Blisters 2016 LED Coco grow

Back for yet another year! I've had two modestly successful grows with coco so far. I'm hoping to build on the knowledge gained and have an improved season (weather permitting) this year. At this point I've limited myself to a few basic peppers. I've got

- Red Bhut - paper towel/baggie started Dec. 24th
- Yellow Bhut - paper towel/baggie started Dec. 24th
- Reaper - paper towel/baggie started Dec. 24th - though this one dried out while I was away and I'm not sure if the seeds are still viable
- MoA Bonnet - yet to be started

The paper towel and baggie method seems to be the most successful way for me to get seeds going so far. I've had very little success with rockwool. I still have some nutrients left over from previous years grow and will use it before buying anything new. I have three nutrient brands on hand:

- Canna Coco A and B
- General Hydroponics Flora Grow and Bloom
- CNS17 Grow and Bloom

All three nutrients are simple to use. Of them all I'd say I've had the most success with GH Flora series. Simple to use, affordable and it's available just about everywhere. This may be the nutrient I start the season with because it's so easy to measure and mix.

The Yellow Bhut's were the first to sprout this year. I had to remove the helmet head on all of these, but things worked out ok.



Once big enough, the seedlings went into coco filled plastic shot glasses. I drilled holes in the bottom, filled with coco and pushed a small hole in the coco with the end of a paint brush. After dropping the seedling in, I give them a good watering with plain water and placed them back under the heat dome to keep them warm at night and help reduce the transplant shock.



I've got a few red jolokia's that have shot out a tap root, but I'm going to wait a bit before putting them into coco.

Neil

 

[Blister]

Thanks TC! I have my fingers crossed that it's going to be another hot summer. I have some root pouches ready and I'm hoping the plants will be large enough to really put out a decent crop.

Neil

 

[Blister]

Decided to cut my grow back this year. Since my plants are growing so fast, I had to decided a lot earlier than I had originally planned. Right now I have:

- 2 Red Jolokia - a staple in my pepper grow
- 1 Yellow MoA - another staple in my pepper grow
- 2 Yellow Jolokia - new color and flavor for me
- 2 Carolina Reapers - not a staple, but I like the heat they provide
- 1 unknown. It may be a Bhutlah, but chances are it's a Yellow Jolokia. I lost track on some of them.

I'll probably reduce the overall plants I have when I give a few to my brother. I'm hoping that I'll be able to focus on a few plants and really get them to produce. I'm also a little bit tired of shuttling the plants to the next town over when I go on vacation. It should also really cut back on the water I'll be buying and using this year.

Tough choices had to be made. These plants didn't make the cut. I don't like to kill the plants that I put so much love into so my wife put them on facebook free for pickup. It was literally 1 minute before someone chimed in and was on their way. We had two others pipe up a few minutes later. They are all spoken for.



Now that that's out of the way, I have a lot more space for my remaining plants. They have room to spread their leaves and soak up the rays.


Thanks for reading.

Neil

 

[Devv]

Nice of you to give the plants away. They went quick! But just look at them! The people receiving them be thrilled with such excellent plants.

 

[Blister]

Yep they went fast and folks were pretty happy. I can only hope that the pants bring them much pain!

It's tough to cut back, but I simply don't have the room. I really want to ensure that I can get the plants I kept as large as I can before the hit the sun. I had great results with the plastic 2g buckets last year and am hoping that the 3g root pouches I picked up for this year produce a bit more.

Neil

 

[Devv]

One of these days I'll get my head on straight and plant less peppers and take better care of them. Having the room just makes me plant more than I can handle without a time-suck happening.
 
You'll love the root pouches!

 

[Blister]

Small update. It's 23c here in northern BC and I decided to get the ladies out into the sun for a touch of hardening off. It's also nice to have free light!

I was thinking of potting them up this weekend. I'm going to put them into 3g root pouches to give them a start on developing a larger root ball for plant out time. If all goes well I should be able to hit summer at on full run!

 

[Blister]

Another small update. I pulled a red Jolokia and put it into a 3g root pouch. It took a lot of coco. A lot. I'll be giving a bunch of pants to my brother then keeping a select few for myself. I'm hoping that the plants will be able to have a strong root mass come plant out time which is close to the end of next month.

Root ball from 6" square pot.

In front of the 3g root pot

Everything is watered up and ready to go. Thanks for reading.

Neil

 

[SvtCobra]

 How often are you feeding?

 

[Trident chilli]

Impressive roots .... are these plants destined for the dirt or to be placed in containers in the garden

 

[Blister]

 How often are you feeding?

They're in coco so I feed with every watering. As the root ball grows they tend to go from watering every few days to watering multiple times a day.

Neil

 

[FiresOfNil]

Sometimes with limited space, you still just NEED to grow peppers... I understand... RIP my floor space in my study. Good choice on LED, I've heard good things about the spectrum on that BlackStar.

 

[Blister]

Impressive roots .... are these plants destined for the dirt or to be placed in containers in the garden

The roots always impress me. They'll be staying in coco in containers. I'm going to try a few root pouches this year too, though they are about 1 gallon larger than the pots I usually use.

I've found that coco and the 2 gallon pots seem to be about the best balance for my area so I'll have to see how it all goes this year.

Neil



Neil

 

[Blister]

Sometimes with limited space, you still just NEED to grow peppers... I understand... RIP my floor space in my study. Good choice on LED, I've heard good things about the spectrum on that BlackStar.

You got that right! We're really tight for space so I can only grow so many peppers. These plants got their start in the bathtub of our spare bathroom. It's working much better than I had originally thought

I've been really happy with the Blackstar LED light. It's a 180w red and blue spectrum with UV. I have no idea how it compares to HPS or MH, but it does the trick and doesn't really increase the power bill.

I've half considered trying a HPS or MH light just to get the heat increase during the winter months. Most people have issues with too much heat, but I'm often dealing with too little. I just haven't been able to justify the expense at this point given that everything is working so well.

Neil

 

[Devv]

I see no need to change your lighting considering the results you're achieving.
 
I'd say you have it whipped!

 

[Blister]

I see no need to change your lighting considering the results you're achieving.
 
I'd say you have it whipped!

Thanks Scott. I only half considered it just to get the heat that they produce. The LED does good enough so I'll stay with it until it breaks down. May even stay with LED and go to a higher wattage even after it breaks down. Who knows.

Neil

 

[Blister]

Small update to my grow. I've put a few plants into the root pouches now and and sitting back hoping that they'll be able to develop a good strong root system by the time plant out arrives.

Progress in the tub...

Neil

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[Devv]

Just Wow!
 
You sir have the green thumb!

 

[Blister]

Just Wow!
 
You sir have the green thumb!

Thanks Scott. I guess it balances out since the wife often says that I have manure for brains [emoji57] .

Just potted up my MOA to a 3 gallon root pouch. Just about have the harem selected for this season's grow. So far I have a yellow bhut, a red bhut, and the MOA in their final pots. I'm still contemplating a second red bhut a Reaper. I'm also waiting on a plant to set flowers to see if it's a bhutlah or not.

On to the pictures. The MOA is flowing and setting pods like crazy. I think it's going to like its new home.

Root ball prior to it going into its new home....

Close up

Thanks for reading!

Neil

 

[stickman]

Boy, you've got some great results Neil! I mixed up some 50-50 coco coir and peat based Pro-Mix for starting my second round of seeds before I saw your glog, but your notes have given me a lot to think about, and I'll be following along until plant-out for sure to see how things end up for you. Cheers!

 

[Blister]

Thanks Rick. I haven't kept up on this glog like I had with my original one.

I've had decent results with pure coco and General Hydro nutrients. I've tried to keep things really simple until I've built up some experience. So far coco has proven itself to be a great root zone medium and works for my situation.

I'm interested to see how the mix works out for you.

Neil

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