Hello
Decided to publicly post my attempts at growing peppers this year. Would appreciate any advice given.
So I am currently growing
2 Aji Limons (one planted on the 27th February, the other on 4th March)
1 Numex Twilight (planted on 4th March)
1 7-Pot ( planted 4th March I think)
1 Bulgarian Carrot (planted 4th March)
1 Pumpkin Pepper (planted 27th February)
1 Habanero (planted 27th February)
1 Jamaican Hot Chocolate (planted 27th February)
1 Bhut Jolokia (planted 27th February)
1 Bird's Eye Pepper (planted 27th February)
1 Chimayo (which germinated but later found to have died due to damping off)
Habanero and Pumpkin Pepper were the first to hook which was on the 4th March. Aji Limon on 5th March. JHC and Bird's Eye on the 7th March. Bhut on the 8th March. Bulgarian carrot on the 9th March. Numex on 10th March. 7-pot on 14th March.
Seeds were planted in potting mix.
"Seed & Potting Mix
Seed & Potting Mix is a soil-less mixture used for raising seeds and striking cuttings. It is free from weed seeds and diseases and contains all the ingredients for fast and uniform germination and assures strong root development. It also contains vermiculite and peat moss to prevent drying out. Suitable for germinating all types of seed."
"Horti Soil
Is a natural product of humus which is made on the maturation by intense bacteria action of a mixture of Organic matter, peat moss, medium loam, and supplemented with Inorganic Superphosphate, Muriate of Potash, Limestone, essential trace elements and fungicide. It will improve soil structure, has higher water holding capacityand will supply adequate nutrients, auxins for promoting plant growth resulting in healthy and disease-free plants."
And repotted into my own mixture of 2 parts said potting mix, 3parts garden soil (horti soil mentioned above), 1/4 part zeolite and 1/3 part water. (once again, i do not have any experience at all and just winging it. >.< )
They were all put under 1 8W 6700k CFL light in a low tech self made grow box measuring 32cm x 22cm x 22cm (i know;its tiny) the moment they hook.
Then quickly repotted to individual cups once they sprouted. All survived the transplants.
BHUT (picture taken on the 25th March)
Messed up cots is again due to helmet head removal. I was worried as it looked to be stunted in growth and almost shrivelling. So i removed the helmet head and repotted to new soil. It was previously in a rectangular container with Pumpkin Pepper. Anyways, its doing well now.
Aji Limon (picture taken on the 25th March)
7-Pot (picture taken on the 25th March)
This is put under clip-on reading lights which are LED and run on batteries. Did this because I had no more space in my growbox and also for experimental purposes.
JHC (picture taken on the 25th March)
Messed up cots are due to attempts at removing helmet head.
Pumpkin Pepper (picture taken on the 25th March)
Numex Twilight (picture taken on the 25th March)
Bulgarian Carrot (picture taken on the 25th March)
Habanero (picture taken on the 25th March)
I didnt include a picture of Bird's Eye because i ripped off both cots and new true leaf from trying to remove helmet head. So their existence is still currently in question. Seedlings were all placed 4 inches below the light. Some are showing purpling of stems but no purpling on leaves. I have read that they grow out of this. So we shall see.
Watering schedule: I am currently bottom watering them and the most recent watering was 2 days ago. I let them dry out (pumpkin pepper even went as far as to fold its leaves over each other) before watering. Also dig under the top layer to check for moisture.
As you can see, some are coming to a month from day of germination and while they are doing well i suppose ( apart from Aji with its curled down leaves), I am a little worried as to why they are taking so slow when other people's bhuts look so much bigger than mine at 21days.
So.. Are my worries justified? I do know that some of the hotter peppers take longer to grow. Do I need to be fertilising them already? As I have not done so because i figured the soil has enough nutrients already. I only have chicken dung, Seaweed Extract NPK 4-3-2+TE and NPK 21-21-21 foliar fertiliser at the moment. Keep in mind that we don't have access to any Home Depot and things are somewhat limited here. Also my cups are see-through. Do they need to be covered at the sides? Does that affect plant growth as I have read that roots wont grow so well if they are exposed to light or something along that line.
I hope I have covered every detail that you might need for your analysis. Thank you guys for your future input!
Decided to publicly post my attempts at growing peppers this year. Would appreciate any advice given.
So I am currently growing
2 Aji Limons (one planted on the 27th February, the other on 4th March)
1 Numex Twilight (planted on 4th March)
1 7-Pot ( planted 4th March I think)
1 Bulgarian Carrot (planted 4th March)
1 Pumpkin Pepper (planted 27th February)
1 Habanero (planted 27th February)
1 Jamaican Hot Chocolate (planted 27th February)
1 Bhut Jolokia (planted 27th February)
1 Bird's Eye Pepper (planted 27th February)
1 Chimayo (which germinated but later found to have died due to damping off)
Habanero and Pumpkin Pepper were the first to hook which was on the 4th March. Aji Limon on 5th March. JHC and Bird's Eye on the 7th March. Bhut on the 8th March. Bulgarian carrot on the 9th March. Numex on 10th March. 7-pot on 14th March.
Seeds were planted in potting mix.
"Seed & Potting Mix
Seed & Potting Mix is a soil-less mixture used for raising seeds and striking cuttings. It is free from weed seeds and diseases and contains all the ingredients for fast and uniform germination and assures strong root development. It also contains vermiculite and peat moss to prevent drying out. Suitable for germinating all types of seed."
"Horti Soil
Is a natural product of humus which is made on the maturation by intense bacteria action of a mixture of Organic matter, peat moss, medium loam, and supplemented with Inorganic Superphosphate, Muriate of Potash, Limestone, essential trace elements and fungicide. It will improve soil structure, has higher water holding capacityand will supply adequate nutrients, auxins for promoting plant growth resulting in healthy and disease-free plants."
And repotted into my own mixture of 2 parts said potting mix, 3parts garden soil (horti soil mentioned above), 1/4 part zeolite and 1/3 part water. (once again, i do not have any experience at all and just winging it. >.< )
They were all put under 1 8W 6700k CFL light in a low tech self made grow box measuring 32cm x 22cm x 22cm (i know;its tiny) the moment they hook.
Then quickly repotted to individual cups once they sprouted. All survived the transplants.
BHUT (picture taken on the 25th March)
Messed up cots is again due to helmet head removal. I was worried as it looked to be stunted in growth and almost shrivelling. So i removed the helmet head and repotted to new soil. It was previously in a rectangular container with Pumpkin Pepper. Anyways, its doing well now.
Aji Limon (picture taken on the 25th March)
7-Pot (picture taken on the 25th March)
This is put under clip-on reading lights which are LED and run on batteries. Did this because I had no more space in my growbox and also for experimental purposes.
JHC (picture taken on the 25th March)
Messed up cots are due to attempts at removing helmet head.
Pumpkin Pepper (picture taken on the 25th March)
Numex Twilight (picture taken on the 25th March)
Bulgarian Carrot (picture taken on the 25th March)
Habanero (picture taken on the 25th March)
I didnt include a picture of Bird's Eye because i ripped off both cots and new true leaf from trying to remove helmet head. So their existence is still currently in question. Seedlings were all placed 4 inches below the light. Some are showing purpling of stems but no purpling on leaves. I have read that they grow out of this. So we shall see.
Watering schedule: I am currently bottom watering them and the most recent watering was 2 days ago. I let them dry out (pumpkin pepper even went as far as to fold its leaves over each other) before watering. Also dig under the top layer to check for moisture.
As you can see, some are coming to a month from day of germination and while they are doing well i suppose ( apart from Aji with its curled down leaves), I am a little worried as to why they are taking so slow when other people's bhuts look so much bigger than mine at 21days.
So.. Are my worries justified? I do know that some of the hotter peppers take longer to grow. Do I need to be fertilising them already? As I have not done so because i figured the soil has enough nutrients already. I only have chicken dung, Seaweed Extract NPK 4-3-2+TE and NPK 21-21-21 foliar fertiliser at the moment. Keep in mind that we don't have access to any Home Depot and things are somewhat limited here. Also my cups are see-through. Do they need to be covered at the sides? Does that affect plant growth as I have read that roots wont grow so well if they are exposed to light or something along that line.
I hope I have covered every detail that you might need for your analysis. Thank you guys for your future input!
Looking at the mix, I would think you have enough food for a few sets of leaves, if you do water anything in (so hard not to overmanage them hehe), 1/4 strength of the kelp should alleviate the need to mother them without overloading anything.
