Blisters 2015 Coco Grow! Difficult start...

Now that the new year is upon us and I've received my order for seeds, I figured I'd at least start my glog for 2015. I'm on the fence for how many varieties to grow at this point because I have very limited space. I'm definitely growing Jolokia's and J-MoA's like last year. These two peppers are a favourite for both me and my wife. We dry the jolokia's, grind them into a powder and use it to make hotwings. They are fantastic! The J-MoA's are used for making Jerk sauce for chicken and pork.

Credit for providing me seed for these two peppers goes to the extreme generosity of JJJ for the Jolokia's, and Jamison for the MoA's. They both provided me with seeds last year (2014) when I needed them most and when my season looked to be at it's most bleak. This year will be the second generation for both these varieties. I did not isolate either as I'm not too concerned about a cross. I love both.

This year, I'm considering starting a few more varieties in addition to the Jolokia's and J-MoA's. I put in a late order with Pepperlover.com and picked up a few varieties that I've wanted for some time now. The list includes:

- Carolina Reaper
- Trinidad Douglah
- 7-Pod Bubblegum
- Bhut Jolokia Yellow

I'm going to have to narrow down the selection to maybe two.

I do know that I will be growing in coco coir again this year. I had great success with coco last year. I'm hoping to build on that success by using the lesson's learned. I'm considering a few changes to my coco grow. Last year I used hempy buckets and they worked great, but this year I'm considering using smaller pots to increase the amount of wilt/water periods as possible.

I do this because I have a short grow season in my region (about 90 days). My overall temperature throughout the day is highly variable. Last year we had many days where we were in 25-30c. This was not typical. I want peppers that grow to their full potential so I'm hoping to manipulate the environment a bit.

Although I had fantastic results with General Hydroponics and GreatfulH3AD's formula, I'm considering adding the Canna Coco line to the list of nutrients. The concern at this point is that Cana's nutes are expensive in my neck of the woods.

I will be posting pictures throughout the glog and editing this post as the season progresses.

Edit: My season is finally under way! First batch of seeds soaking prior to planting. I've decided to start:

- Trinidad Douglah
- Red Bhut Jolokia
- Carolina Reaper
- 7Pot Bubble Gum
- MoA



I've started the super hots now, and will wait a bit longer before starting the MoA's. They grow faster and I don't want them to take over the rather limited space I have on hand.

Neil

 

[MeatHead1313]

Best of luck for the season! Love the MoA's! Will be following for sure as I'm trying coco for the first time for my seedlings this year so any info I can get to help will be great.

 

[juanitos]

following again =D, hopefully with the smaller pots you can get them to fruit quicker.
i vote yellow bhut and reaper/bbg

 

[Blister]

Best of luck for the season! Love the MoA's! Will be following for sure as I'm trying coco for the first time for my seedlings this year so any info I can get to help will be great.

Thanks and Welcome aboard MH1313! I had a few problems when I started with coco last year. I did a ton of reading on the 420 sites and eventually simplified things to the point where I could at least get a handle on my grow. If you are interested you can have a look at my previous glog below.

thehotpepper.com/topic/43839-blisters-led-coco-grow-has-reached-its-inevitable-end/?hl=%2Bblisters+%2Bled+%2Bcoco+%2Bgrow

I plan on following the same process as last year. I'll be posting pictures and updates of all my experiences, good or bad, throughout the year. Fingers crossed that I'm able to improve and that the weather is favourable.

Neil

following again =D, hopefully with the smaller pots you can get them to fruit quicker.
i vote yellow bhut and reaper/bbg

Thanks juanitos! Best of luck to you this season!

Neil

 

[PaulG]

All right, Neil.  Sounds like a good plan - will be interesting
to see how your smaller pot experiment works out.
 
Good luck this season.

 

[MeatHead1313]

Thanks and Welcome aboard MH1313! I had a few problems when I started with coco last year. I did a ton of reading on the 420 sites and eventually simplified things to the point where I could at least get a handle on my grow. If you are interested you can have a look at my previous glog below.
thehotpepper.com/topic/43839-blisters-led-coco-grow-has-reached-its-inevitable-end/?hl=%2Bblisters+%2Bled+%2Bcoco+%2Bgrow
I plan on following the same process as last year. I'll be posting pictures and updates of all my experiences, good or bad, throughout the year. Fingers crossed that I'm able to improve and that the weather is favourable.
Neil

Thanks juanitos! Best of luck to you this season!
Neil

Thanks for the link Neil. Lots of great info in there from what I've read so far.
One quick question that I didn't see an answer for there, when would you say is the best time to start giving them nutes in the coco? Mine this year were started in rapid rooters, and after fully emerging I transplanted the whole thing to a mix of coir and perlite, and already have a few with the first true leaves out, and I'm not sure if it's too early to hit with anything yet, or if I should wait til at least the second set of true leaves?

 

[cathyssocool]

Will be following since you are "only" 7-8 degrees south from me. Climate-wise, probably the closest among all Glogs I've visited so far.
I'm crurious how you "manipulate the climate environment".
 
Best of luck with your grow! 

 

[Blister]

Thanks for the link Neil. Lots of great info in there from what I've read so far.
One quick question that I didn't see an answer for there, when would you say is the best time to start giving them nutes in the coco? Mine this year were started in rapid rooters, and after fully emerging I transplanted the whole thing to a mix of coir and perlite, and already have a few with the first true leaves out, and I'm not sure if it's too early to hit with anything yet, or if I should wait til at least the second set of true leaves?

I personally start my seedlings with a VERY light feeding as soon as their fully out of the coco. I can't recall if I posted in my 2014 glog or not, but I had given some seedlings a dose of approx. 100-150ppm just because coco has no nutrients. This was given to them after they had fully emerged from the coco. Anything stronger than that and I would notice 'burnt tips' on the cotyledons. The great part of coco is that it's very forgiving. Once I noticed the burnt tips, I flushed with ph'd water and reduced the strength of the nutrient.

I fully understand that the cotyledons feed the plant from the start, but this is how I have chosen to operate my coco grow.

Will be following since you are "only" 7-8 degrees south from me. Climate-wise, probably the closest among all Glogs I've visited so far.
I'm crurious how you "manipulate the climate environment".
 
Best of luck with your grow! 

Thanks cathy! Since we're so close in terms of overall northern location I'm guessing that we both share a similar climate and growing season. I've chosen to go with coco because it allows me to grow in smaller pots, produce bigger plants and control as many of the variables as possible. I can control when they get fed, how much they get fed and how often to let a fully mature plant wilt.

I've found that I need to control all three of these variables if I want a plant that can produce hot pods. I say this because if I want a large plant capable of producing mature pods in soil, I need a large pot with lots of soil. The downside to this is that the soil doesn't dry out quick enough for me to be able to let the plant wilt multiple times before harvest. My experience is that you get pods, but they aren't at their full heat potential.

I've found the plants grown in coco, grow faster than my previous experience with soil; have larger overall plant size in coco while in a drastically smaller pot; and that the larger plant in a smaller pot can wilt more often in my particularly cool environment. Growing tremendous plants, at their full heat potential in soil, in places like Texas isn't an issue. That's not my climate. I have to do things a little differently. So far I've had the best success with coco. I'm hoping that we have another hot summer (for my area that is!) this year and that I can improve on the coco grow from last year.

Thanks for reading!

Neil

 

[Jamison]

Awesome Neil!  Best of luck this year!

 

[JJJessee]

Thanks, Man, for turning me on to coco-growing last year. I did the Grat3fulHead like you showed me and got excellent plants without exception. Yours appeared to out perform mine I expect because the Blackstar LED is better than T8s. Later in the seedling season, one thing I started doing instead of the chem thing was using Seabird Guano to make my nute solution. It's about 10-12-2 of something. It has 4% available(water soluble?) Nitrogen which is vital at seedling stage. A lot of good organic N sources need to be cycled before they benefit the plant. So, no good for babies that need food NOW. Of course it is moving the coco to an organic vs sterile medium, but some flushing along the  way is still a good idea. Since seabirds eat out of the ocean, their poop must have a wide spectrum of elements, but balance could be an issue long term. Instead of coco, I also had good results using partially composted oak leaves that were screened(1/4")  -for tomatoes at least. It drained as well or better than coco. So I've got some more research cut out for me. 
 
You will enjoy the Reaper. I decided to grow it again after all. Just for the badass pod shape. It's a scorcher. Decent flavor to. If you liked the MoA(and who doesn't?) , consider a Fatalli, closer to Bhut heat.
 
Need any seeds, peppers or otherwise, give me a shout and I'll see if I've got it.
Good Luck for 2015!

 

[juanitos]

i was reading up on coco and came across this informative link, maybe you want to read http://www.manicbotanix.com/hydroponic-grow-guide/coco-growing.html

 

[John1234]

i was reading up on coco and came across this informative link, maybe you want to read http://www.manicbotanix.com/hydroponic-grow-guide/coco-growing.html

 
Great information there. The site owner operates under the pseudonym Glow on ICmag. He does a lot of good work debunking nutrient company bullshit, and pays out of pocket for chemical analysis of many of their products. I'm not entirely sure, but I believe he played an integral in exposing the use of PBZ in many products.

 

[mpicante]

Good luck on this years grow.Interested coco coir so will be following your glog.

 

[Devv]

Glad to see you're up and running Neil!
 
Good luck this season and stay warm!

 

[Blister]

Awesome Neil!  Best of luck this year!

  

Thanks Jamison! Good luck in the year to you too!

Thanks, Man, for turning me on to coco-growing last year. I did the Grat3fulHead like you showed me and got excellent plants without exception. Yours appeared to out perform mine I expect because the Blackstar LED is better than T8s. Later in the seedling season, one thing I started doing instead of the chem thing was using Seabird Guano to make my nute solution. It's about 10-12-2 of something. It has 4% available(water soluble?) Nitrogen which is vital at seedling stage. A lot of good organic N sources need to be cycled before they benefit the plant. So, no good for babies that need food NOW. Of course it is moving the coco to an organic vs sterile medium, but some flushing along the  way is still a good idea. Since seabirds eat out of the ocean, their poop must have a wide spectrum of elements, but balance could be an issue long term. Instead of coco, I also had good results using partially composted oak leaves that were screened(1/4")  -for tomatoes at least. It drained as well or better than coco. So I've got some more research cut out for me. 
 
You will enjoy the Reaper. I decided to grow it again after all. Just for the badass pod shape. It's a scorcher. Decent flavor to. If you liked the MoA(and who doesn't?) , consider a Fatalli, closer to Bhut heat.
 
Need any seeds, peppers or otherwise, give me a shout and I'll see if I've got it.
Good Luck for 2015!

 

Thanks JJJ! Both your coco and FFOF soil grow were great last year. Whatever you were doing keep it up. Your plants were nice and healthy in both mediums. I've been pretty happy with the 180W Blackstart LED and kinda wish that I had upgraded to the 240W version, but then again I have to be careful about upgrades. Next thing you know I'll be running a few 1000W's of light for a handful of peppers! I don't think the Mrs. would like that too much.

I grew the Fatalli a few years ago and while they didn't produce much for me at the time (plain soil, in the greenhouse), they were plenty hot! I still have some J-MoA's in the freezer that are destined to become a jerk pork or chicken. I'm just waiting for a few mild days and no wind so I can bust out the smoker I bought last year.

Thanks for the offer on the seeds. I really appreciate your generosity. I should be set for this year. I put in an order with Judy from Pepperlover.com. I've got some heat coming this year!

 

i was reading up on coco and came across this informative link, maybe you want to read http://www.manicbotanix.com/hydroponic-grow-guide/coco-growing.html

Thanks juanitos! Now that I'm back in town for a few weeks I'm going to give it a read. I have to get my head back into the coco game again if I want to improve on last years results.

 

Great information there. The site owner operates under the pseudonym Glow on ICmag. He does a lot of good work debunking nutrient company bullshit, and pays out of pocket for chemical analysis of many of their products. I'm not entirely sure, but I believe he played an integral in exposing the use of PBZ in many products.

 

Thanks for the info miguelovic. I browsed the forums at ICmag a fair amount when I was initially looking for info on coco. It's good to hear something positive about the info that's being published online. You never can tell which ones are bunk and which ones are gold.

 

Good luck on this years grow.Interested coco coir so will be following your glog.

 

Welcome aboard mpicante. Thanks for the well wishes and I hope to keep this glog updated with an accurate description of my experiences and post as often as I can.

 

Glad to see you're up and running Neil!
 
Good luck this season and stay warm!

Thanks Scott! I've got some seeds soaking in water right now! My season is officially under way!

Neil

 

[cathyssocool]

Appreciated the write-up on coco. This is my first year of using coco as well. Now I'll def stalk on you
 

I personally start my seedlings with a VERY light feeding as soon as their fully out of the coco. I can't recall if I posted in my 2014 glog or not, but I had given some seedlings a dose of approx. 100-150ppm just because coco has no nutrients. This was given to them after they had fully emerged from the coco. Anything stronger than that and I would notice 'burnt tips' on the cotyledons. The great part of coco is that it's very forgiving. Once I noticed the burnt tips, I flushed with ph'd water and reduced the strength of the nutrient.

I fully understand that the cotyledons feed the plant from the start, but this is how I have chosen to operate my coco grow.



Thanks cathy! Since we're so close in terms of overall northern location I'm guessing that we both share a similar climate and growing season. I've chosen to go with coco because it allows me to grow in smaller pots, produce bigger plants and control as many of the variables as possible. I can control when they get fed, how much they get fed and how often to let a fully mature plant wilt.

I've found that I need to control all three of these variables if I want a plant that can produce hot pods. I say this because if I want a large plant capable of producing mature pods in soil, I need a large pot with lots of soil. The downside to this is that the soil doesn't dry out quick enough for me to be able to let the plant wilt multiple times before harvest. My experience is that you get pods, but they aren't at their full heat potential.

I've found the plants grown in coco, ...

 

[Blister]

Appreciated the write-up on coco. This is my first year of using coco as well. Now I'll def stalk on you

Welcome aboard. I look forward to seeing your experience with coco and how your grow goes in a norther climate.

Neil

 

[Chilidude]

Appreciated the write-up on coco. This is my first year of using coco as well. Now I'll def stalk on you
 

 
Then you should also consider stalking my coco growing glog, because of my similar northern climate.

 

[PaulG]

How's it goin', Neil?

 

[Blister]

Time for a bit of an update. I had wanted to try the Canna coco line for some time now. Unfortunately my usual hydro shop had been asking $75 for a liter of Canna A and $75 for a liter so I stayed away from it. That is until now. I happened to find it for at a different hydro shop for a low price of $14.95 for each A and B. $30 later I have a new product to try.

From all the reading I've done on the 420 sites the Canna line seems to be very highly rated by the serious growers. I'm pretty excited to give it a shot. I've also picked up some rockwool cubes to give them try for germination.

I'd love to get it all started tonight, but once again I'm on the road. Will post picks when I get things up and running.

Neil

How's it goin', Neil?

I've got a few seeds in wet paper towel, but I'm not sure how they're going to turn out. I had a few nights where it was cool and a couple of seeds are looking brown. I'm having my doubts that they're going to pop. I'll give them a bit more time though. If it all fails to work, then I'm going with rockwool.

Neil