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HeatMiser's Keeping it Simple With Old Seeds 2020 Grow

Well here it is - after a two year hiatus, I decided to get myself a new grow light (HLG 100), grow peppers again and join this community.

I decided to it simple this year and grow fewer varieties from seeds I already have. These were packaged in 2014 or earlier so it will serve as a viability test as well.

After talking with my wife, we decided on the following 4 varieties

1 Super Hot:
Trinidad Moruga Scorpion. Seeds from the Chile Pepper Institute packaged in 2013.

1 Ornamental:
Numex Twilight. Seeds from the Chile Pepper Institute packaged in 2012.

2 Varieties for Cooking:
Jalafuego. Seeds from tomatogrowers.com. Packaged before 2014
Chiltepin. Seeds I collected after a trip to Texas in 2014.

I have the following goals for this season
  1. Get a decent batch of "hot" Jalapenos. You have to be lucky to find a hot Jalapeno at the store. We plan to pickle them to be used in NACHOS
  2. Incorporate Chiltepin peppers in our cooking (salsas, tacos, etc)
  3. Make some powder with the Trinidad Scorpion Peppers. I've made Ghost Pepper Powder before and it's amazing in stuff like Pho.
  4. Experiment with DWC and Kratky for peppers. My experience is with Dutch Buckets.
  5. Experiment with outdoor hydroponics. Success here means I'll be able to plant more peppers in future years
  6. Try crossing peppers. Always been curious, never really tried it. This year, it's happening.
  7. Growing a Trinidad Scorpion in my office at work. Dare my boss to try one…

The plan is as follows:
  • 1 Trinidad Scorpion and 1 Jalafuego in 5 gal DWC indoors.
  • Grow 1 Chiltepin and 1 Numex Twilight indoors in smaller Kratky containers.
  • Grow 1 Trinidad Scorpion in a 5 gal DWC at work

As the weather improves, I'll set up 1 Trinidad Scorpion and 1 Jalafuego in 5 gal Kratky bucket outdoors. I'll also clone as many plants as I can get away with and put them in soil containers outside.

That's it for plans…

Here's the actual progress so far

12/20/2019 -
• Started soaking Chiltepin seeds in a weak solution of chamomille tea
• Planted Trinidad Moruga Scorpion, Jalafuego and Numex Twilight seeds in rockwool cubes. 2 seeds of each per cube. Placed on a heat mat inside an airtight container with some water on the bottom for moisture

12/21/2019
• Planted Chiltepin seeds
• 3 rockwool cubes with seeds soaked in weak chamomille tea solution for about 25 hours
• 3 rockwool cubes with seeds soaked in 9 parts water, 1 part bleach solution for 5 minutes

12/23/2019
• Noticed a hook in one of the Jalafuego cubes

12/26/2019
• Hooks on all 3 Jalafuego cubes
• One Twilight cube has a hook

12/27/2019
• Hooks on all 3 Twilight cubes. One of them is a bit leggy
• Noticed one Chiltepin seed starting to sprout, from the cube that was soaked in bleach
• Transferred Jalafuego and Twilights to the light and gave them some food, General Hydroponics mild vegetative solution

12/28/2019
• One Jalafuego cube has 2 seedlings, new hook came out.

12/29/2019
• One Chiltepin hook coming out of the cube. Moved the cube to the light
• All 6 Jalafuego seeds have sprouted. 3 seedlings are now upright and 3 hooks are coming out. Germination rate is 6/6

12/30/2019
• Hook from Trinidad Moruga Scorpion came out. Moved to light

1/1/2020
• Hook from Chiltepin seed in bleach solution. Moved to light
• Hook from Chiltepin seed in chamomile tea came out. Moved to light

1/2/2020
• Last Twilight sprouted. Germination rate is 6/6
• Two more Trinidad Moruga Hooks

1/3/2020
• Moved two Trinidad Moruga cubes to light

1/5/2020
• Another Trinidad Moruga sprouted. Germination rate is 4/6

1/7/2020
• Roots from Jalafuego, Twilight and Chiltepin started poking through the bottom of the rockwool cubes. Moved the best plants to their own individual kratky container. Using Mild Vegetative solution from Flora 3 Part solution
• One T5 bulb died. Changed the light to the HLG 100.

1/9/2020
• New Trinidad Moruga Sprouted. Germination Rate: 5/6
• Added an air stone to the Jalafuego Kratky container turning it into a DWC.

1/10/2020
  • Moved another Jalafuego to its own Kratky container

Thanks for reading all of this... I'll be posting some pictures soon!
 
Click to expand...
PaulG said:
Hey, HM! Starts looking great.
 
Lateral branches showing already!  :woohoo:
Click to expand...
 
Thanks Paul! it's interesting it started to develop lateral branches this early. Will definitely post updates as it grows and will ultimately transfer it to a bigger container where it will live for most of this year.
 
BTW - you were the lucky PT, but we seem to be missing a duck!  :lol:
 
HeatMiser said:
BTW - you were the lucky PT, but we seem to be missing a duck!  :lol:
Click to expand...
 
Haha, and now it’s too late to edit  :rofl:
 
Actually, I have only been ducking PT posts
in my own grow log recently. Don’t want to
junk up someone else’s grow log!
 
PaulG said:
 
Haha, and now it’s too late to edit  :rofl:
 
Actually, I have only been ducking PT posts
in my own grow log recently. Don’t want to
junk up someone else’s grow log!
Click to expand...
 
Ah! didn't know there was a time limit... Anyway, PT ducks are welcome in this glog.
 
Last week I was reading a few glogs next to my wife while she was reading a book. All of a sudden I hear: "what is it with all the ducks people post in that forum"? she found it funny... I've never seen something like this elsewhere, but it's fun.
 
HeatMiser said:
 
Ah! didn't know there was a time limit... Anyway, PT ducks are welcome in this glog.
 
Last week I was reading a few glogs next to my wife while she was reading a book. All of a sudden I hear: "what is it with all the ducks people post in that forum"? she found it funny... I've never seen something like this elsewhere, but it's fun.
Click to expand...
 
I believe you have your Uncle E to thank, and his call for a "page topper emoji" - http://thehotpepper.com/topic/70555-next-to-my-chair/page-14#entry1626979
 
 
Man HM, I keep thinking about those chiltepins.  They're super cool little plants.  I may end up breaking down and PM'ing you. :)
 
HeatMiser said:
 
Ah! didn't know there was a time limit... Anyway, PT ducks are welcome in this glog.
 
Last week I was reading a few glogs next to my wife while she was reading a book. All of a sudden I hear: "what is it with all the ducks people post in that forum"? she found it funny... I've never seen something like this elsewhere, but it's fun.
Click to expand...
 
It is fun!   :D
 
I may have called for the PT emoji, but the first ever duck was CD's: http://thehotpepper.com/topic/70555-next-to-my-chair/page-15
 
Time for an update...
 
It's been a very busy week and barely had time to tend to the peppers - sometime's that's a good thing. I did have time to paint the lids, but it was going to be too time consuming to spray paint the containers with enough coats so that light wouldn't get in. So, I decided to cut long strips of those black trash bags they sell at Costco, wrap them around the containers, some tape and call it good. Doesn't look too bad and definitely does a better job at keeping light out of the nutrients, so I'm happy. I still need to work on the clear jars - haven't gotten to them yet, but I'm dumping the nutrients and re-filling if I see algae forming. I should be able to get that fixed this weekend.
 
Otherwise, the plants seem happy so far and have had to top the nutrients a couple of times for one of the Jalafuegos.
 
Here are some pics
 
Group Shot:
IMG_3611.JPG

 
Jalafuegos:
IMG_3612.JPG

 
They are starting to drink more, and are about to fork:
IMG_3615.JPG

 
Numex Twilight, working on some side shoots and should also fork soon:
IMG_3616.JPG

 
Trinidad Scorpion - the leaves started a little yellow but now are turning green. This plant also put in a lot of growth this week:
IMG_3618.JPG

 
And then, a small bush - the Chiltepin. Seems to be using its energy evenly across all branches, which results in a really neat bushy plant.
IMG_3621.JPG
 
CaneDog said:
 
I believe you have your Uncle E to thank, and his call for a "page topper emoji" - http://thehotpepper.com/topic/70555-next-to-my-chair/page-14#entry1626979
 
 
Man HM, I keep thinking about those chiltepins.  They're super cool little plants.  I may end up breaking down and PM'ing you. :)
Click to expand...
 
 
Uncle_Eccoli said:
 
It is fun!   :D
 
I may have called for the PT emoji, but the first ever duck was CD's: http://thehotpepper.com/topic/70555-next-to-my-chair/page-15
Click to expand...
 
Hah! thanks for the links to some THP history (although kind of recent)... But I concur with Uncle E - it seems like CD introduced the first duck, haha. 
 
CD - those seeds aren't going anywhere. If you ever break down let me know, I'm sure your pics would do them better justice.
 
Time for an update...
 
All peppers are now in kratky containers. Overall, they are drinking a bit more so I'm having to spend some time changing nutrients every other day. The peppers will stay in these small containers until I free up the space that is being used by my lettuce, which should be in about a couple more weeks. That will give me time to completely finish using my old GH Flora nutrients and switch to MasterBlend once I put the peppers in their final containers.
 
Group shot:
IMG_3640.JPG

 
Jalafuegos have now forked and I have a few buds already. I have usually let them do their thing in previous years, but I think I'll try topping them off this time and see what happens. Will try to keep a wide, even canopy under the lights. So some trimming will take place as they grow.
IMG_3642.JPG

 
The biggest Trinidad Scorpion has put on some more growth this week. The leaves are turning darker green as they grow.
IMG_3643.JPG

 
And the bushiest Chiltepin of the bunch. Still not showing any signs of wanting to grow tall instead of wide
IMG_3644.JPG
 
 
Finally, not peppers, but I'm just waiting to harvest this lettuce to move the best plant of each type to their permanent containers. Currently growing in a DWC system with MasterBlend as a trial run for peppers.
IMG_3638.JPG

 
Some of the leaves are bigger than my hand. This makes me super excited to switch my pepper nutrients to MasterBlend.  :dance:
IMG_3639.JPG
 
PaulG said:
Your Kratkys look great, HM. 
 
Really good progress, leaving me in the dust!
Click to expand...
 
Thanks Paul, I still think your plants look a lot better.
 
However, I'm happy with my results so far, considering this is my first time growing peppers in Kratky/DWC. I expect more explosive growth once I switch over to MasterBlend and put them in their final 2 and 5 gal buckets. Then things are going to get crazy!
 
PaulG said:
 
Those Jalafuegos will start pushing out those laterals in no time!
 
Good luck with the hydro grow this season.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks Paul, 
 
Those Jalafuegos are the only ones who need to get on with the program. The other plants have been growing wide since day 1. I need a lot of side shoots in order to clone them - my MIL has already asked for some plants to grow this season. Still have time...
 
Things are going well over here. 
 
Annuums seem to be responding well to the topping, with side shoots already coming along. At this point, I'm starting to think about the next step in this grow, which will involve moving at least 1 plant of each type to its final container, and setting up a 5 gal bucket with the smallest Trinidad Scorpion in my office at work. All of that will be done in the coming week or two. I still have to figure out how to take care of the rest of the plants until they grow big enough to get cuttings and root them, but that's a problem for another day.
 
Group shot:
IMG_3663.JPG

 
Jalafuego sending out side shoots as a result of being topped. Will get bushy in no time. The leaf curl on the older leaves has gotten a bit worse, but the new growth seems ok. Will keep an eye on it...
IMG_3664.JPG

 
Trinidad Scorpion now putting some serious growth. I'm digging this plant more and more as it grows
IMG_3665.JPG

 
Numex Twilight. Also topped, working on growing laterally
IMG_3666.JPG

 
Bushy Chiltepin, never topped. Looks like a bunch of plants in this container:
IMG_3670.JPG
 
PaulG said:
Your plants look great, HM!
Pretty good growth for a week after topping.
 
The little TS should be a real office hit!
Click to expand...
 
 
CaneDog said:
+1, definitely looking good!  And crazy how bushy the tepin is.
 
That TS won't stay small for long in a 5g bucket!
Click to expand...
 
Thanks guys, much appreciated.
 
The smallest TS in the white container will be the one to live in my office. It will sure be a conversation starter. Hopefully it will yield some pods.
 
I definitely will have to do something this week since they are already drinking a lot. Couldn't tend to them today and a couple of plants looked stressed. For small containers, the maintenance required goes up as they grow. 
 
I was able to finally move a few plants to their final containers today.
 
I found a 3-pack of these 1 gallon buckets on Amazon. I originally wanted them to be 2 gallon buckets but couldn't find any that wouldn't charge outrageous shipping costs. These will have to do.
IMG_3695.JPG

 
I moved 2 Chiltepins and 1 Numex Twilight under their own light. 
IMG_3696.JPG

 
Now that these 3 plants are in their final home, I won't have to check on their nutrients as frequently. 
 
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