Coach's 2015 Overwhelming Grow

jcw10tc · Feb 12, 2015

Your plants look great. They are huge already. Probably will have to top or something with 2 months of growing to go before you can plant. Hopefully you can get by without having to put into bigger pots. I know for mine I won't have room to get them all into anything bigger than 3.5" pots before planting. I wouldn't worry about topping, as healthy and big as they are, they will probably be fine. You have so many you could just test with a few until you feel comfortable with it. I topped several while still indoors last year when they go too tall. After planting outside topped probably 2/3 of my plants. All turned out fine at end. I had a douglah last year that was growing like your brazillian ghost. Even after planting out it never grew right. Then about 2 weeks later I cut it in half and it then took off. I never did produce well though, probably only about 10 pods all season.

Peter S · Feb 12, 2015

Nice looking plants coach!

juanitos · Feb 12, 2015

yeah ur definately going to want to top those before they get more out of control lol. That jalapeno already has the Y will be fruiting in no time if you're fertilizing it :dance:

in the last 2 pics you can already see how the new branches are growing, clipping the big old leaves off helps em grow more branches like that. its pretty easy to do, just use your thumbnail to cut em off.

ps. i can see some of the chins in the tray in background, they look great!

PaulG · Feb 12, 2015

Looking good, Coach. Lots of nice healthy growth.
I don't think it would hurt the manzanos a bit to be topped.

beerbreath81 · Feb 13, 2015

agree with others proably could use a topping on a few of the plants but either way think they'll be good. Remind me how long you got till plant out again

coachspencerxc · Feb 13, 2015

Thanks everyone. Very helpful.

beerbreath81 said:
agree with others proably could use a topping on a few of the plants but either way think they'll be good. Remind me how long you got till plant out again

I can plant outside as early as April 15. In actuality, I'll probably harden them off and place them outside in whatever container they're in then for 10 days or so just to make sure before I plant in the ground.

Solem22 · Feb 13, 2015

Your plants look very healthy. I started early last year, around mid december. I ended up topping most of my early starts because I simply ran out of room in the grow area and they could not get enough light and turned leggy. They ended up doing just fine and produced well. Since we only live about an hour away from each other I would say that our growing climates are very similar. Last year I was able to plant out in mid april since the plants were already so big it was kind of a relief but they did not really do much until the ground warmed up a bit. You can see some of this from my glog from last year: http://thehotpepper.com/topic/44040-solem-2014/

Anyways, your plants look great and that is a very impressive list you have going. Good luck with the rest of your season!

coachspencerxc · Feb 13, 2015

Solem22 said:
Your plants look very healthy. I started early last year, around mid december. I ended up topping most of my early starts because I simply ran out of room in the grow area and they could not get enough light and turned leggy. They ended up doing just fine and produced well. Since we only live about an hourYou can see some of this from my glog from last year: http://thehotpepper.com/topic/44040-solem-2014/

Very helpful. I'll check that out. Thanks!

Pulpiteer · Feb 14, 2015

Nice looking plants - I'd keep that squat one with all the weird leaf formations that you asked about, by the way. It looked green and healthy, so who knows why it's growing weird. I'm wondering if that rocoto needs to be potted up as well. Those plants are looking big. Nice work!

coachspencerxc · Feb 17, 2015

Pulpiteer said:
Nice looking plants - I'd keep that squat one with all the weird leaf formations that you asked about, by the way. It looked green and healthy, so who knows why it's growing weird. I'm wondering if that rocoto needs to be potted up as well. Those plants are looking big. Nice work!

Thanks. Your's are looking good too!

coachspencerxc · Feb 20, 2015

Pimenta Leopards among others- my middle aged plants- about 5-6" tall.

juanitos · Feb 20, 2015

looks like you should make some capsicum salad.

coachspencerxc · Feb 20, 2015

juanitos said:
looks like you should make some capsicum salad.

Haha. Yeah, I still haven't gotten around to topping & pruning. Like I said, these are my mid-sized guys. The bigger ones are really bushy & all over the place.

coachspencerxc · Mar 3, 2015

A couple of people asked about my lighting so I decided to post a picture... not because I think it was particularly novel.

First, let me explain. I started most of my plants way too early & then I went from thinking I'd plant 60 to 120 to 200 to 300. Annnd, I'm in the process of trying to sell my house. Goes on the market Friday & we close on the new one March 20. Right now, I'm at absolute max capacity with sixteen 1020 trays, including 32 tomato plants. The tomatoes & maybe 12 of the peppers were planted 2-3 weeks ago & will need to bump up to a bigger pot but I don't have room without doing something a little creative. I moved them all into a big closet for house showing, but I actually like them in there better than where I had them. Can boost the temp easier.

Anyway, all that to say I don't really want most of my plants to get bigger right now. Some are 10-14" tall & I've been plucking blossoms off for weeks. I decided to let a couple of plants run their course & not de-blossom. My lighting is just barely less than what I had per shelf a month ago but I've moved them back a little more so the largest ones are 8-10" away from the lights. On some shelves, I have T8s. On others, I've built the things pictured below: 4 foot 1x2" furring strip with 3 powerstrips duct taped to it. On the powerstrip, I've plugged in these adapters & then screwed in splitters to those to fit 2 CFLs. I've seen several people use the splitters, but used with a regular socket. Rather than deal with wiring, I decided to use the powerstrips & plug in adapters. They've worked well.

juanitos · Mar 3, 2015

lol i'm guessing they don't show buyers your closet?
and here's the pepper closet... wtf bro that's weed we aren't buying this!

anyway looking good on the lights. did that end up being cheaper than the t8s, or why the switch? easier to move/customize?

coachspencerxc · Mar 3, 2015

juanitos said:
lol i'm guessing they don't show buyers your closet?
and here's the pepper closet... wtf bro that's weed we aren't buying this!

anyway looking good on the lights. did that end up being cheaper than the t8s, or why the switch? easier to move/customize?

Haha. Well, I had the shelves in my kitchen so, better tucked away.
The CFLs produce a lot more lumens than T8s & give off a little heat.
The biggest drawback is that the CFLs hang pretty low & take up a lot of depth in the shelf. Next year, I'll probably modify so the bulbs are at a right angle- so the length of the bulb is parallel with the shelf.

thirdcoasttx · Mar 3, 2015

Looking good coach!!! Top those bad boys you'll be surprised how fast they start throwing out new growth.

coachspencerxc · Mar 4, 2015

thirdcoasttx said:
Looking good coach!!! Top those bad boys you'll be surprised how fast they start throwing out new growth.

I need to find the time (& courage) to do it. Thanks!

coachspencerxc · Mar 4, 2015

Some of my biggest plants got a slight bump from 3.5" square pots to 4" ones.

Large Orange Thai (I'm done picking off blossoms on this one.) & PI 199506 (Aji Guyana):

Aji Fantasy & Brown Moruga:

Should I be concerned some of my larger plants aren't exactly straight?

Plantguy76 · Mar 4, 2015

Wow you started early Coach!
You have a great list of plants and they are all looking good nice big & green plants
You will have loads of pods this year!
I ordered form JungleRain monday I got 3 varieties form them.
Hawaii Beach Capsicum Chinense
Scarlet Lantern Capsicum Chinense
Angkor Sunrise capsicum frutescens
I am also waiting on some other packages form nigel ,wicked mike & replacement form Judy for Tobago Seasoning getting Peach Congo (PL)
So I am waiting to plant my Capsicum Annuum's &tomatoes.
Sorry Coach for rambling on like this in your glog didn't mean to hijack it .
I wish you the best of luck this growing season looks like your off to a great start!