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First timer!

J

Jeffxxo

Greetings everyone! Just want to say hello, and ask a few questions.

I have read many threads, artical's about "Hottest pepper". But it seems I see all kinds of different Scoville units on the same peppers. Is the hottest pepper a Bhut Jolokia, Or have I been miss informed?
Aside from that, I have grown habanero's,Pepperoncini's,and Jalapeno's and a few other peppers in my garden. But have never done anything special to them other than planting a seed and water them daily. But I want to take it to the next level. I want to grow them through the winter, inside. I'm going to try and grow a few Bhut Jolokia peppers. But the question is, how? Should I use a special germinating mix,and plant soil? Any info on this would be great! Thanks, Jeff
 
Welcome Jeff!!!

Hey...I'm no expert, so I won't give you any advice. Wait for IGG or Pam to reply (there are a some very knowledgeable others here as well, but the list is long) and help will be headed your way.
 
welcome Jeff
I am not an inside grower so I will let the pros anserw your ? but as for the hottest after 1mill.sc. what the dif.Hot is hot
Dan


LET IT BURN
 
Hi Jeff, welcome to the Hot Pepper!

Right now the Bhut Jolokia holds the world record for being the hottest pepper. It has not, however, been side-by-side tested against the Naga or the Trinidad Scorpian. I'm sure that will come in a few years, though. Side-by-side testing is necessary because growing conditions can affect the heat of a pepper

As to bringing plants inside, you don't need a special potting soil, although I would avoid potting soils that contain high nitrogen fertilizers like Miracle Grow (Hi chiliman64!). A more important question is what you plan to use for a light source. Peppers like lots of light, and even a sunny window usually doesn't give enough light for them to thrive and set fruit.

The plants that I bring in for the winter are so I can get an early start in the spring, not to have winter fruit. I cut them back and keep them in a cool room until the spring. I should note that my winters are pretty short, so we're only talking about 4 months or so, then they're back outside.

Oh, and watch out for aphids! Even if you spray right before you bring them inside, they usually get a whopping attack of aphids after about a month inside. No predators or weather to keep the nasty bastards' numbers in check.
 
I have grown indoors, and as Pam said, bugs will find the plants. Also the soil finds a way out of the pot.
I plan to grow some plants hydroponically inside again this year.The lack of soil seems to really help with the bugs. I am not an expert on bugs, but I would assume that the lack of hiding place and egg laying potential in soil is the reason.
http://www.thehotpepper.com/showthread.php?t=3019&highlight=hydroponics
Here is the thread I started a while back on the subject.
 
I planned on using soil, being my first go around on trying this. But what soil is best? How do you control the bugs? I have 3 florescent light fixtures with 4 , four foot bulbs (12 all together), Should I use this many? But I guess I need different bulbs. what do I need to do to get the seed to start growing, just put it in some water with a little soil?
 
If you want to start plants you will need much more light than florescents will give. I don't mean to be discouraging, but sufficient light to raise a pepper plant probably means buying a $100-$300 grow light.
Peppers require a lot of light, and plants started under insufficient light will forever be limited by this early exposure and will grow poorly, even if moved out into full sun later on. Either research lighting or don't go to the trouble. Orchids or other low light plants can be grown well under florescents, but starting pepper seedlings under even all 12 of them will yield fairly poor plants.
 
I disagree. Starting under fluorescents is what I've been doing for many years and it works great, just don't expect peppers to grow until they are put outside or under better light. Many people start their plants in a sunny windowsill with good results. Good lights are nice but they soak up the electricity and cost quite a bit.
 
He is about to sprout peppers inside, presumeably right before winter, and keep them alive inside over winter. That is a lot different than starting some seeds in late winter or early spring. You don't see a problem with that?
I agree with what you have said Potawie, but I think he is talking about something different.
 
Jeffxxo said:
I planned on using soil, being my first go around on trying this. But what soil is best? How do you control the bugs? I have 3 florescent light fixtures with 4 , four foot bulbs (12 all together), Should I use this many? But I guess I need different bulbs. what do I need to do to get the seed to start growing, just put it in some water with a little soil?
Click to expand...

Ok, lots of questions. Let's break this down.

First, over-wintering plants you have now. Are they in the ground or already in pots? If they're in the ground, you can just dig up as much dirt with their roots as you can, and fill in the bottom and edges of the pot you're putting them in with any potting soil from the store. As to which potting soil, one without fertilizer in it is best, but that's pretty difficult to find. If the potting soil bag says that it has fertilizer in it, look on the back of the bag for what the N-K-P ratio is, and get the one with the lowest numbers.

Controlling aphids is actually pretty easy. You can use anything from a soap spray like Safer Soap to organic products like Neem or pyrethren sprays up to more potent pesticides like Sevin. Plan to spray 2 oe three times about a week apart.

Florescent lights are great, I use them for all my seed starting, been doing it for more years than I care to admit to. For starting seeds, I always suggest buying a commercial sterile seed starting mix until you get a little more experience at it. Most big box stores have plenty of it in the spring. To start peppers, it's best to have a warm place for them, or buy a seed starting mat that heats from the bottom of the trays. Most peppers like to be around 70 F to germinate. You'll want to have them where you can lower the florescent lights to within a couple of inches of the seed starting trays, and to be able to raise them as the seedlings grow.

Ok, next set of questions!
 
Pam said:
Controlling aphids is actually pretty easy. You can use anything from a soap spray like Safer Soap to organic products like Neem or pyrethren sprays up to more potent pesticides like Sevin. Plan to spray 2 oe three times about a week apart.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, I've never had it that easy with aphids. They are buggers to get rid of in the winter when there are no natural predators. I've had to purchase ladybugs when all the organic sprays failed.
:shh: Now they are starting up again in my greenhouse again
 
POTAWIE said:
Unfortunately, I've never had it that easy with aphids. They are buggers to get rid of in the winter when there are no natural predators. I've had to purchase ladybugs when all the organic sprays failed.
:shh: Now they are starting up again in my greenhouse again
Click to expand...

Aha! You have a greenhouse!! that makes you.....incredibly..... lucky. I am jealous of that you lucky bastard.
Do you still start under flourescents? Even with a green house?
 
I'm in the Great white noth eh.:shh: I can't afford to heat the greenhouse over the winter and the amount of daylight hours is insufficient until spring. Flourescent lights get me going for 3+ months
 
Loads of good answers so I'll just mimic the answers with my own.

There will always be a range of SHU ratings for the same type of pepper because each pepper on the plant varies in it's hottest (ie: one pepper might be hotter than the other off the same plant).

For indoor growning, plant the plants in soil and a pot that drains water easly. When growing indoor that's the major problem because the soil won't dry out as fast as it would in direct sun outside (thus brings problems like root rot and such). Make sure they get loads of light and consistant warm temps.
 
Aphids are a common complaint with those who grow in dirt.

I grow in hydro and had aphids twice in 15 yrs and they came from the soil in a potted plant I put in the greenhouse temporarily....never soil inside again......
 
Jeffxxo said:
I planned on using soil, being my first go around on trying this. But what soil is best? How do you control the bugs? I have 3 florescent light fixtures with 4 , four foot bulbs (12 all together), Should I use this many? But I guess I need different bulbs. what do I need to do to get the seed to start growing, just put it in some water with a little soil?
Click to expand...

you plan on using soil -> i suggest you use Pro-mix. buy it by the bale and it is pretty cheap. one bail will do ALOT of plants. pro-mix has NO nutrients to it so you will need to get some fertilizer. use the "veg" (high in N) about 1/2 strength until the plant starts to flower and then use the "bloom" (higher in P,K) at half strength from then on.

12 X 4ft flouro bulbs would be OK i think but probably not the best for the plants. i would suggest you mix COOL and WARM white bulbs for a cheap full spectrum. use the sets of lights as you need them most likely using them all.

as for starting seeds just put i soil and water, then place on a mild heat pad (75-90 deg) and cover with humidity dome.


the problem i see with this IS the flourescent lighting. they arent the most penetrating light so taller plants dont get light to the bottoms. It is very hard to mimic the suns effects inside even with very big expensive lights.
 
I have some indoor habaneros growing under fluorescent lights. I bought seedlings from a hardware store a month ago, and now they have little flowers about to bloom everywhere. Whether I get peppers or not, only time will tell, but they seem to be thriving in hydro, under 4 4' T12 bulbs.

You can use almost any fluorescent bulb, but if you have T12 fixtures, go to Wal-Mart and purchase a 50/50 combination of these two tubes: Kitchen/Bath 3000k (red light) 3,400 lumen, and the Daylight 6500k (blue light) 3,050 lumen. They come in packs of two, are made by GE, and cost about $6 and $9, can't remember which type was more expensive.

Mix them up and keep them very close, about an inch or even less if they don't get hot. Keep your plant short. Here's a pic of mine so far, notice the flower on the right. That's a good sign, yes?
42581c632fcafc2893ccbebed11d4075--1--hab2jpg--large.jpg
 
koolguymike said:
the problem i see with this IS the flourescent lighting. they arent the most penetrating light so taller plants dont get light to the bottoms. It is very hard to mimic the suns effects inside even with very big expensive lights.
Click to expand...


Just put some aluminum foil or mylar around the plants to reflect the light back towards the plant.
 
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