• Blog your pepper progress. The first image in your first post will be used to represent your Glog.

SANARDA'S GLOG UPDATE 9/8/2013

Here is the list so far:

7 pot Jonah (Mgold/Matt pod)
7 pot mystery (Mgold/Matt pod)
7 pot Red (Jamie/Romy pod)
7 pot yellow (Mgold/Matt pod)
Aji Lemon (Romy pod)
Assam (Mgold/Matt pod)
Barrackpore (Pepperlover)
Bhut Giant Red (Matt/Mgold pod)
Bhut Peach (Matt/Mgold pod)
Bhut Chocolate (Matt/Mgold pod)
Bhut Hybrid (Jamie/Romy pod)
Brain Strain Yellow (DVFSTR/Dave pod)
ButchT (Dvfstr/Dave pod) and Mgold's (Pod)
CARDI Scorp Yellow (Jamie/Romy pod)
Choc Hab (PaulG pod) (Romy) (Matt/Mgold)
Datil (Jamie/Romy pod)
Dorset Naga (Jamie/Romy)
Douglah Red (Dfstr/Dave pod)
Douglah Hybrid (Jamie/Romy Pod)
Fatalli x Red Savina (Matt/Mgold pod)
Goats Weed (PaulG pod)
Habanero BLK (Matt/Mgold pod)
Moruga Red (Matt/Mgold pod)
Naga Morich (Matt/Mgold pod)(DVFSTR/Dave pod) (Paul G I think)
Suave Red (NMSU) two seeds
Trinidad Scorp Yellow (Matt/Mgold pod)
Trinidad Perfume (Matt/Mgold pod)
Uba Tuba (NMSU) I only have two seeds
Zavory (Burpee) Two seeds

Seeds yet to purchase:

7 pot infinity
7 pot Primo
7 pot Brown
Barbados
Black Cayman
Black Naga
Black Stinger
Cleo's Dragon
Fish
Malaysian Goronong
Moruga Scorp Yellow
Naga Viper
Red Savina
Safi Red
West Indian Red

Wish list:
Billy Boy Douglah
Sepia Serpent
 
First, excellent detailed grow, Pia! Sorry about the snow . . . that is if 85F would be a preference and I feel that! Am gonna have to ask Greg/PIC 1 exactly what he uses with Promix for nutes, bottom watering, as I can't see the expense of ordering another soil. What did you eventually use as a pot-up soil? Am already bottom watering the ones under lights, mega fan 24/7 along with lights, with dilute kelp, Actinovate/Biotamax mix. But just curious what you used to pot up: excellent job of dividing those seedlings! I want to whack to the weakest but kinda breaks my heart to do so. Ramon mentioned something he did with helmets that I tried and it works, for future reference if you want to do it. Yep, wetting, waiting, toothpicks, etc. work, but he said he sometimes sticks the helmet back in moist soil. So I did and 99% of time works! They spring back up, less prepared for battle, ha. Absolutely great growing here, and yes: the folks on this site are fkin amazingly generous/wonderful. (Move in with Jamie before we use "Gatah Bait" for his uh, raison d'etre!) Thanks so much for the really nice skills! Annie
 
Bust out the snow board pia!!! That's what I would be doing with all that fresh powder ... :D. Its years since I last rode when i was living in New Zealand but with fresh powder about you can stack it as much as you like and pretty much bounce straight back up
 
Thanks for the props Jessee! Pia, thought about you easterners yesterday...
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My snow day looks better than yours! Hope you have a great (and warmer) day over there lady!
 
Annie this is what I used to pot up and I hate it. I am now seeing little black nats flying around my plants. I cant tell how many as I only see one at a time. could be one or could be more. It has lots of little twigs and the soil is compact and hard when it is dry. as in on the top. I find myself feeling like I need to aerate each pot when I spray the seedlings. I can not get foxfarm or promix here within 50 miles. I have googled and googled and googled looking for a supplier. I have no idea why it is so hard to find these soils here in NJ. I am just trying to keep them alive until I can get them in the good Jersey soil outside. I really need to get into composting because the soil here in NJ is really top notch. Hell its the garden state.....


[background=rgb(255, 244, 228)]What should I add to this stuff to make it good. Any suggestions?[/background]

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Shane If I had a foot of that beer instead of a foot of that snow. I would be in absolute heaven.

Trippa
I dont do snow very well. Snowboarding, skiing, sledding. I wants no part of any of it. Now give me some clear warm water and I can do wonders,
 
Sift out the big chunks, add peat and perlite for starters. Peat will help keep it from compacting and help it wick up moisture. Perlite will help lighten it up and make it drain better. You will have to listen to your plants after that because neither of those will add nutes to the soil. Some fish ferts here and there will probably be all you need to get to plant out. Bottom watering and adding a layer of peat on top will help keep the gnats down too.
 
Shane its amazing you said that because I forgot to type that I took the fish fert home to give a feeding to help get them out of their funk. now the trick is to find something I can sift with. I think a good old cheese grater will do
 
... now the trick is to find something I can sift with. I think a good old cheese grater will do
I bought a few feet of steel expanded metal about 4’x4’ and I use it over a wheelbarrow or wagon to sift dirt, they come in different size holes so you can select the size best for you or buy more than one, mine works great. BTW it’s lasted me so long I can’t recall how many years ago I bought it ... BTW don't use your hands on it but a flat shovel works great.


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Pia, here's what's causing the gnats, I think: "It [Vigoro potting soil] is composed of organic bark, wood, peat, organic yard
waste, sand, composted organics, and/or soil of varying particle size" (http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/pdfImages/89/89772ee5-f321-49d8-86fe-2f1a7140276b.pdf?cm_mmc=seo|altruik|203155266, italics mine). I bought some Jungle Growth Pro @ HDepot, on sale, to go with compost to top-off my 4 raised beds; I'd feel okay about putting that JGrow in inground garden as well. Use like a mulch, maybe. But I will NOT grow seedlings indoors in it. MG Organic is up to same shady too. Half composted hardwoods, bet money on it, with "composted organics, and/or soil of varying particle size" are gnat larvae heaven. These people tick me off. I know that Shane has suggested peat, but can you get coir--coconut coir anywhere you trust? The salts can be an issue with low-grade coir. And if you add peat, add dolomite lime. And with THAT much "secret stuff" to compact that mix, please add lots of perlite. I add perlite and lime to Promix BX. Not much lime, but add pelletized (for longer lasting lime) and powdered to get pH to about 6.5 to 7: peppers hate acidic soil; but whole lotta perlite for peppers because they luv some aeration.

Since it's snowing, cold, not the Caribbean, dayumhit, do you or a neighbor maybe have--older folks got these and I sweetly begged one off my grandmother--those old flour sifters that hand crank? Ramon's right: I have a screen for over a wheelbarrow but in cold weather and maybe high winds? It gets "sifted" alrighty! So, this guy, Donald on youtube, some of his methods I agree with and some not--like vermicompost in seed-starter--NOOOOOOOO (another damping off and gnat attractor)--but he has a long growing season, no lights needed, outside/open warehouse seed-start, etc. which has it's own problems, as we envy those in balmy climes. But he had an even better idea for sifting seed-starter, as he starts in compost (he also bakes it to dry and pasteruize the bugs out of it, which we can all beat good money Vigoro and others, do not): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liDKMCFqAGI 2 minutes in. I tried it with my drill driver, BEFORE adding perlite to Promix and did it last year with some of peat to establish a new raised bed; I just did it to see if worked for future reference. For future reference: it works! Hand cranking works too, but anything to make sifting stuff easier, esp a bag. Gnats are coming from that uncomposted hardwood bark and "composted organics and/or" totally composted and pateruized to kill larvae? NO.

Another thought . . . you might want to do to save that bag and use the soil for future growing as soil ain't cheap: I saw a grill in ya pics. You could fire it up at low temps to BAKE the bugs out of that stuff. Only need to get to 160 degrees F for an hour. And doubt it kills nutes at that temp but it will kill nasties' larvae. And dry it up more, to make sifting easier. AND before small winged jerks get you too bad, I suggest Bonide Pyrethrin. I keep it on hand, just in case. Home D, Lowe's--none of them sell it, exclusively but Amazon, etc. sell it: http://www.amazon.com/Bonide-857-Pyrethrin-Concentrate-8-Ounce/dp/B0035HA0AK 13 bucks.

Of course, you could hit the plants with some dilute Sevin! lol, totally organic :rolleyes: . Because if you have fans on, drainage, as much as that stuff is going to drain, even with perlite added, uh, shouldn't have gnats. Gnats are likely coming from "mystery soil" and "organic bark" aka gnat park. Those plants are too pretty to feed them to gnats, hon. I hate it for ya. But there are options: like BAKING and listening for the sounds of thier tiny screams, ahhhhhhhhhhh. Sweet!
 
You can nuke it much quicker and it kills everything in there ...

I did that once; my other half . . . LEFT for a while (lovely smell, lol) and refused to warm water in that microwave afterward! I splained that I was gonna Clorox the danged thing . . . but had to mess with him, "Hang on. In your hair . . . is that dandruff or . . . could be white fly . . ." So maybe Pia can do it but I can't go through that one . . . then again :think: . . .
 
I did that once; my other half . . . LEFT for a while (lovely smell, lol) and refused to warm water in that microwave afterward! I splained that I was gonna Clorox the danged thing . . . but had to mess with him, "Hang on. In your hair . . . is that dandruff or . . . could be white fly . . ." So maybe Pia can do it but I can't go through that one . . . then again :think: . . .
Good point about "smell," I wrap small amount (enough for starter soil) in double plastic bags which eliminates any smell to the microwave oven. What my wife doesn't know can't hurt ;) No smell issues yet, only wish I had kept our old one for outdoor use. I do it in short intervals, take it outside and shake up the bag or only parts get nuked and nuke it again several times. I want everything in there, larva, bug, bug eggs or what not, dead, dead, dead ...
 
Pia, take Jamie up on that quick: we havin' gator ribs @ Ramon's and we got . . . "Gatah Bait" aka . . . but lemme get my 7 PBrown seed from GB first :woohoo: (Watch him send dang sweet bell pepper seeds now) :( . I 'uv ooo, sweet Jamie :D No more "Gatah Bait."

Good point about "smell," I wrap small amount (enough for starter soil) in double plastic bags which eliminates any smell to the microwave oven. What my wife doesn't know can't hurt ;) No smell issues yet, only wish I had kept our old one for outdoor use. I do it in short intervals, take it outside and shake up the bag or only parts get nuked and nuke it again several times. I want everything in there, larva, bug, bug eggs or what not, dead, dead, dead ...

"Eliminates"?? I used two gallon doubled bags too but . . . coulda been the moist but composted horse manure :halo: . Details, details.
 
Great find on those Habs lady! Especially the reds! Plants seem to be looking a little happier...getting some new soil soon I hear? Happy Frog or Ocean Forest...just sayin.

By the way...you mentioned a compost pile. Some of the soil I used that performed best last year was my own compost, my own topsoil, and my own worm castings mixed with peat and perlite. Stuff worked pretty well! My worm farm is simple enough, just a couple 22 gallon totes that I threw some leftover red wigglers from fishing trips with my son, and a handful of earthworms I would get here and there turning my compost over. I just add a shovel full of fresh compost every now and then and they're making the most beautiful black dirt you ever saw. Great for teas as well.
 
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