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first time chili grow!

R

roger05

Hi every one i'm 25 and luved my chili for as long as i can remember, i have now decided to grow my own :)
I've bought some seeds from ebay and raised them in a small portable green house, but as this is my first time growing any thing i'm having some concerns about my plants health. They have now been transplanted into larger self watering pots but have not seemed to grow since and some of them seem to have stems incapable of holding the weight of their own leaves.
Can any body tell me what simple mistake i'm making? I would upload some pics if i knew how lol.
thanks Roger
 
Self watering pots are a no-no. Your seedlings can just wither and die off from being too wet (damping off). You have to let your seedlings soil dry and only water when needed. Post pics, so we can help you better, and see what you're doing.
 
ok any sugestions on how to post pics? when i click image it asks for a url, i just want to select from my HD. I'm terrible with computers.
 
Did you use a water saving potting mix in the self-watering pot? I agree with Vegas_Chili on avoiding that style of pot. Also avoid any potting mix that has water saving crystals and emphasises high water retention.
 
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from left to right i have jalapeno, red cayenne, choc habanero and the infamous ghost chili (i've since lost the small one in the pic)
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Harry yes the packet says it holds 2x the moisture.... is this bad?
Blue flames lol spot the aussie, any one who starts a sentence with M8 must be local! hope u had a sh!t hot oz day
 
gradually move them into more sun too. Let them get morning sun and gradually work them towards nearly full sun, avoiding direct noon-2 sun.
 
Stake them. Not too tight so they can move a bit when you get some air movement on them. You were already advised to get rid of the self watering pots hope you did. You don't want a growing medium that holds water. Add some large perlite, about 20% of your total growing medium so the roots can breath. They look like they're drowning.
 
They look pretty good for your first grow. With the size plants you have, just watch the peppers. They will tell you what they need. Chiles are very resilient.
 
thanks for the info every one :) i've drilled holes though the bottom of the self watering pots to allow full dainage. Also i have moved them to a new location were they will see more light and breeze! Ill see how they look in a couple of days
 
More light and breeze? Did you stake them? Have they been hardened off so they can handle more light? Drilling holes to allow for drainage won't be 100% successful if the medium is too heavy.

Growing peppers from seed is easy but there's more to it than dropping a seed into the dirt and watering it. The first few weeks of life they need a little assistance.
 
ok late reply (works bit cazy atm).. i have drilled plenty of drainage hole and put some gravel in the bottom of my pots. Changed the soil to a new brand thats non water retaining, staked them and have put them in a part of the backyard that gets morning sun but shade moves over then in the arvo.
How ever they look a bit sad after being dug up and burried again.
 
Hey Roger!

I purchased some seeds from Bolivia using Ebay, and they suck! Only two seed sprouted out of 40, and one of those soon died! Meanwhile, the other 400 or so other seeds I bought are doing great, with over a 90% germination rate. My seed sources this year are: la palma seeds (semillas.de), Native Seed Search, Baker's (rareseeds.com), a few from tradewindsfruit.com (although none of the chupentinha seeds germinated!), and Dilly's Chilies. I also know that there are other seed sources that are reputable simply by reading this forum. My advice to you is to look at the Vendor Vault section of this forum, and try out a couple of sources for your seeds. The Vendor Vault really helped me in my decisions to purchase, with the exception of tradewindsfruit.com (I ordered before I joined this forum).

I have also read about some well-known seed vendors that are...less than trustworthy. I am working with a manager of a Tucson nursery who got burned two years ago when he ordered Bhut Jolokia seeds, only to have them all come up as Jalapenos! He told me the vendor, but I'm choosing to withhold the name as I don't want to get into any silly flame war.

Good luck with your chilies! Last year, my experience started with most of my little starts dying off from damping. That lesson was a good one. I was able to recover, as here in Tucson we have an extremely long growing season. The ones I planted in March and April did great. So don't get discouraged if you run into problems. Investigate the problem, research on the net as much as you can, and don't hesitate to ask for help and suggestions from the kind people on this forum.
 
Gotta agree with Tim here. I grew my first chiles last year.... ordered everything from Amazon. The orange habs were the only ones that turned out to be right. Some turned out to be bellpeppers, some turned out to be habs (were supposed to be other varieties), and others just din't grow. Out of 65 I planted, I have two plants left..... both hearty habs. Avoid ebay and Amazon, if possible.
 
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