppers now that are getting ready to go out. Is it not possible to just harvest your seeds from those peppers? It seems strange because the pricing of 20 seeds versus 8 to 10 fresh peppers is unbalanced looking
 
Yes, you can absolutely harvest seeds from fresh peppers and grow them. But you have to assume that seeds from fresh pods were not protected from cross-pollination, so they would be "Open Pollinated" rather than "Isolated" seeds. Isolated seeds are usually preferred because there is a better chance that they will grow true to type. Still, even OP seeds seem to grow true more often than not for me, so I don't shy away too much from using them. If that is what I have, I will use them, and accept the risk. But that is me. One of the vendors here estimated that OP seeds grow true for him about 80% of the time. I am OK with that percentage. You might not be. Seeds that you buy should generally be ISO though, so that is the difference. That basically means that someone put a net over the plant to prevent the bees from creating a pollen orgy in the flowers. But there are plenty of reliable seed vendors in the Vendor Vault, so you should have no trouble finding the varieties that you want to grow.
 
welcome Chris. i don`t have any experience with hydroponics  but it sounds like you did your research. as far as getting seedlings this time of year may be tough.i buy mine in april and may in the big box stores. this time of year you may want to start from seed. like other members stated, you can buy boxes of assorted peppers and try a variety and harvest seeds at the same time. 
 
i agree that everyone needs a hobby to enjoy and occupy their mind and pepper cultivation is great for this. i`m only in my second year of growing but i`m into this long term. there are many knowledgeable people here so just ask your questions and they will be answered.
 
 
 
:welcome:   QuadPepperEater from the Côte d'Azur
 
I'll send you some orange habanero seeds if you're keen. Maybe doable (? - understanding your set-up): place in a cup of tea (cold), wait 24 hours, place in a rock wool block and "plant".
 
I appreciate that nice chili but I just acquired a couple of pounds of fresh picked habaneros and will be harvesting seeds from these. Thank you very much for the kind offer though! Hogleg just sent me out a big batch of various seeds and I can't wait to get some of these planted right away :-) very grateful for all of the help!
 
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