AJs 2012 Season - A Pictorial Discussion

I am getting a one day jump on last season...today is my 2012 season start...

The Germinator has been cleaned, I am using new trays for seed starting and Hoffman's Seed Starting Mix as my grow media...

If any of you decide to use Hoffman's Seed Starting Mix, be patient, it takes as much as 24 hours pre-soak to get this light weight mix totally wet...I have said it before and I will say it again...this is the cleanest seed starting mix I have ever used....clean and light weight means better root growth IMO..

All circuits and systems are a go on the germinator...am stabilizing the temperature for the next 24 hours...as you can see, the upper box is about 93F and the lower box is 85F...I have to vent the top to let both chambers reach the same temperature...

something tells me this is going to be another hot summer....close to record heat again...so the season will go as mother wants it to...I am learning each year how to change my grow techniques and am adapting to North Texas...

hope you folks enjoy this thread...if anyone has any questions or comments, they are welcome...

 

[Eephus Man]

When you happen to wish that everything germinates, ...and it does then...................hey wait, maybe I'll have 2 more wishes to use up!..............lol

lol. Ain't that the truth!

 

[WGB]

great set up, plants looking great as always AJ. the size and that deep green color of your plants has me looking for the ferts. and neuts. you use, Progrow and Karma. I'll be starting seeds from the same scorp. plants that I got seeds from you 3-4 yrs. ago. the line continues.

 

[AlabamaJack]

There lookin happy, thats for sure...

that's the goal...I try and keep them as happy as I can during this stage of growth...I am having to move my plants quite often so I can "exercise" the stems with the fans

Hey AJ,

You'll have to introduce your wife to mine................and let some of that "sweetness" rub off..............ha
Unfortuneately my Living room window faces North, but when my kids leave back to school after spring break their rooms have some nice large windows with the mornings East facing exposure.......I'm running out of room myself


When you happen to wish that everything germinates, ...and it does then...................hey wait, maybe I'll have 2 more wishes to use up!..............lol

Anyways, your plants are looking great......not a bad leaf on the bunch! and those overwinters look "stock"
Good growing never keeps a good man down...

Greg

maybe next time we are in Chicago, the four of us can meet for dinner or something...I know Linda would like that...

great set up, plants looking great as always AJ. the size and that deep green color of your plants has me looking for the ferts. and neuts. you use, Progrow and Karma. I'll be starting seeds from the same scorp. plants that I got seeds from you 3-4 yrs. ago. the line continues.

thanks WGB...I am glad you are still growing my original strain...wonder how many others are...maybe not many with all the new kids on the block...I may ask you for some seed after this season to "remix" with mine next year...how have they produced for you up there?

 

[WGB]

that's the goal...I try and keep them as happy as I can during this stage of growth...I am having to move my plants quite often so I can "exercise" the stems with the fans



maybe next time we are in Chicago, the four of us can meet for dinner or something...I know Linda would like that...



thanks WGB...I am glad you are still growing my original strain...wonder how many others are...maybe not many with all the new kids on the block...I may ask you for some seed after this season to "remix" with mine next year...how have they produced for you up there?

AJ, it will be my pleasure to send you seeds or pods even, I'll pm you when I get this years pods. as for growing, they are the first to bloom and set fruits, and ripen. the heat is super hot and flavorfull nutty taste. have 1 plant overwintering.http://www.thehotpepper.com/topic/25540-over-wintering-plants-in-doors/page__fromsearch__1.

 

[PaulG]

That Pro Grow and Karma really kicks 'em in gear, but I've never
even seen them on the shelf at any store in our area. At any
rate, I have a feeling the great beauty of your plants derives
as much from your skill at growing them as well as the fertilizer!
Really enjoy your photos...

 

[Sethsquatch]

Looking good AJ. You always leave me breathless. Started using botanicare stuff and it has done wonders already. Now, my plants will never be as nice as yours but any help I can get from imitating your methods is help I wouldn't of had without your wonderful GLOG. Thanks again man.

 

[patrick]

Yep, she's a good one AJ and you better keep her.

Thanks for the update and as always things are looking very nice.

 

[midwestchilehead]

I am still growing some. I got TS seeds from both you and Pepperlover and overwintered both of them. One I kept in its five gallon bucket and one got cut back and into a one-gallon pot in the basement under lights. I'm not sure which is which, but I am looking forward to production from both of them!

thanks WGB...I am glad you are still growing my original strain...wonder how many others are...maybe not many with all the new kids on the block...I may ask you for some seed after this season to "remix" with mine next year...how have they produced for you up there?

 

[windchicken]

Westward Ho! That Conestoga hoop house is great!

As always, I'm looking toward Ft. Worth to see how chile gardening should be done! Maybe next year I will get my C. chinese started in time to do a mid-March plant-out, as you recommend.

+1 on what the other guys said...My wife will only let me put in 2 short rows in a back corner of the yard—It barely holds 12 plants. And then she complains about that. My big garden is at the company yard...

Good luck with your 2012 Grow!

 

[AlabamaJack]

AJ, it will be my pleasure to send you seeds or pods even, I'll pm you when I get this years pods. as for growing, they are the first to bloom and set fruits, and ripen. the heat is super hot and flavorfull nutty taste. have 1 plant overwintering.http://www.thehotpepper.com/topic/25540-over-wintering-plants-in-doors/page__fromsearch__1.

cool man...I would like that...thank you...

That Pro Grow and Karma really kicks 'em in gear, but I've never
even seen them on the shelf at any store in our area. At any
rate, I have a feeling the great beauty of your plants derives
as much from your skill at growing them as well as the fertilizer!
Really enjoy your photos...

thanks Paul...you probably will have to go to a hydroponics store to get the Botanicare stuff...and be prepared, that stuff is expensive...I can only use it in the beginning to get the plants started out good and give them a great foundation for growth outside...I think I figured that if I used the pro grow/karma combination every watering, it would cost me out the wazoo


bear with mewhile I calculate the cost just to see...

75 gallons X 3 times a day in the summer time = 225 gallons

10 ml liquid karma /gallon X 255 gallons = 2550 ml X 1 ounce/30 ml = 85 ounces....Quarts of LQ are 26.95 each...gallons are a little cheaper...85 ounces X 26.95 dollars/32 ounces = $71.58 per day...I will stop right there...you can see it is too expensive to feed like the directions say...of course, doing it this way, you can just consider yourself growing hydroponically in soil...and the soil does not have to have nutrients in it...

Looking good AJ. You always leave me breathless. Started using botanicare stuff and it has done wonders already. Now, my plants will never be as nice as yours but any help I can get from imitating your methods is help I wouldn't of had without your wonderful GLOG. Thanks again man.

Thanks Seth, but you better not let my wife hear you say that...she will throw a hissy.... .....

Yep, she's a good one AJ and you better keep her.

Thanks for the update and as always things are looking very nice.

you betcha Patrick...I didn't wait 50 years to get married just to get a divorce....

I am still growing some. I got TS seeds from both you and Pepperlover and overwintered both of them. One I kept in its five gallon bucket and one got cut back and into a one-gallon pot in the basement under lights. I'm not sure which is which, but I am looking forward to production from both of them!

cool, wished you knew which were which...

Westward Ho! That Conestoga hoop house is great!

As always, I'm looking toward Ft. Worth to see how chile gardening should be done! Maybe next year I will get my C. chinese started in time to do a mid-March plant-out, as you recommend.

+1 on what the other guys said...My wife will only let me put in 2 short rows in a back corner of the yard—It barely holds 12 plants. And then she complains about that. My big garden is at the company yard...

Good luck with your 2012 Grow!

thanks man...we are about on par for weather so that's about right...the only thing is that you should have a better year than me simply because of the rain...you guys get a lot more rain than we do...and what I found out this past year was the plants thrived in the hot humid days of July and August...my figuring is 90F daytime with 60-70% humidity and Low 70s in the morning with 100% humidity yields a fantastic grow for Trinidad Varieties...

I am very fortunate to have a sweet understanding wife...since I let her get her pool, she let's me do anything to the yard I want to...that's the key...I had to sacrifice 480 sq ft growing area to satisfy her but it was truly worth it...

OK.....got a few more transplanted today...I know, no pictures, it didn't happen...so here's the proof....

Tray 9 yielded 36 plants....this and the next 3 trays were the ones I had temperature problems with and you will see the difference in germination rates...won't show it, but tray 9 = 50% germination/transplant....

and got 18 "long tail TS AJ" transplanted to 6" pots...( this is what I have been trying to develop over the past 4 years by selective breeding...a stable strain that consistently produces long stingered pods all the time)

later all..........

 

[patrick]

Looking might green there Mr A.J. mighty green.

How does the "long tail TS AJ" chiles grow? You getting a good percentage of pods with the long spike? Best of luck to ya buddy.

 

[AlabamaJack]

I get a few more each year Patrick...don't know how long it will take me...some of the plants will still have some "Butch T" type tails and some will have the long tails...and the long tails is what I am keeping for seed...I got a few folks growing them for me this year...maybe 8 or 10 in different areas of the country...

 

[Sethsquatch]

Nice, love the "long tails" project.

 

[PaulG]

Yeah, that's cool - great 'project'.
As always, your transplants look great!

 

[BakersPeppers]

id grow them for you AJ No Problem!

 

[AlabamaJack]

umhuh...they are really not for the "open market" yet....

anyway...got another 127 transplanted today...all scorpions for Wahlberg....

germination percent sucked on these trays....am showing trays 9-12 but I already transplanted 9 so today was just 10-12...

and here is the obligatory picture of the 7 trays +1 transplants...

these are going outside to the connestoga in a few minutes..

 

[armac]

Very nice sir..........as always. Wish you were closer to the Valley. I would be growing some of your "castoffs".

 

[PepperJam]

looks like an assembly line of scorpions. Just need that conveyor belt to show the rest

 

[AlabamaJack]

decided to take a few photos this morning while I was watering..

Here is my best plant so far this year...it is a 7 Pot "philliperv"...this is a 6" container..

two shots of plants on the formal dining table...my wife is very understanding....these are 6" containers

these plants are ready to come out of AJs Bootcamp.....

and some of these will be going in bootcamp within the next week...

just some that have just finished drinking....

 

[PIC 1]

AJ,
What type of lighting do your plants receive when they're on the dining room table?
Are those the next batch to enter the hoop house.

Greg