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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
 
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Time for another small update. Made it home with my new supplies. Took a look at the seeds previously soaked and started in paper towel. A few seeds didn't look too great, BUT I did notice that I had one Bubblegum 7 that had popped!



Prepped and ready to put in seeds.



EDIT: I edited my picture on photobucket and the first time I posted it, it was upside down. The seeds are now from left to right I have the Carolina Reaper, Bhut Jolokia, Douglah and the Bubblegum 7. I'm going to wait a bit and start the J-MoA after I return from my second road trip this February.

I prepped the cubes according to the instructions on the packaging. I ph'ed the RO water down to 5.6 and soaked the cubes for a few minutes (package only said 10 seconds) as I got my humidity dome washed and prepped. Once ready I put the cubes into the humidity dome base (peat pellet tray/holders removed). I selected the best looking seed and put them into the rockwool. I used a wooden skewer to gently push the seed all the way to the bottom of the hole.



One in the cubes I pushed a bit of the rockwool around the hole over the top to cover the seed and to give a bit if resistance to hopefully help pull the seed case off as they emerge from the wool.

Neil

PaulG said:
Okay, friend, way to hang in there!
Good luck, brother!
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I'd really like to get this germination thing down and I have no idea why I have such problem with it. I'll keep trying new things until I find something that works for me. Thanks Paul!

Neil
 
JJJessee said:
It's closer to 2000.
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Ha! I must be close to that by now! I got a bit impatient. See below...

 
PaulG said:
Good luck getting those seeds to sprout, Neil!

Right on, Carl!
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Thanks Paul. I poked around a bit and noticed that I had 2 BB7 and a Jolokia sprout.



I also dropped a few new seeds into the Douglah and Reaper because the ones I had in there originally were looking kind of brown, not the yellow they usually are. I'd probably have more luck if I could keep them at a constant temperature. The heat mat I have just doesn't seem to keep them up to the right temperature at night. I'm looking into a regular heat pad to put under the tray in addition to the plant heat mat.

Neil
 
lol don't feel bad, I check on mine 3-4 times a day even though nothing has changed and post pictures of them even though they look exactly like they did the post before.... It needs to be summer already. 
 
D3monic said:
lol don't feel bad, I check on mine 3-4 times a day even though nothing has changed and post pictures of them even though they look exactly like they did the post before.... It needs to be summer already.
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Yea I'm having more trouble than normal waiting for them to sprout. I was really hoping to get them going before I head out on the road again. I don't want to come back to see them all leggy because they haven't gotten the light they need.

Neil
 
Leaving the seedlings for awhile is tough.
 
I think some temperature variation is okay for the germination chamber.  
In a natural setting, the seeds go through warm/cool cycles in the dirt.  
I have my seed mat on the workbench in the garage, and it gets cooler
at night, but with the jiffy Plugs, there seem to be no problems.
 
PaulG said:
Leaving the seedlings for awhile is tough.
 
I think some temperature variation is okay for the germination chamber.  
In a natural setting, the seeds go through warm/cool cycles in the dirt.  
I have my seed mat on the workbench in the garage, and it gets cooler
at night, but with the jiffy Plugs, there seem to be no problems.
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That's what I figured, but it seems as though most of my seeds are going bad in wet paper towels before they've shot out a tap root. I think the biggest problem with the heat is that the tray isn't full. It seems to maintain a better overall temperature when it's full or close to full. I think I'm using about 1/4 of the space available right now. I'm hoping to get another heat pad and put that under it when I go away. I think I'm going to have to get the lights set up before I go so that all the wife has to do is put the plants under it and turn it on once and awhile.

Neil
 
I'm finally getting things going here in the frozen north. I put up my Blackstart 180w LEDUV grow light to make sure everything was working. When I turned it on my boy came in and asked "what happened to purple daddy?" Doesn't make much sense, but hey he's 3 years old and I'm not sure they ever really make sense at this age.



I've got one single Bubblegum 7pot temporarily under the light right now. It's got 3 cotyledons and is sitting on top of a 2" pot filled with coco. It'll be put into a pot as it matures a bit. I'm hoping the little lady can take care of this seedling while I'm gone. You never know what's going to happen when you entrust your plants to someone else...




Neil
Jamison said:
You gotta yell at them seeds and let em know who's the boss!
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I must have hit the magic number of times checking on them in combination of yelling "WHAT IS YOUR MAJOR MALFUNCTION PRIVATE!?" at them that one actually sprouted! I'm expecting a few others to pop in the next little while given that I had seen tap roots popping out when I was poking around.


Devv said:
Waiting for seeds to pop is hard ;)
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No kidding. I really wanted the season to get going. I think it's officially here... even if it's only a single seedling :D

I've also picked up an additional heat pad to keep the seedlings warm at night when the temperature dips. I also picked up a bag of loose Canna Coco. I can't wait to give this stuff a try. Found a source that's actually affordable. I should have enough coco and nutes to last me the entire season.

Neil
 
Nice, love the blackstar units. I have 4 of the blackstar 240 2013 models. I wouldn't trade them for anything. 
 
Got 2 over my seedlings right now. No stretch... even a little purpling from sunburn.  Only problem is there's so many fans on the units they brought the temp of my tent down from 85 to low 70's. Though in the heat of summer that's a bonus I suppose. 
 
 
I was wondering what yours were when I checked out your glog. I had considered the 240 when I bought mine but really only wanted something to get the plants started. I couldn't justify the extra money at the time.

Not sure how they compare to MH or HPS but they do seem to work.

Neil
 
PaulG said:
Awright Blister has it goin'   :party:  
 
Every hook a victory!
 
Good luck with the separation anxiety, Neil     ;)
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Devv said:
Congrats on the hookage ;)
 
More to follow for sure...
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Thanks guys. It's going to be a long few weeks that's for sure. PH'd water mixed up, instructions are only a text away, but I still worry. I managed to get the heat dome under the light before I left. Hoping the instructions of turn the light on during the day, off at night, but don't unplug the heat mat aren't going to be a problem. You never know...

Neil

Pinoy83 said:
patience is the key my friend....they will pop in no time  :onfire:
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Fingers crossed! I'm out of town for the next few weeks, so I won't be able to check on them a few hundred times a day. I'm hoping to come back to a whack of seedlings!

Neil
 
This years start is proving to be rather frustrating. Rockwool seemed to have all the options I wanted. You can control for everything. Or at least I thought. I had a seedling that was well on it's way, but I left for two weeks and gave some rather detailed instructions to my partner. Well long story short, she left town for a few days as well and my seedling died. The rest of the seeds aren't looking good either.

On to plan B.

I've opened a new bag of Canna Coco, filled some small 2" pots and have started a new batch of seeds. This should allow any potential seedlings to last a few days without water and not die on me. I have a third trip coming up. This should be my last 2 week trip away. Though at this point of the year I don't think I'd be able to get another set of seedlings going that would be able to produce ripe pods by the end of the year.

Third time's the charm?

Neil
 
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