First Time Grow - 7Pod, Scotch Bonnet, Serrano

BringTheFlameThrower · Nov 9, 2012

Watered yesterday morning. They are looking pretty good. I'm keeping the light close to them as a means of preventing leggy growth. I'm considering using LST (Low Stress Training) to bush them out. They areent getting very leggy because the light is so close which is greta but I would rather grow a bushier plant with more nodes and flowers. This scotch bonnet is looking good. I FIM'd all three plants.

Serrano Praying

The other Serrano

In the Scotch Bonnet picture you'll notice a couple Trinidad scorpions sprouting.

A dropped a couple of the "Surprise" seeds in some of the solo cups in the way back. I'm gonna need some Pepper-ID in the near future.

I'll post more pics next week this time.

KiNGDeNNiZ · Nov 9, 2012

Ask silver surfer when the time comes

BringTheFlameThrower · Nov 9, 2012

Also, I have a new light on it's way. I went ahead and purchased a better T5 configuration. I now have a HydroFarm 2' x 4 bulb T5 on it's way. I ran out of space so quickly and it's looking like im gonna be fighting these plants to keep them down. Lol.. Started way to early... But hey.. Better to early that to late.

BringTheFlameThrower · Nov 10, 2012

Denniz and Joe.... I'm happy to announce I have seedlings from your surprise/mix collection! Thank you guys so much

pshngo · Nov 11, 2012

lookin good!

BringTheFlameThrower · Nov 11, 2012

Thanks Pshngo! After that little snafu when I went to NOLA, happy to be back up and running. I think those pods suck TBH. I like germing in soil with solo cups and a heat map. I burp the cover every so often and the 18:6 cycle seems to be working. Because I'm keepin the light close to the plants (I guess) I'm keeling them "bushy" instead of leggy? Though I would like them to get a but leggier so I can do some LST and spin them around the pot, put right now the smart pots are air pruning if they get to big and LST is only viable when they make it to their final home, I.e 7gal air pots on my (or my parents) patio. I started early so I'm gonna have to keep em down. For now I'm gonna drop that new T5 when it get here and move some of these to a decent spot at the office. I asked the other day if they woulda mind, and they're cool with it as far as I can tell. As long as it looks nice and I don't make a mess, lol ok! I'll keep y'all postd

BringTheFlameThrower · Nov 13, 2012

Update - Watered Sunday? Or Monday? Either works. Lol..

These guys are looking good.. Heres a pic of the scotch bonnet...

Serrano Numero Uno -

And Serrano Numero Dos...

Heres a different view

Some seedlings..

And another...

BringTheFlameThrower · Nov 14, 2012

Woot! New T5 fixture arrived! Sadly I ordered from Amazon with Super Saver Free Shipping (why the hell not) and it turns out that the estimated delivery for the hanging equipment wont be here until sometime in December. Seriously? So lame. I can walk into any HydroShop and buy these hangers (locking-pulleys) for $20 tops... Instead I skimped on shipping so I could save the $4 or whatever it was. Note to self, paying the $8 shipping can be rewarding (instant gratification FTW! lol).

Anyways.. I have some chain and there's a hardware store across the street from work, so I'll probably dip in there and pickup a right angle (why the heck not lol - man needs tools right?) and maybe a couple hooks. Shouldn't cost more than $10. It would be cheaper if I used the spine of a book though... Might just to do that instead. Not sure yet. I watered some of those seedlings this morning with a CloneX solution of 7.5ml to 1.75L stored in a smaller container in the fridge. I was having problems with the water beginning to smell like mildew so I started using food safe containers (recycled Tropicana bottles) and storing smaller amounts of pre-mix water. Filtered using a PUR filter, balanced to ~6.2-6.4pH and mixed with CloneX for better root growth. A couple of the seedlings are starting to show their first set of true leaves, which is pretty cool considering how long it took for them to germinate the last time I tried this. I have to go back and check, but I think it was Joe or Denniz who hooked me up with some T-Scorp seeds, ~~those sprung up nice and quick,~~ just realized that the T-Scorp seeds I'm using are actually from PepperJoe. I moved them out of the RapidRoot pods (I noticed those really dont work so well and because they retain a lot of moisture they have a tendency to cause the seeds to rot. I also pulled some seeds from Denniz' Mixed Silver Surfer baggie, and some seeds from Joe's "Surprise!" baggie. Thanks so much guys! This is gonna be fun!

Also, now that I have the larger light, and some plants that are begging to grow closer to the light, I'll finish the panda film this weekend.

Side note, I've been rotating the seedlings as they are trying to grow towards the light. I wonder if turning them a few times will help the stalk and root system from growing in one specific direction. We'll see.

scratchzilla · Nov 14, 2012

Rotating will help a lot. I've noticed the plant will fill out more when rotated every couple days. The lamps will produce "hot spots" under the bulbs where light is more intense than say 5 inches to one side or the other.

BringTheFlameThrower · Nov 14, 2012

I've noticed a similar effect where the fan leaves are starting to pray in the same direction as the bulb. Right now I'm using a single 2ft T5 bulb which is about 3-5in above the plants. I moved it up a couple inches this morning, but as you can see in some of the other pics, they like to pray along the direction of the bulb.I thought about rotating after noticing the sprouts/seedlings where bending towards the light. I rotated them to see if they would bend back the other direction, and they did. So I decided to rotate the plants as well. I was sort of rotating every feeding, as I was certainly not putting them back the way i found them. I've also been rotating the plants. Currently there are three positions, left middle right, and i try to move them from spot to spot, like musical chairs, every time I water.

BringTheFlameThrower · Nov 16, 2012

Watered today... Not as long as I usually do, but at least I watered. I kinda lost track of time, and forgot that I last watered either Sunday or Monday, most likely Sunday know that I think of it. Anyways, I used a full nutrient regiment, 10ml FF-GB with 5ml CalMag balanced to ~6.4pH. From what I've read 6.4pH seems a little to acidic but I'v read mixed opinions. ~7pH seems to be the middle ground. Some people say 7.2pH, others say 6pH-7pH is fine, others insist that ~6.8pH-6.9pH is the sweet spot.

Whats your opinion? I usually use a slightly more acidic blend when I'm using CloneX and treating seeds and seedlings, that hasn't failed me yet.

My new EnviroGrow 4 bulb T5 is AWESOME btw! It ha a nice even light and will hopefully serve me well. It does generate a little extra heat compared to my single T5 fixture, but thats fine by me. It does get kinda cold here sometimes and if I dont have to heat the entire Apt just to keep the plants warm, I'm happy. The Thermostat i have stuck in the soil in the seedling tray says it's about 74-79degF on average. So That should be fine.

I am still bottom feeding which seems to be working out quite well with the smart pots.

I'll post some pics next week :0)

BringTheFlameThrower · Nov 22, 2012

Ill post pics tomorrow. FIM-Toppijg my plant helped them quite a bit. Pics tomorrow

excited! Decent growth

Jamison · Nov 22, 2012

Looking good man!

BringTheFlameThrower · Nov 22, 2012

Here are some pics since I transplanted earlier this week.

Some weird looking leaves. What's up with that?

A different angle.. I finished the Panda Film the other night.

ScotchBonnet looking decent..

Family Portrait..

I used a bit of ducttape and some extra Panda Film Scraps to make a water trap incase there is any run off. That's what all the tape is in the front. I tried to fix the panda film so that it was completely flat but it's kinda hard when I dont have the proper tools and I wasn't anal about the measurements. I hope to upgrade to a decent grow box after the new years so for the time being this works for now.

The larger plants in the 1gal Smart pots are in their 4th week of vegetation.

BringTheFlameThrower · Nov 23, 2012

I added some Plant Success to the soul, pushed a small hole in the soil and spoon fed a teaspoon full of the PS Granular into the holes. I dunno about this stuff. I've been bottom feeding so I can understand the whole "they look under watered" thing but since I've watered them once every 3-5 days, they sure shot up a bit and show some good signs of growth, but they look droopy and there are some of mutant looking leaves. Way to soon to say they look that way because of the PS but I give it a few more weeks of watering and ill let you know. I'm not 100% sure how the PS affects the pH and the overall health of the plant. The new plants have some Subculture-M and PS added to the soil mix. We'll see how that works out. Hopefully the transplant and dose of Mychorazzeah (so?) don't shock it to hell and back.

BringTheFlameThrower · Nov 28, 2012

Updates...

I watered this morning around 9:30am. Let sit for 30 mins in 2in standing water (1Gal + FFBG & CalMag). I did a little top watering because the top soil has been drying out quickly lately.

Fam Portrait

Check this out.. Is this normal..

Floral growth???? I'm on 18:6 light cycle and using Veg bulbs...
Should I pinch? Or let grow?

romy6 · Nov 28, 2012

Normal. That looks fantastic. Too pinch or not to pinch that is the queation. Pinching will allow more upward outward growth. But not pinching the plant, it will still grow just not as fast. Really is a personal choice. There is no wrong way .

BringTheFlameThrower · Nov 28, 2012

Well I want to keep them smaller through the winter, I'm quickly running out of space... I guess I'll let them grow

and pinch any new growth sometime in Feb/Mar and start hardening them off.
My Patio/Porch doesn't get the best light durring the day, maybe 6hr direct light. Is that a big deal? It gets warm out there and it's nothing but clear skys above. I'll take a picture and add it to the GLOG.

BringTheFlameThrower · Nov 30, 2012

NOOOOO!!!!! I started some Low Stress Training (LST) on one of my larger plants as they're getting closer to the light... and this happened....

heres the plant afterwards...

scratchzilla · Nov 30, 2012

I wouldn't be too worried about that. Stems break, it's a fact of life. I've lost quite a few over the past summer, mostly from picking peppers to vigourously, and while it made me a little sad, in the long run, the plants didn't suffer too greatly.