First Grow, Low Budget Chilli Grow

Well a little about me : http://thehotpepper.com/topic/58566-greetings-from-sunny-durban-south-africa/
 
And now the Rules/ Constraints:
 
1) I want to keep it as low cost as possible - initially. I want to at least make sure I can grow the plants and have fun before I start sinking big bucks into it.
2) I am growing the easy to acquire, cheap peppers first. I want to experiment.
3) I am growing them in an area where there is a lot of wind, a lot of sun and little rain.
     3.1) As such I have created a "shelter" for them made of some excess things I had lying around in the garage.

 

 
The White Table on its side and the old dog basket are removable to allow as much light in as possible. The Grass is terribly dry at this time but It has been so hot and we have had just so little raid at the moment. Hosepipe bans are in place in certain areas so it feels a bit wrong for us to water our garden.
 
4) My First Grow List
1 x Jalapeno Plant - With one Flower and one Pod:

 
1 x “Paprika”  (Although it is 2 plants but too tangled to separate) * completely separated them now:

They have been put in 2 x 2L Ginger beer bottles. They look really sad but both those plants were in one small pot half the size of one of those bottles they are in now. Their roots were so tangled and they were forced to grow away from each other just to make sure they got sun. As such their leaves are bent to those sides and I think they will just need time to recover. They did have pods (1 on each plant) but they were shriveled, green and one fell off, so I took the other one off too.
 
7 of 12 x California Wonder:

 
8 of 12 x Chilli Long Slim

 
They are planted in 1L bottles. The whiter ones are Long Life Milk bottles and the other slimmer ones are concentrate juice bottles. 
The remaining ones will soon be replanted as I consume Milk and Juice.
 

 
10 x Habanero Seeds in 5x Styrofoam cups – Planted 01-01-2016 - Nothing yet
10 x Serrano Seeds in 5x Styrofoam cups – Planted 01-01-2016 - Nothing yet.
 
5 x Habanero Seeds sitting on a wet paper towel covered by cling-wrap. “Planted” 02-02-2016 -  3/5 Have now sprouted.
5 x Habanero Seeds sitting on a wet paper towel covered by cling-wrap after being soaked in tea. “Planted” 02-02-2016 - 1/5 Have now sprouted.
5 x Serrano Seeds sitting on a wet paper towel covered by cling-wrap. “Planted” 02-02-2016 - 5/5 Have now sprouted.
5 x Serrano Seeds sitting on a wet paper towel covered by cling-wrap after being soaked in tea. “Planted” 02-02-2016  - 5/5 Have now sprouted.
20 x “Hot Pepper, Hot Chilli Mix” seeds sitting on a wet paper towel covered by cling-wrap after being soaked in tea. “Planted” 04-02-2016 - No sprouting yet.
 
I am hoping by the end of 2016 I have been able to experiment with a lot of these plants and hope to whittle them down to 2 of each species as I think the amount that is growing is a bit much, but It will let me experiment, I am hoping to bonsai, cross, graft and make Powders and Sauces. I will however make sure that every thing happens over the period and not all at once, I do not want to burn my self out(Work load not the Chillies).
 
Please if you see that I am doing something wrong, tell me. I am hoping to make this year a massive learning year, There is a wealth of knowledge on these forums and I am hoping to learn as much as possible.
 
It wont be the most exciting Glog BUT over this year you will hopefully see someone who is slowly but surely learning more and more and developing into a reasonably okay chilli grower.
Regards,
    Argonaught.

 

[Argonaught]

Don't trip bro, it's all good. I hope you have a good season!

 
Hope you have a great on too!
 

Looking good.
I like your attitude: throw any and all seeds into all available containers.
 
You learn a lot from growing a lot of plants.
 
Next part of the addiction will be hotter and more exotic varieties.
 
PM me your postal address and I will post you a few seeds to try out.
For free no guarantees.

 
All I can say is WOW. Thank you soo much for the offer, BUT I feel as though at this moment it would be a waste of your seeds. I am still learning at what stage of germination etc to take them from the paper towel and put them in the cup. I think I am putting them in the cup too late. I have a lot of seeds that I am germinating and will keep guys posted on how they are coming along.  Hopefully the offer will still stand later once I have successfully grown a lot of the seeds. Once again thanks soo much!.
 

I am a new grower myself and before joining the awesome community of THP I grew thai chilies my buddy gave me. Loved them and got a ton of pods from it and love the flavor. I have grown one of my habs in a clear cup and noticed algae growing with the soil. I see you have clear containers as well. Not sure if that's a bad thing maybe a pro can chime in on that. I like the fact you can see the root development but not sure if light getting to the roots can cause problems. Looking forward to your grow!!

 
I hope you have a great Grow Adamkaijorg!
 

 
 
My understanding is that light causes algae, this happens a lot in hydro grows if you don't make sure it's dark. Also, the roots don't like light, I believe they die off from exposure. 

 
Ahh, I will keep a look out for algae in my clear containers, I keep the bases in a black tub so I hope that will limit the light. But will keep a look out!
 
Thanks for the input and responses guys!
Regards
   Argonaught.

 

[karoo]

Offer stands.  
 

 

[jlawrence]

firstly, I'd take karoo up on his offer, the more seeds you've got to play with the better.
Looking at your photos, I'd agree and say you're leaving them on the paper towel a bit too long. I try to take them off the paper as soon as a root shows. IMO, this gives me less chance of damaging the root when separating from the paper.

 

[Argonaught]

firstly, I'd take karoo up on his offer, the more seeds you've got to play with the better.
Looking at your photos, I'd agree and say you're leaving them on the paper towel a bit too long. I try to take them off the paper as soon as a root shows. IMO, this gives me less chance of damaging the root when separating from the paper.

 
I plan to take up his offer, BUT, I want to make sure I can grow some hab's, Serrano's and cayenne's from seed before I start growing the more exotic (and expensive) peppers. 
 
 
Now for the weekly update:
 
The Jalapeno a.k.a "Evergreen":

 
The pod is still green, BUT as you can see there is another pod (There is also a smaller one but it doesn't seem to be growing). I am really happy with this plant. It seems to be doing really well.
 
The Paprika's:

 
The new growth is really looking good, There even seems to be some small buds coming up.
 
The Thai's:

 
They seem to be settling in well. Still early days for them but really happy with them so far. There also seems to be some buds coming up here too.
 
The California Wonders:

 
The growth on these plants is really great, They are getting bigger and bigger. The root systems are really filling up the "pots".

 
 
The Chilli Long Slims:

 
They seem to be doing well, but I am a bit worried at how thin and winding they are. I assume that over time they will "fill out" so to speak.
 
The mixed pot and one orange pot is looking good:

 
The plant in the other orange pot is probably dead - Its leaves just started falling off leaving a perfectly green stem but no leaves. Too much/ Too little Water?
 
 
I also think I am going to have to move some plants to the balcony upstairs or do some culling as the plants are filling the area quickly.

 
 
The seeds:
Habs:

 
Serrano's:

 
I waited for the seeds to hook and nothing more, I hope I can finally get some success with the seeds. 
 
 
Overall I am happy with how this week has gone, The plants seem to be doing well, the new seeds seem to be ok(.... for now) and the curry powder/ water mixture seems to be keeping the bugs at bay.
 
Thank you guys for all the responses,
Regards,
    Argonaught

 

[Argonaught]

Weekly update!
 
The Jalapeno a.k.a "Evergreen":
Not not so green 

 
 
The Paprika's:
Looking great - One even has a flower!

 
The Thai's:
Looking good - I repotted one, the rest are doing good, I chose the biggest and put it in a bigger pot.

 
The California Wonders:
I chose the biggest and put it in a bigger pot. All the others are looking great too.

 
The Chilli Long Slims:
These seem to be growing slowly, I put the biggest into a pot and the rest are still in the bottles, they look healthy but are just not growing as much as the others.

 
Experiment:
I topped the second biggest Chilli Long Slim about 4 days ago. And the growth is really encouraging, I did it just below the "V"of the chilli.
The Red and whitish specs are chill and garlic powder residue left from the anti insect spray I have been using, It seems to work well.

 
And yesterday I had a moment of weakness - I went to the nursery.
I got 3 Chillis 
 
They called this a "Blue Chilli" - If anyone knows the actual name that would be great.
The pods go from purple to red - I got it for the colour. The chillis are hot but not too hot.

 
I got what they call a Jalapeno, but it looks wierd, maybe its because its more mature than my Jalapeno. The leaves have more black on them. But still a nice plant. I think I might need to brace it as its growing at an angle. But it has a lot of pods.
 

 
Aaaand
 
A Black Pearl:
The leaves are mottled and bug eaten but I will put the plant in rehab and will get it right.
.

 
 
 
One big happy "Green house"

 
SEEDS:
Seeds are on hold, I think that Lovepeppers was correct that I need more light, I will look at getting one or two lamps with a 1000 lumens light bulb in each.
 
Have a good one and I hope people are having a great season
Regards,
     Argonaught

 

[Argonaught]

First harvest(of sorts)!
 
1 x Jalapeno
2x Blue Chilli - Not confirmed but I think its a Sangria Pepper
1x Black Pearl
 
Whilst none of them I have grown completely - The first pod that I would have grown completely by my own is a Jalapeno which is getting bigger =)
 

 

 
I plan to use the seeds, so I cut them in half scraped out all the seeds and have put them in a paper towel to dry out. 
 
Now I also have a bit of a bugger to deal with as whilst I have not seen the bugs, It seems like the Black Pearl brought some friends along as I have seen eggs (some small greed ones in groups and some big silver ones) I have been spraying the eggs with water and been scraping them off, But one good thing is that the small ants in the area seem to be eating the eggs. If it gets out of control I will look into getting some ladybugs or some sort of pesticide. I am hoping the ants vs "pests" fight will balance out into a nice ecosystem of "yes some damage but not enough to hurt the plant and the ants just get fatter and fatter" xD
 
 
Have a good one guys
Regards, 
    Argonaught

 

[Argonaught]

Weekly update!
 
The Jalapeno a.k.a "Evergreen":
Looking good, the second pod is growing nicely, Had a bit of a wind problem when the wind knocked a pot over and broke this plants branch when it fell on it, But the plant as a whole is coming along nicely. I have put the branch in water, do you think I will be able to get roots out of it?

 
 
The Paprika's (now known as THE Paprika):
I did a bit of a plating experiment, I was able to make a nice grow bed that gets sun from morning till about 14:00. So I put 9 plants in there and one of the paprika's was one of the unlucky victims. 
The remaining one seems to be doing good in this 2L bottle but I will be moving it to a 11L pot shortly. 
 

 
The Thai:
Looking good 

 
The California Wonders:
First flower from my California Wonder!

 
 
The Chilli Long Slims:
The wind did a number on this one, It has lost a lot of its top leaves, I think I will remove the top area in the hopes that it will grow more branches.

 
Experiment 1:
The Topped Chilli Long Slim:
Some really good growth here.

 
Experiment 2:
The "Grow Bed"
I put 3 really young seedlings in and after 4 days of them being in sunlight they look reasonably healthy, Their stems have browned up - Picture is of 2 of the 3 - The one on the left lost its one leaf but seems to be going strong. I might germ them using the paper towel method and move them into this bed after they have opened their leaves, Hopefully this is the answer to my seed issues. 
Picture is bad because I took it at the wrong time, The plants all seem to be doing well after 3 days of being out in the wind and direct sun.

 
Blue Chilli (Sangria Chilli - not confirmed yet):

 
Jalapeno:
I used a piece of wood and a soft cord to give it a bit more strength, It was leaning over to one side and as its too big for my main grow area its on my balcony exposed to a bit more wind. It seems to be enjoying the extra sunlight.

 
 
Black Pearl:
Seems to be doing great, the leaves are healing up and I am getting a lot of ripe fruit, Hopefully as it settles and continues to grow the fruit production will grow too.

.
 
 
The Aphid issue:
It seems to have solved itself. As soon as I noticed the aphid eggs, I also noticed an increase in the really small ants. They are always surrounding the aphid eggs and are taking them to their nest. I have also seen a few lady bugs which is also great. Is this a common thing and a good thing - Can these ants harm the plants or can the only do them good?
 
Have a good one and I hope people are having a great season
Regards,
     Argonaught

 

[SavinaRed]

Welcome to THP and you are off to a good start with your grow. I started like you with the same types of peppers then the following season stepped it up with several peppers in the ghost range to the reapers. Now I'm settles in with only a few over ghost heat and most peppers between a jalapeno- habanero heat level. Good luck and most of all have lots of fun.

 

[Argonaught]

Weekly update!
 
The Jalapeno a.k.a "Evergreen":

 
 
 
The Paprika:

 
The Thai:

 
The California Wonder:

 
 
 
The Chilli Long Slims:
Now got a few new buds coming out of nodes. So hopefully going to recover.

 
Experiment 1:
The Topped Chilli Long Slim:
Growing really nicely - Hopefully will bush out.

 
 
Experiment 2:
The "Grow Bed"

 
 
Blue Chilli (Sangria Chilli - not confirmed yet):

 
Jalapeno:

 
 
Black Pearl:

 
 
 
I have asked Karoo if his offer was still available and he said yes! So hopefully in the foreseeable future (SA Mail is Sloooooooooooow) I will be able to grow some of the more exotic chillies.     
Overall a slow week - A lot of nice growth and the seedlings seem to be doing great.  I am not happy with the picture quality and will do my best to use a better camera in the future. I picked 10 Sangria and 3 Black pearl pods and am drying out the seeds. I have got a Pepper dew pod that I will dry the seeds out of and I have 2 unknown pods that I already have seedlings of - Will post pictures of their pods when they start growing.
 
Have a good one and I hope people are having a great season
Regards,
     Argonaught

 

[Argonaught]

We have had a lot of wind and rain recently but overall the plants seem to be coming along good =)
 
The Jalapeno:

 
The "Paprika" - With Pod

 
The Thai with Pod:

 
The Chilli Long Slim:
Looking sad but there is growth and hopefully will keep coming along albeit slowly.

 
The Black Pearl;
I clipped off 32 pods - Some ripe, most black with a bit of red so close to ripe. I did this so it will hopefully grow a bit more instead of flowering.

 
The Sangria:

 
The California Wonder with Pod!:

 
The Grow Bed with Seedlings - The seedlings I have are:
8 are from what the grower called a spicy bell pepper - It was about the size of a round and somewhat sweet with a bit of a bite. - When I get a picture of a pod I will post it - But that will take a while.
6 are Jalapeno
9 are Black Pearl
2 are Serrano
5 are from a mixed seed bag (90% Cayenne and 10% Jalapeno)
4 are unknown
4 are Sangria
2 are from a really small hot chilli - another unknown - grower said it was a Birds Eye Chilli but the pod was small and hot.
 
I am growing them more as experiments. I seem to be able to keep most alive but out of each 10 I plant I loose 1 or 2. They just shrivel up and die - Could I be doing it too late?
 
The Wind has done a number on the plants growing there, Some have lost a few leaves but in general there is a lot of growth.

 
And the next two plants that will be put in pots:
1 x Chilli Long Slim and 1 x Thai with 2 Pods.

 
Have a good one guys,
Regards,
    Argonaught. 

 

[Argonaught]

A Biiiiiiiig Biiiiig Thank you to Karoo. 
 
Today I just received post from Karoo:
 
The contents:
 
10 x Birds eye ornamental seeds
25 x Unknown Mexican Chilli seeds
10 x Nu Mex Big Jim seeds
30 x Asian Birds eye seeds
4 x Choc Scorpion seeds
4 x Peach Bhut seeds
8 x Douglah seeds
10 x Choc Fatalii seeds
10 x Red Bhut Jolokia seeds
 
I will be germing the rarer ones sparingly - probably 2 at a time and last. 
 
Once again a Big thank you! I really really do appreciate it.
 
Regards,
    Argonaught. 

 

[karoo]

 The SA post Office still works .
Huge pleasure .
Enjoy the grow!
 
Those Mexican seeds arrived in very dry broken pods that I could not identify.
Mine germinated in about 6 days, so we will both try to identify them on this forum once grown out.

 

[Argonaught]

Hi Guys - No update today - Wind and Rain has been a bugger and I have been on some really good pain killers due to cyst in stomach(not major at all) -It will be later this week.
 
Quick Summary:
Sangria overrun by aphids - looks bad. - All leaves are shriveled completely - Is there any saving it if all leaves fall off etc?
Cal Wonder - growing pod nicely.
Paprika - Pod looking great.
Jalapeno(Evergreen) - Looking good
Other Jalapeno - One Ripe Pod Picked - Two others Ripening
Black Pearl - Looking good
Two Thais - 3 to 4 Pods between them 
CLS - Looking good - Runty one still Runty - Other one looking good with a pod!
Seedlings - Looking good but wind is giving them a rough time - loosing some leaves etc.
                - I took two of the mixed seedlings and put them in a sheltered area and they are doing great so I think I have a plan which includes giving them morning sun and sheltering them during windy times and night times.
Grow Bed - Neighbors Rabbit has eaten the top of one but rest of the plants are doing ok but Wind Damaged.
Karoo's Seeds:
Nu Mex - 1 Tails of 3
Mex unknown - 3 Tails of 5
Asian Birds Eye - 2 Tails of 5
 
For pests and Aphids etc I got an organic pesticide Garlic Extract and Canola Oil Concentrate - Its strong - really strong. 
 
Also might have another glog under other for Cacti and Succulents - Got 25 this weekend for my birthday on top of what I had already so could be an interesting one - I will think about it =)
 
Have a good one guys
Regards,
        Argonaught.

 

[Argonaught]

Hi Guys - Here are pictures =)
 
The 2x Jalapeno, Black Pearl and Thai:

 
The second Thai:

 
The Paprika:

 
The California Wonder:

 
The Chilli Long Slim:

 
The Garden Experiment:
Plants are doing great - But the neighbors rabbit knows that so he is chomping them down.

 
The 2 mixed Chilli seedlings that I put into a bottle and have been monitoring:

 
 
And now AVERT your eyes if you are squeamish:
The Sangria that was hit really hard by aphids.

 
I wonder if I can save it - I doubt it.
 
Overall the other plants are doing great and I am keen to see what next week brings =).
 
Also I have just made my Succulent Glog: http://thehotpepper.com/topic/59356-argonaughts-succulentcacti-glog/
Have a good one
Regards,
     Argonaught.

 

[Argonaught]

Been doing some reorganizing here.
 
CURRENT GROW LIST is (With more to Add):

 
GERMINATING LIST : (about 3 of each).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
First off R.I.P. Sangria plant. Aphids completely killed it, All leaves dropped off and I made the decision to remove it after the branches and main stem started browning completely.
 
 
The first 6 seeds that have started sprouting:

1 x Nu Mex Big Jim
1 x Asian Birds Eye
1 x Douglah
1 x Choc Fatalii
1 x Red Bhut Jalokia
1 x Choc Scorpion - A Tri leaved seedling:

 
The Black Pearl, 2 x Jalapeno's(2 diff types) and a Thai:

 
 
The Cal Wonder:

 
The Other Thai:

 
The CLS:

 
The Paprika:

 
 
All in all - coming along great. I have a lot of pods that are coming out and my variety list is also coming along nicely. 
 
The growbed experiment is doing ok but it has fulfilled its purpose and I will continue to look after the plants but they are now just a bonus. I have a lot of different plants and seeds growing that I want to concentrate on and I dont need a lot of excess plants - That and the neighbours rabbit keeps taking bits out of the plants.
 
I am really excited by the seeds that Karoo sent me and I am glad that they are doing great. I am especially happy that I have a Choc Scorp growing.
 
 
Have a good one
Regards,
     Argonaught.