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Back in the saddle, a 2023 glog

Hello there pepperheads, long time no see!

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I haven't grown anything since the 2018 season which was not a great one for me. Had okayish yield for an indoor grow, but I was swamped at work and tried too many new things which kind of made me burn out on the growing.

I live in an apartment in the city, with no balcony, so I'm a strict indoor grower which has it's challenges regarding space, light, and so forth. But I've had quite good yields despite this.
This year is no different, pure indoor grow in the same apartment with the same limitations.

This first post will be a bit long since it covers the first month, but I will do my best to do frequent updates for your reading pleasure.

With that said, let's go back to late 2022, and I got the itch to grow again after talking pepper growing with a colleague.
But this time things were going to be different! Scale back on number of plants(not have 30+), don't try a bunch of fancy things or new grow techniques, keep it simple.
So I sorted through my seed collection (106 varieties :eh:), narrowed it down to 15ish candidates, I only planned to have at most 12 plants.
Then black friday came around, and TexasHotPeppers promotion was just too good to pass up considering there were a lot of interesting varieties I wanted to try.
Back to the drawing board:
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In the end I decided on 13 plants and 13 different varieties:
  • GRIF 9165
  • SB7J
  • White Bullet Habanero
  • Sugar Rush X Mango
  • Dieghito JalapeƱo
  • Galapagos Isabela Habanero
  • KS Lemon Starrburst
  • White Moruga
  • Olho De Mutum
  • Yellow Bullet Habanero
  • Chiltepin Amarillo
  • Chupetinho White
  • Trinidad Scorpion X Congo Chocolate
Since I've lost much of my tolerance for the super hots I decided to try and cover a lot of the scoville scale to help me ease back into eating my favourite peppers, Moruga Scorpions :fireball:

Now the thing about not trying out new things lasted about two shakes of a lamb's tail, because I wanted to change my grow space. It was previously on shelves in the kitchen, but now it was going to be in the living room, so I needed to restrict the amount of light from the the grow space.
So say hello to my new Mars Hydro grow tent. It's 120x60x180cm (4x2x6'):
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With that out of the way it was finally time to start growing. Seeds went into dirt on the 27th of December, two of each variety in case I would have germination issues:
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I always start the grow with T5 lights for the extra heat output, so I generally don't need heat mats or other forms of heat generation:
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First hook came on 2nd of January, Chupetinho White:
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Then the others started following:
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All in all I got all varieties to germinate, but 4 seeds failed to germinate so in the end I have 22 plants and the plan is to give away the ones I won't keep and stick to the plan of 13 plants... or so I thought, but more on that later :rolleyes:

Since the grow tent becomes it's own environment I felt it was prudent to keep an eye on temperature and humidity, and since I like technology I got me some "smart" sensors:
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They've been added to my "smart home" setup and it's quite nifty to see how humidity and temperature changes based on lighting, when you water, and so on. This might be expanded on with more sensors, automation and whathaveyou, unless I actually manage to keep it simple :lol:
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Fast forward about a week and the plants are growing nicely, but they are getting leggy:
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My plan was to swap out the T5 for some LED lights I have so I can have the lights closer to the plants and not get any sunburn on them.
But as I swapped lights I realized that the light coverage was not nearly good enough, and even if I used my two LED lights it probably wouldn't be optimal.
So I went researching and hunting.
I've always been a fan of Mars Hydro products so I found a decent deal on a new LED light that was perfect for the tent.
Say hello to Mars Hydro SP 3000:
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Initial impressions are really good and the possibility to dim the lights is really good because this thing gets very, very bright. Currently have it on 50% but 25% might also be enough.

Grow space has been adjusted and plants moved:
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Still quite happy, except for the front left one on the middle tray which I accidentally let dry out and it never recovered:
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Plants took a liking to the new light and grew some more, but they did start showing signs of nutrient deficiency:
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I use soil that is almost devoid of nutes, so it's time to very carefully start feeding them some nutrient solution when watering.

Now we are caught up...

So my plan this year is to have 6 plants in the grow tent and the rest will go on my window sills, I'm still undecided on pot size for the tent but I'm leaning towards 2 gallon.
Or rather, I should say that was my plan, because my employer has asked me to relocate which I have agreed to. There is no rush, but there most likely will be a move within 6 months and perhaps that will give me an option to continue the grow outdoors, and to keep more plants :dance:
We'll simply have to see.

As for this Glog, I'm going to do my best to keep updating it and not stop towards the end of the season (I've failed every time, but this year will be different! :P)
I'm also going to get back to using my photography equipment and take beautiful pictures of the plants and peppers.
Plus I intend to do tasting of the peppers and give reviews, only in text and images though, no videos.

Here's to a great grow season in 2023 fellow pepper heads! :cheers:
 
Off to the races! Great start to the new season, @Ohjay !
 
So much for keeping it simple and not trying anything new, eh? :rofl:

Iā€™m also growing the KS Lemon Starrburst and the White Moruga Scorpion this year. Iā€™ve never grown either one before but Iā€™m really looking forward to them. Best of luck with your grow this year! šŸ»
 
So much for keeping it simple and not trying anything new, eh? :rofl:

Iā€™m also growing the KS Lemon Starrburst and the White Moruga Scorpion this year. Iā€™ve never grown either one before but Iā€™m really looking forward to them. Best of luck with your grow this year! šŸ»
Yeah, it never seems to go according to plan for some reason :lol:
First time for me as well with the Lemon Starrburst and White Moruga. The KS Lemon Starrburst seems like an easy one to grow. It was quick to germinate and the plant is growing quickly and looking healthy. I'll make a mental note to take a picture of it next time.
Hopefully you get the same results.




Now, the promised update.

Root growth was not too bad, this is one of the better ones but several others could've probably remained in the small pots for a bit longer:
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All plants repotted. I gotta start using a proper camera because my phone is not doing the plants any justice:
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Not sure what is going on with this plant, it does not look too happy. There is some mild nutrient deficiency but the downward-curling leaves is new to me. Hopefully it perks up in its new digs:
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There's one thing I still need to figure out with the grow tent and that is air circulation to help with the humidity, strengthen the plants and also to supply the grow environment with some fresh air.
Perhaps a fan in the top to blow air into the tent and then one or two fans in the tent to get the air circulating.
If you have any ideas I'm all ears.
 
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Time for another update.

It's been a week since I repotted the plants and they are looking much happier now. A much healthier dark green in the leaves and most of them have been growing quite a bit:
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But the Chiltepin is not looking much better. I'm surprised it's still alive to be honest, and I still don't know what it is unhappy about.
Leaves are curling inwards and they are pale greenish almost yellow:
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Still thinking about how to solve the air cirulation, but after repotting I had to do something quickly because the humidity skyrocketed (80+%).
It works, but can definitely be better:
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The upper graph is humidity and the lower is temp.
Left side is before the fan and when the "jaggedness" starts in the upper graph that's where I started using the fan:
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One thing I had forgotten about growing peppers is the fragrance, and I have to say I have missed it.
They have a very distinct fragrance, especially the chinense and I really, I mean really, like it. Can't wait 'til they are bigger and start filling the apartment with that lovely fragrance.

I wonder if pepper perfume is a thing? :idea::lol:
 
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An update is long overdue, so just a quick one for today and I'll get another in a few days.
Images are from a week ago, so there's been a fair bit of progress since.

Anyway, plants are looking happy:
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I ended up discarding the Chiltepin, it never improved and never really got to growing. Better luck next year.

For the most part the other plants are happy except for this one which has some major curling to some leaves.
I think it's partly a water issue so I'm not too worried.
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I haven't taken a picture of it, but both of my Dieghitos have a severe case of oedema. I've tried to water sparingly but it seems I'm destined to have at least some plants with oedema each season I grow.
But speaking of the Dieghitos, they are happy despite the oedema, so happy that they are flowering. It's way, way too early for buds and flowers so I'll have to nip them.
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Can't remember which plant this is, but more of them are also starting to get buds. I'm surprised I'm getting them this quick:
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Next update will be in a few days and then the plan is to repot into their final containers next weekend, which of course also will be an update.
 
The promised update, first a family photo:
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It's quite interesting comparing this one to the previous one, the increase in growth is quite apparent for a few of the plants which have gotten a lot bushier.

This should be the GRIF 9165, my leggiest plant but also showing a fair bit of new growth:
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This should be one of the bullet habaneros, not sure which:
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As I mentioned previously, the oedema on the Dieghitos is really, really bad. And I also think they want a lot less nutes than the other plants.
This is how the leaves look:
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But it's an improvement to previous years when I usually had quite a few plants with oedema and this season it looks like only two.

Anyway, this weekend it's replanting time and giving the plants their final homes.
Some of the plants will have to move out of the grow tent and start relying on sunlight while some others will be allowed to stay a bit longer before also being moved out.
The final plan is still 6 plants in the tent and the remaining 6, or 7, will be on window sills.
 
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Time for another update.

It's been a week since I repotted the plants and they are looking much happier now. A much healthier dark green in the leaves and most of them have been growing quite a bit:
xAcBhMT.jpg


But the Chiltepin is not looking much better. I'm surprised it's still alive to be honest, and I still don't know what it is unhappy about.
Leaves are curling inwards and they are pale greenish almost yellow:
1v2s13x.jpg


Still thinking about how to solve the air cirulation, but after repotting I had to do something quickly because the humidity skyrocketed (80+%).
It works, but can definitely be better:
uKPj1Zm.jpg


The upper graph is humidity and the lower is temp.
Left side is before the fan and when the "jaggedness" starts in the upper graph that's where I started using the fan:
bndgMHg.png


One thing I had forgotten about growing peppers is the fragrance, and I have to say I have missed it.
They have a very distinct fragrance, especially the chinense and I really, I mean really, like it. Can't wait 'til they are bigger and start filling the apartment with that lovely fragrance.

I wonder if pepper perfume is a thing? :idea::lol:
I agree and I particularly like the C. baccatum fragrance, even if the chinense smells quite nice too! In fact I'm not the only one who enjoys the smell here; not only will my dog sniff, but he will also happily chew on seedlings if he gets the chance!!
 
I agree and I particularly like the C. baccatum fragrance, even if the chinense smells quite nice too! In fact I'm not the only one who enjoys the smell here; not only will my dog sniff, but he will also happily chew on seedlings if he gets the chance!!
I haven't grown a lot of C. Baccatum, but I will make sure to sniff a bit extra on the Sugar Rush X Mango this year :cool:


As I mentioned in the previous update, this past weekend it was time for repotting the plants.
I probably should've done it a lot earlier because many seemed close to be root-bound. One of the plants even had a big root ball on the outside of the pot.
Anyway, a couple of root photos, first up is the Grif 9165:
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White Moruga:
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When I did the repotting the roots looked a lot more brownish than in the photos, but still seemed quite healthy.
6 plants, the ones that will stay in the grow tent the entire season, were repotted into 1.5 gallon (7L) fabric pots.
6 plants, the ones that will be on window sills, were repotted into 0,65 gallon (3L) plastic pots.

There was actually enough room to keep all 12 plants in the grow tent so they will stay there for a little while longer before I move out the "window sill plants".
The next photos are with my digital SLR camera, which I plan to use for most photos from now on. I need to learn my new photo editing software so hopefully you will get to see some improvements in these photos as well as the season progresses.
Anway, a couple of family photos:
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A very good-looking SB7J, I hope it keeps up. Last time I grew this one I got no peppers, but this one is looking promising:
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The Galapagos Habanero is looking healthy too and showing signs of being a shorter type of plant, which is to be expected:
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Olho de mutum is a pretty plant. I really do like the varieties with darker leaves. Can't wait to see what the flowers look like:
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The astute reader will now wonder what happened to the rest of my plants, because I had more than 12 before repotting.
Well, plans changed, like they always do. I was going to try and give them away because I always feel bad throwing away healthy plants.
But I just couldn't bring myself to give them away either.
So three additional plants were repotted, two remain in their small pots and two were thrown away (one being the worst of the Dieghito plants).
These 5 are now sitting on a window sill, partly as an experiment to see the difference in growth between plants in the tent and on the window sill, but also to see if a plant in a tiny pot can still give fruit.
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These will eventually be given or thrown away, when it's time to move plants out of the grow tent.
 
Looking forward to the windowsil results!
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Time for another update but will be a small one this time, been quite busy as of late.
I mentioned an upcoming move in my first post and I will hopefully have news on that in the next update and how it will affect my season.

Anyway, update time.
Plants are still quite healthy but I am a little bit concerned about the lack of height growth. I guess it's still early days and I'm not worried, yet.

SB7J:
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Olho de Mutum:
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You can see the Dieghito in the background which is getting a lot of flowers which I've been neglecting. I should've probably removed them to encourage more growth before flowering.

As for the plants on the window sill, they are happy too. The Sugar Rush X Mango actually started flowering:
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Not only that, it looks like it's going to give me a pepper as well:
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You might be concerned by the lack of height growth, but the compactness (is this a word?) of the SB7J is impeccable.

I was just looking at my cabaca peach which has a very compact growth, especially compared to its neighbouring plants.
 
I wouldn't worry too much about the height growth. At some point they will start sky-rocketing. I'm especially seeing this with chinenses...
Thanks and I agree. I think in previous seasons the plants got a bit leggier at the start but having them compacter like this is better.
Guess I'm just impatient :lol:

You might be concerned by the lack of height growth, but the compactness (is this a word?) of the SB7J is impeccable.

I was just looking at my cabaca peach which has a very compact growth, especially compared to its neighbouring plants.
Thanks, compactness is a good way to describe the SB7J. Don't think I've ever had a plant this compact before.
The White Moruga is also quite compact but not as much as the SB7J.
Will be interesting to see how they will grow once they start increasing their height.
 
Where did you find your SB7J seeds? They aren't a very common variety...
 
So, been away on a business trip for 9 days and didn't have anyone to take care of the plants so I came home to this:
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It was expected though and based on experience I think most plants will recover just fine.
What did surprise me though is that some of the plants actually seemed fine, and for those of you with keen eyes, there's some surprises in the images. :cool:

It's been about 4 hours since I came home and immediately watered the plants and most have recovered but a few are still mad at me and sulking a bit.
I'll wait a day or two for them to perk up, then it will be a new image galore update.
 
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