Growing peppers in the north! Hydro all day everyday.

Hi all pepper enthusiasts. 
 
I live in Scandinavian, or more precisely in Denmark, where unfortunately the weather can be pretty brutal. Ironic we currently have the hottest sommer I can remember. However, I can't rely on the weather all year round, especially because I don't have a garden. 
 
So I decided to upgrade my old windowsill garden, to a better hydro setup. This way I can grow year round . 
My setup consist of: 
Grow tent: Homebox Vista medium.
Light: Quantum board 260W LED. 
Drip irrigation system with drain to waste. 
Air intake: Black Orchide Ø 150mm
Air circulation: Secret Garden Monkey Fan 30W
Water pump: Micro-Jet MC 450 Oxy Pump
Medium: Rockwool 
The brain of the system is my Sonoff 4channel Pro with this I control everything by my phone, both light timers, water and circulation timers. 
 
Plants as of 12th July: 
Lemon Drop
Tabasco 
Thunder mountain Longhorn
7pot Primo (seeds from Troy).
Peachgum V3
Numex Vaquero (Jalapeno). 
 
Then I have a tomato plant and just started some strawberry seeds. 
In the next days im going to start a different tomato plant (Yellow pear) and plant seeds for Bahamian Goat(to replace the Longhorn)!
 
Now, to the exiting part, pictures! 
 
First picture is my whole setup. Grow tent, plants and water bucket. 

 
Next we have a closer look to the plants. 

 
Here we have the left part of the tent, with the lemon drop, tomato plant and Vaquero, you can also see the circulation fan.

 
Right side of the tent. With Thunder Mountain longhorn, Tabasco, Peachgum, Primo 

 
Closeup of the Lemon drop, I just harvested her today. Love this pepper. 

 
Here is the Scoville King in the tent, the Primo 

 
My Jalapeño (Numex Vaquero) I hope he produces more later, this is his first set of fruits. 

 
Thunder Mountain Longhorn. Easily the best producer in the tent (contested by the lemon drop) but most fruits ripen up to be soft with black seeds :/ To be replaced by the Bahamian Goat in the future. 

 
And my tabasco 

 
This is my "tools"

 
Some fitting decoration of the grow room 

 
And lastly the system all works because of this little box. 

 
 
My plan for this Glog is to hopefully grow peppers all year and I have some crossing ideas (Hello mr. Bahamian Goat) im planning to do here as well. Maybe some can assist with future hydro problems as well, as this is my very first time trying to grow this way . 
Here is the first few peppers from today going in the dryer! Along with some Gengish Kahns brain from the freezer. 

 

[Mildfruit]

Weekly update**
 

I have finally settled on this plant to be growing true. Its pods do look exactly like the Fireflame pods I can buy in town. I just counted 16 pods currently, can't wait for them to ripen an go directly into my food! 
 

From left to right: Mini Rocoto yellow: Aji Amarillo: Pasilla: Biquinho. And the little plant in the front is the Murupi. Here they are all transplanted from yesterday . 
 

Here are my Andy's King BOC. Its having some calcium deficiencies, properly due to ammonium toxicity. When I think about it, this is something ALL my hydro chinenses have faced before. Maybe they don't tolerate as much nutrients as other species in my tents environment.. I have tried to flush the plant, and plan on giving it half nutrient dosis. Currently I also give it a foliar spray of a homemade 1% calcium nitrate solution at nighttime. Hopefully the next set of leaves won't be so curled. 
 

It's not painfully obvious but I think this may be the first pod on the King BOC. Fingers crossed! 
 

My Jamaican Mushroom Yellow, also got a flush a few days ago. Lots of pods in very confined space as the plant grow so compact (properly stunted) but I managed to find a big pod. 

 

[CaneDog]

Thanks for the update MF - a top notch post.  Curious how tall your fireflame is.  It's looking strong and has that cool tree-like appearance to it.  Those BOC's just seem to be a PIA indoors!  I actually still have mine (I thought I cut it back, but it was actually the BMJ I cut back) and it just never did well under my indoor lights.  Now it's sitting in a south window and getting outside on warmer days.  Seems happier, but nothing happening yet with pods.
 
Hope that set BOC pod matures for you - along with many others - and what an awesome find on the J Mushroom.
CD
 

 

[Mildfruit]

Thanks for the update MF - a top notch post.  Curious how tall your fireflame is.  It's looking strong and has that cool tree-like appearance to it.  Those BOC's just seem to be a PIA indoors!  I actually still have mine (I thought I cut it back, but it was actually the BMJ I cut back) and it just never did well under my indoor lights.  Now it's sitting in a south window and getting outside on warmer days.  Seems happier, but nothing happening yet with pods.
 
Hope that set BOC pod matures for you - along with many others - and what an awesome find on the J Mushroom.
CD
 

 
Thanks man! I measured the fire flame to be around 70 cm (27,55 inches in freedom units), and I try to keep it from growing much taller, or else I fear it would take over the tent. I agree, I remember two years ago I got some original BOC seeds, and never had indoor success with it. Do you have pictures of your BOC? 
 
It seems to have successfully set its first pod, so now the wait begins  

 

[CaneDog]

Nice!  Just FYI, U.S. now recognizes eagles as in 70cm = 27.55, so you don't actually have to type out "inches" or "freedom units" anymore.  
 
I'd take a picture of my BOC, but it is just about ugly enough that I fear it will break my lens.  Let me see what I can do.  I topped it early when the leaves wouldn't recover (distorted) and it looked better for a while, but then never achieved any height and the leaves got all janky again.  I thought it had started to set at one point, but it didn't take.  My Bonde Ma Jacques has acted similarly.  I'm hoping real sun will fix them both.
 
Looking forward to seeing your BOC ripen. Those first ones do seem to take their time, though.

 

[CaneDog]

OK MF, here's my challenged BOC AK.  It looks better now than it has previously - it had been in really rough shape.  I topped it when it was first having bad troubles so that changed the growth profile. I took it out from under light for several days recently which cleaned up the leaf deformity somewhat and I pinched of few of the worse leaves. Then I moved it into natural light just a couple days ago.  I started another BOC AK recently thinking that if I get it outside before it starts suffering like the older one it might end up being the better plant by summer time.  Maybe the older one will feel some pressure now to perform better.

 
New BOC looking good, but so did the other one at first.

 

[PaulG]

Good luck with those BOC. A little Spring/Summer
might be just what they need!

 

[Mildfruit]

Weekly update: 
 

The fire flame keeps setting new pods, I keep checking daily for the first ripe pod, but still nothing . 
 

Heres my King BOC, seen from above. As one can see, the leaves are curled up, and after I determined it might be a calcium deficiency. I reduced my use of ammonium in my fertiliser(and gave foliar spray with calcium nitrate), and as seen here the new leaf grow seems to be without calcium deficiency. 
 

All the flowers are luckily full of pollen, and here one can see 5 pods. Very excited. This is the first time a superhot have produced inside my tent. 
 

 
And here is the rest of the gang. They all seem to not care about my new fertiliser regime, consisting of 50% less strength. Currently I do 2ml flora series pr. gallon 1:1:1 ratio, with cal/mag supplement. 

 

[Mildfruit]

OK MF, here's my challenged BOC AK.  It looks better now than it has previously - it had been in really rough shape.  I topped it when it was first having bad troubles so that changed the growth profile. I took it out from under light for several days recently which cleaned up the leaf deformity somewhat and I pinched of few of the worse leaves. Then I moved it into natural light just a couple days ago.  I started another BOC AK recently thinking that if I get it outside before it starts suffering like the older one it might end up being the better plant by summer time.  Maybe the older one will feel some pressure now to perform better.

 
New BOC looking good, but so did the other one at first.

 

 
I can easily recognize this behavior Hopefully the sun, will make the plant wake up a bit. But also reassuring that im not the only one struggling with these plants. 

 

[Mildfruit]

*Weekly update
 

Most of my peppers are now in their final container. Only the Murupi (seen en lower right corner) is lacking a bit behind. One plant in the back is having some help to not fall over, the stem is considerably thicker in the top, so I am worried it might tip over. 

Here is a closeup of the Biquinho (from juanitospeppers) and you can just see, the very first little flower. 

Here is a overview on my pasilla (juanitospepper) growing fast after last transplant. 

Biggest pod currently on the Andy's King BOC. I removed a pod half the size to try and open, full of seeds but zero (as in absolutely zero) heat. I hope the reason was the pod were very immature. Exited for this one.

So many pods on the fire flame. However still no ripe yet. I keep getting disappointed on a daily basis, I need ripe pods soon! 

Mini rocoto seen from above, starting to make first flowers.  

 

[CaneDog]

Looking good MF.  I'm pretty psyched to hear how your BOC's turn out.  I'm sure they'll be plenty hot for you by the time they orange up! 
 
It's probably taking a lot of energy for the FF to ripen that heavy pod-load, but once they start turning though you should be knee-deep in peppers.  Rocoto's look healthy and green too.  Those have always been a favorite of mine.  Seems all good with your grow - except maybe having to be patient waiting for ripe pods.
 
Hey, are those Shish Kebab Skewers you're using as stakes?  I used to buy the packs of skewers because they made great stakes for smaller plants.  Should probably pick up a pack come to think of it.

 

[Mildfruit]

Looking good MF.  I'm pretty psyched to hear how your BOC's turn out.  I'm sure they'll be plenty hot for you by the time they orange up! 
 
It's probably taking a lot of energy for the FF to ripen that heavy pod-load, but once they start turning though you should be knee-deep in peppers.  Rocoto's look healthy and green too.  Those have always been a favorite of mine.  Seems all good with your grow - except maybe having to be patient waiting for ripe pods.
 
Hey, are those Shish Kebab Skewers you're using as stakes?  I used to buy the packs of skewers because they made great stakes for smaller plants.  Should probably pick up a pack come to think of it.

 
Haha that's exactly what im using as stakes Very cheap, and get the job done (I hope). 
I hope you are right about the BOC's in term of heat, last year I managed to produce zero heat jalapeños, so I cross my fingers for not repeating whatever the reason for that was. 
 
The Rocoto is a bit strange, after 12 hours of light the leaves start to hang, only to wake up again next day. Maybe the heat and amount of "sun" hours are too much for it? 

 

[CaneDog]

Yeah I find different rocoto varieties respond differently to light intensity and duration so I move them around a bit accordingly, often toward the perimeter of the lighting.  If it's perking up again daily though that's great and it looks happy.  It will be cool when it has those purple flowers all over it and starts to pod up!

 

[PaulG]

The Rocoto is a bit strange, after 12 hours of light the leaves start to hang, only to wake up again next day. Maybe the heat and amount of "sun" hours are too much for it? 

I also have found that the pubescens varieties
like cooler temps and milder light.

All my peppers relax and hang at night, and
then get up nice and perky the next morning.
I think it has something to do with nightly growth,
Peppers being day neutral plants.

Seems to have more to do with solar and lunar
cycles than my lighting routine.

 

[Mildfruit]

Yeah I find different rocoto varieties respond differently to light intensity and duration so I move them around a bit accordingly, often toward the perimeter of the lighting.  If it's perking up again daily though that's great and it looks happy.  It will be cool when it has those purple flowers all over it and starts to pod up!

 
 

I also have found that the pubescens varieties
like cooler temps and milder light.

All my peppers relax and hang at night, and
then get up nice and perky the next morning.
I think it has something to do with nightly growth,
Peppers being day neutral plants.

Seems to have more to do with solar and lunar
cycles than my lighting routine.

 
 
I have also heard they like a bit colder climate. But either way exciting to have a different pepper in the tent, and can't wait for those purple flowers ! 

Today it happened! When I came home I saw the start of the transformation yay! 

 

[Mildfruit]

So I noticed this on 4 leafs on my rocoto today... I quickly isolated it, and the question is: BLS or not? 

 

[PaulG]

 
So I noticed this on 4 leafs on my rocoto today... I quickly isolated it, and the question is: BLS or not? 

Really hard to tell. The spots are smaller than
any BLS I've had. If there are only four affected
leaves, I would just cut them off.

 

[CaneDog]

Are they the 4 bottom leaves? "Really hard to tell" as Paul says is about right.  I would say a bit further than this doesn't look like BLS to me and rocotos very commonly have lower leaf "issues" because they like a different environment than most other peppers. However, when you have BLS, avoiding infection of your other plants is important, so I don't like to say "no, I don't think that looks like BLS" because of that risk.
 
I think isolation is always safest if practical.  I'd say post a pic of the whole plant for better feedback, but personally, if this were my plant (and with the benefit of seeing it in person) I might do nothing more to isolate than to keep it out of direct contact with other plants.  BLS thrives on water, so excess humidity, getting plant foliage wet, and splashing soil up onto plants when watering are your enemies.  Also, BLS bacteria get into plants most easily through damage, like broken or diseased/rotten foliage, so removing compromised leaves on any plant isn't a bad idea - as long as you don't overly defoliate the plant.  Also, be careful when pinching/cutting leaves on the suspect plant and then handling or using the pruning tools again without cleaning.  If you remove suspect leaves, it's best to grab with fingers and pull or break the leaf off versus cutting them off because that way you don't ever touch a part of the plant that will remain, thus distribution of the bacteria to other parts of the same plant can't happen.  With a cutting tool, you're always cutting into part of the stem that will remain so that can very easily distribute the bacteria.
 
Haha.  Sorry for the writing a book on BLS here.  Quick summary.  I don't think it's BLS but be safe!
 
And great to see your FF's getting ripe!
 

 

[Mildfruit]

Really hard to tell. The spots are smaller than
any BLS I've had. If there are only four affected
leaves, I would just cut them off.

I cut 3 of them of, leaving the leaf pictured in my post earlier. The reason is the plant don't have that many leafs yet. But I appreciate your reply, for now im keeping it isolated from the other plants. 
 

Are they the 4 bottom leaves? "Really hard to tell" as Paul says is about right.  I would say a bit further than this doesn't look like BLS to me and rocotos very commonly have lower leaf "issues" because they like a different environment than most other peppers. However, when you have BLS, avoiding infection of your other plants is important, so I don't like to say "no, I don't think that looks like BLS" because of that risk.
 
I think isolation is always safest if practical.  I'd say post a pic of the whole plant for better feedback, but personally, if this were my plant (and with the benefit of seeing it in person) I might do nothing more to isolate than to keep it out of direct contact with other plants.  BLS thrives on water, so excess humidity, getting plant foliage wet, and splashing soil up onto plants when watering are your enemies.  Also, BLS bacteria get into plants most easily through damage, like broken or diseased/rotten foliage, so removing compromised leaves on any plant isn't a bad idea - as long as you don't overly defoliate the plant.  Also, be careful when pinching/cutting leaves on the suspect plant and then handling or using the pruning tools again without cleaning.  If you remove suspect leaves, it's best to grab with fingers and pull or break the leaf off versus cutting them off because that way you don't ever touch a part of the plant that will remain, thus distribution of the bacteria to other parts of the same plant can't happen.  With a cutting tool, you're always cutting into part of the stem that will remain so that can very easily distribute the bacteria.
 
Haha.  Sorry for the writing a book on BLS here.  Quick summary.  I don't think it's BLS but be safe!
 
And great to see your FF's getting ripe!
 

 
No problem at all! Now I'll have a reference to look back at whenever I need some info on BLS, thanks! 
I'll definitely get some pictures up in a few days of the whole plant. Your post calms me down a bit. To be sure, im keeping it isolated from the other plans, it doesn't seem to be stunted or otherwise have any other issues yet, but its properly also too soon to tell anyway. Again thanks for your help ! 

 

[PaulG]

Haha.  Sorry for the writing a book on BLS here.  Quick summary.  I don't think it's BLS but be safe! In total agreement   
 
And great to see your FF's getting ripe!

Those suggestions have been my routine since I lost
some plants to BLS a few seasons ago, CD. Not a
pleasant memory          Stickman would probably
remember that debacle. Where are you Rick?
 

I cut 3 of them of, leaving the leaf pictured in my post earlier. The reason is the plant don't have that many leafs yet. But I appreciate your reply, for now im keeping it isolated from the other plants. 
 
 
No problem at all! Now I'll have a reference to look back at whenever I need some info on BLS, thanks! 
I'll definitely get some pictures up in a few days of the whole plant. Your post calms me down a bit. To be sure, im keeping it isolated from the other plans, it doesn't seem to be stunted or otherwise have any other issues yet, but its properly also too soon to tell anyway. Again thanks for your help ! 

 
You can't go wrong with CD's advice, Rasmus!
 
Doesn't seem to be a crucial issue for you...

 

[Mildfruit]

Those suggestions have been my routine since I lost
some plants to BLS a few seasons ago, CD. Not a
pleasant memory            Stickman would probably
remember that debacle. Where are you Rick?
 
 
You can't go wrong with CD's advice, Rasmus!
 
Doesn't seem to be a crucial issue for you...

I know that feeling, that's why im so cautious this time around 
 
Big update incoming** 
Today I wanted to show some of the less glamorous, behind the scenes, of running an indoor pepper grow.
First the weekly cleaning and pruning:

 

Everything gets out of the tent. Then the tent gets cleaned with soap and lastly some disinfection. A week gives a lot of plant debris around the tent, and that doesn't look very pretty.. 
I the proceed to trim and prune the plants who need it, in my case its the two big plants, Fireflame and Andy's King BOC. Remember to disinfect the scissors between each plant! 
 

Here is a look down on the side of the fireflame. Lots of roots luckily
 

Here we have a clean tent, and all plants in their final transplant.
 

Closeup of the Biquinho, lots of flowers, and the first few have already started a pod. Very excited to try this one !
 

Murupi getting in his final transplant today. Hopefully this will make it grow in the next weeks. 
 

The Amarillo haven't grown quite as much as I've hoped in the last two weeks. Patience is key here
 

The Pasillo is doing great! I expect flowers and pods very soon, it grows fast! 
 

Here you can see the fire flame is starting to ripe up more pods! I think I'll have a pod ready to eat next week, can't wait! 
 

The BOC is starting to set more pods which is lovely.