BigPhilMD's Grow Log 2011

Hello everybody and welcome to my first grow log! I live in the city and I don't have any land so I'm stuck growing in buckets wherever I can. Last year was my first attempt at growing peppers which resulted in some success. This year I'm taking a giant leap and starting from seeds and growing a ton of plants. I have no idea where I'll have room once I have full grown plants.

I started some seeds in small plastic shot glasses on top of coffee filters and didn't get much action out of the seeds. I moved them to here:

My pepper-lovin' girlfriend, lellie1o1, bought me a great 72 cell container/germination station with a lid and a heat mat. Soil is Espona Organic Seed Starter. I bought a small clip light with a 60w CFL natural white bulb. I know the light isn't sufficient, but I have 3 roommates that I needed to split the energy costs with. I'd feel bad having a large rig. I just keep it on all the time and switch it back and forth to either side of the dome.

lellie1o1 and I carefully seeded each cell with two seeds just because we had a ton of seeds and wanted to be sure we had enough plants in the end. It's been three weeks since I started germinating and almost two weeks in soil.

BIGPHILMD'S GROW LIST

From Hot Pooper:
Chocolate Hab[sub]1[/sub] x 4
Chocolate Hab[sub]2[/sub] x 4
Yellow 7 Pot x 16
Bonda Ma Jacques x 16
Fatalli x 12
Black Pearl x 4
Peruvian White Hab x 4
Tabasco x 6

Seeds from last year's plants:
Cayenne x 12
Anaheim x 12

Seeds from Peppermania via lellie1o1:
Lemon Drop x 6
Chile Arbol x 4
Cajamarca x 4

Mixed/Mystery seeds from Ajijoe x 40


Why so many Mystery seeds? I'd like to see what grows the best in this climate, even if I don't know exactly what kind of plant it is. Most of the mystery seeds sprouted early so I'm thinking they're annuums.

Here's the spectacular chart lellie1o1 drew beautifully.

Here's hopin' it pays off!

 

[buddy]

very nice list of chiles - you're going to be busy!

 

[JoeyK]

cool, looking forward to seeing their progress

 

[robbyjoe01]

Good start

 

[woody3says]

Lookin good! If you have a nicely lit window more the tray as close as you can. Good ole mr sun can do a real number even through the window. You can get better growth without using the light at all

 

[lellie1o1]

Looking good! Thanks for showing the only part of the chart with smudges. Maybe I'll make you a proper spreadsheet in Excel. Now cant wait to see who has more success Almost as proud of your babies as I am of mine I'm struggling with germination, so you may have to send some of your seedlings my way.

 

[BigPhilMD]

Looking good! Thanks for showing the only part of the chart with smudges.

The only reason it's smudged is because I accidentally sprayed it with my water/hydrogen peroxide mix. It was a casualty for the greater cause.

 

[BigPhilMD]

Lookin good! If you have a nicely lit window more the tray as close as you can. Good ole mr sun can do a real number even through the window. You can get better growth without using the light at all

Yeah, you're right. I have very limited light in my house because on I have a rowhouse, but I'll try to figure something out. They might have to hang out in my bedroom for a while to get some Eastern morning sunlight.

 

[BigPhilMD]

Update from April 10th (I'm way behind on posting this):

Day 30:

I moved some little guys over to Solo Cups:

They look pretty healthy.

Bonda Ma Jacques x 2
Mystery x 3
Yellow 7 Pot x 1
Lemon Drop x 2
Tabasco x 1
Fatalli x 2
Anaheim x 1

The little guys that have germinated are:

Choc Hab I x 1
Mystery x 9
Anaheim x 4
Cayenne x 2
Fatalli x 1
Bonda Ma Jacques x 1
Yellow 7 Pot x 2

I have hit the big guys with the fan for about 30 min every day. Light has been erratic, anywhere from 12-18 hours a day. Bottom watering as needed.

A date-accurate update will be posted soon.

 

[mmcdermott1]

Looks good. I would lower the light a bit so they don't get too leggy

 

[BigPhilMD]

Looks good. I would lower the light a bit so they don't get too leggy

I would if I could, but my setup isn't very good for this. I have the bulbs on two clip lights instead of directly above the plants. I'ts not really anything I can change this year. I'll post up to date pictures and you'll be able to see how they've progessed. They're leggy but they'll be ok.

 

[mmcdermott1]

I would if I could, but my setup isn't very good for this. I have the bulbs on two clip lights instead of directly above the plants. I'ts not really anything I can change this year. I'll post up to date pictures and you'll be able to see how they've progessed. They're leggy but they'll be ok.

Yes they will
A few of mine got leggy when younger as well and are just fine

 

[BigPhilMD]

Day 61...Uh oh

All of the seedlings that sprouted and survived have now been moved into Solo Cups. I took them outside on Saturday before the Kentucky Derby. We had a nice little party and I got drunk and forgot to bring them in. They were in too direct sunlight for way too long and now they are SCORCHED:

Worst of the Batch

Here is a list of what I have left and the percentage of sprouts compared to the seeds planted:

From Hot Pooper:
Chocolate Hab1 x 1 (25%)
Chocolate Hab2 x 1 (25%)
Yellow 7 Pot x 2 (12.5%)
Bonda Ma Jacques x 4 (25%)
Fatalli x 3 (25%)
Black Pearl x 0 (of 4)
Peruvian White Hab x 3 (75%)
Tabasco x 1 (16.7%)

Seeds from last year's plants:
Cayenne x 3 (25%)
Anaheim x 4 (33%)

Seeds from Peppermania via lellie1o1:
Lemon Drop x 2 (33%)
Chile Arbol x 2 (50%)
Cajamarca x 0 (of 4)

Mystery from Ajijoe: 10 (25%)

Overall about a 50% survival rate to 60 days. Not good, but that's why I planted so many. I barely have room as it is.

I've also supplemented my garden with a few random basils and peppers from Cross Country Nurseries

Here's what they look like on my kitchen table tonight after my trip to the Orioles game:

Next step is to slowly get them accustomed to the UV rays, feed them a bit of fish emulsion, and save the dying ones.

 

[BigPhilMD]

Day 122

Good news and bad news.

The good news is that I have 35 pepper plants that are mostly healthy. Some are a bit undersized for this time of year and a couple are lost causes, but my buckets have some promise.

The bad news is that it appears as if my seeds aren't all exactly what I thought they were. For example, this is supposed to be a Chocolate Hab. Does this look like a Chocolate Hab to you? It doesn't to me.

Maybe I mixed up my seedlings a long time ago, maybe someone mixed my tags intentionally, and maybe the seeds were mislabeled and were hybrids. Who knows. All I know is that I have a beautiful array of leaves and peppers coming my way.

Here's the full "garden"

Here's my "Lost Cause" Trinidad Scorpion

Bonda Ma Jacques (Left) and Chocolate Bhut Jolokia (Right)

Biker Billy

Chiltepin Sonora

Peruvian White Hab

Purple pepper claiming to be a Chile De Arbol

 

[nitwit]

if you find the plant does not match the label it is ok

just line out the stuff what do not line up and call them another "mystery"

some (the chocolate bhut)looks a little pale it may be you have to give them a wee bit more something

thanks for posting the pepper porn

i am growing some mysteries also

and i think next season am going to plant many more of them biker billy types

please try to isolate some unopened flowers for your seed stock

edited for pale note

 

[bigt]

Nice looking plants overall - good photo work. That Scorpion is not a lost cause, it will recover. Keep it in the shade, easy on the water and no nutes until it gets better. Plenty of time for that baby to get big.

 

[BigPhilMD]

Thanks for the heads up, nitwit. Honestly, the leaves don't even look like other pics of chocolate bhut jolokia plants. They're wavier and narrower. Oh well, another mystery! What do you mean by "isolate some unopened flowers for your seed stock"? Would I mark an unopened flower, pollinate it with a brush, and save the seeds from that pod?

And thanks bigt, I'll shade that bad boy and see if he can pump out some hot pods before frost.

 

[nitwit]

there are lots of ways to isolate
at my home grow i am using some "organza bags"
that i bought at the indoor swap meet 12 for $4
the other people use them for like gift bags for weddings and crap
i put them over a group of unopened flowers to keep the bees and such from bringing 'stray' pollen there
if the chilis set in the bag the chance of self pollinated is good and what i am after
you may use any method you like, if you find a chili you wish to grow next season
it may be a cool project for you to make your own seed stock

look at other posts here with "tule", "tulle", or "gel caps" for other strategums
found a neat bag made by another member:
http://www.thehotpepper.com/topic/22065-joshs-plants-pods-2011/page__hl__tulle__st__20


edited for link to josh's bag etc.

 

[BigPhilMD]

Quick picture update

Bahamian pepper

Unknown purple pepper (ID please?)

Unknown purple pepper pic #2

A black pepper, maybe a Black Prince?

Is this Blossom End Rot?

 

[romy6]

Nice pics. It does look like blossom rot. Is it really soft. If so get some cal/mag that should fix it