• Blog your pepper progress. The first image in your first post will be used to represent your Glog.

Celeste grow log 2010

I been encouraged to post my progress. well, I have seedlings so I guess I'll start!

So, I know I have here somewhere when I started these- I guess its been a week or two?

I'll look it up

I was told to start my scorpions now- so here are my Trinidad scorpions that patrick sent me and Yellow Scorpions-CARDI from Cappy:
1264389276.jpg


1265070998.jpg


and first up- THE YELLOW!

as of 02.01.10 I had three seedlings, and this evening, 02.02.10 I have two more.

They are in a kritter keeper (with plastic wrap on top to holdin humidity) in a large aquarium in a cold room in a south window (but we aint been getting no sun) so they have a hermit crab heater under them and a full spectrum 40 watt above them and been staying between 80 -90 F, I think thats good? and yes, I know I need to go buy a grow light from Wally World, at least until we have a few days without clouds.

My dad has given me some Miracle gro potting soil for the next pot up, and some Schultz 20-30-20 plant food for when I need it, and ya'll can be as free with the advice as ya wanna be, becuase this is my first serious attempt at growing food in a dozen years!
 
Click to expand...
:onfire:;):cool:

I am getting so excited- by harvest time I'll be out of school, I'm gonna get in contact with some other local garden people, see if I can trade some peppers for the other ingredients for salsa!

-ooo, and I found some powder in my cabinet labeled "fatali" and put it on my okras last night, mmm, I am starting to see combinations forming for just the right balance of heat....wish I'd planted poblanos, but I'll bet I can find folk to trade with!
 
You still have time to plant poblanos if you want. Or keep an eye out for them when all the big home stores start setting their plants out. You can pick up one or two of them for a couple of bucks and they'll be a foot tall already.
 
Happy Shakespeares birthday!

okay, and its repotting day at Celeste's house.
First up, the Aji Limons, before:
ajilimons.jpg

Notice how leggy they are. especially that first one on the right! It was the first to germinate and just nsisted on towering over everyone!

I clipped off all the cotyledons, and buried them up to their necks!

After:
ajilimon1.jpg


It had roots all the way to the bottom of the cup, and none of the others had roots but halfway down. so it got the bigger pot.

Here's the other two:

ajilimon2.jpg
 
Now the Fatalis. Before:

fatali1.jpg

After:
fatali2.jpg


Notice, not as leggy. something else different about the leaves, but I cant put my finger on it. why I'm paying attention will be revealed soon.
 
Mystery peppers. They are either Aji's or Fatalis, or one of each.

mystery.jpg


Notice how the one on the right is more leggy? reminds me of the Aji's. the one on the left, something about its leaves...hmmmmmm.
so I named them, tentatively,
Mystery "A"
mysterya.jpg

and Mystery "F"

mysteryf.jpg


The scorpions are doing well and I am going to go put their pictures in the scorpion grow event thread!
 
Celeste said:
I figure they still need the heat since the Trinidads havent come up yet. I'll pick up the light payday- in the meantime they do have the incandescent, and we are occassionally getting sun in that south window. they'd be under 70 degrees if I didnt keep the heat under them, goes down to nearly 60 there.

I will be growing more, Nova- I'm going to start the habs and the Fatali's and the Aji Limons when I'm told its time to start them (remind me Patrick)-and my "garden" is a 10 foot square second floor deck. My dad is going to give me 3 gallon icing buckets- they're white, so that should be good. I'll drill holes in the bottom and put drip trays under them.

I wonder if I could grow the seeds from these Thai chili's I picked up? are green thai cilis ripe or no?
Click to expand...

There are green Thai chilies that are ripe; you're probably okay to plant them (seeds).
 
I know they are different genus and species, Mr. Arboc. I am trying to figure out what characteristics are different between the two so that I can identify my "mystery peppers". I'm looking for those teeny differences that biologists pick up on to do taxonomy. however, some of those are not apparent to the naked eye and I dont know much about plants.

Thanks, AV, I wondered if some Thai chilis ripened "green". How does one tell if one has mature seeds?
 
^ Thai chilies are red, orange, green, and many other colors including black. Take your green chilies and remove the seeds asap; fresher is better. Plant them and see what happens. PM me if you want some seeds if yours don't work.
It would appear you've got your shit together from what I've seen. Awesome pics and priks (Thai for chili).
 
I will have to make it back to the ethnic market to buy the thai peppers. The one I bought them from originally is an Indian-Pakistani market, but now i know what they are I will see if the asian market close by has some. I believe the owner is thai, so I'm thinking the answer would be yes.
 
Thanks, guys! Unfortunately, my little paper cups that I had planted the hab seeds in went off. I want to say mildew. white powdery all ovr the top. black mold down the ousides of the cups when I picked them up. I am not sure what went wrong, this time I *didnt* cover them with plastic wrap, but tried to keep the heat and water as constant as possible. More air flow, less air humidity, but... I wonder, the seeds were removed at that christmas bash my friend and I had, and were not particularly cooled- just dried in the open air and then saved in a plastic baggie. should they have been chilled in the fridge to gve them a winter? could I have overwatered them? Is it too late to start again with another batch? I have plenty of seed.
 
Questions! School's out and I am going to be getting three gallon buckets to plant all my peppers in. They've been doing great in the Miracle Grow soil but I cant afford that in quantity- probably pick up the cheapest I can manage, I am thinking Hyponex, so I know I'll need to feed. I've been told also to plant into rich, and I've been given Schultz 20 30 20. It says "Starter: 1/2 txp per gallon of water." Should I go with that, or a different dilution?

I'm also going to pick up some Safer soap and some cheap cayenne powder to make a spray for the leaves, I want to just start straight off protecting them from critters.

Now, I've also seen advice to use epsom salts, Hydrogen Peroxide, and crushed eggshells for feeding various things they need- do I wait till the plants show evidence of deficiency, or water with these things periodically from the beginning? Do I need to get ph test kits?

I plan on drilling holes in the bottoms of the buckets and getting deep drip trays to water from the bottom.

I am going to put the plants on a second floor deck on the south side of the house, full sun most of the day.

I live smack in the middle of the US, the local growing Zone is listed at 6-7. (we're in a warm pocket at the intersection of three geographical regions and three competing weather patterns)

Especially would like to hear from Midwest growers with at least a season more growing experience than me! -I'm too excited aobut having peppers! (and my green thumb father is envious of my healthy peppers).
 
5/25-repotting day.
"Mom. I cant eat my pizza in the kitchen! Your PLANTS are ALL OVER THE TABLE!"

chilitable.jpg


Well, I ran out of room in the windowsill:
chiliwindow.jpg


Here's the Count:
1 red Trinidad Scorpion form Patrick.
5 Yellow CARDI Trinidad Scorpions from Pepper Ridge Farm.
4 Aji Limons from Patrick
3 Fatallis from Patrick.
2 Habaneros from Home Depot.
They are labeled Bonnie's WORLD'S HOTTEST Habanero Pepper. we'll see.
bonniehab.jpg


Look at this- there are all these crazy little leaves at the base. I've been cutting the smallest, lowest leaves off of mine from seed everytime I repot, but they were all leggy.

habcloseup.jpg


AJ said trim up from the bottom a ways to keep the insect traffic down- but his are all mature plants. advice on what to do about this?
 
Celeste said:
Questions! School's out and I am going to be getting three gallon buckets to plant all my peppers in. They've been doing great in the Miracle Grow soil but I cant afford that in quantity- probably pick up the cheapest I can manage, I am thinking Hyponex, so I know I'll need to feed. I've been told also to plant into rich, and I've been given Schultz 20 30 20. It says "Starter: 1/2 txp per gallon of water." Should I go with that, or a different dilution?

I'm also going to pick up some Safer soap and some cheap cayenne powder to make a spray for the leaves, I want to just start straight off protecting them from critters.

Now, I've also seen advice to use epsom salts, Hydrogen Peroxide, and crushed eggshells for feeding various things they need- do I wait till the plants show evidence of deficiency, or water with these things periodically from the beginning? Do I need to get ph test kits?

I plan on drilling holes in the bottoms of the buckets and getting deep drip trays to water from the bottom.

I am going to put the plants on a second floor deck on the south side of the house, full sun most of the day.

I live smack in the middle of the US, the local growing Zone is listed at 6-7. (we're in a warm pocket at the intersection of three geographical regions and three competing weather patterns)

Especially would like to hear from Midwest growers with at least a season more growing experience than me! -I'm too excited aobut having peppers! (and my green thumb father is envious of my healthy peppers).
Click to expand...

Lemme see if I can help with a couple of these questions. Some of this is just my opinion Celeste so take it all with a grain of salt.

I would use the fertilizer at half the rate recommended. They usually list rates for once a month feeding and every time you water feeding. Go with the every time you water and again, at half the recommended rate.

No need to spray the leaves until there is a reason. Safer soap is a good idea but you have to spray it often to stay ahead of most bugs. Adding pepper to the spray is usually for mammal attacks. I doubt if you have too many of those on a second floor deck. Squirrels maybe. Use the cayenne if they're a potential threat.

Epsom salts are good if used sparingly--once a month or so. Hydrogen peroxide is usually used to fight off mold or if you have roots going bad. Leave it on the shelf until necessary and I doubt if it ever will be. Crushed egg shells you can sprinkle on top or add to the potting mix. It's a source of calcium.

A pH test kit isn't a bad idea and you can get them relatively cheap, say under $10. I wouldn't consider it a necessity though. If your plants are growing odds are your pH is fine. If you start having problems testing your pH would be one of the first things you'll want to do. The wrong pH can prevent your plants from absorbing available nutrients.You could add all you want and it won't correct any problems. I always consider pH first when trying to fix a problem.

Using drip trays and watering from the bottom is great but there is a drawback. Peppers don't like wet feet--roots continuously wet. If your plan was to keep the drip trays full of water I'm afraid it won't work as you'll end up with rotten roots. Roots need air as much as they need water. A constant availability of either one won't work.

Good luck.
 
Thanks Patrick- actually my plan for the drip tray is to fill with water and dump out whats left after twenty-four hours. I figure I can water them when the dirt feels too dry, or when they begin to look wilty. Which should work, since your advice seems to indicate alternate periods of rain and drought? Actually, might just work being on the deck- if the rain pattern we're getting continues, the most important thing would be for me to remember to empty the drip trays- or leave them off and water only if necessary. I want to have the safer soap available and ready-something has nibbled when I put them out. -or the hot pepper wax spray- which the man at the garden center says most people use for rabbits, but the bottle says it works on aphids and thrips as well. I will sprinkle cayenne on top of the dirt as soon as I put them out for good- the squirrels dig in them every time I set them out. I lost four tomato plants one year to squirrels- they dug them up planting walnuts in my pots. I dont know where there are walnut trees in my neighborhood, but there must be!
 
You've definitely got things under control Celeste, congrats.

I forgot to mention all that new growth in the last photo. That is wonderful! That's what I want to see on mine. Look how thick and robust it is. If you get these into the sun they'll start to grow vertically and get the new growth away from the soil. That plant has the potential to become a huge, bushy, thick, pepper filled monster. The kind I always hope for.
 
Oh goody. Because I think I ought to have habaneros. giant pepper bush sound good- then I could make that amazing pepper tonic I had at Christmas. Two plants should be enough then. Got to get my plants used to going out so they dont get sunburned. left them out a bit too long the other day, a few leaves got hit- but not all leaves on any plant, and some plants did fine. Hopefully this coming week I can get them out some everyday and then pot the big ones up to leave out. -soon the rest will follow suit, I'm sure!
 
More Questions

Not sure I'm doing good at this hardening off thing. First day out on a very warm day I left them out rather longer than intended and most of the trinidads got a couple of sunburned leaves. Then we had a couple of days of wild weather and I kept them in. Then we had a break yesterday so I put them out when it was cloudy at noon- and the sun can out- pretty hot, so I only left them out for an hour. The fatallis and habs are short and seem completely unaffected. The Aji's are more sensitive but not as much as the trinidads. the good news is that every time they seem to sprout as many new leaves as those they get sun burnt, and the smaller leaves dont seem to be as likely to be affected as the large ones. I left them out this morning until 11ish.
They were getting some advantage of outdoor air and sunlight when I kept them in an open window- but the A/C is on now so I cant- and they no way all fit in the window anymore!

The deck is shaded in the morning but is south facing so gets pretty much full sun from ten am till nearly sundown. am not a complete master of my time and cannot rely on others to bring them in, so here are my thoughts for this week of "hardening off".

Saturday and Sunday, outside from 6 am to 8:30 am. (Then I go to work and dont make it home till sundown). Monday and Wednesday morning 6 am till 11 am. Tuesday and Thursday 6 pm till sundown (or leave them out all night?) Friday see if they can handle a full day? I need to repot the Trinidads soon, they are about out of their pots- but they will be going into three gallon buckets and once they are there I have to leave them out- there is no room indoors! I would appreciate some insights!:)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top