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indoor Butch T's, first super hot grow - Quick question (indoors) - Updated 5/18/2012

Taxing

Taxing

Greetings,

First all, let me start by saying that I've benefited greatly from the wealth of knowledge shared on these boards. All of which is very much appreciated. I've got one particular question I'm having issues locating an answer on.

I live in Boston and "yard" space is nil where I currently reside. As a result I'm going to give this a whirl entirely indoors. I've currently got my plants under 6500k spectrum bulbs for vegetative growth. Do I need to switch my bulbs to my 2700k or a full spectrum bulbs when it comes time focus on pepper production? I think not, but I can't seem to find a straight answer.

Here's a quick few snaps of how they're doing, taking them a while but their coming along. (Forgive the quality, used the smartphone)

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Thanks in advance!
 
Mine have stayed under the 6500 since birth and are growin crazy good, pepper blossoms and all. IMO stay with the 6500, use a fan on them daily too!
 
punn177 said:
Mine have stayed under the 6500 since birth and are growin crazy good, pepper blossoms and all. IMO stay with the 6500, use a fan on them daily too!
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Appreciate the quick reply! I've got a fan going pretty much any time the lights are on just out of sight of the camera. Thanks again, great information.
 
punn177 said:
Not a problem. Just remember less love is better!
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Curious how frequently you've been watering yours? I've been only trying to do it when they need it and the soil is pretty dry a few inches deep. They seem to be responding pretty well to it.
 
I'm to the point that my solo cup plants 1 time every week and a half, my potted plants once like every 2-2.5 weeks. The leaves will tell the tale, as long as they are upright and not droopy you're fine. If they show some signs of wilting i water. Also take an empy container of the same size your plants are in, fill it with dry soil, when the weights are the same, water!
 
punn177 said:
I'm to the point that my solo cup plants 1 time every week and a half, my potted plants once like every 2-2.5 weeks. The leaves will tell the tale, as long as they are upright and not droopy you're fine. If they show some signs of wilting i water. Also take an empy container of the same size your plants are in, fill it with dry soil, when the weights are the same, water!
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I had/have some peppers in solo cups also. They started out with being watered about every 5 or so days. Like punn177 said, you have to watch the leaves. If they are droopy, and the soil looks/feels dry, then they need some water. Bottom watering is best as it helps protect against over watering. Note: After a while, some of my peppers got to where they needed to be watered about every other day. I'm still a noob, but I believe this was because they became root bound. Once root bound, they seemed to droop often.

Good luck!
 
From what I've seen you can grow the plants in solo cups till they are pretty large! Just keep it simple! Once the plants sprout and get true leaves they are pretty simple to grow, light, water, good soil!
 
Thanks again for the quick replies, all very helpful. I'll let the leaves do the talking and compensate a bit for the fan running during all lighting hours.

I'll update some pictures in a few weeks with the adjusted watering. +1 for all the intel!
 
So how are the plants doing now?
How bout a photo?
I start my seeds in jiffy pods in either solo cups on the wifi or with the store bought tray on a heating mat.
I then transfer to red solo cups (3 holes on btm for drainage) filled with regular potting soil amended with perlite.
I have a 4' t8 lamp fixture running 6500k that everything goes under.
they stay there til they have anywhere from 3-5 sets of leaves.
At that point i generally transfer to larger container and outside it goes.
If punn said he had no problems under 6500k then go for it...
i think nutrients at that particular stage will have more effect than light..
I personally would keep the 6500k and add a lamp running 2700k to supplement, but thats me.
I'm an outdoor grower so i'll leave that for the experienced...
check the pics below of my ghetto setup and cup transfer:
IMG_3509.jpg

solocup row
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my timer for the fan ($5 home depot) allows for running at 1/2hr increments 24hrs i set mine to run approx 8 times a day for 1/2hr each time
IMG_3242.jpg

mystery pepper before transfer
IMG_3243.jpg

mystery pepper roots
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bottom view roots
IMG_3438.jpg

mystery's new home
Good luck with the seeds!
 
You will like this answer! I recommend using 6500K bulbs until you are satisfied with the growth ( without waiting to long) When satisfied and plants are flowering a lot, then make your switch to the 2500K bulbs to focus the plants on flowers and fruit rather then growth. :)
 
megahot said:
You will like this answer! I recommend using 6500K bulbs until you are satisfied with the growth ( without waiting to long) When satisfied and plants are flowering a lot, then make your switch to the 2500K bulbs to focus the plants on flowers and fruit rather then growth. :)
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Great information, that was originally how I planned to treat them. Very similiar to any indoor fruiting I've done in the past! Thanks for this.

Update - 5/18/2012

So it's been a little bit since I've posted pictures and Ronin's post has got me off my ass. I'm going to try and keep this thread limited to the progress of the two larger plants posted originally. Here goes:

Tent 1, group shot - My two larger Butch Ts and a few not nearly as far along, (little nute burn on one of the wee ones, feeling it out):
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Tent 1 - Closer up, still in the tent (Plant 1)
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Tent 1 - Closer up, still in the tent (Plant 2)
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Tent 1 - Both plants are lookin' like they're dying to produce flowers, I'm not quite thrilled with their overall size yet. More to follow on this later.
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Out of the tent - Both plants in the living room on their way to the bay windows for some afternoon UV. (NICE AND GREEN!)
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Window - Kind of an odd angle, soaking up a bit of sun in the windows.
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Couple talking points if I may:
  • Man they're bushy, loving it but I'm curious if I should be pruning a bit? I've been keeping the lights constantly adjusted, they haven't had to stretch an inch for light since day one. Not a bad thing, but I would like to see a bit more length out of them. Overall, pretty slow growing strain.
  • Flowering. There are flower pods coming in all over the place. I see folks talking about popping them off to continue to encourage the plant to focus on vegetative growth. I think I may leave them but keep my lights at 6500k until I'm happy with the growth as mega mentioned. Thoughts?
Big thanks to everyone's insight thus far, it's been very informative and helpful. Another HUGE thanks to Ronin who was kind enough to send me over a most generous care package today! Not soon forgotten, return trip going out in tomorrows mail!!

Keep the feedback coming, it's all been very beneficial.

Thanks,
Brandon
 
ColoradoRonin said:
Looking good!
What kind of nutrient regime do you have going?
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Honestly, to this point I hadn't been using any. I'm in the process of sorting that out now, trying to get a feel for what works. For indoor soil grows Ive always used Fox Farm Ocean Forest and have had great luck with it. It's around the maturity that the plants are now that I usually start cycling in some additions. That said, this is my first run at super hots so I'm learning as I go. Once I figure out a healthy balance I'll post it here.

http://foxfarmfertilizer.com/products_soils1.html

megahot said:
Impressive looking plants! What kind of light are you using in your grow tent now?
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The tent these plants are in, to this point anyway, is just running a T5 high output CFL fixture. I like it for early growth because I can get the lights right down on the plants without any heat concerns. Canopy penetration might be an issue here soon. I've got another tent with an HPS fixture, I'm going to see how they do as is with a mixture of natural sun and move them if I must. I really dislike the HPS heat output/energy consumption.
 
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