Hey all, this is my first real post on the pepper, and my ever grow log so bear with me if i seem to fumble a bit. This is also my first year trying to grow some exotic peppers. My dad and i have been growing thai peppers and hawaiian purple peppers for several years, and i also have a red scotch bonnet and a bhut jolokia plant i purchased from the county fair. I cook with the thai peppers all the time, and the red bonnets have been a treat.
I ordered ten varieties from a couple different sellers: devils tongue, chocolate scotch bonnets, satans kiss, cherry bomb, aji amerillo, jamaican yellow mushrooms, bishops crown, chocolate bhuts, aji dulce and sweet apple peppers.
I intend to keep 3 of each of these plants in my back yard (yes, i know about open pollination!) im not overly concerned about harvesting seeds. I have at least a couple friends who will take some excess plants of the seeds i germinate so i can keep different species away from each other, or even try to coax some hybrids!
Here ill keep track of my germination, seedlings, growth and pruning. I live in a hardiness zone 10b in southern california, so im going to try overwintering these plants outdoors. This hasnt been a problem for the plants ive got already, but i know some of these peppers can be rather finicky. So, with all that out of the way i suppose, lets do the first post!
I began germination last week monday, 3 seeds of each variety in a damp paper towel in a ziploc, easy peasy. Checked em all out today and had a couple results!
One aji, two of the jamaicans, but one started to mold out, and all 3 of the satans kiss had sprouted. Put the ungerminated ajis back, tossed the dead jamaican and replaced it with a couple fresh ones, which ill check on in another week. Anyways i put the successes in some 5 gallon pots, got some potting soil and mixed some pumice into the bottom half then topped it off and buried the seeds about an inch down.
Ill be checking the rest of the seeds every few days and ill log successful germinations along the way, ill also do my best to answer any questions or comments about what im doing and how im going about it. I hosted these two images on imgur, but maybe i should just open a photobucket and start building an album there, who knows. Anyway ill keep updating when i have something to show.
I did cut one of my thai peppers back down to a nub and tore it out of its pot. No, not an act of murder, i put it in a bonsai pot. Would this be an appropriate place to keep track of that plants progress as well?
I ordered ten varieties from a couple different sellers: devils tongue, chocolate scotch bonnets, satans kiss, cherry bomb, aji amerillo, jamaican yellow mushrooms, bishops crown, chocolate bhuts, aji dulce and sweet apple peppers.
I intend to keep 3 of each of these plants in my back yard (yes, i know about open pollination!) im not overly concerned about harvesting seeds. I have at least a couple friends who will take some excess plants of the seeds i germinate so i can keep different species away from each other, or even try to coax some hybrids!
Here ill keep track of my germination, seedlings, growth and pruning. I live in a hardiness zone 10b in southern california, so im going to try overwintering these plants outdoors. This hasnt been a problem for the plants ive got already, but i know some of these peppers can be rather finicky. So, with all that out of the way i suppose, lets do the first post!
I began germination last week monday, 3 seeds of each variety in a damp paper towel in a ziploc, easy peasy. Checked em all out today and had a couple results!
One aji, two of the jamaicans, but one started to mold out, and all 3 of the satans kiss had sprouted. Put the ungerminated ajis back, tossed the dead jamaican and replaced it with a couple fresh ones, which ill check on in another week. Anyways i put the successes in some 5 gallon pots, got some potting soil and mixed some pumice into the bottom half then topped it off and buried the seeds about an inch down.
Ill be checking the rest of the seeds every few days and ill log successful germinations along the way, ill also do my best to answer any questions or comments about what im doing and how im going about it. I hosted these two images on imgur, but maybe i should just open a photobucket and start building an album there, who knows. Anyway ill keep updating when i have something to show.
I did cut one of my thai peppers back down to a nub and tore it out of its pot. No, not an act of murder, i put it in a bonsai pot. Would this be an appropriate place to keep track of that plants progress as well?
im in zone 10 also and im also starting seeds good luck!
Hey all, its been a pretty fun couple months or so. I started out with ten new varieties, initially trying for three of each but it hasnt quite worked out that way. During late october i discovered pinholes in a couple of my seedlings. After browsing for ideas of what it might be i set out five beer traps and sprinkled crushed egg shell among my plants, suspecting slugs. The next day my fears were confirmed when i found two slugs, each in separate traps. I had hoped that was the end of it, but it was just the beginning. Within days I found myself under siege by a slimy invader. The slugs had started laying eggs in the drainage holes of my pots, and the newborn were hungry. I bought a spinsad foliar spray but it wasnt effective. Nightly patrols and day raids on the bottoms of pots yielded results, but casualties continues to climb. I retaliated with stepping up raids and finally, along with organic slug pellets i had bought, the menace was defeated. The attack from first sighting to last spanned 10-12 days and saw eight seedlings eaten to the ground. All three aji amarillo, and all three aji dulce came under assault, losing one of each. The two surviving aji dulce i thought would not survive but one thing ive learned just from reading these forums, is to never give up on your plants. And you know what? Both have started coming back:
