• Blog your pepper progress. The first image in your first post will be used to represent your Glog.

Ghosty's humble Glog March 2012

The first two shots are before transplant. I decided to try Baker's suggestion and bought a bag of pine bark mulch and added 30 - 40% to the bottom of each transplant pot (not blended btw), except one to see if there was any difference. I also took my healthiest trinidad scorpion and put it in the biggest pot to see if I would get more growth out of it. I transplanted trinidad scorpions, chocolate bhut jolokia's and regular bhuts. You will notice some plants are well along, over three months, while some about a month and some just started. I want to see if I can get peppers from all of them and in what time frame. If we have a hot spring, and above average summer as far as heat I imagine they will produce early. I have been taking flower buds off of them regularly. After transplant, I hit them with a weak solution of miracle grow. All of the pots have bark mulch in the bottom, only the cups are potting soil.

The last four shots are after transplant you can see the size width difference of all of the large grey pots ( all trinidad scorpions, BTW ), the others in the smaller pots in the plastic container are bhut, chocolate bhut and trinidad scorpions. The tiny little cups are the same with the exception being that I have a pair of white bhuts (I hope), and I tried pairing some of them together to see how they grow, to see if slower or about the same as a single plant. Only time will tell, that's it for now, they will stay in those pots until harvest. I may up-size pots and soil on some if they appear they are still growing. No bugs, fungus, aphids or insects on any one of them thanks to malathion (which I hate btw) but it works. Lets see what happens with these in a couple of months. I fluffed the soil as much as possible before planting and plan to water from the bottom for best root penetration and to keep insects down. They like the damp top soil I guess. A couple of my scorpions in red cups went into shock, none of the others did, I have them under a light, and have not a clue as why only two did and not the others, they came out of clear cups to the larger red ones, that was the only difference I could see. Very odd to say the least. Lastly, what should I be shooting for as far as PH goes ? I plan to buy a meter soon, what is a decent brand and price ?














Ghosty...
 
water burn?

Nope, spider mites, or Tetranychus urticae as they are know scientifically.

Tetranychus urticae is extremely small, barely visible with the naked eye as reddish or greenish spots on leaves and stems; the adult females measure about 0.4 mm long.[sup][3][/sup] The red spider mite, which can be seen in greenhouses and tropical and temperate zones, spins a fine web on and under leaves


It seems my from the middle watering method guarantees unleashing every dry loving insect known to mankind, This is only one species of mite, I didn't notice any sign of webs left by them, so this may not be the correct one. Second, wiki suggests one type of mite can be controlled with another, one that I assume does not feed on the leaves, but if it doesn't then it only eats the leaf feeding ones ? Once done, where do they go ? Sorry folks, I don't want any extremely tiny insects in my house where I can't see them and neutralize them. Great for greenhouses though.
The mite's natural predator, Phytoseiulus persimilis, commonly used as a biological control method, is one of many predatory mites which prey mainly or exclusively on spider mites.

Ghosty...
 
Here is what my babies look like after a couple of weeks, compare with post #11 on April 8th.
First brain strain, then purple bhut, finally 7 pot Douglah OP. Not a lot of growth under florescent light T5,
temps in the mid 70's during the day. I have been through three years of this, see my next post, today,
Today, something snapped. I said I am going to change that for good. See below the first three pics
for my solution to the problem.

brainstrain.jpg

purplebhut.jpg


7potdouglahop.jpg


I have a nice collapsible plant stand, 6'2', by 3' by 2' wide, 15 inch shelves, here:
The next decision was to put it in a grow tent, below: Here is a description.
Next what to use for a light, after much review and discussion, including with Bakers, and
the owner of the shop that has every kind of lighting system known to mankind, I decided
on a 1000 watt MH system with a hood and selectable ballast: 500, 750, 1000, or overdrive.
see the next two images. The hood system attaches at the roof and has a ratchet system.
I can lower it and start plants at 500 watts, then as they get bigger raise it and up the juice to
the lights. The stand may or may not play a part in this, I can use one to four shelves as needed.

The cost of the MH light, ballast and hood is about one half what three four pack T5 systems would
cost. The ballast is lifetime warrantied and the bulb is rated for something like 30,000 hours.
I will not need to heat the tent, even in the winter in the garage, if that's where it ends up.
I won't be able to start 1500 pepper plants without the shelves, but I will be able to grow plants
year round with this system and I am told the temps can easily be maintained from 80 - 85 which
is ideal for flowering and setting pods. I don't know about the durability of the tent, we will see as
time goes on, but I have little worry about the hood because I can easily add duct work and a fan
if needed. The ballast can support any bulb type I choose as well, HPS or MH, if I decide to switch.

I could have gone with three banks of 6 tube T5's under each shelf, but that would have doubled my light
costs. The 1000 watt MH seems cost effective, not to mention the needed heat that is generated, hopefully
not too much. I can't start as many plants this way, but wattage and heat levels are adjustable.

Admittedly, this is a big investment, but in the future with a business in mind, I believe it is money
well spent. Ok, let the dog piling and shooting holes in my approach begin, I can take, it, like the thread
says, Ghosty's humble grow log. This seems the best cost versus benefit alternative to me, I could
be wrong, but I gave it my best shot.

Ghosty...

P.S. For all you warm to tropical climate growers out there, I am envious. Hopefully, the added expense will pay off.
I should be able to go from seeds to decent sized peppers in about two months with this setup, only time will
tell.

shelvesg.jpg


growlabtent.jpg







Here is what my babies look like after a couple of weeks, compare with post #11 on April 8th.
First brain strain, then purple bhut, finally 7 pot Douglah OP. Not a lot of growth under florescent light T5,
temps in the mid 70's during the day. I have been through three years of this, see my next post, today,
Today, something snapped. I said I am going to change that for good. See below the first three pics
for my solution to the problem.

brainstrain.jpg

purplebhut.jpg


7potdouglahop.jpg


I have a nice collapsible plant stand, 6'2', by 3' by 2' wide, 15 inch shelves, here:
The next decision was to put it in a grow tent, below: Here is a description.
Next what to use for a light, after much review and discussion, including with Bakers, and
the owner of the shop that has every kind of lighting system known to mankind, I decided
on a 1000 watt MH system with a hood and selectable ballast: 500, 750, 1000, or overdrive.
see the next two images. The hood system attaches at the roof and has a ratchet system.
I can lower it and start plants at 500 watts, then as they get bigger raise it and up the juice to
the lights. The stand may or may not play a part in this, I can use one to four shelves as needed.

The cost of the MH light, ballast and hood is about one half what three four pack T5 systems would
cost. The ballast is lifetime warrantied and the bulb is rated for something like 30,000 hours.
I will not need to heat the tent, even in the winter in the garage, if that's where it ends up.
I won't be able to start 1500 pepper plants without the shelves, but I will be able to grow plants
year round with this system and I am told the temps can easily be maintained from 80 - 85 which
is ideal for flowering and setting pods. I don't know about the durability of the tent, we will see as
time goes on, but I have little worry about the hood because I can easily add duct work and a fan
if needed. The ballast can support any bulb type I choose as well, HPS or MH, if I decide to switch.

I could have gone with three banks of 6 tube T5's under each shelf, but that would have doubled my light
costs. The 1000 watt MH seems cost effective, not to mention the needed heat that is generated, hopefully
not too much. I can't start as many plants this way, but wattage and heat levels are adjustable.

Admittedly, this is a big investment, but in the future with a business in mind, I believe it is money
well spent. Ok, let the dog piling and shooting holes in my approach begin, I can take, it, like the thread
says, Ghosty's humble grow log. This seems the best cost versus benefit alternative to me, I could
be wrong, but I gave it my best shot.

Ghosty...

P.S. For all you warm to tropical climate growers out there, I am envious. Hopefully, the added expense will pay off.
I should be able to go from seeds to decent sized peppers in about two months with this setup, only time will
tell.

shelvesg.jpg


growlabtent.jpg





 
Today I put together the Grow Tent, the first picture is the frame, spindly looking thing, isn't it ?
I was pleased to find that the tent construction, zipper and velcro panels are high quality, the material
feels like it will last, and there is a removable bottom insert with velco tabs on the corners, so it will
be snap to keep clean. The two sets of cross tubes on top are to support the hood and light, the top
two, I will have to clamp those supports in place because if they slide too much they can come loose
the expensive light may break. I don't have the fan and duct work installed yet. I will probably run a
small fan on the floor as well.

I fired up the HPS for about 3 or 4 minutes only at 500 watts and I could smell the heat in the glass tube
that protects it. No use taking chances until I figure out the working temperature range, I have to vent
the 6 inch fan outside as well, that I will do this week. I am going to mess with the hood attachments as well.

The ballast has a reset button, but it looks like a cover is missing and a metal screwed flange is exposed,
if you touch that with it powered up you get a small shock. Taking it back tomorrow to see if there is a part
missing.

First order of business is to determine the high, low temps in the tent with nothing on.
Then fit the fan and ducting and power up the light and see how she runs for heat and humidity compared to outside
temps. I am going to need a wireless temp humidity logging and control system so I can control the temps in the
tent, 80 - 85 F is the goal during the day and no lower than 60 F in the evening. I would like a wireless
system so I can log, and control the environment through software if possible.

Factors:

1. safety

2. making the best use of the light and fan

3. keeping optimum temps without wasting energy or creating too much heat that could mess up the peppers

4. controlling humidity but to a lesser degree

I am sure I will become an expert in space management, so expect some crazy inside configurations to maximize the use of space.
I am thinking three tiers of plants at different heights but the is just a work in process in my head at the moment.
The big plants will be low, obviously, the next level plants will be immature, and the top layer will be seedlings.
That is what I am thinking at the moment. Then compare results I get from the tent versus in the natural conditions
indoors, that will be the real test.











Ghosty... :P
 
Sweet tent and very pro looking set up!
Bee,

Thanks, hopefully I will have the success I am hoping for once it is up and running. I plan to post pics of various plants before and after exposure to the tent. Hopefully I can get pods sooner this way. I am thinking I may even need part of the space over mature super hot peppers with 50% shade cloth to keep bad things from happening. Will have to see how things go. if I can get stable and not spikey temps during the day, that will help a lot. There will be fine tuning and trial and error as I go, but that is to be expected. If anyone following this has advice from hard earned experience, I am all ears.

Ghosty... :cool:
 
While I was watering plants today, added some magnesium from epsom salts I checked my mantis cocoon and low and behold:

Pretty cool, huh, I put the cocoon in a bush outside, I hope some of them make it, it will be nice having them around this summer.

I also noticed I am losing leaves on my seedlings so I moved the light up another foot and a half away from them, and gave them

a shot of magnesium from the epsom salts. We will see if they green up a bit after that in a few days.






Ghosty... :cool:
 
First here are three different size trinidad scorpions to go in the tent, note the date, May 13th. Let's see what kind of results I get in 30 days. The fan is in, now vented outside. The tent appears to be a nice and toasty 85F during the day running 500 watts, it is hard to tell but there is a big difference in heat when switching from 500 to 750 to 1000 watts. I took a picture of each setting with the plants, see if you can tell the difference. To me, it is hard to tell.

My preying mantis hatch may have been a bust, I am guessing they hatched a few days before I opened the bag I believe lots of them were near death from dehydration and no food. I put all of them, or so I thought outside in the dirt and a window planter. We will see if they make it. One straggler somehow remained in side, and I found him/her on the temperature gauge, on the grow mat and under my indoor light, I spritzed him with water to give him a drink. The next morning he has taken up home in the cups holding my seedlings, sits on the edge waiting for something to fly by. He may be the soul survivor, so I named him Ghost.

If he makes it to maturity I will set him up in a tank and get some live food for him. He appears to be eating the small flying gnats in the seedlings at the moment. Weird how things work out sometimes, huh ? That's it, experiment to grow faster and pod sooner is on.

Sorry, I had to put the bikes in the picture too, one passion feeds the other, hehe...



500 watts


750 watts


1000 watts



Ghosty...
 
Two days and counting, I moved about 1/2 of the collapsible shelving into the tent, moved all the plants to within 3 feet or closer to the light,
running at 500 watts. Noticed that the jolokia's prefer the light more than the scorpions, so I moved those farther away or down one shelf.

Will have to see how it goes, but with outdoor temps in the 60's and 70's the tent appears to run at about 75F at 500 watts and 85F at 750 watts.
I don't think the plants are quite ready for the 750 setting though, better to be safe than sorry. No bugs either knock on wood. Lets see how it goes
in a few days. I gave all of them a decent shot of epsom salts in water hopefully to keep them green and assisting in flower production.

Ghosty...
 
Sweet mantis cacoon dude! Grow on!
Guru,

I had one sole survivor mantis baby and I thought it died but low and behold every few days it shows up on my small indoor light or plant cup rims indoors. The little bugger is getting bigger, it must be getting the small gnat flies from the cups, I water them morning and night as well, just a spritz. I will try to take a picture of him next time he shows up. Would like to know where he goes when I can't spot him, weird for sure.

Ghosty...
 
I put all my plants out on Saturday under a shaded deck, but the residual burn from the HPS Tent light became evident, the burnt leaves are starting to dry up and fall off, and it wasn't from the outdoor sun either because they were not under full sun. I need some kind of light filtering material. I think maybe 50% will do, may grab a few different percentages to experiment with. Does anyone have a company they deal with that supplies it ? I don't want any more leaf burn, and if the temps drop outdoors I know 750 watts will produce a nice 85F internal temp in the tent. I plan to pick up a small fan after work today too in case the flowers open in the tent so I will get pods. I will post some pics in this thread this evening so please check back, the plants are definitely bigger, just a little wounded.

I measured the tent space and after borrowing large seed starter trays, 72 in each. The tent will hold 2, 4 rows deep so I can start 576 plants at a whack. God, if I do this I am gonna be a slave to them. All for the rush of eating them in various forms and sharing that joy with others for profit, it doesn't get much better than that does it ?

Ghosty...
 
Great log, Ghost man! Here's wishing you great success with your new lighting system :cheers:

Your story about Ghost is very cool. How great to have a little stalker taking care of your seedlings for you!
 
Ghost man, just checked your log brother. That is a sweet tent. Are you going from outside in pots to growing them inside the tent? How far do you have the light from the tops of the plants? I wouldn't think you need a light screen. That would defeat the whole purpose.

A sole survivor-that was the way it was meant to go down huh. One little dude to watch over all. Pretty cool. God works in mysterious ways. He's the top dog of the bag.....pulled through like a champ.

I'll try and keep up with your glog ghost. I'd like to know how using the tent will allow you to grow from seed to fruit in two months. That is an amazing turn around for superhots. Are you planning on stunting them at a certain height?

Good luck Ghost. Love the bikes in the pic btw. No need to apologize for that. It's awesome.
 
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