DocNrock's 2013 Glog - 7/11/13

stickman · Oct 30, 2012

DocNrock said:
Those look like some great exotic varieties. I'd love to hear how the Alma Paprikas turn out for you. For a pickling pepper, I'm growing the Malawi Peppadew. If our grows are both successful, maybe we can trade pickling pods when we have ripe ones?

Works for me... remind me if I forget, and I'll try to return the favor.

DocNrock · Nov 1, 2012

On-call this weekend, so might not have time for an update. Of the seeds sown on October 14th, so far it seems there are five varieties that may not grow. Butch T (no soil sprout yet, helmet headed death in Rapid Rooter), White Devil's Tongue (same), Yellow Bhut (helmet headed death in both), Red Bhut (no activity in either yet), and Anaheim (same). Also lost seedlings for 7 Pot White, Fatalii, and Yellow Moruga to helmet head in the Rapid Rooters. At least I have these growing from the soil pots.

On the soil side, so far the Jonahs are helmet headed. No activity yet from the following: Aji Yellow, Jamaican Hot Chocolate, Aji Omnicolor, Not Trinidad Scorpion (Arboretum), Red Congo, Red Rocoto, Pimenta de Neyde, Barrackpore, 7 Pot Chiguanas, Red Devil's Tongue, and 7 Pot Yellow, in addition to the couple listed above. These are all growing from Rapid Rooters, though.

I have more seed for four of the five varieties that have done nothing yet, so I might re-sow them next weekend. I'll give them another week to see if they pop. If not, I have a Yellow Bhut plant and an Anaheim plant I might try to overwinter.

That's it. No pics. Seedlings are for the most part plugging along.

SocalChilehead · Nov 1, 2012

Sorry to hear about the helmet heads have you tried snipping the tips off with nail clippers or scissors http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/problems/seed-coat-stuck.htm. The good thing is start early so you dont ever fall behind in case something do go as plan. What is that missing variety I think I might have extra depending on what it is. That great news that most of everything has sprouted already.

DocNrock · Nov 2, 2012

SocalChilehead said:
Sorry to hear about the helmet heads have you tried snipping the tips off with nail clippers or scissors http://www.gardening...coat-stuck.htm. The good thing is start early so you dont ever fall behind in case something do go as plan. What is that missing variety I think I might have extra depending on what it is. That great news that most of everything has sprouted already.

No worries, man. I had a number that I freed by snipping the tips. The ones that died never had even a bit of cotyledon emerge from the hull. I suppose I could clip the edge of the hull all the way around. But like you said, its early, so even germing more I still have plenty of time.

nee · Nov 2, 2012

DocNrock said:
No activity yet from the following:................... Pimenta de Neyde,

Mine took just over 90 days to germinate! Hoping you see signs before i did!

DocNrock · Nov 2, 2012

nee said:
Mine took just over 90 days to germinate! Hoping you see signs before i did!

I would have given up long before that! Fortunately, I do have a PdN seedling that came up in the Rapid Rooter.

KiNGDeNNiZ · Nov 7, 2012

let me know if you need fatalii seeds...bought pods and have tons of seeds.. also took a pod .. took all the seeds and just threw them in a container...should have about 20 of them pop up...let me know if you need a seedling.. hahaha

DocNrock · Nov 10, 2012

KiNGDeNNiZ said:
let me know if you need fatalii seeds...bought pods and have tons of seeds.. also took a pod .. took all the seeds and just threw them in a container...should have about 20 of them pop up...let me know if you need a seedling.. hahaha

Thanks DeNNiZ, but I'm good for now. My Fatalii came up in soil. If it croaks, I'll hit ya up!

I hope to do an update later today, but for now, here are a few observations regarding using Rapid Rooters vs. soil to start seeds:

More terminal helmet heads in the Rapid Rooters.

Rapid Rooters seem to be more succeptible to mold, but it didn't attack every cell, just a few of them. Spores must have been on the seed coat of only some varieties before sowing. Even soaking the seeds beforehand in a dilution of H2O2/chamomile tea didn't prevent it. I've seen a white mold that seems to be harmless, but there is a black mold that seems to be death to the seeds. Nothing popped in those cells. I'm thinking of doing a brief pre-soak in bleach before soaking the next round of seeds. I've read about it and it doesn't seem to harm the embryo inside. Once the black mold appears, it seems to be resistant to H2O2, Daconil, and copper soap. Out of 70+ cells, only about 8 got hit by mold, so I don't think it was oversoaking. The involved cells were not adjacent, either.

The varieties that got killed by mold didn't seem to get hit in soil (Peach Ghost Scorpion, Fatalii). I did use a mild amendment of Ancient Forest and worm castings in the soil. Maybe the organisms in the soil out-competed the mold spores on the seed coat. The Jay's PGS and Fatalii germed fine in soil.

Some varieties pop quicker in the Rapid Rooters, but some seemed to pop quicker in soil. The difficult to germ varieties seemed to prefer the Rapid Rooters (ie, HP22B).

For those that popped in both, the seedlings in soil for the most part have grown faster than those in the Rooters. Although, there are a couple of varieties that have grown just as fast in the Rooters. Others have grown just as slowly in soil. I just gave the ones in the Rooters some half-strength kelp solution (BioWeed: 0.2 - 0 - 0.3) the other day to see if it helps their growth.

I'll put up some pics later on this morning. It's still dark outside!

GA Growhead · Nov 10, 2012

That is quite interesting about your germination results. Kinda all over the place. A good experiment showing that similar results can be achieved with two different mediums.
I have just put seeds into rockwool cubes, a medium that i have no experience with. Seeds have been in for eight or nine days with nothing yet. A bit worried, but still early germination wise. Hope to pull this off. Going for that indoor attempt. Will make a winter glog if happen to succeed!
Send me you addy also!

DocNrock · Nov 10, 2012

GA Growhead said:
That is quite interesting about your germination results. Kinda all over the place. A good experiment showing that similar results can be achieved with two different mediums.
I have just put seeds into rockwool cubes, a medium that i have no experience with. Seeds have been in for eight or nine days with nothing yet. A bit worried, but still early germination wise. Hope to pull this off. Going for that indoor attempt. Will make a winter glog if happen to succeed!
Send me you addy also!

Good luck with the rockwool. Are you going to do hydro, or will you put the cubes in soil once they host a seedling?

PM on its way.

GA Growhead · Nov 10, 2012

Going to attemp hydro. That seems less messy inside. And will be a good learning process.
Went by the the hydroponics shop in downtown and grabbed a few basics to get started.
Still need to work out what lighting i am going buy. Need to see if i can find alpha's shop too! And say whats up to him.

DocNrock · Nov 10, 2012

GA Growhead said:
Going to attemp hydro. That seems less messy inside. And will be a good learning process.
Went by the the hydroponics shop in downtown and grabbed a few basics to get started.
Still need to work out what lighting i am going buy. Need to see if i can find alpha's shop too! And say whats up to him.

Good luck! I hope you glog your progress. Would love to follow it.

I had posted this morning about my observations in using Rapid Rooters vs. soil for sprouting seeds. Right now I have four baking dishes full of sprouts. Some of these are going to be ready to be up-potted soon, and the oldest are five days shy of a month since seed hit soil (or Rapid Rooter).

Now for new stuff! Tonight is supposed to get pretty cold, like 37 degrees. A frost is possible. My seedlings are OK inside but my plants outside are at risk. Some may remember I got a 6x8 greenhouse, but I hadn't yet put it together. Well, today was the day. Was hoping to get it done before dark so I could put my plants in it, but no cigar.

But I did get a substantial amount of work done. First off, the assembly instructions suck! Anyway, they recommend one or two helpers and to do the assembly on a calm, clear day. Alrighty: no helper: check!, windy day: check! Let's get on with this.

Stopped by Home Depot on my way home from work last night and picked up what I needed for the foundation so I would have everything this morning.

This is going on a pre-existing slab on the East side of the house. Cut the 2x4's to length, sprayed them with Thompson's Water Sealer, then assembled them into a frame using corner braces.

Completed frame:

Needed something for a floor, per se. I want to put gravel in it, but I needed something to contain the gravel. Also I wanted to keep the critters out from the bottom...

Yup, I think this will do the trick:

Almost forgot to snap a pic of the corner reinforcements:

OK, foundation done:

That took longer than I wanted it to. Didn't get started until about 9:45 and finished the foundation at around 1 pm. The silver/gray is the backing of the tarp rolled over the top of the wood frame. Cool thing is: it is an identical match to duct tape! So I used duct tape to seal the corners on the outside.

OK, time to get organized:

Worked pretty much straight through until about 5:30. Not done, but couldn't go any further today:

Some parts of the assembly were pretty "fun" with no helper...and the wind. I got pretty creative with duct tape to hold things temporarily while assembling. Anyway, hope to finish it tomorrow. I packed the plants together on the side of the house for tonight and am hoping for the best.

On a different note, some of the varieties I had didn't pop or died helmet-heads. Also, some of the sprouts that did pop don't look very strong, so I needed to get some more seed for these varieties. Of course, I find something else that I've gotta have. Put these in to soak this morning after pre-treating with 10% bleach for five minutes, then sowed them in Rapid Rooters after I came inside this evening.

New varieties:

Purple Bell (RFC)
Aji Panca (RFC)
Giant Mexican Rocoto (Pepperlover)
"Cracked" Jalapeno (Pepperlover)
Blonde (Pepperlover)
Aribibi Gustantino (Pepperlover)
White Bhut (Pepperlover)

PaulG had sent me a cool variety in a SFRB a bit ago. I sowed seeds from the Yellow Painted Hab he sent. I like that pod. Also sowed seeds from his White Bullet Habs to see if the seedlings are more robust than the weaklings I have currently growing.

Yemtol had posted seeds available for an apparently new strain of pepper he got seeds for. The description sounded intriguing so I sent him a SASBE. He sent seeds and a dried pod. I have to say that this is perhaps the tastiest pepper I have ever tried, period. The heat is mild, about like a Jalapeno, but the flavor is sweet and almost mango-like. He gave out seeds to a number of people. I anticipate a lot of people ultimately growing this pepper. It is called Nhu's Pepper, and yes, seeds are sown. If anyone wants the link to his offer, just let me know. Awesome flavor in this pepper.

Also on the way from down-under (Jungle Rain) are seeds for Madballz 7. I couldn't resist.

Anyway, hope everyone is having a great weekend.

stickman · Nov 11, 2012

Looking good Doc... How are you fastening the aluminum pieces together, sheet metal screws? The seedlings look good for 4 weeks out. Don't give up on what look like "weaklings"... I planted Habaneros for the first time this year, and they seemed to be lagging far behind the Annuums for most of the season. Once they got the temps and daylight hours they liked though, they took off, and I was rolling in chiles from them through August and September.

DocNrock · Nov 11, 2012

stickman said:
Looking good Doc... How are you fastening the aluminum pieces together, sheet metal screws? The seedlings look good for 4 weeks out. Don't give up on what look like "weaklings"... I planted Habaneros for the first time this year, and they seemed to be lagging far behind the Annuums for most of the season. Once they got the temps and daylight hours they liked though, they took off, and I was rolling in chiles from them through August and September.

Thanks, Rick. The aluminum pieces go together with nuts and bolts that come in the kit. To attatch the greenhouse frame to the foundation though requires 1 1/2" wood screws and drilling holes through the aluminum and into the wood. This is specified in the instructions but the holes are not pre-drilled and the wood screws are not included.

You are probably right about the "laggers," I'm just hedging my bets.

stickman · Nov 11, 2012

If you don't want the tip of the drill bit to wander all over the place, use a hammer and a center punch to dimple the metal where you're going to drill the hole before you actually do it. Cheers...

DocNrock · Nov 11, 2012

stickman said:
If you don't want the tip of the drill bit to wander all over the place, use a hammer and a center punch to dimple the metal where you're going to drill the hole before you actually do it. Cheers...

Thanks. The aluminum was soft enough (and the bit sharp enough) that wander wasn't an issue, but I did have a punch on hand, if needed.

Stefan_W · Nov 11, 2012

Very impressive! The work you are doing this season is awe-inspiring. I'm sure it will be fun to watch it all develop all season long!

SocalChilehead · Nov 13, 2012

Your seedlings look great man you have pass me the cold has stalled mines out, but hopefully with the new LED and finally finishing covering greenhouse tomorrow will help me catch up. The greenhouse looks awesome and great work for a one man crew. I have extra 2 seeds from the madballz chocolate BigCedar( Brandon) sent me if your interested.

DocNrock · Nov 14, 2012

Stefan_W said:
Very impressive! The work you are doing this season is awe-inspiring. I'm sure it will be fun to watch it all develop all season long!

Thanks, Stefan. I don't know about awe-inspiring, but if I can avoid the pitfalls I hit this year, I'm hoping for pods by February!

SocalChilehead said:
Your seedlings look great man you have pass me the cold has stalled mines out, but hopefully with the new LED and finally finishing covering greenhouse tomorrow will help me catch up. The greenhouse looks awesome and great work for a one man crew. I have extra 2 seeds from the madballz chocolate BigCedar( Brandon) sent me if your interested.

Thanks Fernando. I'm sure your seedlings are gonna take off really soon. Regarding the Madballz, I think I'm good for now. Appreciate the offer.

I think I found out why some of my Rapid Rooter seedlings seems stunted. Watered them this morning and saw some fungus gnats. I have some Bt at home already. Guess I'll have to mix some up and give the larvae a lethal dose.

sicman · Nov 14, 2012

cool,cool. cant wait to see the finished stocked green house. hurry,hurry!