DocNrock's 2013 Glog - 7/11/13

My 2013 grow officially began 10/14/2012, when seeds hit soil. After seeing Fernando (SocalChilehead) growing in his greenhouse "sanctuary" and KiNGDeNNiZ continuing to start new growth in his AeroGarden, as well as the community HP22B grow thread already being 8 pages, I broke down and started my 2013 grow. I was going to limit it to 50 varieties, but that ended up being 64, 77 including the plants I want to save from 2012. If some varieties don't pop or I end up losing some along the way, I might still be down to 50 (or less!) in no time. The grow list with pop dates is at the bottom of this post.

Since I had plenty of seeds I wanted to try an experiment. Which is better for germination, soil or Rapid Rooters? I have two mini-greenhouses with 36 soil cups each, and one mini-greenhouse with a 72 cell insert loaded with Rapid Rooters. All seeds were soaked overnight in water that had been boiled and cooled and contained a dilution of brewed chamomile tea and H2O2. The Rapid Rooters and soil were both moistened with the same mix. The soil is Sungro Sunshine mix #1 amended lightly with Ancient Forest and worm castings. Wondering if the organisms in the amendments might help break down the seed coat. Each cell contains about five seeds. This will force me to cull the weaklings, as opposed to trying to save them, hahaha! At most I will end up with two seedlings for each variety. If both survive, I can try to gift one of the two. I am thinking that some varieties may germinate better in soil, some better in the Rapid Rooters, and for some it may not make a difference. I read somewhere that kelp solutions are rich in growth hormones. Has anyone added a light kelp solution dilution to their germination setup? I was thinking of adding a couple of drops to each Rapid Rooter cell. Fert-wise, the kelp solutions are very, very weak. I doubt it would do any harm. Has anyone ever tried the kelp? I have not, but might try it later on anything that seems stubborn to sprout.

I am hoping these guys are all budded up come springtime, and ready for an early harvest. Since my indoor space is limited, I am giving serious consideration to building a small greenhouse in the backyard and putting in a couple of space heaters for the night time. I decided against a raised bed, and will probably go with 5 gallon Root Pouches for the larger plants. Some of the annuums and plants I'm as yet unsure of I will grow in 2 gallon pots. If I end up liking them, I can always up-pot them.

Getting organized:

Man, I hope I didn't mix any of these up! 64 cups to keep straight is a far cry from 3. It will be 6 months until I know for sure!:

Rapid Rooters:

Soil:

Let the waiting game begin!:

Also, in case anyone is interested, the white plastic labelling tags are available at Discount Hydroponics, $2.95/100! Cheaper than popsickle sticks!

Regarding the plants I already have, I am going to try to start cuttings off most of them in the event the plants don't make it over the winter. I won't need to start those from seed, although there are four varieties (Douglah, Fatalii, Barrackpore and Yellow Bhut) I am starting from seed, as well.

Question: When we start a new grow season, is it typical to just add to one's glog thread, or is it appropriate to start a new thread for the new grow year?

Anyway, happy growing to you all and thanks for looking. I'm hoping all the lessons I learned this year will help me to make this grow much more successful!

GROW LIST: I will try to edit in pop dates for both soil and Rapid Rooters. The Rapid Rooters might get earlier pop dates since I can see the rootlets before hooks form.

Sown seeds (65):

Trinidad Scorpion (AJIJOE) 10/20/12 (RR)
HP22B (Pepper Joe) 10/19/12 (RR), 10/27/12 (soil)
Primo (Primo) 10/22/12 (RR), 10/26/12 (soil)
Billy Boy Jonah (Silver_Surfer via Coheed) 10/22/12 (RR)
7 Pot Congo Gigantic (Pepperlover) 10/23/12 (RR), 10/26/12 (soil)
7 Pot Barrackpore (Biscgolf) 10/27/12 (RR)
Dorset Naga (Pepperlover - pods) 10/24/12 (RR), 10/26/12 (soil)
Naga Morich (Biscgolf - pods) 10/22/12 (RR), 10/24/12 (soil)
Bhut Jolokia (JoynersHotPeppers)
Red Rocoto (SocalChilihead) 10/22/12 (RR)
Malawi Peppadew (Refiningfirechiles) 10/19/12 (RR), 10/24/12 (soil)
Trinidad PI281317 (Pepperlover) 10/19/12 (RR), 10/24/12 (soil)
Anaheim (Pepperlover - gift)
7 Pot Chiguanas (Silver Surfer via Coheed) 10/23/12 (RR)
Red Devil's Tongue (Pepperlover - gift) 10/28/12 (RR)
Butch T (Pepperlover - pods) 10/24/12 (RR)
7 Pot Jonah (Pepperlover - pods) 10/27/12 (RR)
7 Pot Burgundy (Silver_Surfer via Coheed) 10/23/12 (RR), 10/26/12 (soil)
Infinity 10/20/12 (soil), 10/22/12 (RR)
Yellow Moruga (Pepperlover) 10/23/12 (soil), 10/23/12 (RR)
Yellow Brain (Biscgolf) 10/24/12 (RR)
Yellow Bhut Jolokia (Biscgolf) 10/26/12 (soil)
Fatalii (AJIJOE) 10/22/12 (RR),10/28/12 (soil)
7 Pot Yellow (Biscgolf) 10/24/12 (RR)
Peach Bhut (AJIJOE) 10/28/12 (RR)
Beni Highland (AJIJOE) 10/19/12 (RR), 10/22/12 (soil)
Trinidad Morova (Pepperlover) 10/23/12 (soil), 10/28/12 (RR)
7 Pot Orange (Silver_Surfer via Coheed) 10/23/12 (soil), 10/28/12 (RR)
Golden Cayenne (SocalChilehead) 10/19/12 (RR), 10/20/12 (soil)
Yellow Scotch Bonnet (AJIJOE) 10/22/12 (soil), 10/22/12 (RR)
7 Pot Brown (Biscgolf) 10/24/12 (soil)
Douglah (Biscgolf) 10/27/12 (soil)
Black Habanero (Refiningfirechiles) 10/20/12 (RR), 10/26/12 (soil)
Chocolate Scorpion (KiNGDeNNiZ) 10/22/12 (RR), 10/23/12 (soil)
Douglah x Chocolate Scorpion F4 (Silver_Surfer via Coheed) 10/23/12 (RR), 10/24/12 (soil)
Black Naga (Refiningfirechiles) 10/20/12 (soil)
Pasilla Bajio (Refiningfirechiles) 10/22/12 (soil), 10/27/12 (RR)
Long Chocolate Habanero (AJIJOE) 10/24/12 (RR), 10/24/12 (soil)
Chocolate Habanero (AJIJOE) 10/23/12 (soil), 10/24/12 (RR)
Black Stinger (Refiningfirechiles) 10/22/12 (RR), 10/23/12 (soil)
7 Pot White (Pepperlover) 10/24/12 (RR), 10/27/12 (soil)
Giant White Habanero (AJIJOE) 10/22/12 (RR), 10/23/12 (soil)
White Bullet Habanero (AJIJOE) 10/22/12 (RR), 10/26/12 (soil)
White Devil's Tongue (Silver_Surfer via Coheed) 10/28/12 (RR)
Serrano (Pepper Joe - free) 10/19/12 (RR), 10/19/12 (soil) ***FIRST SOIL***
Jalapeno (Pepper Joe - free) 10/19/12 (RR), 10/20/12 (soil)
Red Bell (store bought pepper) 10/19/12 (RR), 10/26/12 (soil)
Andy F1 Gochu (Stickman via SocalChilehead) 10/17/12 (RR) ***TIED, FIRST OVERALL*** 10/23/12 (soil)
Korean Winner Hybrid (Stickman via SocalChilehead) 10/17/12 (RR) ***TIED, FIRST OVERALL***
Pimenta de Neyde (SocalChilehead) 10/28/12 (RR)
Trinidad Scorpion Green (SocalChilehead) 10/19/12 (RR)
Most Prolific C.chacoense (Pepperlover - gift) 10/23/12 (RR)
Royal Black (AJIJOE) 10/22/12 (RR), 10/26/12 (soil)
Assam (SocalChilehead) 10/19/12 (RR), 10/22/12 (soil)
Trinidad Scorpion "FG" (AJIJOE) 10/19/12 (RR), 10/24/12 (soil)
Australian Lantern Habanero (AJIJOE) 10/26/12 (RR), 10/26/12 (soil)
Aji Yellow (AJIJOE) 10/23/12 (RR)
Jamaican Hot Chocolate (KiNGDeNNiZ) 10/22/12 (RR)
Aji Omnicolor (OROZCONLECHE) 10/19/12 (RR)
Not-Trinidad Scorpion (long yellow pod from Arboretum, KiNGDeNNiZ) 10/22/12 (RR)
Mystery Chocolate Mix (Silver_Surfer) 10/23/12 (RR)
Red Congo (AJIJOE) 10/23/12 (RR)
Peach Habanero (AJIJOE) 10/19/12 (RR), 10/22/12 (soil)
Yellow Hablokia (AJIJOE) 10/20/12 (RR), 10/22/12 (soil)
Sown 10/20/12
Yellow Bell (store-bought pepper) 10/23/12 (RR)
Sown 10/28/12
Chocolate Bell (Refiningfirechiles)
Jay's Peach Ghost Scorpion (Refiningfirechiles)
Malaysian Goronong (Refiningfirechiles)
Douglah (Refiningfirechiles)
Peter (Refiningfirechiles)
Yellow Bhut (Refiningfirechiles)
Chocolate Bhut (Refiningfirechiles)
Aji Pineapple (Refiningfirechiles)
Aji Dulce 1 (Tradewinds)
Datil (Tradewinds)
Goat's Horn (Tradewinds)
NuMex Big Jim (Tradewinds)
Paprika (Tradewinds)
Brain Strain 7 (PepperRidge)


What I hope to save from my current grow, either whole plants or clones (13):

Carribean Red (local nursery)
Aji Panca (Refiningfirechiles)
Peter Pepper (Refiningfirechiles)
Jamaican Yellow Mushroom (Refiningfirechiles)
Moruga (Refiningfirechiles)
Malaysian Goronong (Refiningfirechiles)
Thai Dragon (North Park Produce)
Chenzo (North Park Produce)
Red Brain Strain (Baker's Peppers - pods)
Chinese 5-color (Orozconleche)
Aji Dulce (Orozconleche)
Datil (Orozconleche)
Bonnie "World's Hottest Hab" (Fatalii?) (Home Depot)

I'm going to do my best to keep one of each alive, but with 77 total, I might be lucky if a few croak!

 

[DocNrock]

Keep on rockin' Doc, everything looks insanely healthy. Baby pods at this point are a bonus! I hadn't realized that BT was a remedy for Fungus Gnats. We have a few in the soil of our indoor plants, but by no means an infestation since we let the soil dry out pretty thoroughly between waterings and we have sticky traps set up in the pots as well. It's good to know what to do if they get out of hand though.

Thanks Rick! Happy to see you officially started your grow and that the Douglah snuck in there. Here is a link regarding Bt and fungus gnats: http://www.seakmg.org/fungusgnattx.pdf .

 

[stickman]

Thanks for the info Doc... I printed it out for my wife so she can show it to the people in the office where she works as well.

 

[PeriPeri]

Nice one DocNrock! Well done, your plants look really great!

Well done DocNrock, those plants are looking really awesome!

 

[DocNrock]

Nice one DocNrock! Well done, your plants look really great!

Well done DocNrock, those plants are looking really awesome!

PeriPeri, thank you and thanks for stopping in! They certainly seem to love that greenhouse. When spring arrives, I hope they aren't too sensitive to the elements when I start the hardening off process.

Many of these plants were (beyond) ready to up-pot. I calculated the volume of the space the rootball had and the section of the window pots each plant had was about 0.4 gallons. For a few reasons, I only wanted to go to one or two gallon pots right now. One, I've found that if I go directly to a huge pot that the plants seem to stall for quite some time before they start growing again. Related to this, I like the plant to have a nice compact root ball before up-potting, I really think this helps the plant to more quickly spread out roots into new medium when it is up-potted. And just to be sure, I don't have much room in the greenhouse so one to two gallon pots are the biggest I could really go. But hey, each plant is getting two to four times the root space.

I didn't really want to buy sixty or seventy intermediary pots. But I did discover an excellent solution: disposable grow bags! $1.79 for a pack of 10 two-gallon bags. http://www.discount-hydro.com/products/Grow-Bags.html . And Discount Hydroponics is about 15 minutes from my house. Since these are temporary pots until the plants get up-potted to their final 5 to 7 gallon homes, I wont have 70+ two gallon pots taking up space in the back yard later. And you can't argue with the price.

So today's project was up-potting, rearranging the greenhouse, and while it was empty, lowering the lights to help the smaller plants grow. DH didn't open until10, so I got a bit of a late start...and it was forecast to rain this afternoon. I was hustling to get as much done as I could before the rain came. Pictures are therefore somewhat sparse.

Lights lowered, shelf centered under the lights, and a few of the larger plants up-potted into the two-gallon bags:

Well, the rain started coming down about 5 pm. At first it was just sprinkling, so I was going to keep working. But then it became real rain; time to abort:

Guess I'll have to do a few after work each day this coming week, or perhaps just finish it next weekend.

This brings me to future plans. I had pretty much decided I was going to go with Root Pouches for the final five to seven gallon pots. But something interesting happened a couple of days ago. Cayennmist had posted mid-summer in 2012 about using the resusable Walmart shopping bags as "Root Pouches." They breathe and are in the five gallon range. During the short time he was using them, they seemed to be OK. I had asked him in his thread about longevity. He was MIA for quite some time and showed back up on Friday, and was kind enough to answer my longevity question.. It seems the Walmart bags withstood the season without rotting, tearing, etc. If they last at least one season, that's good enough for me. I had heard they cost fifty cents each at Walmart. I picked some up today. They only had six, so I guess I'll have to make multiple trips. But the best part? They were only 25 cents.

 

[WalkGood]

Doc,
Lots of nice picture updates you have added and with good detail. From the pics I can't tell if the gnats are all that bad or that you have an early handle on controlling their unwanted population. Let us know how the Walmart bags work out as the price does seem very reasonable are some of the pods still on schedule for your March 1st estimate?

BTW love the look and organization in your greenhouse

 

[Stefan_W]

+1 for loving the greenhouse! When I looked at the picture again it made me wonder how you get around the table to water all of the plants. Just a random thought that jumped into my head, and I'm bad at editing random thoughts out

 

[GA Growhead]

Looking good. Grow bags are a smart move.
Like stefan, i was wonder how are you going to get in and out and around.
Under the table to water in the back? I would roll like that! Im not scared.

6x8 doesn't seem big enough for us pepper addicted variety hoarding garden enthusiasts! I would take it in a heartbeat and deal with it though. Im thinking i would like to go bigger, which means more $$$$$. Will look into it for the future for sure. Thanks for the info. About to check their site.

 

[PeriPeri]

Wow, great looking greenhouse... now that is something I could definately use! Man, going to have to look into those for the winter months But you are getting al geared and I can see I will get my turn to keep the winter fires burning by reading everyone's glogs.

Great idea with the recycle bags! Definately worth investigating.

 

[Lavatung]

Green house is looking great Doc. Good to see some baby pods!

 

[stickman]

At a quarter apiece, why not experiment with the shopping bags if they'll hold together at least a season. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out on that one! Cheers

 

[DocNrock]

Hey, all, thanks for the comments, complements, and for just stopping in!

Doc,
Lots of nice picture updates you have added and with good detail. From the pics I can't tell if the gnats are all that bad or that you have an early handle on controlling their unwanted population. Let us know how the Walmart bags work out as the price does seem very reasonable are some of the pods still on schedule for your March 1st estimate?

BTW love the look and organization in your greenhouse

The gnats really have not been that bad. Two pieces of sticky paper seemed to keep them out of the air. But I've read that if you see a few adults, then there could be thousands of larvae munching the roots of your plants. So for now, sticky paper, then when I get time, some Bt for the soil. Based on Cayennmist's postings, I'm pretty confident the Wally bags will work out fine. I'm going to start collecting them now so that I have enough when it is time to move these guys outdoors in the spring. Man, I have to be careful what I say around here. Sounds like you are going to hold me to it! Seriously, though, I'm hoping for March 1. We'll see.

+1 for loving the greenhouse! When I looked at the picture again it made me wonder how you get around the table to water all of the plants. Just a random thought that jumped into my head, and I'm bad at editing random thoughts out

Looking good. Grow bags are a smart move.
Like stefan, i was wonder how are you going to get in and out and around.
Under the table to water in the back? I would roll like that! Im not scared.

6x8 doesn't seem big enough for us pepper addicted variety hoarding garden enthusiasts! I would take it in a heartbeat and deal with it though. Im thinking i would like to go bigger, which means more $$$$$. Will look into it for the future for sure. Thanks for the info. About to check their site.

Stefan and Jason, you two have got it! That indeed is my plan. The only way I will be able to get to the ones in the back for watering is by crawling under the shelf in the center. But I only seem to have to water once a week in there and it should be for no more than another six weeks. Tied to this is the fact that I would have loved to have gotten a larger greenhouse, but I simply had no space for a larger one. So I have to make efficient use of the 6 x 8 space. Kind of like a game of Tetris.

Wow, great looking greenhouse... now that is something I could definately use! Man, going to have to look into those for the winter months But you are getting al geared and I can see I will get my turn to keep the winter fires burning by reading everyone's glogs.

Great idea with the recycle bags! Definately worth investigating.

PeriPeri, I have been living vicariously through your Glog and those of the rest of THP's Southern Hemisphere members! I really wanted my plants to be well-established come summertime, so I got the greenhouse so I could start much earlier. Our climate isn't as extreme as those far North of me, but we do get the occasional frost in the winter, and it is not uncommon for us to have summer temps of 110+ F. I'll keep you posted about the reusable shopping bags.

Green house is looking great Doc. Good to see some baby pods!

The plants really seem to love it in there. Everytime I would go inside, I would tap all the flowers I saw to try to get them to pollenate. To my surprise, on occasion one would just shower pollen once it was tapped.

At a quarter apiece, why not experiment with the shopping bags if they'll hold together at least a season. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out on that one! Cheers

I agree, even at 50 cents each, I would go for it. From Cayennmist's photos, he has me sold on them. I'm going to try to use them for my entire grow once the plants are ready to go outside.

Good growing, all!

Brent

 

[romy6]

Dang Doc you have been one busy mofo!!! Your plants seem to love what you are feding them. The greenhouse is rocking. I will make sure to frequent more often.


When do you plan on moving them babies out in the real world?

 

[Jamison]

Oh yea baby, give them things some room to spread their roots! Transplants look great!

 

[DocNrock]

Dang Doc you have been one busy mofo!!! Your plants seem to love what you are feding them. The greenhouse is rocking. I will make sure to frequent more often.


When do you plan on moving them babies out in the real world?

Thanks, Romy6! I don't work on them much, but when I do, I tend to do a lot. I hope to get them outdoors around mid-February. Our last frost is "supposed" to be Feb 1-15. I haven't really fed them anything yet, except for my usual soil amendments. The soil is a mix of Sungro 1 and 4, amended with Ancient Forest, worm castings, Indonesian and Mexican bat guano, and kelp granules. They seem to "eat it up!"

Oh yea baby, give them things some room to spread their roots! Transplants look great!

Thanks, Jamison! They've got a lot of room in the new bags compared to what they had!

Til next time!

 

[Stefan_W]

I guess you could always get a watering can with a really REALLY long spout if you ever get tired of playing tetris in there

 

[stc3248]

Yeah, I met up with Cayennemist last year for a seed handoff. I watched his grow, and had been wondering about how the bags held up! Thanks for looking him up for the answer. I have eyeballed those bags at wallyworld ever since and wondered. Do me a favor and compare the volume to a 5# nursery container. Let me know how close the two really are.

Potting up can sure be a pain, but I always just make myself comfortable and break out a few beverages. I am going to search for a vid I watched on here last year though, so you can see how pros do it...

Here it is...its with seedlings, but I am certain he is just as quick with the bigger ones. Spicy Chicken is a pepper genius!

Here is a link to his glog from last year...
http://thehotpepper.com/topic/27357-spicy-chickens-mmxii-grow-log-the-hot-spot-pepper-shack/

 

[PeriPeri]

At a quarter apiece, why not experiment with the shopping bags if they'll hold together at least a season. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out on that one! Cheers

Here in South Africa, the cheapest recycle bags at the shops are R10... thats about $1... and we are charged a nickel for every plastic bag Buggers!

 

[DocNrock]

I guess you could always get a watering can with a really REALLY long spout if you ever get tired of playing tetris in there

LOL. Now that would be funny!

Yeah, I met up with Cayennemist last year for a seed handoff. I watched his grow, and had been wondering about how the bags held up! Thanks for looking him up for the answer. I have eyeballed those bags at wallyworld ever since and wondered. Do me a favor and compare the volume to a 5# nursery container. Let me know how close the two really are.

Potting up can sure be a pain, but I always just make myself comfortable and break out a few beverages. I am going to search for a vid I watched on here last year though, so you can see how pros do it...

Here it is...its with seedlings, but I am certain he is just as quick with the bigger ones. Spicy Chicken is a pepper genius!

Here is a link to his glog from last year...
http://thehotpepper....t-pepper-shack/

I'll do the comparo with the #5 this weekend, Shane, as I'm curious, as well. I'll have to post some pics when I up-pot the rest this coming weekend. Looks like I did it similarly to what Spicy Chicken was doing in the video, except I don't have a little "spacemaker" for the rootball.

Here in South Africa, the cheapest recycle bags at the shops are R10... thats about $1... and we are charged a nickel for every plastic bag Buggers!

I'll have to take some close-up photos of the Walmart bags. They're not plastic, they're a breathable fabric. A cheap fabric, but a fabric, not like a plastic bag. Specifically, they are a reusable shopping bag that is made of a recyclable fabric. On the other hand, the grow bags I got ($1.79 for a pack of 10) are 4 mil plastic. But they do have pre cut holes in the bottom for drainage. They also come in 5 gallon ($3.29 for a pack of 10), but I would worry about those being strong enough for a season of growing. On the up-side, though, they are white on the outside, which would help keep the roots cooler in the summer months. I'll probably try a few plants in these at the next up-pot as well to see how they perform.

 

[stickman]

I found a hydroponics store nearby and got some 1 liter sized fiber root pouches and air pots to experiment with. I'll stop by and get some bags at Wally World if they have any.

 

[DocNrock]

I found a hydroponics store nearby and got some 1 liter sized fiber root pouches and air pots to experiment with. I'll stop by and get some bags at Wally World if they have any.

Cool! What variety will you put in them? Will you post progress with them in your glog?