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Akalabeth's 2015 Glog

The addiction continues... lol.
 
Last year, I ended up growing 4 Jalapeno plants and 2 Habanero plants. I gave half to my brother, so I had 3 plants to myself.
 
This year, I plan on going a little more extreme, as the peppers that I got from last years grow were amazing, but we ate through them too quickly. I also ended up using some inferior soil, which really hurt my grow last year.
 
Last Year's Plants:
 

 

 
 
 
Today I went ahead and started germinating my seeds:
 
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I started with 10 Blut Jolukia seeds, 10 Jalapenos, 10 Habaneros and 10 Thai Chilis from David's Garden Seeds (Enough to account for a possible 20% germination rate).
 
I put the seeds into paper towel strips and watered them and then put them in plastic containers as shown in the picture. Once the seeds start to sprout I will end up putting them in a Jumpstart Germination Station.
 
To rectify my soil mistake from last year, I will be using Pro-Mix Starter for the initial seedling, and then switch to Fox Farm Ocean Forest for my first transplant.
 
I have to go out and by a grow light and the soil this weekend. More updates to come!
 
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Runescape said:
Last years plants look decent, what soil did you use?
 
If youre looking to go extreme-er, I believe theres two seed giveaways going on as of today, March 6...
 
http://thehotpepper.com/topic/53034-seed-sasbe-7-varieties-looking-for-a-few-varieties/
http://thehotpepper.com/topic/52289-sasbe-seed-giveaway-reopened-for-10-more/
 
Just wait until you realize how many different types of peppers are out there, man...
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Hahah, that .gif is awesome. The Jalapeno's were Miracle-Gro Potting Mix & the Habanero was just some discount Scott's soil. The Jalapeno's were okay, but the Habanero really struggled with a lack of nutrients. But, I can't completely blame the soil, it was my first pepper grow, and I'm sure I did my fair share of overwatering.
 
I tend to baby my plants too much... lol. Oh man, those threads are awesome, thanks for the link!
 
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Edit: The Jalapeno's were bought at Walmart & covered in Aphids when I bought them (Unknowingly). Trying from seed this year.
 
Runescape said:
Have you grown other stuff in the past?
 
Good luck w/ the seeds.
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Thanks! I checked out their website, and they look pretty reputable. They are non-gmo seeds, so hopefully I won't have an issue with germination...
 
I used to have a small vegetable garden as a kid. Living in Colorado I've always wanted to try my hand at making a cold weather root vegetable garden (Taters, Carrots, etc). My living situation however makes container growing more convenient. Also, not having to worry about gophers and stuff...
 
I've thought about making a Cannabis grow, due to the legality of it in Colorado, but I think those days have come and gone. I'd rather grow vegetables, lol.
 
What other things have you grown?
 
Akalabeth said:
I've thought about making a Cannabis grow, due to the legality of it in Colorado, but I think those days have come and gone. I'd rather grow vegetables, lol.
 
What other things have you grown?
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Meh, mostly peppers but some other miscellaneous vegetables as well...
 
*3/11 UPDATE*
 
My seeds have been germinating for 6 days now. Many seeds are swelling/starting to split, which is a good sign.
 
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The Thai Chili's are taking off! I count 4 sprouts starting! Great! Now for the rest of them to catch up with the Thai's. Come on you buggers!
 
I got a new job after being unemployed for a while. I start next week. That means more money to pay bills, but most importantly put more funds towards my pepper and mead hobbies!
 
See you guys next update!
 
*UPDATE* 3/12/15
 
Hello again guys! Whilst spritzing the germinating paper towels, I noticed that a couple of Jalapenos and Bluts have began to germinate! Within the next couple of days I bet even more will come up! I am pretty stoked, because the Habaneros are the last seeds to show any sign of germinating thus far...
 
But anyways, It is about time to start transplanting these little suckers into some dirt. To commemorate the hard work of these little fellers, I made a trip to Ace Hardware for some goodies...
 
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The Germination tray was a Christmas present, but I picked up some Black Gold Seedling Mix and a Sun Blaster T5 24W 6400K grow light w/ a reflector. As an added bonus and due to some good eyeballing from significant other, we found it without a price sticker. The clerk said it was $14.95 somewhat hesitantly. Sold!
 
I come back home to do a little research, and the cheapest I can find it online is $30 dollars or more! Thanks random Ace Hardware employee!
 
I'll be back tomorrow for more pictures of it all set up (I want to give the seeds a few more hours on the heat mat).
 
Just figured I'd post a little bit of an update and voice some concerns I have been having thus far.
 
In my first post I accidentally labeled my Tabasco variety of peppers for Thai's. The Tabasco and Jalapeno seeds germinated fairly quick. It took them about a week to start growing their Cotyledons. As such, I was able to put them started into some soil. I planted 4 Tabasco's, 4 Jalapeno's and 2 Ghost Peppers that hadn't popped yet just to try my luck.
 
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As you can see, besides a few helmet heads, and the Ghost's not germinating yet, the little guys look pretty happy. I had the humidity dome on for about 3-4 days, but yesterday I figured I'd take them out and start exposing them to some light. Unfortunately, I was not around to check on them for a few hours, and came back only to find that placing the light an inch from the seedlings completely killed them, or so I thought. Immediately I took off the light, watered and replaced the humidity dome. Poor little guys.
 
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I woke up this morning, checked on them and all but one sprout bounced back to make a recovery. Being wary of dampening off, I decided to yet again loose the humidity dome, and adjust the height of my light. I'm on a budget, and won't be able to build a proper grow box for a few days, so I improvised. I set up a fan on low to help the little guys grow strong. Hope you like the setup. Hahah!
 
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Meanwhile, my Habanero and Ghost Peppers are still waiting to germinate. It will be 2 weeks this coming Friday. On closer inspection, the seeds seem to have cracked, but no root has grown from them yet. I'm not sure if I should be concerned. I read the hotter varieties can take a while longer to germinate, but other people have said that theirs germinated really quick especially with a heat mat. Here's a picture showing the cracking. Sorry about the potato picture quality.
 
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It occurred to me that I might be cooking the seeds with the grow light and the heat mat, so I checked the temperature. The temp of the heat mat directly on the mat is 88 Degrees. I don't think heat is the problem. What do you guys think?
 
That it for this update! I'll be waiting until the second true leaves before transplanting into solo cups. Do I have enough soil in my flats? The starter mix is really lightweight, and I'd hate to find out I waited to long to transplant.
 
Do you guys have any tips to improve my grow?
 
My ghost seeds from last year's harvest took 2 weeks in dirt.
My ghost seeds from Pepper Joe took 4 days, also in dirt.

I had some mixed super hot seeds in a paper towel that would not germinate. I laid the towel in a cup of dirt and put some soil on it. A week later I had sprouts. New ones are still poking up.

I would cut the paper towel and plant them under ~1/4 inch of dirt. Keep them damp, ~83F, uncovered and under the light. Try to forget about them. (Easier said than done.)

88F should not have hurt the seeds IMHO. My second tray made it up to 91F by accident when I added lights. They seem to be germinating fine.
 
NeedsWork said:
My ghost seeds from last year's harvest took 2 weeks in dirt.
My ghost seeds from Pepper Joe took 4 days, also in dirt.

I had some mixed super hot seeds in a paper towel that would not germinate. I laid the towel in a cup of dirt and put some soil on it. A week later I had sprouts. New ones are still poking up.

I would cut the paper towel and plant them under ~1/4 inch of dirt. Keep them damp, ~83F, uncovered and under the light. Try to forget about them. (Easier said than done.)

88F should not have hurt the seeds IMHO. My second tray made it up to 91F by accident when I added lights. They seem to be germinating fine.
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Thanks NeedsWork. It is interesting how different seeds of the same plant can have such different growing habits. I'll definately give your soil trick a try in a couple days. Checking out your Glog, looks like we are using the same exact germination station, thats cool. Using styrofoam and aluminum foil was really creative. No problems with the foil reflecting uneven light?
 
Akalabeth said:
 
Thanks NeedsWork. It is interesting how different seeds of the same plant can have such different growing habits. I'll definately give your soil trick a try in a couple days. Checking out your Glog, looks like we are using the same exact germination station, thats cool. Using styrofoam and aluminum foil was really creative. No problems with the foil reflecting uneven light?
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In all fairness, the first set of ghost seeds that took two weeks spent some time without a heating mat / temp regulator.  
 
I have not noticed any problems with regard reflected light.  My guess is the intensity of the T8 bulbs is washing out the aberrations in the reflected light.  I do wear cheap sunglasses now.    
 
I did have a problem with heat after going from 4 to 8 bulbs.  My house is ~65F and the combination of light, foam and foil made the box an oven.  I leave the foam on the front cracked at the top to vent the heat.
 
Update!
 
Hey guys, I hope your grows are going well thus far! Its been a bit longer than I had planned for this update, but I have some good news! The ghosts started germinating!
 
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Awesome! The grow is going well, and they are growing very quick and strong.
 
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I guess I just needed to take a little bit of time for the Ghosts to come in. Here is a ghost sprout starting...
 
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Update!
 
Sorry that it has taken me so long to post this... I started my new job, and have been pretty busy as of late... The peppers are doing great! I was able to get a bag of some good soil and some solo cups and have successfully transplanted them, and they have started to grow fairly quick. Still smaller than the Bonnie pots that i bought this year, but I figure that they will grow much better using a better soil. Do you guys have any tips on what type of fertilizers to use?
 
I have them started and will continue to grow in FoxFarm Ocean Forest soil. It seems to be of a higher quality than the medium I used last year, and I'm excited to see how well they start growing once the weather improves.
 
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The Ghosts are the two middle cups, followed by some Kale, two Jalapenos in the back (L and R), Tabascos on the sides, with the Habanero on the front left.
 
The Fox Farm I would think should have enough nutes until you pot up into final containers. Have never used myself just what I've heard
 
The fertilizer route depends on if you want to go organic or don't care and have no probs using chemical ferts
 
Organic would be things like fish emulsion, epsom salt, bat guano, compost teas
 
Non organic: Dyna Gro is a damn good all in one nute. It has all the macro as well as micro nutes a plant needs. I've heard FloraNova is good as well. Many people are successful using Miracle Grow
 
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