CaneDog 2020

2020 is underway, so it's time to start the new season's glog!  Odd times though, as I'm still harvesting stragglers from last season while the earliest of my 2020 starts are already up.  Grow areas are a bit disorganized as a result 
 
This season's grow should be a little more balanced than last season, though I'll still have a ridiculous number of rocotos - many OW's plus a bunch of new varieties - and quite a few carry-over OW wilds, too.
 
A big "thanks" to all who shared seeds with me for this season.  I'm appreciative and excited to have lots of cool varieties in the mix, many of which I got to watch you grow last season and can now try myself.  I think I'm current with everyone, but if by any chance you were expecting seeds from me that may have slipped through the cracks just shoot me a PM.
 
As I mentioned, things aren't super organized right now, but here's a few pics anyway.
 
I planted a few seeds early, just because I couldn't hold off the extra few weeks without planting something.
 
Amarillo de Arequipa Rocoto just popped- Thanks CTB!

 
Ecuador Sweet Rocoto twins - and a big shout out to the two peeps who sent me seeds for these. Both sources germinated and I'm really happy to have them growing.  Disclaimer: they may look overly wet, but these just got sprayed (to avoid HH's) and it's a very porous medium.

 
Put another few rocotos in to soak today.

 
This is a galapagoense that popped a few days back, exactly 100 days after sowing.

 
And this pod contains Jalapeno Zapotec x Purple Jalapeno F1, one of a couple F1 JZ crosses I'll be growing out this season. The other is Tekne Dolmasi x JZ.

 
Finally, I got a solid recommendation on a new media mix I'll be trying out this season in a few variations. The mix is heavy in partially composted bark fines, a fir/hemlock mix as pine's hard to get locally. It's proving to be a veritable mycelium factory.  Bodes well for good symbiosis with the appropriate fungal species this year.

 

 
Heck, they're even fruiting out the drainage holes... 

 
 
That's it for now.  Good luck to all in 2020!
CD

 

[podz]

CD, you da man when it comes to chili photography! Great grow so far, wishing you great yields!

 

[BDASPNY]

 
I'm glad to hear you have a few of them planted.  I started mine indoors and kept them small mainly just trying to get ripe pods quickly for F2.  They haven't produced many pods, but I haven't given them much of a foundation for big production.  The way your jungle grows, yours should blow past mine in no time and it will be great to see their full potential.  Hopefully more even bigger pods.
 
 

if they grow out really well and you want  seeds from them id be glad to save and send some back.  I'm interested to see what the pods look and taste like.

 

[CaneDog]

if they grow out really well and you want  seeds from them id be glad to save and send some back.  I'm interested to see what the pods look and taste like.

 
Thanks, me too.  I hope things look promising enough to justify a reasonably sized F2 grow.

 

[Tybo]

 
 


 
That chile rayado also sounds extremely tempting, from what I could find it's only grown in one region in Mexico and supposed to have a higher-than-average heat level? Smoked and dried it must make an excellent chipotle and get's my stomach juices going hahaha.  Exactly what I've heard.  Higher heat with a good sweet rich red taste would be awesome. Wish I'd started them in March, but macmex says it grows fast and so far it has.  Hoping they're as good as suggested and I should have plenty of seeds from harvest if they are.
 
 

 
  
Hey CD, I was able to get some Chili Rayado seeds myself.  I'm still waiting on germination and hoping to get to try them out this season as well.  After this chilly spring, I'm hoping we have an extended warm spell in Sept/Oct.  I'll be watching your thread to see the progress from yours.  

 

[CaneDog]

Here's a quick update on the bigger plants in the HLG100 tent.
 
First off, I'm still working to understand the HLG. It's my first main fixture LED light and I've had it for almost 6 months now.  I get great results for some things, but I'm still trying to figure out how to use it best for others.
 
This is an original cappy's red brain strain. It's well below the LED and growing the broad leaves one would expect from that, but it's internodal spacing is very tight, especially for the distance from the light source.  I'd think to elevate the plant toward the light given the appearance of the leaves (other plants dictate the fixture position), but I've seen some burn in certain other plants when I've tried that.  Plus the internodal spacing is already tighter than I'd consider optimal.
 
BSOG

 

 
This aji panca is one that was having all kinds of issue with the light intensity until raised the light a little and backed it into a remote corner of the 48" x 24" tent.  It's doing much better now.  I'm growing only 1 panca this year, so I'm hoping for good production as I really like the powder from these.

 
Here's a Peach Bhut SS plant.  This has been a beast of a performer for me every time, growing and producing well under whatever conditions.  The variety was obviously out-crossed to get a peach "bhut," and IMO the cross was rushed and should have been back-crossed to stabilize with more characteristics of a bhut, versus whatever it was crossed with, but it stands on it's own as a great pepper.  If not so much a bhut.  It's flowering up lots under the canopy, so I'm hoping for pods soon,

 
This is a galapagos habanero.  It started out seemingly hating the HLG100 and I had to back the light off due to some burning.  Now it's doing better and has a good second layer of growth coming up from the low laterals.  No real flowering yet despite it being time, just buds that seem reluctant to take the next step.

 

 
Here's the indoor Pimenta de Neyde, looking a bit darker than the outdoor one.  It was looking just about perfect until I let it get a bit dry the other day, and the result can be seen in some of the upper outer leaves.  It didn't even wilt at all; it just got the funky wrinkles in some of the leaves that were still new at the time.

 
This guy is a Hyperpube-X x CGN Cardenasii F1.  I had a mix-up and left it behind as a de facto cull, but then realized my mistake and had to rescue it.  It's doing much better now, but it's probably about a month behind were it should be. 

 
Last pic for the post is a few young rocotos. I'm not sure yet if these will go outside or if I'll try to get them to produce in the tent. Left to right are Sukyana Yellow, CAP 1242 Orange, and San Pedro Orange.  The SP Orange is well older than the other two, but it's been a big challenge to grow at every step of the way.  I'm thinking the seeds weren't in great shape, hoping that, actually, and I'll be trying to get this guy to some healthy pods so I have strong seed stock going forward.  It's said to be a very good variety.

 

[CaneDog]

Hey CD, I was able to get some Chili Rayado seeds myself.  I'm still waiting on germination and hoping to get to try them out this season as well.  After this chilly spring, I'm hoping we have an extended warm spell in Sept/Oct.  I'll be watching your thread to see the progress from yours.  

 
That's great to hear, Tybo.  I bet they'll tear it up in your climate!  They germinated in good numbers for me in 7 days (sowed directly in little containers of soil) so you should see them soon.  I'm really looking forward to these.  Great taste and biggish heat in a jalapeno is definitely a good thing.

 

[PaulG]

You are taking the indoor grow to new levels, "Dog!
 
That Pimenta de Neyde is stunning!

 

[Devv]

As always, your plants are looking stellar.
 
I bought a LED for the spring grow, and it's a totally different animal. I have a HO T5 with 4, 54? something watt 6,500 bulbs, several T8's with 6,400 or 6,500 color bulbs.
 
The T5, I just learned recently, burns Lettuce leaves, even at around 12"s, I moved down to the T8. Peppers could get really close , like 5"s to the T5 before I saw issues.
T8's I can run until they almost  touch the bulbs (peppers). The LED, I kept at 18"s and it didn't burn, but the plants knew they had some serious light above them. The manufacturer recommends 24"s.
Under the LED, the purples were almost black like your PdN.

 

[CaneDog]

You are taking the indoor grow to new levels, "Dog!
 
That Pimenta de Neyde is stunning!

 
For whatever reason, PdN doesn't seem to get grown all that much.  At least that's the impression I get.  I like them.  The flowers tend to have that very nice dark purple coloration too, though for whatever reason the first few flowers on this one have been on the light side.  PdN has an amazing array of genetics, too.  Frankly, it's a bit hard to believe a plant found in the wild would have everything it does.
 

As always, your plants are looking stellar.
 
I bought a LED for the spring grow, and it's a totally different animal. I have a HO T5 with 4, 54? something watt 6,500 bulbs, several T8's with 6,400 or 6,500 color bulbs.
 
The T5, I just learned recently, burns Lettuce leaves, even at around 12"s, I moved down to the T8. Peppers could get really close , like 5"s to the T5 before I saw issues.
T8's I can run until they almost  touch the bulbs (peppers). The LED, I kept at 18"s and it didn't burn, but the plants knew they had some serious light above them. The manufacturer recommends 24"s.
Under the LED, the purples were almost black like your PdN.

 
Thanks Devv.   I've used those 54 watt 6,500K bulbs quite a bit for pepper grows and they're quite versatile.  About the only knock I'd have on them is they lack the light penetration of HID's and LED's, but that's not always needed, anyway.
 
I'd like to have a T8 fixture. They seem to be a good fit for multiple applications.  I probably won't go out and buy one, but if I happened upon a fixture I can assure you it would be getting use.
 
And I hear ya about the purples under the LED.  They do really bring out the dark on leaves.

 

[Ghost Pepper Revolution]

Love the peach Bhut, loved the flavor but yes it could’ve been made a stronger cross IMO. Plants looking sick with all that crazy lighting   

 

[HeatMiser]

I hear you about the HLG, I'm really intimidated by the thing.. it's like getting into a high-performance car when all you're used to is a 4 cyl automatic. My big TS knows there's been a change in lighting conditions recently and has let me know about it!
 
Anyway, I can see you're well on your way to understanding this piece of equipment. Those plants look great.
 
BTW - 
 

 
I'd like to have a T8 fixture. They seem to be a good fit for multiple applications.  I probably won't go out and buy one, but if I happened upon a fixture I can assure you it would be getting use.

 
I have a couple Hydrofarm fixtures that house T8/T12s that I'm no longer using...

 

[podz]

I hear you about the HLG, I'm really intimidated by the thing.. it's like getting into a high-performance car when all you're used to is a 4 cyl automatic. My big TS knows there's been a change in lighting conditions recently and has let me know about it!

 
 
After suffering from an initial burn due to being too close, I moved mine to about 30 inches above canopy and everything is doing great now. I have the v2 rspec, which is a bit more powerful in terms of PAR output, and it really took some getting used to this light. With my other LED grow lights, 2 inches from canopy is enough :-)

 

[CaneDog]

I hear you about the HLG, I'm really intimidated by the thing.. it's like getting into a high-performance car when all you're used to is a 4 cyl automatic. My big TS knows there's been a change in lighting conditions recently and has let me know about it!
 
Anyway, I can see you're well on your way to understanding this piece of equipment. Those plants look great.
 
BTW - 
 
I have a couple Hydrofarm fixtures that house T8/T12s that I'm no longer using...

 
I'm making progress, anyway.  Thanks man!  We may have to talk.  Always good to have good neighbors!
 

After suffering from an initial burn due to being too close, I moved mine to about 30 inches above canopy and everything is doing great now. I have the v2 rspec, which is a bit more powerful in terms of PAR output, and it really took some getting used to this light. With my other LED grow lights, 2 inches from canopy is enough :-)

 
I'd guess I'm a good 75 cm above the taller plants and maybe a meter above that flat BSOG and most of the rocoto sprouts. Sometimes I feel like it would be easiest/fastest to just burn them good, assuming they're not sprouts, and let the new growth come in adjusted to the light.
 
You and MildFruit have been getting a lot of good out of those big HLG's.  You're running yours at full power, right?  It throws me a bit that you're at the same distance I am, but running a bit over twice the wattage.  Seems I should be able to get closer, but if I'm not careful I get burn, even toward the edges of the tent.  Maybe I'll be able to close distance better as the plants get older.  The bigger ones do seem to have adjusted some.

 

[Bookers]

Looking good CD!!

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

[HeatMiser]

 
 
 Sometimes I feel like it would be easiest/fastest to just burn them good, assuming they're not sprouts, and let the new growth come in adjusted to the light.
 

 
This is where I am at right now, to be honest. Even at the recommended 18" I see the plants resent it a little. With 24"+ I didn't see adverse effects on smaller plants, but at that point you need to keep your light on longer to make up for decreased light intensity due to distance. Never had to worry with T5s, but hated their short lifespan.

 

[CaneDog]

I took a few more pictures today.  The weather's been pretty bad the last 10 days at least, with generally cool and sprinkly or rainy conditions prevailing.  The plants have reacted to that and are likely not well prepared for the clear sunny conditions that are supposed to start early next week and ramp up to 87F or so by the weekend.  It's making me nervous about planting out, but I'm going to have to do it sooner or later.
 
Anyhow, the big purple flexuosum has been okay with the recent weather, it seems, and is covered in hundreds of little buds.  I tried to get a second picture showing the amount of them, but it doesn't really come through.  it does show the leaves better though, which I've always though look pretty cool.
 

 

 
 
I used to grow Chocolate Habanero every year, but it's been a long time now.  I no longer have the old seeds, but Crafty Fox sent me a pack for his "Gurdy" Chocolate Hab (thanks Crafty) which is doing quite well. The chinense generally aren't liking the cooler weather and most have pretty much stalled.  Hopefully at least the roots are growing.
 
Chocolate Habanero

 
The rest are all PaulG plants.
 
Aji Amarillo doesn't mind the weather, but I'm hoping with the sun comes some lateral development.

 
A couple BJh-M's look about like they did 2 or 3 weeks ago, which is not uncommon with early season Chinense around here. They have opened up a little though and aren't quite so compact.

 

 
And this little guy is the smallest of the Purple Thunder    I have growing.  It spent a long time in a small container due to limited resources and, for whatever reason, the leaves have a noticeable different appearance that the other BJh-M that grew right next to it.  It may be environmental, but I'll be watching it to see if it continues to look different.

 

[podz]

 
 You're running yours at full power, right?  It throws me a bit that you're at the same distance I am, but running a bit over twice the wattage.

 
Naah, man, you're just more careful than I am. Trouble is my middle name and danger is my last.
 
Full power, yeah - haven't been bothered to tweak the pot.

 

[CaneDog]

Naah, man, you're just more careful than I am. Trouble is my middle name and danger is my last.
 
Full power, yeah - haven't been bothered to tweak the pot.

 
You know, I figured those would be Ace's middle and last names. 

 

[podz]

 
You know, I figured those would be Ace's middle and last names. 

 
Right now I am Ace's guardian angel, so his middle and last names are the same as mine :-)

 

[Ghost Pepper Revolution]

Nice CD, flexo is a flexing some big guns. That Aji Am is tall, are they typically a more taller than wide plant?