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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..

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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...

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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...
 
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I don't know why but some of those variety names in your seed trays sure sound familiar. :) It's almost like something you may find at an auction. lol. :) Good luck AJ,

Chris
 
BakersPeppers said:
So theres no way i could plant directly in the ground and just use topdress 8 month fertilizer in the hole i dig per plant? Then supplement every 10 days or so with a liquid feed fertilizer? What do u think? We dont pay for water as we have a 500 ft deep well straight to the Florida Aquifer :) So having to water ALL the time is not an issue, we can do that no problem....
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That probably will work....

patrick said:
Look at all of those babies! If that doesn't get a person motivated nothing will. As always a pleasure to follow your log AJ.

Your list of 7 Pots is amazing.
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follow along this years journey with me Patrick...thanks man...

gnslngr said:
I hope some your organization rubs off, after starting seeds in garage, bedroom, and even on my dash board last year, I am hoping to get 90% done this trip in.....then I'll have a few weeks to get them rolling myself. The full enclosure has me wanting....will try that next year.Lots of fungus gnats last year...
courtesy of a bag infested growing medium(not used...but the little buggers jump at the opportunity provided by moist seedling trays!), and "old" pots in the same shed...live and learn!Going to map em out as above also- gonna do that right now in fact. Best of luck....
Dave
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I suppose the organization is the anal retentive nature of being an engineer for the past 30 years....thank you...

PaulG said:
Roger that! Great set up.
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thanks PG

cmpman1974 said:
I don't know why but some of those variety names in your seed trays sure sound familiar. :) It's almost like something you may find at an auction. lol. :) Good luck AJ,

Chris
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yup, those are the auction babies...germinating at 80% and I am happy...thanks Chris and good luck to you in your grow this season also...
 
when the seeds start to hook...and then I feed every watering using 1/2 strength Botanicare Progrow and the recommended dose of Liquid Karma...
 
looks like I am going to hold around 80% germination rate for my trays this year...not as good as in the past but still acceptable...I am having trouble keeping my germinator below 86F...most of the time it is running 88-90...sorry for the poor quality of these...but I ain't doin' them again... :rofl:

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and planted another 4 trays of scorpions on Sunday...

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babies are happy in "AJs bootcamp"...

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Are those a vanity light bars - Im sorry if it was mentioned before I just popped in to check this thread out and liked the lighting - I like it better than the T-8s
 
yes sir...6 bulb vanity light bars at home depot $19.99 each and they handle the 42 watt CFLs just fine...I use the 6 bulb ones for a length of 4 feet....the 8 bulb vanity bars are 29.99 each and will cover 5 feet....
 
AlabamaJack said:
when the seeds start to hook...and then I feed every watering using 1/2 strength Botanicare Progrow and the recommended dose of Liquid Karma...
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Ahhh, that is what i'm missing, i have seedlings already up in something like hoffman's but have not put any light nutes in the water. Will do that tonight. Thanks AJ, i'll be using this thread as my reference :D
 
AlabamaJack said:
looks like I am going to hold around 80% germination rate for my trays this year...not as good as in the past but still acceptable...I am having trouble keeping my germinator below 86F...most of the time it is running 88-90...sorry for the poor quality of these...but I ain't doin' them again... :rofl:

Trays1-201-17-12.png
Trays3-401-17-12.png
Trays5-601-17-12.png
Trays7-801-17-12.png


and planted another 4 trays of scorpions on Sunday...

Trays9-1201-17-12.png


babies are happy in "AJs bootcamp"...

01-17-12a010.jpg
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Looks very familiar....lol :) Looking good boss! :)
 
Wow! I am in awe of your whole set up! Feeling like quite the novice now...

Without rereading through 3 pages of posts, I'm guessing you aren't just growing for your own personal use?
 
highalt said:
Wow! I am in awe of your whole set up! Feeling like quite the novice now... Without rereading through 3 pages of posts, I'm guessing you aren't just growing for your own personal use?
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Oh it's all for personal use, AJ likes his bloody mary's HOT! :rofl:
 
BakersPeppers said:
Looks very familiar....lol :) Looking good boss! :)
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umhuh...wonder why?... :rofl:

S.S.Tupperware said:
Looking great, past the point of no return now...
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indoChilli said:
Looking nice, pop up all over the place... hope u nice season ahead...
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WGB said:
Looking great as always
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thank you

highalt said:
Wow! I am in awe of your whole set up! Feeling like quite the novice now...

Without rereading through 3 pages of posts, I'm guessing you aren't just growing for your own personal use?
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this set up has evolved over the past 5 years...just add or redo something each year....I am going to plant somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 scorpions just north of Austin, these are seed from my original strain I got in 2007 from Trinidad...then at home, I will have about 350 in 5 gallon containers...as far as personal use goes, yup...mostly...I may be in the mood to "trade" something...I usually make purees and pepper powder with what I grow at the house, but because this year I am going to grow probably 50-60 varieties, there won't be much of any one kind to make a difference...just adding to my chili pepper bank...

patrick said:
Oh it's all for personal use, AJ likes his bloody mary's HOT! :rofl:
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you know me too well... :lol:


megahot said:
Very nice looking Glog! I cant imagine how many plants you have grown by now! Lol Too many to count perhaps!
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if you are talking each year...used to be anywhere between 2000/5000...just depends on the orders I get...I don't plant a seed until the crop is sold....lessen learned from last year...if you are talking in my lifetime...geez...too many to count may be the right answer...I know 10s of thousands...

Trippa said:
Loving the set up ....How many watts and what colour temperature are each of those bulbs aj??
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thanks Trippa...and a great lead in to my post for the day...it has been about 2 weeks since my last update so here it is....and I will answer your questions as I am posting...

last 6 trays of scorpions started....not getting too good of a germination rate...temperature in the germinators chambers is about 8 degrees different...I have to put a circulation system in so the temp will be more even...each chamber has two dual bulb shoplights in it with 4100K and 6500K bulbs...but I only use them for heat...and they do impart a little light when the hooks start appearing...and if I need more heat, I have a remote bulb thermostat hooked up to the inside temperature of the soil of one of the trays that controls 4 (2 each chamber) 150 watt halogen lights...they warm it up pretty quickly...

one quick comment...all lights are on 24/7 except the area with my overwinters which are on 16/8...all seedlings get light the first six-7 weeks of their life for 24/7 then I drop back to 16/8 and maybe even 12/12 if I need to slow their growth down...

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about 7 days after they first start popping, I put them in the growbox, or as I like to call it AJs bootcamp...temperature runs about 88F and they get a hard fan on them for 10 minutes 6 times a day...making those stems grow very strong...box is 4' X 4' and has 18 42 watt CFLs in it split between 2700K and 6500K...

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then after the grow box for about 7-10 days, they go to the "slow grow" area...each shelf (2'X4') has three dual fixture shoplights with 4100K and 6500K mixed tubes...they stay in this area until I run out of room and then by that time, I will have something like a mini ghetto greenhouse I am going to build for them until they get planted out...


the planting dates from left to right for these 4 trays were: 31 December 2011, 2 January 2012, 4 January 2012, and 7 January 2012.

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GrowrageF.jpg



Here is a shot of my favorite...it will be a second year wild tepin plant and is going to be a monster...

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and one more...a picture of a 3rd year Trinidad Scorpion plant...by the way, this grow area has 12 42 Watt CFLs split between 2700K and 6500K and two 90 watt UFO LED 5 band LED lights...(damn they are expensive)...

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