Eric's Indoor Grow 2016-17

Introduction

I have been a long time lurker of these forums and have found a vast amount of useful information here. I decided to start posting on this platform to keep a log of my trials and tribulations into the world of growing hot peppers indoors.

I have tried a few hydroponics methods had a few successful grows from seeds to pods using the Kratky and DWC methods. Those first few grows were also entirely done using fluorescent lights (T5HO).

After a little while, monitoring and adjusting water parameters daily got old pretty quickly and I set myself on a quest to find a less "involved" method that could still produce some decent yields. Along the way, I upgraded my light system to a 600W High-Intensity Discharge setup.

Fast forward a few months and countless hours spent online researching different methods, reading grow logs, watching YouTube videos, etc... I decided to try my hand at a top-feed drip system with coco coir on a custom drain table.

I will use the first couple of posts to document my setup and post updates along the way afterwards. Hopefully someone else can learn from my experiences (and avoid the same mistakes I made/make) and rely on the other folks here to chime in when needed and help out with some of the challenges I have.
 
Setup details and information

• Drain Table and Drip System (coming soon)
• Light System (coming soon)
• Pots and Media (coming soon)
• Nutrients (coming soon)
• Plants (coming soon)

By the way, I want to give a shout-out to the good folks over at the "Pepper Lovers" G+ Community. I don't know if I'm allowed to mention "other communities" on this forum but check'em out if you can. I believe a lot of the folks on there are also present on the boards here.
 
Here's a preview of the current setup about a week before this first post (December 16th). Details and updates will be further posted in this thread.
 

 
Grow updates

• (coming soon)

 

[PaulG]

to the glogosphere, Eric!  Always good to have a north of the
border neighbor on the forum.  You folk grow in some challenging
conditions, I can see why it's an indoor grow!  Plants looking good.

 

[stettoman]

From one Eric to another, hi and welcome, and I too have an indoor grow starting, but mine is at best the most primitive possible yet enough to sustain life. You may notice winter going on in the background.
 

 
Luck on your grow!

 

[Devv]

I'm at the opposite end of the spectrum weather wise offering a hearty good luck this season!
 
Enjoy your grow! Cuz that's what it's all about.

 

[ebisaillon]

Quick update and overall shot of the grow bed. Peppers were topped about 2 weeks ago and you can clearly see where the new growth is taking off. Image taken on the 16th of December.
 

 

[ebisaillon]

Well, it seems I lost the ability to edit the original post and add links to subsequent updates... that's too bad.
 
Here's some update pics for December 23rd. Most of the pepper plants were topped and have now grown side shoots and are getting pretty bushy. I've also started to remove some of the lower leaves to improve air circulation.
 
As you can see, I'm getting good growth and the plants seem to be doing well. I am still struggling to find the right nutrient mix balance with calcium and magnesium to compensate for my very soft water and the coco medium. You can see signs of deficiency in some of the leaves but I think I'm on the right track to fixing it. 
 
I've also noticed that while the C. chinense seem to like a daily watering, the C. annuum and C. baccatum seem to prefer watering every other day... I'm going to have to find a solution for that since they're all connected to the same irrigation system...
 
Overal shot of the "Grow Bed"
 

 
Red Habanero
 
Lots of flowers and already about 5-6 pods set and starting to grow everyday.
 

 
Bhut Jolokia (Ghost Pepper)
 

 
Jamaican Scotch Bonnet
 

 
Thai Chili
 

 
Black Bhutlah
 

 
Sugar Rush Peach
 

 
Jalapeno
 

 
Jamaican Scotch Bonnet Brown
 

 
Carolina Reaper
 

 
 
... and bonus shots of my Dwarf Sunflower
 

 

 
That's it for now!

 

[PaulG]

Great looking plants, Eric - very healthy and vigorous.
Keep up the good work...
 
Merry Christmas!

 

[Slug]

I've also noticed that while the C. chinense seem to like a daily watering, the C. annuum and C. baccatum seem to prefer watering every other day... I'm going to have to find a solution for that since they're all connected to the same irrigation system...

 
At a glance, it looks like your water comes in on one side and splits to wrap around both sides of the table, yes?  Return is from under the table, yes?  For a temporary quick fix with that setup, you should be able to splice a couple of ballcock valves into your main irrigation lines on either side.  Run your daily plants off the top end and place the feeds for any you need to regulate after the valves.  Alternative would be to use quick clamps on the individual lines for plants you don't want to water, assuming the individual plant leads are just rubber tubing.
 
Would like to see the details on your table.  It looks interesting.  Can't get a good sense of scale, so how big are the cloth pots?  Good luck!

 

[ebisaillon]

 
At a glance, it looks like your water comes in on one side and splits to wrap around both sides of the table, yes?  Return is from under the table, yes?  For a temporary quick fix with that setup, you should be able to splice a couple of ballcock valves into your main irrigation lines on either side.  Run your daily plants off the top end and place the feeds for any you need to regulate after the valves.  Alternative would be to use quick clamps on the individual lines for plants you don't want to water, assuming the individual plant leads are just rubber tubing.
 
Would like to see the details on your table.  It looks interesting.  Can't get a good sense of scale, so how big are the cloth pots?  Good luck!

 
Thank you for your reply. Yes, feeding from under the table to a main "looped off" line (the yellow tubing, 5/8" ID) and from there, you have the individual lines (12 sites, 1/4" OD). The return/runoff drips off the right side of the table to a rain gutter that then into a bucket hooked up directly to the basement floor drain.
 
Good idea with the ballcock valves but for now, all I do is close off the drippers at the sites I don't want to water. It's not an automated process but it works.
 
I've tried to document as much as I could about my setup here, take a look at the link below.
https://sites.google.com/view/ericsindoorgarden/setup
 
I'll gladly answer any outstanding questions you might have.