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

Coach's 2015 Overwhelming Grow

Final Grow List- Updated 3/25/15- 152 Varieties, Around 280 plants:
7 Pot Brain Strain, Red

7 Pot Brain Strain, Yellow

7 Pot Bubblegum, Red

7 Pot Burgundy

7 Pot Caramel

7 Pot Chaguanas

7 Pot Jonah x PDN, F3

7 Pot Jonah, Red

7 Pot Primo, Orange

7 Pot Primo, Red

7 Pot Primo, Yellow

7 Pot White

7 Pot Yellow

7 Pot Yellow x Bhut Jolokia India Carbon

Aji Amarillo

Aji Bolivian Long

Aji Brazilian Starfish

Aji Colorado

Ají Dulce, Orange

Ají Fantasy

Aji Jobito

Aji Lemon Drop

Aji Melocoton

Ají Omnicolor

Aji Panca

Aji Pineapple

Aji Queen Laurie

Aleppo

Ancient Sweet

Bad Brains

Bahamian Goat

Banana, Sweet Monster Heirloom

Bell, Lilac

Bell, Yellow

Bhut Jolokia, India Carbon

Bhut Jolokia, Peach

Bhut Jolokia, Purple

Bhut Jolokia, Red

Bhut Jolokia, White

Bhut Jolokia, Yellow

Bhut Orange Copenhagen

Bih Jolokia, Caramel

Bishop's Crown

Black Stinger

Bonda ma Jacques


Bonda ma Jacques x Yellow 7 Pot

Carolina Reaper

Cayenne, Purple

Cayenne, Ring of Fire

CGN 21500

CGN 21566

Chiltepe, Guatemalan Long

Chiltepe, Guatemalan Cone

Chiltepin x Reaper

Cinnamon Bell

Condor's Beak

Congo, Chocolate

Congo, Peach

Cumari do Para

Datil

Devil's Tongue, White

Dulcetta, Orange

Ethiopian Berbere

Fatalii x TSMB, Yellow

Fatalii, Black

Fatalii, Chocolate

Fatalii, Peach

Fatalii, Peach cross

Fatalii, Red

Fatalii, White

Fatalii, Yellow

Fish

Goat's Weed

Golden Treasure

Goronong

Grif 9304- Colombian Lightning

Habanero, Bolivian Bumpy Yellow

Habanero, Carolina Yellow

Habanero, Chocolate

Habanero, Dominican Huge Orange

Habanero, Galapagos- Isabel

Habanero, Large Red Belize Market

Habanero, Mustard Lightning

Habanero, Orange

Habanero, Paper Lantern

Habanero, Peach

Habanero, Red Savina

Habanero, St. Bart's

Hair

Hungarian Yellow Wax (mild)

Jalapeno, Biker Billy

Jalapeno, Early

Jalapeno, Long

Jalapeno, Purple

Jalapeno, Yellow x 7 Pot Bubblegum

Jamaican Mushroom, Yellow

Japones

Jay's Peach Ghost Scorpion

Jay's Red Ghost Scorpion

Jwala

Manzano, Caballo Amarillo 

Naga Morich

Naga, Black

Nagabrain, Chocolate

Peach Wasp

Pepperoncini, Greek

Pepperoncini, Italian

Peruvian Serlano

PI 199506- Aji Guyana

PI 281424- PR Mushroom

Pimenta Leopard

Prik Chi Faa

Purple Flash

Rainforest

Red Hot Cherry

Red Savina x Fatalii Red

Red Savina x Fatalii Yellow

Red Savina x Fatalii, Chocolate

Rocoto, Orange

Rocoto, Red

Rooster Spur

SB7J (mushroom pheno)

Scotch Bonnet x Naga Morich

Scotch Bonnet, Burkina Yellow

Scotch Bonnet, Cappuccino

Scotch Bonnet, Chocolate

Scotch Bonnet, MoA red

Scotch Bonnet, MoA yellow

Serrano

Shishito

Shumenski Rotund

Star of Turkey

Stuffed Red Giant

Sukari

Sulu Adana

Superhot Cross, Yellow

Tabasco

Tepin x Lemon Drop

Thai, Large Orange

Trinidad Beans

Trinidad Moruga Scorpion, Brown

Trinidad Moruga Scorpion, Red

Trinidad Moruga Scorpion, Yellow

Trinidad Scorpion Butch T

Trinidad Scorpion CARDI, Red

Trinidad Scorpion CARDI, Yellow

Trinidad Scorpion Sweet

Trinidad Scorpion, Chocolate

Unidentified Brain Strain Cross, Red

Wiri Wiri

Xalapa

Yalova Charleston

longrange_zpse9e33296.jpg

I've got a 3 shelf, 70"x48"x24" unit as my main indoor system. Being in North Carolina, I can put plants into the ground in mid-April. I've got other shelves to use when needed.
 
INTRO
I coach high school Cross Country & Track.
I teach AP Psychology. People say psychology majors are the people who need help the most. I was a History major, but people who spend a lot of time thinking about psychology may self-diagnose at times. Maybe. No one's ever told me I'm OCD. I'm super messy, but I do have a major "all or nothing" theme in my life. I run 100 mile races. I haven't washed my car or had it washed since 1991. I only wear 3 colors of shirts- black, navy & green (& only green because it's a school color). Maybe I have a problem. :) Why would peppers be any different?
 
I've always had gardens of some size- even if just 6-8 tomato plants & a couple of squash. In 2014, I expanded my garden exponentially. Still have a lot of fall/winter crops. I've never grown peppers or tomatoes from seed & only grew jalapenos, habaneros, bells, cayenne & tabasco. In mid-October, I only had 5 varieties of pepper seeds. Two months, later, I have 220, thanks to stumbling across this site & benefiting from the generosity of the folks on this site. Expanded my seed stockpile through giveaways, trades, harvesting from pods, and buying just a few. Incredibly generosity here. I've paid forward some of that, though my stock is limited to 5-10 seeds for most varieties minus what I have or will grow this season.
 
I've had a ton of questions & I've made a lot of mistakes so far. Hopefully this will evolve into more of voice of experience in a few months, but now, I suppose the glog is more a consolidation of advice seeking.
 
HISTORY TO DATE
The plan is to plant a total of six 1020 flats with 48 cells in each & to spread it out roughtly a month apart- two Nov. 1, two Dec. 1 & two Jan. 1.
 
I started germinating some seeds in bags October 26 but followed up 10 days later with seeds in soil. I didn't notice a difference in germination rates or speed between the two methods so I won't use bags in the future. I was a little impatient with germination, but after planting 2 seeds in each of 96 cells, I ended up with 88 seeds that popped. Not quite 50%, but it's a learning process. Almost all of the last set of seeds I planted sprouted. Problems were:
* Planted too deep
* Compacted soil too much
* Not ideal mix of soil. Used a mix of 3 store bought mixes with added Vermiculite. The one I used most heavily had too much mulchy compost. Have since improved with finer soil & Perlite.
* Temperature wasn't that consistent early on. 
 
I have all of that worked out for later germination.
 
I will complete the last of the 2nd wave of planting this week. 
 
OTHER PROBLEMS
BUGS
About 3 weeks ago, I came home to little tiny orange bugs on the underside of the cotyledons & tiny gray flying bugs- fewer of the gray ones. I sprayed insecticidal soap and the orange guys didn't last long. The tiny gray ones are still around but not in great numbers. I see one flying around a few times a day. 
 
YELLOWING
I've had about 6-8 seedlings die after yellowing. I'm positive I overwatered a little early. Last week, nearly ALL of my seedlings were looking a little yellow. I have watered very sparingly in the past 3-4 weeks. Every couple of days, some shrivel up & I give them a tiny bit of water. A few hours later, they bounce back. Besides that, I haven't really watered in the past 2 weeks. I changed my lighting around 3 days ago & have seen some changes... Was using one set of two 4" T8 lights with two 23w/1600 lumen CFLs on a clip & one 65w/950 lumen light for some heat. T8s were probably too far from the plants- maybe 16". 3 days ago, I added a second T8 fixture & ditched the other lights. I dropped the T8s to about 6" from the plants. The leaves seemed to have darken up a bit in the 3 days since. Today, I added some reflective insulation. I've had the lights on 18 hours/day. Temps have been a steady 82 degrees when they're on & 70 when they're off.
 
 
LIGHT BURN?
One of the reasons I got rid of the CFLs is because I couldn't put them anywhere except very close to the plants & noticed some darkened leaves in places where I left a CFL for several hours. Since then & since putting the four T8s on them 3 days ago, I've seen some dark spots form on the leaves that I don't remember being there before. 
spotty_zps167a0d8c.jpg

Sorry you'll have to tilt your head. Several leaves are spotty like this after moving T8s down to about 5-6" from seedlings. A few were very dark after being very close to CFLs.
NO REAL LEAVES YET??
I only have ONE seedling with anything but cotyledons. That one has had it for 2 weeks but hasn't really grown since. There are a few other seedlings that are developing other leaves but they haven't fully developed yet. Should this be a concern since some of these seedlings sprouted a month ago?
fatalii_zps01fe811d.jpg
                                             
dying_zpsfd144b8b.jpg

My only true leaves. Notice leaves aren't very dark. Yellow Fatalii.      Yellow daying seedlings. About 6-8 have died.
 
I know this is a wordy post but just trying to establish some background.
Seeds started between October 26-November 7 that sprouted & are still alive:
7 Pot Primo, Red
7 Pot White
Aji Pineapple
Bahamian Goat
Bhut Jolokia, Peach
CGN 21500
Cinnamon Bell
Datil
Fatalii, Black
Fatalii, Chocolate
Fatalii, White
Fatalii, Yellow
Habanero, Galapagos- Isabel
Habanero, White Bullet
Peach Wasp
Rainforest
Rocoto, Red
Scotch Bonnet, MoA red
Scotch Bonnet, MoA yellow
Thai, Large Orange
Trinidad Moruga Scorpion, Brown
Trinidad Scorpion Sweet
 
Seeds started between December 2-8. A few more planned this week & then a 3rd wave around January 1.
7 Pot Bubblegum, Red
7 Pot Chaguanas
7 Pot Jonah x PN, F3
7 Pot Jonah, Red
Aji Amarillo
Aji Bolivian Long
Aji Brazilian Starfish
Aji Colorado
Aji Lemon Drop
Aji Melocoton
Bad Brains
Bhut Jolokia, Red
Carolina Reaper
Dystopia (7 Pot Bubblegum variant)
Fatalii, Peach
Goronong
Habanero, Black
Habanero, Bolivian Bumpy Yellow
Habanero, Chocolate
Habanero, Mustard Lightning
Habanero, Paper Lantern
Habanero, Pastel Orange
Habanero, Peach
Jalapeno, Biker Billy
Jalapeno, Early
Jay's Peach Ghost Scorpion
Manzano, Yellow
Pimenta Leopard
Red Savina x Fatalii Red
Red Savina x Fatalii Yellow
Scotch Bonnet x 7 Pot Jonah yellow
Scotch Bonnet, Chocolate
Star of Turkey
Trinidad Moruga Scorpion, Red
Trinidad Scorpion Butch T
Trinidad Scorpion CARDI, Red
Trinidad Scorpion CARDI, Yellow
Yellow Jal x 7 Pot Bubblegum
 
Still working on the list for the last 35 or so varieties. Most annuums will go in the last round of planting.
 
Good job coach very informative. I'll be checking back in to see the progress..now that's a good set up. Mine is like ghetto fab. Storage buckets and Home Depot lights.i got the same thing happen to my seedling. Brown spots then lead to leaves with holes. Thought it was a pest infestation. So I left my cover off for a day. I read you that you have your lights on 18 hours a day. Is it best to keep your lights on that amount of time? If so I need to cut back Mine are on 24/7. Literally for about a month.Wife is complaining saying the electricity bill is going up. Look like I now know what to ask Santa for. Pm me some more pictures of your set up if you can.really looking yo invest into a better system. I thought I had a good system. Guess I was wrong good job once again.

A➕➕➕
 
About the yellowing... Are some of the plants still struggling?   At the risk of being utterly crucified, may I suggest you try a weak dose of general purpose ferts on a few of the pale fellows. Give 'em a little N and see if it helps.  It seems you don't have much to lose if they're fading anyway.
 
bucdout57 said:
really looking yo invest into a better system. I thought I had a good system. Guess I was wrong good job once again.

A➕➕➕
Thanks. We'll see how effective the lights are but what I'm using is a shelving system that looks kind of industrial. Very sturdy. T8s are from Lowe's. Added the silver bubble insulation today. Also from Lowe's. This system wasn't cheap but is certainly more affordable than others I see here. Again, we'll see how effective it is. Thanks for stopping by. I'll PM a response to your PM soon. 2am on the east coast. Zzzz...
Geonerd said:
About the yellowing... Are some of the plants still struggling?   At the risk of being utterly crucified, may I suggest you try a weak dose of general purpose ferts on a few of the pale fellows. Give 'em a little N and see if it helps.  It seems you don't have much to lose if they're fading anyway.
I giggled a bit at your "pale fellow" comment.
Certainly something to consider. I think it may just be that the lights were too far away. Now I worry about that spotting & some purpling on quite a few may be due to the lights being too close. I think the ones that are going to croak already have or are on their last legs. The rest look healthy enough to survive but sure are pale. I think I'll give it a couple of days & see how it develops. My instinct, as you say, is to fertilize with some dilute organic fertilizer but I've fought that urge. I think they're stable enough now to bounce back. They dying ones looked a little rougher. Your experiment may be in order at the end of the week.

Thanks!
 
winland said:
 
 
Can you be a bit more specific as to what you mean by "strong"?   
Too much.......? 
Certain soil mixes come premixed with time released fertilizers. Mixing 3 different ones together can compound the problem. Depends on brand, type and so, Seedling mixes are pretty neutral and allows for the early root development without burning them. 
 
organic pepper said:
Certain soil mixes come premixed with time released fertilizers. Mixing 3 different ones together can compound the problem. Depends on brand, type and so, Seedling mixes are pretty neutral and allows for the early root development without burning them. 
No added fertilizers in these. One mix high in peat, one high in compost (mostly woodchips, it seems) & one pretty ideal mix. I added vermiculite. Could be that the carbon-rich compost is blocking nitrogen? I have a more suitable mixture now. The bugs were strange. Everything was fine for 2 weeks & they came out all the sudden. No changes.
 
coachspencerxc said:
No added fertilizers in these. One mix high in peat, one high in compost (mostly woodchips, it seems) & one pretty ideal mix. I added vermiculite. Could be that the carbon-rich compost is blocking nitrogen? I have a more suitable mixture now. The bugs were strange. Everything was fine for 2 weeks & they came out all the sudden. No changes.
It could be the wood chip are creating to much density in the mixture for the seedlings fine root hairs to breath. Compost at this stage could be an issue as well. Many persons including myself have gotten mixes that had larva within the mix that has caused bug problems from the get go. I have used fly paper in the past to combat the gnats. Depending on the type of bugs that you have present may require other methods ie use of predator bugs, garlic and or pepper spray, or plain soapy water spray. There is a mass of info reguarding them on the net as well as this forum. Hope that helped. Cheers
 
juanitos said:
lololol, never grown from seed, so i started 50 different varieties..........  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:
 
yeah you should have more growth to like 2nd set true of leaves by now.
 
Hows your watering schedule? how long do the pots stay damp?
Yeah, well like I said, it's hard for me to do things half way. :)
 
Because I've worried so much that the yellowing was caused by overwatering, I've held way back on the water. I've waited until I see wilt and then watering ever so slightly. Considered coaxing some of the seedlings into new containers of better soil. Might be to fragile?  
 
hmmm, well new baby roots like to have water.
I don't really do the whole wilting thing till they are a bit bigger.
Do you have an oscillating fan? that will keep most fungus/algae stuff from growin.
Here's how i water: fill up 1020 tray with 1 inch of water. Wait for it to dry out + 1 more day(usually like 4 days). repeat.
so they are damp, then they dry out, the problem with overwating is when you have pots that don't drain and stay damp forever.
 
you can transplant around then. just careful you don't break the main root lol.
sorry threadjack >.>
IMG_20140129_113741.jpg

IMG_20140129_114502.jpg

IMG_20140129_114038.jpg
 
juanitos said:
hmmm, well new baby roots like to have water.
I don't really do the whole wilting thing till they are a bit bigger.
Do you have an oscillating fan? that will keep most fungus/algae stuff from growin.
Here's how i water: fill up 1020 tray with 1 inch of water. Wait for it to dry out + 1 more day(usually like 4 days). repeat.
so they are damp, then they dry out, the problem with overwating is when you have pots that don't drain and stay damp forever.
 
you can transplant around then. just careful you don't break the main root lol.
sorry threadjack >.>
Not a threadjack at all! That's EXACTLY the kind of advice I was looking for. The yellowing had me nervous. But I will try what you said. It's certainly the more intuitive way to water. 
THANKS!
 
When you transplant young ones, hold them by the leaf rather than the stem -- a damaged leaf, no biggy; damaged stem, uh oh..
 
A lot of people use a seed-starting mix (most brands have one) that has very little to no nutes in it in order to prevent overwhelming the little ones and then pot up into their main mix after a set of leaves or three. There is plenty of energy in the cotyledons to get them off to a good start.
 
Nice set up and good luck with your season! I went a little overboard last year and it was a great way to figure out what flavour profiles I prefer compared to others.
 
:cheers:
 
Geonerd said:
At the risk of being utterly crucified, may I suggest you try a weak dose of general purpose ferts on a few of the pale fellows. Give 'em a little N and see if it helps.  It seems you don't have much to lose if they're fading anyway.
 
Not much change.
 
I know I need to give it more time to see results but 2 nights ago, I transplanted into better soil enriched with a little Black Kow. Hopefully, we'll see them darken up a bit. 
 
I'm rethinking my lighting situation. I have 2x 2 bulb T8 fixtures that are maybe 6" from the seedlings. I have silver insulation on the short sides of the 2'x4' shelves & 2 x 12" pieces on the back to make a corner but also lets some sunlight in (realizing how little help that may be). Front is open. Was thinking of building a CFL strip with Y splitters. Maybe 8 bulbs over 4'. While thinking of this, I came across Pulpiteer's glog with a vanity light fixture and CFLs on it. Seems like a better system. Wondering if it could handle the Y splitters & 8 bulbs or if the 4 T8 bulbs I have is enough already. Ideas? I was planning on using just 1 x 2 bulb T8 fixture per shelf but bumped it up when my seedlings started struggling. Thinking a bigger bump may be helpful, but then again, not sure what my problem is- light, heat (drops to 68-70 for 6 hours when lights are off), crappy soil, water... Not sure.
 
First off, love the start to the glog.  I also love that you are jumping in with both feet on this pepper growing business. :surprised:
 
With all the seedlings it looks like you'll grow, you will need a lot of light.  I find that the T8's do ok for just the very beginning and then I need more light.  Also, with those you can put them right next to the seedlings and you'll want to or they will start out very leggy.  My two cents on the yellowing is over watering.  I've done it myself.  Too much water strips away the nutrients and thus the fading color.  It sounds like you are on the right track with your soil adjustments as far as experimenting and adding perlite.  Just continue to keep track of what consistency works best for you and what allows the roots to breathe. 
 
Juanitos - are you using rice hulls in your soil? I looked at those as another way to do aeration and was interested.  If you are using them, how do you like them?
 
Anyway, I hope that helps some.  I'm curious how everything will work out for you!
 
Pulpiteer said:
First off, love the start to the glog.  I also love that you are jumping in with both feet on this pepper growing business. :surprised:
 
With all the seedlings it looks like you'll grow, you will need a lot of light.  I find that the T8's do ok for just the very beginning and then I need more light.  Also, with those you can put them right next to the seedlings and you'll want to or they will start out very leggy
Thanks! I'd almost welcone a little legginess. Instead, I've got seedlings that lok the same way they did a month ago. I'll work on more lights tomorrow... similar to your system. Dumb question- when a fixture says the max output is 100w let's say, does that mean: A) 23w CFL that is the equivalent to 100w incandescent or B) 100w CFL too (thinking of the Y splitter)? I think B is correct but don't want to burn my house down. :)

Thanks again.
 
It's the actual wattage, not the equivalent.  So you could put (2) 23w bulbs in and have a total of 46 watts and they would be the equivalent of 200 watts of incandescents.  So yeah, B. 
 
Also, before you get into your next stage of planting, look for some soil mix recipes on this site.  They'll be mostly Sphagnum peat based.  Or you can buy something like Happy Frog potting soil that will be mixed for you.  With soil stuff you tend to get what you pay for.  It's the foundation of your growing so be picky. Again, just my 2 cents though.  A different soil mix may help your problems.
 
Back
Top