3/5King's 2013 ZING!-Peppin' Ain't Easy 2.0 "If The Boat's a Rockin'....."

we're still Alive!.....now let's get back to growing peppers.




So I decided to start Peppin' Ain't Easy 2.0 instead of continuing last year’s Glog. This way everything can stay nice and tidy.

If you want to see my shenanigans from last season, CLICK http://thehotpepper....sy35kings-2012/



I’m excited…the season is upon us! (Well except for those that live on the other side of the hemisphere; you bastards have been growing for months!)(Mezo…lol)

Let’s see, where to start….well, I hope everyone’s year is starting out right. I know everyone’s year can’t be going well, so a prayer will go out to all of you that are having a not so good 2013. Me…I’m alive and still ambitious, so I’ll be alright.

On to the plants; well, I started some plants back in November…here I was being hopeful to the extreme..thinking I would have some nice plants to give away around Christmas or the new year….that was my first mistake circa 2013..

I did something wrong (like usual) listed below will be the list of seeds I started and what my setup consists of....(Like it says above…peppin’ ain’t easy)

Seeds 2013 (started Nov. 17, 2012)

Carolina Reaper
Bubble Gum 7pot
Explosive Ember
FireCracker
Red Missle
Purple Puru
Orange Starbust
Cappezoli
Brazilian Starfish

More coming…


Soil

Pro-Mix Organic with sea based compost

Nutrients

General Organics-Bio Thrive (gave first feeding at around 60 days old)

Grow Box/Light Setup

5- 6500 Kelvin 2750 Lumen 1- 2700 Kelvin 2750 Lumen (CFL’s) (Total: 16,500 Lumens)

5- Square foot growing area

Sides and roof lined with mylar bubble wrap (Like the stuff you line your basements with for insulation)

Plants are 4-10 Inches away from lights (depending on how big they are)

Bottom Watered

Foliar fed with bio thrive (every two to three days)


Side Note: (I did water the plants at about 30 days with the used water from my fish tank. I used this water for about 2 weeks and then went back to regular water for awhile)

Temps- 80-90 Degrees




So there you have it, this is the start to my 2012/13 season. Now to get on to the hiccups along the way…dang I forgot to mention the overwinter…I’ll get to that debacle in a minute.

Problems encountered; The plants started growing fine but as they got older, they just randomly dropping leaves (although it seems that the leaves that drop are the older leaves) Not from the bottom up or the top down, just random. Sometimes they drop when they are green, sometimes they drop after they have yellowed and some…some even just shrivel up and die on the plant..lol. This is a funky situation.

Also a lot of the plants seem to be stuck…like the plants look like they are getting older (stems getting thicker, mature leaves) but they aren’t really growing in size anymore. Now I can say that they A. Should have enough light at 3300 lumens a square foot B. Maybe they are too close or not close enough to the light.


My thoughts about the leaf drop: Possible that they are A. Getting too little of light (which shouldn’t be the case) B. They are getting burnt by hot spots from the bubble mylar or C. I have no idea…



Well, if you have any input or ideas as to why my situation is bucked up, please feel free to inform me.

Now for my overwinter; I brought in one Moruga for the winter. When I brought it in, it was thriving. New growth was popping up left and right. It was growing fast, so I asked Pepperguru what I should do. He told me I could just clip it like a bonsai tree. Well…the plant had shot a lot of branched out of the main trunk, before the split. So I cut most of those branches that had shot out, off and left all of the foliage above the first main split. After I did that, the plant didn’t do so well anymore. There really wasn’t anymore new growth and what was there although did get bigger, started to die and drop leaves. As well, the branches started to die from the top down. So I cut them back….everything started dying back more…so I cut it back more. Then one of my last (new) green branches had a dead leaf on it, so I went to pull it off and with barely any pressure, the whole branch pulled right off the plant! Hahahaha…I laughed so hard and then immediately used some cutting gel and stuck it in some soil. The pics you see below are what’s left…..ah haha, It makes me laugh so hard.

So there you have it. I know this was/is a lot to read but I wanted to be thorough lol. This way everyone’s questions are answered before they are asked and you all get an idea of where I’m at and what it took to get here.

LET THE GAMES BEGIN 2013!! Now for the pics..


SOME LEAVES THAT DROPPED

ORANGE STARBURST

CAROLINA REAPER

EXPLOSIVE EMBER

ORANGE STARBURST

BUBBLEGUM 7

INDOOR GROW

INDOOR GROW

MORUGA OVERWINTER

MORUGA CUTTING

 

[DocNrock]

When I had a heavy infestation early on in my g-house, acetamiprid knocked them out. Haven't seen them back. I see an occasional egg that I squish, but have yet to see an aphid on any of the plants now that they are outdoors. I see plenty of bees...none dead.

 

[3/5King]

When I had a heavy infestation early on in my g-house, acetamiprid knocked them out. Haven't seen them back. I see an occasional egg that I squish, but have yet to see an aphid on any of the plants now that they are outdoors. I see plenty of bees...none dead.

Where'd you get that from? Should I say what pesticide uses that as their active ingredient?

 

[stc3248]

Damn man...Wish I could help you out...but aphids are some tough bugs. Hope you figure it out brother...

 

[DocNrock]

Where'd you get that from? Should I say what pesticide uses that as their active ingredient?

Ortho Flower, Fruit, and Vegetable Insect Killer....Home Depot. Worked great.

 

[3/5King]

Thanks Shane, these bugs are diabolical...lol


Well I picked up some of that spray DnR. Hope I have the same success.

On a positive note; I'm two days away from finishing insanity. Works like a charm. I'll post results on Friday. (Yeah I know I say I'll post and I didn't but I will, scouts honor!)

 

[DocNrock]

Thanks Shane, these bugs are diabolical...lol


Well I picked up some of that spray DnR. Hope I have the same success.

On a positive note; I'm two days away from finishing insanity. Works like a charm. I'll post results on Friday. (Yeah I know I say I'll post and I didn't but I will, scouts honor!)

Good luck, man! I used it very judiciously, just spraying the areas that were visibly infested. If I could just squish a couple, that is what I did. But if a branch was just covered with them and my options were to cut it off or spray it, I would spray the invovled area only. The area will remain toxic to most bugs, bees included, for a few days. If they pop up elsewhere, it may require more than one application. But it worked great for me. Another good thing about that product is that it doesn't accumulate in the plant tissues nor in the environment. It breaks down into harmless compounds in about 8 days.

 

[PIC 1]

"Welcome to the Fray" is an all to fitting title for this glog...the grow is alllllllll F'd up. We have aphids coming out of our ears. I've fogged them twice and used a home made (garlic, hot powder, soap, olive oil) spray on them as well. Not to mention the 5 times I sprayed them with Bondide beforehand. The fogs knocked them down good but they are still there and just keep coming back.

The plants are also suffering from all of this. The growth is lacking and it's come down to a major decision. I'm either going to toss everything (dirt, plants, pots) and start over (yeah, I know it's late) which is looking like a more and more viable option. I mean, with how small the plants are, I could start seeds now and have plants just as big in 2 1/2 weeks.....and they'll keep growing bigger (mine are growing, but at a slower rate) last year at this time, I had leaves the size of my hand....so frustrating.

Otherwise, I just keep battling the bugs and just HOPE that the plants pull through and I don't just waste my time. My buddy and I are deciding tonight whether we're going to start over or not.

The way I look at it, we can get a green house towards the end of the season and put the plants in there to extend the season (since we would be starting over late)

Any ideas??? IDK....I'm all out. Our setup up top in the loft is not user friendly either, when it comes to taking all the plants out or moving them around or working with them. When there's no bugs, it works out fine.....well next year, no plants are coming in the grow area for overwintering....we're going to set up a new spot for them.

Sorry to hear about the infeatation. The Ortho product will do the trick and will last a few weeks. You can start new seeds and in 4 wks you'll have starters to plant out...or you can save on a months electric bill and other costs, come out by me 1st/2nd week in May. I'll have a few plants available......quite a few.

 

[WalkGood]

Sad to read, I hope you win that war ... don't give up, kill dem aphids even if you have to squish thousands :o

 

[3/5King]

Good luck, man! I used it very judiciously, just spraying the areas that were visibly infested. If I could just squish a couple, that is what I did. But if a branch was just covered with them and my options were to cut it off or spray it, I would spray the invovled area only. The area will remain toxic to most bugs, bees included, for a few days. If they pop up elsewhere, it may require more than one application. But it worked great for me. Another good thing about that product is that it doesn't accumulate in the plant tissues nor in the environment. It breaks down into harmless compounds in about 8 days.

Thanks Doc, my plants are inside so, no other bugs will be coming into contact with them until middle of May. I don't like using stuff like this usually but I've tried the home remedies/organic remedies and they just keep pushing forward....sometimes you just have to go Hiroshima on their ass's.

Sorry to hear about the infeatation. The Ortho product will do the trick and will last a few weeks. You can start new seeds and in 4 wks you'll have starters to plant out...or you can save on a months electric bill and other costs, come out by me 1st/2nd week in May. I'll have a few plants available......quite a few.

I just might have to do that Greg...we'll see how things go. I mean to start over right now; the plants wouldn't be big enough and we'd probably have limited success when it comes to pods by end of season around here. If you have a chance, Inbox me and let me know how much you will be asking for your starts...at least if I come out there, I know I'll be getting high quality starts.

Sad to read, I hope you win that war ... don't give up, kill dem aphids even if you have to squish thousands :o

Thanks WG, I hope I win this war too...it's definitely a learning experience. After doing some reading, I've found out that aphids can A)lay eggs or B) they can give birth to live offspring and here's the kicker....those offspring are already pregnant when born....wtf. C) Once they become over crowded, they will give birth to winged aphids that fly to other hosts....on top of that, they said that under a dozen aphids can produce hundreds to thousands of aphids in as little as a week or two. These guys are machines...I've got to give them that; they know how to survive.

 

[theghostpepperstore]

April is the worst here in Illinois for the aphids. I just recovered from and infestation thanks to ladybugs. I released a bag of 1500 in the greenhouse last week. 3 days later I couldnt find any aphids anywhere. A few carcasses lying about was it.

It was nice to not have to spray the azamax this spring.

You might want to give them a try if the chemical options aren't working.

 

[Pulpiteer]

Man I'm bummed to read all that... Horrible...
I've read your aphid facts somewhere else as well. Very difficult pests - I mean what do you do with a pest that is born pregnant? They need those natural predators, but it's too cold...
I wish you were closer, I'd share some plants with you. So if you happen to be heading to central Michigan in the next few weeks...

Another idea is to spray off some of the plants, keep their roots damp, and put them in the dark. Maybe they'll go into hibernation. If you're thinking about tossing them anyway, you've got nothing to lose. If any survive they'll be bigger than seedlings. Also, you can quarantine them that way.

Hang in there, we're pulling for you.

 

[KiNGDeNNiZ]

heres my bubblegum from SLATER... hows yours

 

[DocNrock]

Dave, did you try the acetamiprid yet?

 

[Yumyumyellow]

the best success i've had so far is taking them outside, tilting them(so they don't fall into the pot), and using the shower setting on my hose to spray them off, pick off all the ones left I possibly can by running my fingers over and under every leaf, then move them to a new part of the yard so the little buggers don't crawl back in, spray with insecticidal soap, like really spray them good and cover every inch, wait about a half hour for it to dry then wash them all off again and take to a third part of the yard for them to dry before bringing them back in... every time i do it, their population has decreased 10 fold but sadly it just seems to be an ebb and flow. on the plus side only a few more weeks until we can let the little ladys attack them

 

[3/5King]

April is the worst here in Illinois for the aphids. I just recovered from and infestation thanks to ladybugs. I released a bag of 1500 in the greenhouse last week. 3 days later I couldnt find any aphids anywhere. A few carcasses lying about was it.

It was nice to not have to spray the azamax this spring.

You might want to give them a try if the chemical options aren't working.

well, we have our starts in the shed, so we think it might be a little crazy if we release them in there lol but we are staving them off until we can plant outside...so we hope then we will have a better chance at beating them altogether.

Man I'm bummed to read all that... Horrible...
I've read your aphid facts somewhere else as well. Very difficult pests - I mean what do you do with a pest that is born pregnant? They need those natural predators, but it's too cold...
I wish you were closer, I'd share some plants with you. So if you happen to be heading to central Michigan in the next few weeks...

Another idea is to spray off some of the plants, keep their roots damp, and put them in the dark. Maybe they'll go into hibernation. If you're thinking about tossing them anyway, you've got nothing to lose. If any survive they'll be bigger than seedlings. Also, you can quarantine them that way.

Hang in there, we're pulling for you.

Andy, that is a kind gesture. Actually my buddy's looking to buy a boat in the surrounding states. If he finds one out that way, I'll let ya know..lol

These beasts are quite the pest and if you're not setup well, it is a pain in the ass to deal with. They explode out of nowhere! But we're handling it so far. I don't know what this season will be like at it's end but we're not giving up that's for sure.



KD- I've still got my two plants that I wrapped together growing over here. This west facing window is making them grow leggy though. I'm just keeping them growing until they can go outside. Yours looks real nice. I can say that your plant and my plant branch out the same. It's very interesting. I'll post pics here soon enough for ya.

Dave, did you try the acetamiprid yet?

Hey DnR, yes, yes we did. We applied it about 5 days ago. It killed them off good. Whether they will stay gone is another story.

the best success i've had so far is taking them outside, tilting them(so they don't fall into the pot), and using the shower setting on my hose to spray them off, pick off all the ones left I possibly can by running my fingers over and under every leaf, then move them to a new part of the yard so the little buggers don't crawl back in, spray with insecticidal soap, like really spray them good and cover every inch, wait about a half hour for it to dry then wash them all off again and take to a third part of the yard for them to dry before bringing them back in... every time i do it, their population has decreased 10 fold but sadly it just seems to be an ebb and flow. on the plus side only a few more weeks until we can let the little ladys attack them

Hell yes YYY, a few more weeks and these babies will be in the ground. I can't wait. They're 10 times as small as last years starts though....so we will see what they do in this next month before plant out. I might be taking a trip to PIC-1's house and picking up some of his starts

 

[Jamison]

Damn aphids man. I just found a couple on my OW's too. King I have some extra plants too if you need bud!

 

[DocNrock]

Hey DnR, yes, yes we did. We applied it about 5 days ago. It killed them off good. Whether they will stay gone is another story.

Glad to hear it worked. You might have to use it a couple more times. I needed to use it perhaps three times. But I haven't had to use any in quite some time. I see an occasional aphid when I look through my plants and squish it, but knock on wood no more major infestations.

It's great when you can go natural, but like you said, sometimes you have to go Hiroshima on them...I like that! It's not like you're drenching the plants in chemicals everyday for the entire season. A few judicious applications only on infested areas is really all it took for me. Hopefully your outcome will be the same.

 

[3/5King]

Damn aphids man. I just found a couple on my OW's too. King I have some extra plants too if you need bud!

They're among us.....

Nice! We'll see where things go. I appreciate the thought and just might take you up on it.

Glad to hear it worked. You might have to use it a couple more times. I needed to use it perhaps three times. But I haven't had to use any in quite some time. I see an occasional aphid when I look through my plants and squish it, but knock on wood no more major infestations.

It's great when you can go natural, but like you said, sometimes you have to go Hiroshima on them...I like that! It's not like you're drenching the plants in chemicals everyday for the entire season. A few judicious applications only on infested areas is really all it took for me. Hopefully your outcome will be the same.

Well, so far so good. I wasn't...ummm....judicious..lol They were everywhere. I just sprayed the crap out of everything. Like you said, it's not like you have to do it everyday. Once they're outside, they'll be treated differently.



Alright, well, here are some pics that I didn't get up earlier.

This is Mr. Brigit's Locoto, post aphid infestation....I think...or maybe pre-infestion...anyways. It's a freakin' weed!


Took the plants outside, thought I might try and spray the aphids off but the plants were too small and I would have killed them....so back in they came.


Then we bombed them....lol Which only worked for a week or so.


Next few pics are aphid infested plants...with some white junk which I think is white flies and there poop...idk




Most recent pics. The back (bigger) plants are Anuums and the front (smaller) are Chinense....tiny and pathetic...

 

[stc3248]

Dang man...you'll get ahead of them eventually. Looking forward to a less depressing update over here!

 

[3/5King]

Dang man...you'll get ahead of them eventually. Looking forward to a less depressing update over here!

Wait....that last update wasn't positive? lol

No sign of bugs yet! We got the heat issue under control and started feeding the plants some Neptune's Harvest Fish Hydrolysate. POSITIVE ENOUGH FOR YOU SHANE! hahahaha, Things are alright, we will never give up!

Here's some more positive for you too Shane.

Broke the 300lb mark (299.6lbs) and started our second round of Insanity. I've got some sore knees that won't go away though (even after 7 days of rest without any exercise). Have any advice?? They're sore at the top of the knee...it kind of horse shoes the top of the cap right below the quad. Only feel it when I do squats or walk up/down stairs. I think it has to do with (obviously) my weight but also the kind of shoe I use to do the Insanity. I think they have too much of a forward slant towards the toe, making my weight shift forward. (they're running shoes) I'm going to go out and try and find a she that has more lateral support and not as much of an incline to the heal.