2019 Experimentation, Learning and Fails

Hey folks.
 
I figured it is time to start myself one of the grow logs. It will be a bit scattered as I start this thread up, as I've been all over the place experimenting with growing, as I'm completely new to this. I've always like spicy foods, but I never thought I would be doing any form of gardening.
 
We're basically entering into winter here, but we are in the equivalent to zone 11a, and don't get frost, so I'm going on the assumption I might be able to produce year round, but I also am working on the assumption everything will die as well (hey, I learn the hard way). To help with the cool nights, I am putting up a small greenhouse, hoping to get about 40 plants in there if I can manage to fit that many, so I'll mostly be using 10L buckets, with some 20L's for the ones I really want to produce like crazy.
 
It all started mid-January when I was on a road trip, and found 4 adolescent habanero plants. I had some unused pots at home my neighbours left me when they moved out, and I was already growing mint and parsley. The parsley wasn't growing, but had a mix of potting soil, compost and soil from the backyard. I put on habanero in there as soon as I got home, and it took to its new home without any transplant shock. The other 3, I did a few days later, and they all got shock. I was also using dirt from the backyard. Big mistake in hindsight...

 

 
1 of the habanero plants started producing, I got 2 peppers off it. Then later that one, plus another started flowering, and producing pods, but then trajedy struck and the leaves wilted. I don't think it was overwatering as I got myself a cheap soil moisture meter and only top watered when it showed dry. I haven't been keeping my fertilising logged, but it was about once every 2 weeks with fish emulsion.
 
 
 
I got a few 20L buckets from work, since they have been painting all our buildings. I put a mystery chilli plant that I bought at a garden centre in one, transplanted 2 habaneros into the others, since they were in a fairly small container.
 

 
Leaves were falling off when I moved them under cover before the rain came to make sure they don't get too wet. I trimmed off all the really bad ones, leaving a few that weren't too bad.
 
I went away for a week, and the person looking after my plants overwatered the mystery plant. When I had bought the plant it already had chillies growing. I tried taking it out, and giving it fresh soil (again, a mix including the back yard crap), but the roots were toast... When I got back, the white fatali I bought had started producing quite a few pods. I think it also got overwatered at some point later, because now it is just sitting there without leaves for at least a few weeks already. The pods are ripening, but I'm not sure I want to eat them. I'll probably cut them open when they're all ripe, just to look, then toss the plant, bleach the pot, and reuse it for something else.
 
I also picked up a yellow Trinidad scorpion, which I posted about in another thread. I did get a few peppers off that before the problem started. I have trimmed off the majority of the affected leave, and new growth is starting to look pretty decent.
 

 
About a month ago, I picked up a peach ghost pepper plant with a few pods already peeking out. This one also lost all its leaves. Except on one branch... I'm a little baffled by this one. Most the wilted leaves are gone now, but that one branch is still ok...
 

 
When I fertilise, I try to make sure I'm doing half strength... I also spray most with neem oil mix every few days, since my mint has white flies, and I'm still a week or more away from having my greenhouse up.
 
I'll get more pics up soon, and show some of my progress and fails with germinating. Again, I'm not anticipating success with the new plants I'm starting since we are heading into winter, but hopefully with the greenhouse, I'll have a nice surprise. 
 
Fine Print (in bold... ya, that's fine) - I'm going to try and be as specific as possible what I've done/tried, and would appreciate any input from this awesome community what I'm doing wrong, or could be doing better.

 

[internationalfish]

Hey, welcome! Looking forward to watching your grow!
 
I'm definitely low on the totem pole here with gardening knowledge, but I would not be applying neem oil to a plant that doesn't definitely already have a bug problem. I'd also grab a bag of perlite or something similar to cut your soil with; my understanding is that peppers don't like wet feet, so a mix that drains fast is less susceptible to overwatering issues. My indoor plants are coir+perlite and outdoor are soil+perlite; when I end up overwatering, it clears up very quickly, thanks to the perlite.
 
That said, I don't think checking the top for dryness is a good metric for potted plants. If it's feasible, try lifting them any time you go to water. You'll quickly get a feel for how heavy a pot is when it's saturated and how light it is when it needs a dousing.
 
Also, maybe clean off that lens. I cleaned my glasses twice while reading this post, but it didn't help.

 

[murfle]

Thanks for taking the time to reply.
 
 

I would not be applying neem oil to a plant that doesn't definitely already have a bug problem.

As I posted in the thread about my yellow Scorpion plant, some people here mentioned my problem might not be a calcium deficiency, but a broad might problem. Since all my plants have been in contact with each other (even just a few leaves brushing up against each other), I thought it would be better safe than sorry, as I did have quite a few plants with those deformed leaves at one point or another. I'm still trying to get rid of the white flies on my mint, but once I get my greenhouse going, they won't be anywhere near my peppers.
 

I'd also grab a bag of perlite or something similar to cut your soil with

 
I've been using it in my latest transplants. I haven't posted everything up to date yet, I'm playing quite a bit of catch up. My ghost pepper was potted in approximately 45% store bought compost, 45% potting soil, 10% perlite.
 

That said, I don't think checking the top for dryness is a good metric for potted plants. If it's feasible, try lifting them any time you go to water. You'll quickly get a feel for how heavy a pot is when it's saturated and how light it is when it needs a dousing.

I've been checking the top, middle and bottom of the soil. My cheap-o meter has a long shaft on it so I can check at various depths. I do pick them up to move them out of the rain, or in to a better spot for sun, or whatnot, so I'll keep the weight thing in mind, so thanks for that.
 

Also, maybe clean off that lens. I cleaned my glasses twice while reading this post, but it didn't help.

Sorry about that! I've been using my 4 year old phone for the pics. The plastic is all scratched up. I've been contemplating trying the toothpaste thing to see if I can clear it up. I should probably use my DSLR, but its even more of a hassle to take pics every couple of days... But I'll see what I can do.

 

[murfle]

One other thing to note... I went to the nursery I bought my peach ghost plant from today. They have a few pepper plants left, but most of them are wilting, or just plain dying. So maybe it really is because of the temperatures. We had a week straight of coolish days and nights with lots of rain and very little sun, although the highs/lows were still around 25/14ish...

 

[Chorizo857_62J]

One thing I learned the hard way in my grow zone is over-watering is not your friend.  I try to water everything from the bottom, and wick moisture upwards.  This becomes problematic in summer with daily monsoon rains.  Sometimes I have to move plants to the patio if we are having repeated storms.  I see a lot of leaf/flower drop when things stay wet for several days.  Right now we have hot drier days with little rain. Plants wilt and get stressed, so I have to hydrate them every evening.  That will change in a month or so.  Good Luck!

 

[murfle]

As I mentioned in my first part, things will be scattered as I catch up on my experiments this year. One of the things I am doing is putting up a greenhouse, so here's a few pics of what I've gotten done so far.
 
Everything all cut, measured, and labelled.

 
 
I love puzzles!

 
 
It stands on its own!

 
 
As I'm sure someone will ask, the bigger greenhouse/shade netting is fully in use by someone else unfortunately, which is why I'm putting up my own.
 

 

[murfle]

One of my other ongoing projects/experiments is my "grow tent". My deep freeze's compressor packed it in, so I am going to convert it.
 
Currently, I have to prop it open to keep it from overheating

 
I'm doing it on the cheap for now. I've put in 6x 9w LED bulbs at 800 lumens each. I also have a heated bed taped to a flood tray for germinating. 
 

 
Future plans:

• Rig up a system to be able to lower/raise the lights, and maybe put in some better lights if funds allow.
• Add in an exhaust fan or two with a temperature sensor, and a timer for the lights.
• Possibly add in some foil to keep light on the half it needs to be on.

One afternoon, I came out to see that the lid's prop open device (mug) had fallen in and the lid had closed... The plants inside didn't like that at all...
 

 
The 7 pot in the top left had all its leaves wilt and fall off, but it is actually getting some good new growth quickly (have to get a more up to date pic soon)
 

 
My Jalapeno's leaves also got hit pretty hard, but I've been hardening it each day and it should be ready to go out once my new greenhouse is up.

 

[Sawyer]

You have some interesting projects going on here. Hopefully you get your grow mix and watering schedule worked out soon.

Is that greenhouse of your own design? What covering do you plan to put on it?

 

[murfle]

You have some interesting projects going on here. Hopefully you get your grow mix and watering schedule worked out soon.

Is that greenhouse of your own design? What covering do you plan to put on it?

 
Thanks.
 
I looked up as many PVC greenhouse designs I could on the internet and then made my own based on what I researched. The corners, and connectors on the top have been reinforced with fibreglass, just to be safe. The 4 corners have electric fence posts seated in the ground to tie the PVC down, as we do get strong winds here a couple times a year. I have some 200 micron UV resistant plastic to put over it, hopefully gonna get a start on that today.

 

[Sawyer]

I'm a big fan of PVC construction. You can see my germination and grow-out stations in this post in a previous glog:

http://thehotpepper.com/topic/37468-sawyers-2013-glog-last-harvestfirst-sauce/?p=781726

 

[murfle]

I'm a big fan of PVC construction. You can see my germination and grow-out stations in this post in a previous glog:

http://thehotpepper.com/topic/37468-sawyers-2013-glog-last-harvestfirst-sauce/?p=781726

 
Looks pretty sweet! You still using it?

 

[Sawyer]

Yes, the germination station for sure. I started so late this year, by the time plants outgrow that, it's been time to move them on outside. I have five or six, seven? flats outside already. The grow-out stand has held various OWs, mostly "others", but a few peppers. Those are all in the process of moving out, too.

 

[murfle]

So I've got 4 out of my 6 seedlings hardening off getting ready to go in to the greenhouse soon. The yellow 7 pot that lost all its leaves has bounced back quite nicely. The leaves are small, but there are a lot of them.
 
 
The greenhouse is almost done, I just need to reinforce the door, but I'm not too confident my homemade hinges are gonna hold. I'll pick up some more PVC pipe today if I make it before they close to make some more snap clamps. 
 
Meanwhile, I've taken some of my excess reaper seeds and a bunch of seeds from my hot/superhot mixed seeds pack (Habanero's, Bhut Jolokia's, Scorpions and 7 Pot's) to try out my heated flood tray.
 

 
So far one reaper and 4 of the mixed seeds have sprouted. I moved the 2 remaining seedlings to the upper shelf so that I can get the lights closer to the sprouts so they don't get leggy... Hopefully I don't burn the leaves on the 2 slightly older guys... Just means I need to rig up a second lighting rack so I can cover both sides, and adjust the height sooner than later.
 

 
Now the problem I'm going to have is if/when all the mixed seeds sprout is that I've put 2 seeds per segment... I'm thinking I'll just go with the healthiest in each pair and cut the second, but since I don't know what is what, I'm just wondering if it would be worthwhile to try and transplant the 2nd into a container of its own... Since this is the off season for me, and I'm all about the experimentation right now, it probably wouldn't hurt to try...

 

[murfle]

Got started on my "grow tent" upgrades tonight. Didn't get as much as I wanted done, but I'm a bit under the weather...
 
Gutted out most of the old parts 
 

 
Wired in a 12v relay unit for fans and an arduino (or what ever I end up using) to the existing plug. That little grey area looks like it might be an easy place to put an LCD display (too bad its on the bottom of the freezer)
 

 
So it looks like 7/9 of my mixed seeds are going well (I think I might have only done one per container, whereas I did 2 per container on the reapers). 
6/6 reapers sprouted! Big thanks to superhotchiles.com! However, two of the sprouts look to be mutants with 3 cotyledons. That really makes me want to transplant all 6 now... Maybe I'll try some surgery.
 

 

[murfle]

Got the majority of the work done on my greenhouse. Still need to make up a few more clamps just for the long haul, but I'm pretty happy overall. The door needs a bit of work as well, as it is a little skew (nothing a heat gun won't solve, just gonna need a lot of power leads)... 
 

 

 
And my first tenant. A Jalapeno M plant. I have 3 more to transplant into bigger pots, but I only have the one tub... I don't want to put anything directly on that sand, I just don't trust it. You can see the grass poking out already. I am thinking I'm going to get some of the fabric roll for keeping weeds out (and make myself some fabric pots while I'm at it) for the ground...