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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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Yellowfin2na said:
Awesome grow. When you check the PH of Coco can you use the same dropper test that you would use for hydro?
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Not too sure what you mean. I've never actually checked the coco ph. I've always just ph-ed the water and gone from there. Seems to work of you keep it between 5.5-6.2 the whole grow. I use a digital ph tester but had also used the drops in the past.

Neil
 
Blister said:
Not too sure what you mean. I've never actually checked the coco ph. I've always just ph-ed the water and gone from there. Seems to work of you keep it between 5.5-6.2 the whole grow. I use a digital ph tester but had also used the drops in the past.
Neil
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Lol oh duh that would make more sense. I like the idea of this. Seems like it would be less work than dwc and such. Since you have done both would you say this grows just as fast as regular hydro.
 
Yellowfin2na said:
Lol oh duh that would make more sense. I like the idea of this. Seems like it would be less work than dwc and such. Since you have done both would you say this grows just as fast as regular hydro.
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I've never tried regular hydro so I can't make any comparisons between the two. Up to this point all I've grown in has been soil and coco. Of those two coco has produced a much larger and more productive plant in my situation.

If I had to guess I'd say that regular hydro would probably out perform coco based in the fact that the roots are submerged in nutes. Again I've never tried true hydro so this is just a guess.

Once you get coco dialed in its really simple And forgiving.

Neil
 
EDIT: Not sure what happened there, but I had the same post 3 times over. Edited to remove.
 
Small update. I've moved some plants up to larger pots. I've also been feeding them with the Canna Coco A+B mixture I worked up a few posts back. New leaves seem to be flattening out. It's been warm enough that I'm using about 8L of nutrient a day. If the rest of the season keeps up like this I should have a decent crop this year.





Neil
 
Great update Neil and the use of the bath is an interesting addition to chilli management ... understand your predicament when Mother Nature raises her ugly head .. most of mine find their way back to the dinning room table

Great MoA bonnets they are certainly going to enjoy their new tubs .... Epsom salts used a lot by British growers to enhance development
 
Plants look amazing Neil. And so far everything is working for my jolokia. I've noticed the stem is much smoother and toned in comparison with the garden plants. Lack of pests and elements sure does let it grow fast. Started hand pollinating the flowers yesterday. Going about 791 ppm once a week, half Micro and half Bloom.

Happy growing!
 
Trident chilli said:
Great update Neil and the use of the bath is an interesting addition to chilli management ... understand your predicament when Mother Nature raises her ugly head .. most of mine find their way back to the dinning room table

Great MoA bonnets they are certainly going to enjoy their new tubs .... Epsom salts used a lot by British growers to enhance development
Click to expand...
The use of the tub is something I stated doing last year. It's worked out much better than I expected. It's in our spare bathroom and never gets used anyway. It's easy to clean and all the white reflects the light. I don't really have to do much to contain the light either.



maximumcapsicum said:
Plants look amazing Neil. And so far everything is working for my jolokia. I've noticed the stem is much smoother and toned in comparison with the garden plants. Lack of pests and elements sure does let it grow fast. Started hand pollinating the flowers yesterday. Going about 791 ppm once a week, half Micro and half Bloom.

Happy growing!
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Post some pictures of your plant! Seems like you're in the zone for nutrient. I've been giving mine a canna coir a+b around 630ppm.

Neil
 
Sure thing! I was going to compile this after some pods set but here are weekly glamor shots.
 
OJxrGwu.jpg

 
Gives you a good idea of the rate of growth. After a week adjusting it really took off in a big way. I don't know if you can tell in the photo but I had to stand on my tiptoes to get the most recent picture. Next week is gonna require a step. Coco seems to jive really well with the pepper's needs. You are really onto something.
 
I am going to ramp up the blooming nutes to as close to 800 ppm as I can get without going over. When I flushed the coco after three weeks the PPM was at 300, so it looks like the plant was eating about 400-500 ppm. My mix is mostly Flora Micro and Flora Bloom, and I am increasing the ratio of Flora Bloom. I use a drop of Floraliscious and a drop of Armor Si to round out the trace nutrients.
 
My biggest concern is light. The plant gets 6 hours of morning sun through the window, another 6-8 hours of shade through the window. I augment the sunlight with two daylight CFL's that I use to start seeds. We'll see...
 
Here are some more shots.
 
vBO0V7o.jpg

 
dkrA260.jpg

 
Just following your lead! I think this will be at minimum an excellent way to isolate seeds, since it simplifies media needs a great deal.
 
That is one fantastic looking plant Adam! The growth really is something else isn't it?

Your leaves are nice and flat. No burnt tips, and everything is a lush green! Looks like you have a handle on this. Yes I agree with you on coco and chili plants. They really seem to love it. How do you like the root pouch? Been meaning to try them, but haven't picked any up yet. Last year I had so many roots that they literally grew out the top of the coco and curled back in.

Rather than hand pollinating your plants get yourself a spray bottle. Make sure to spray directly into the flowers for pollination. You can even add a bit of Epsom and kill two birds with one stone.


Neil
 
Hah! Right after I post the victory picks I have elongated holes between the veins of some leaves and two green leaves drop. At first I thought it was edema but after looking at some pictures ny guess is manganese and phosphate deficiency. I am thinking I need to up the Flora Bloom and reduce the Flora Micro. Or cut the Armor Si. 
 
Huh. Haven't seen that before Adam. Usually there's some other indicator before you start dropping leaves. Are there any pests on the plants?

Dropped my plants of at my parents while I'm out of town. Noticed that there were a few pods on some of the plants. Should be interesting to see what they look like in a couple of weeks.



Neil
 
Another small update. Was away on vacation for a week and am now on the road. Took a few shots of the pods I have going on now. My Douglah seems to be doing pretty good.





One lonely Jolokia on it's way. I'm really surprised at how fast these things grow in coco.



That's all for now.

Neil
 
Neil I would be more than happy with those hybrid bonnets .... will be following their development ... cracking photographs as well ... have a good weekend
 
Hoping that they'll have bonnet flavor, but more heat. Fingers crossed because they seem to be decent producers.

Neil
 
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