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Flowers Verse Pods

AaronD

AaronD

So my ghost peppers and carolina reapers have been planted in an Aerogarden now for about 3 months. I have lots of flowers but no pods yet. My light cycle is set to 18 hours on and 6 hours off. I stopped using the nutrients that came with my Aerogarden because the leaves were developing rusty spots. Since I stopped using the nutrients the spots have gone away (plants are happy with just plain water).

1) Should I adjust the light cycle now?

2) How many months of growth are required before pods start to grow?

3) Do the pods grow out of the flowers or as separate entities?

4) Should I be plucking/dead heading the flowers?

I will post some pictures when I get home.

Thanks
Aaron
 
You may need to help with pollinating the flowers. Peppers are self pollinating, meaning they have all the necessary parts to fertilize themselves. The issue with indoor growing is no bees or other critters to pollinate the flowers. I usually give each branch a little shake once or twice a day. Some folks use a small paint brush and tickle the flowers. As for picking off the dead ones I wouldn't worry about them. Your light cycle sounds fine and there's no specific amount of time to go from seed to pod. Yes the peppers grow right out of the flowers.

Hope that answers your questions.
 
How long ago did you stop feeding them? My first attempt at growing peppers in hydro I ended up having millions of flowers but no fruit until I corrected my EC. I had it way too high to start with and while the plants were huge & healthy looking they were aborting flowers. After switching to plain water to let them recover I lowered the EC to around 1.0 down from 1.8 and got loads of pods. If you don't have an EC meter 1/4 to 1/2 strength of what is recommended on most nutrient bottles would be a solid starting place & work your way up if the plants still look hungry. I was following the botanicare bottle's instructions at full strength and that was way too much.

Never had problems with pollination once the flowers quit dropping, but I did have an oscillating fan that kept the branches moving a bit.

Not sure if that's what your problem is but just sharing what I learned.
 
Thanks everyone for the good info:

1) I am going to set up a small fan to help with pollination.
2) I stopped using nutrients about 3 weeks ago as it was causing the leaves to rust. I will purchase an EC meter, check the levels and adjust accordingly. Any idea where I can purchase and EC meter and solution locally in Toronto, Ontario?
3) I will post a picture of the deadheading flowers.
4) Did not know that chiles are "day-neutral" - Thanks.

I have a digital tester for PH, Alkalinity and Chlorine (for my hot tub). I figure I can use this for my Aerogarden. Anyone know what the proper PH and Alkalinity levels should be for hot peppers?

Thanks
 
AaronD said:
I have a digital tester for PH, Alkalinity and Chlorine (for my hot tub). I figure I can use this for my Aerogarden. Anyone know what the proper PH and Alkalinity levels should be for hot peppers?
Thanks
Click to expand...

Ideal pH range for the most plants is between somewhere 6 & 7. According to Dr. Howard Resh, the ideal pH for chiles is between 5.8 & 6.1.

Nutrient availability vs pH from the book How-to Hydroponics:

fXnvUF5.png
 
Here are pictures of the drooping flowers:

http://puu.sh/2dDOu

http://puu.sh/2dDPX

Is it OK to leave the fan running full time, or should this be on a timer?
 
That is the natural habit of pepper flowers, they look normal. Capsicum pollen fertility is sensitive to temperature. Different varieties have different optimal temperatures, but 80F is a good bet. Humidity is also a factor, but as long as it isn't up near 100% or very low you should be fine. It is also typical for the first couple sets of flowers to drop, don't worry, later sets will produce fruit.
 
Flowers and plants look good, don't change a thing.

newppergrower1105 you can grow anything in an aerogarden.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone. I was not sure if the flowers were supposed to droop / arch down like that, but from the responses it seems that is normal.

I checked the PH levels and they are too high (7.8). I am going to add a few drops of white vinegar to the reservoir to try and lower the PH a little.
 
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