HeatMiser's Keeping it Simple With Old Seeds 2020 Grow

Well here it is - after a two year hiatus, I decided to get myself a new grow light (HLG 100), grow peppers again and join this community.

I decided to it simple this year and grow fewer varieties from seeds I already have. These were packaged in 2014 or earlier so it will serve as a viability test as well.

After talking with my wife, we decided on the following 4 varieties

1 Super Hot:
Trinidad Moruga Scorpion. Seeds from the Chile Pepper Institute packaged in 2013.

1 Ornamental:
Numex Twilight. Seeds from the Chile Pepper Institute packaged in 2012.

2 Varieties for Cooking:
Jalafuego. Seeds from tomatogrowers.com. Packaged before 2014
Chiltepin. Seeds I collected after a trip to Texas in 2014.

I have the following goals for this season

1. Get a decent batch of "hot" Jalapenos. You have to be lucky to find a hot Jalapeno at the store. We plan to pickle them to be used in NACHOS
   
2. Incorporate Chiltepin peppers in our cooking (salsas, tacos, etc)
   
3. Make some powder with the Trinidad Scorpion Peppers. I've made Ghost Pepper Powder before and it's amazing in stuff like Pho.
   
4. Experiment with DWC and Kratky for peppers. My experience is with Dutch Buckets.
   
5. Experiment with outdoor hydroponics. Success here means I'll be able to plant more peppers in future years
   
6. Try crossing peppers. Always been curious, never really tried it. This year, it's happening.
   
7. Growing a Trinidad Scorpion in my office at work. Dare my boss to try one…

The plan is as follows:

• 1 Trinidad Scorpion and 1 Jalafuego in 5 gal DWC indoors.
• Grow 1 Chiltepin and 1 Numex Twilight indoors in smaller Kratky containers.
• Grow 1 Trinidad Scorpion in a 5 gal DWC at work

As the weather improves, I'll set up 1 Trinidad Scorpion and 1 Jalafuego in 5 gal Kratky bucket outdoors. I'll also clone as many plants as I can get away with and put them in soil containers outside.

That's it for plans…

Here's the actual progress so far

12/20/2019 -
• Started soaking Chiltepin seeds in a weak solution of chamomille tea
• Planted Trinidad Moruga Scorpion, Jalafuego and Numex Twilight seeds in rockwool cubes. 2 seeds of each per cube. Placed on a heat mat inside an airtight container with some water on the bottom for moisture

12/21/2019
• Planted Chiltepin seeds
• 3 rockwool cubes with seeds soaked in weak chamomille tea solution for about 25 hours
• 3 rockwool cubes with seeds soaked in 9 parts water, 1 part bleach solution for 5 minutes

12/23/2019
• Noticed a hook in one of the Jalafuego cubes

12/26/2019
• Hooks on all 3 Jalafuego cubes
• One Twilight cube has a hook

12/27/2019
• Hooks on all 3 Twilight cubes. One of them is a bit leggy
• Noticed one Chiltepin seed starting to sprout, from the cube that was soaked in bleach
• Transferred Jalafuego and Twilights to the light and gave them some food, General Hydroponics mild vegetative solution

12/28/2019
• One Jalafuego cube has 2 seedlings, new hook came out.

12/29/2019
• One Chiltepin hook coming out of the cube. Moved the cube to the light
• All 6 Jalafuego seeds have sprouted. 3 seedlings are now upright and 3 hooks are coming out. Germination rate is 6/6

12/30/2019
• Hook from Trinidad Moruga Scorpion came out. Moved to light

1/1/2020
• Hook from Chiltepin seed in bleach solution. Moved to light
• Hook from Chiltepin seed in chamomile tea came out. Moved to light

1/2/2020
• Last Twilight sprouted. Germination rate is 6/6
• Two more Trinidad Moruga Hooks

1/3/2020
• Moved two Trinidad Moruga cubes to light

1/5/2020
• Another Trinidad Moruga sprouted. Germination rate is 4/6

1/7/2020
• Roots from Jalafuego, Twilight and Chiltepin started poking through the bottom of the rockwool cubes. Moved the best plants to their own individual kratky container. Using Mild Vegetative solution from Flora 3 Part solution
• One T5 bulb died. Changed the light to the HLG 100.

1/9/2020
• New Trinidad Moruga Sprouted. Germination Rate: 5/6
• Added an air stone to the Jalafuego Kratky container turning it into a DWC.

1/10/2020

• Moved another Jalafuego to its own Kratky container

Thanks for reading all of this... I'll be posting some pictures soon!

 

[HeatMiser]

There you go. Now you just need a nice snug fit so they'll stay put in use. Only problem with that is you'll drill a round hole in the lid, but the cup for the pipe will have an oval cross section parallel to the floor if you want the pipes angled slightly away from the plant. So the cup's inner and outer surfaces need to be cylindrical about different axes. This will be a cool part! Flange around the top and you're done. Plastic plugs of every size, color, flavor can be found all over online, but I'd probably just use the cups themselves to plug the lids when I wasn't using the pipes.

Got any hole saws? What sizes? Need the outer diameter and I'll make them for you. The diameter of the net pot opening would be useful, too.

 
Awesome, thanks for the offer Unc!
 
I was trying to understand the part where the cup for the pipe will have an oval cross section parallel to the floor. It might not even be necessary (and in case it is, it wouldn't be a big deal, we just need to open up the hole in the net-cup lid a little bit more). Here's what I had in mind - I don't have the software you have to model these things in 3D, but my PowerPoint skills should do in this instance:
 
If I understood you correctly, the following side-view of the cup would have an oval cross section parallel to the floor. The white diagonal line represents the inside of the cup:

 
This might not be necessary if it's possible to just create a cylinder at an angle - the cross section cutting parallel to the flange or lip at the top would be a circle, as per the bottom view:

 
Similar to the following flag holders, but the base would be the flange that holds the cup:

 
Now, if I was making this part myself without a 3d printer, I'd have to be consider the height of the flange, so it cannot simply rest on top of the cup - otherwise the PVC pipe wouldn't go in smoothly:

 
To solve the above issue, I would have to make sure the cup can slide through the flange and then glue them together. 

 
But the top view would still be a circle:

 
I should be able to insert the above cup into the circular hole if I angle it a bit. Maybe it won't sit entirely flush given that the lid is not paper-thin, but this can easily be solved by making the hole a bit bigger. Then, as you mentioned, I'd just use these cups when the pipes are not in use, so we could just glue them to the lid and make them sit there permanently. Gluing them to the lid should also make them support the weight of the PVC pipe better.
 
I agree this will be a cool part! It's great that we can bounce these ideas back and forth and come up with something useful to solve a common problem. You should sell these things...
 
I have a 1-inch hole saw. If we want to fit in a 1/2-inch PVC pipe, then the cup opening should be > 0.840 inches
 
Thanks again!
 
 

 

[Uncle Eckley]

Look at the picture of the flag pole holders where the tube meets the plate. The profile of the tube there is an oval because the axis of the cylindrical tube isn't perpendicular to the plate.
One inch, cool. I'll model it up here soon.

 

[Uncle Eckley]

Okay, here's what we can do with one-inch holes with the pipes laid over ten degrees.  This cup is 1/2" deep below the flange.  You can see there's not much engagement between the cup and pipe, so we'll want a slight interference fit.  I'll have to look into the OD tolerance for schedule 40.  A bigger hole saw, smaller PVC, and less of an angle on the PVC would all buy us more engagement, but I'm not sure how well the pipes will want to just sit there with a looser fit.  I'll have to experiment with it.
 
Edit: OD tolerance is +.016/-.031.  Not so hot for this.  We may need o-rings.  Will also think about a snap on version.
 

 
 
This is what ten degrees will look like.  Looks about right to me.  24" pipes here.  What do you think?
 

 

[HeatMiser]

"the cup's inner and outer surfaces need to be cylindrical about different axes" - This is obvious now....  
 
These look awesome Unc! I can get a bigger hole saw, that's not a problem. 1/2" is the smallest diameter pipe at my local HD.
 
Now, we still need to have some webbing around the poles. How much do you think this will help the PVC pipes sit in place?

 

[Uncle Eckley]

Now, we still need to have some webbing around the poles. How much do you think this will help the PVC pipes sit in place?

Well, you can drill holes through both walls of the pipes and run twine or whatever through them. That would provide some support for the pipes, you're right, but it's the pipes that are supposed to be supporting everything, lol!
I just weave ribbon around the pipes and branches and tie the ends together. It works.

I think we'll add a barb to these to help keep them seated in the lid. Let me know when you settle on a hole saw size.

My bucket lid net pots aren't flat on top.. Are yours?

 

[Uncle Eckley]

Here we are.  I'm pretty pleased with these.  They hold the PVC at least as rigidly as the cable ties lashing mine to the net weave.  PM me your address and I'll send you some.
 

 

.

 

[HeatMiser]

Damn! those sure look good Unc! 
 
 
PM sent...

 

[HeatMiser]

I've been away for a little while due to being on-call at work. This week, I do have an update.
 
Things are in auto-pilot mode. This week I performed my first cross between a Jalafuego and a Numex Twilight since they are both flowering at this point. We'll see what comes out of it.
 
This is the TS at work. I've only been visiting it once a week to see if it needs to have the light raised a few inches. It doesn't seem to mind my absence.

 
Jalafuego and TS under T5 lights. I like the way these plants are looking right now

 
TS and Jalafuego under the HLG100. We can notice that too much light is also not good for the plants. I've dialed the light down to 12 hours thanks to a recommendation by Unc. I'll check on new growth and decide then.

 
Numex Twilight and two Chiltepins. The Twilight has flowers all over the place, while the Chiltepins are just growing like weeds.

 

[PaulG]

Nice work. Very healthy looking plants, HM.

 

[CaneDog]

+1.  Looks like a bit of PNW forest in that bottom pic, HM     Glad things are doing so well.
 
When I first got my HLG100 I liked it, but it took a little time to learn the ins and outs.  It's now my favorite light and very versatile.

 

[HeatMiser]

Nice work. Very healthy looking plants, HM.

 
 

+1.  Looks like a bit of PNW forest in that bottom pic, HM     Glad things are doing so well.
 
When I first got my HLG100 I liked it, but it took a little time to learn the ins and outs.  It's now my favorite light and very versatile.

 
Thanks guys, it's good to have something like this to serve as a distraction from the craziness right now. 
 
CD, I'm totally having the same experience - never thought a grow light could have a learning curve, haha. But it's much better than having to replace those T5s every season. What is your photoperiod?
 
BTW - I'm totally digging the Sansi I'm growing the TS under in my office at work (1st picture above). No fiddling around with that one!

 

[CaneDog]

I'm running it about 14/8, currently, but I'm still watching and will tweak if necessary.  It's the only light in a 4' x 2' tent with a mix of various wild species, annuum, pubenscens, frutescens, baccatum, and chinense all staggered around to try to accommodate each of their needs as best possible.  All are in soil.  When I see someone start to complain I reorganize as necessary    but so far that light cycle seems to be working.
 
I ran it 5 hours/ day OW and the plants came out strong as horses.  I essentially sealed off a room for them so the temps pretty-much stayed in the 50F's.  I like that the light is strong, but doesn't put off the heat of the T5HO's or HID's.  That works very well for OW because the plants don't feel warmth and try to grow too much.
 
Good deal on the Sansi.  "Set it and forget it" can be pretty handy, especially for what's currently a remote grow.
 
And shoot, my original T5HO's lasted forever, but the cheap new bulbs I bough a small bulk of are terrible and burn out pretty fast. Disappointing, but I expect I'll be migrating most of my grow to the LED's fairly soon. 

 

[HeatMiser]

I'm running it about 14/8, currently, but I'm still watching and will tweak if necessary.  It's the only light in a 4' x 2' tent with a mix of various wild species, annuum, pubenscens, frutescens, baccatum, and chinense all staggered around to try to accommodate each of their needs as best possible.  All are in soil.  When I see someone start to complain I reorganize as necessary    but so far that light cycle seems to be working.
 
I ran it 5 hours/ day OW and the plants came out strong as horses.  I essentially sealed off a room for them so the temps pretty-much stayed in the 50F's.  I like that the light is strong, but doesn't put off the heat of the T5HO's or HID's.  That works very well for OW because the plants don't feel warmth and try to grow too much.
 
Good deal on the Sansi.  "Set it and forget it" can be pretty handy, especially for what's currently a remote grow.
 
And shoot, my original T5HO's lasted forever, but the cheap new bulbs I bough a small bulk of are terrible and burn out pretty fast. Disappointing, but I expect I'll be migrating most of my grow to the LED's fairly soon. 

 
Thanks CD! It's impressive how different species react to the same light. That HLG100 definitely stimulated side growth on some of my plants, and now I want them to grow taller, haha. It's all good learning for next time.

 

[Bookers]

Nice GROW HM! I was reading into about post 25 then scrolled through lol.... cheers.

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[HeatMiser]

Nice GROW HM! I was reading into about post 25 then scrolled throug lol.... cheers.

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Thanks Bookers! And thanks for stopping by...
 
I'm liking the results so far, especially considering I'm using different nutrients and different growing methods than what I was used to. As you can see, there's still plenty of learning for me to do, but it's been great to have the support from people in here to help get there faster...

 

[Bookers]

 
Thanks Bookers! And thanks for stopping by...
 
I'm liking the results so far, especially considering I'm using different nutrients and different growing methods than what I was used to. As you can see, there's still plenty of learning for me to do, but it's been great to have the support from people in here to help get there faster...

I don't know what you were using, as I went to sleep before finishing the reading. I use Master Blend and it works for me. That's in Kratky. For the year and container feeding I usually add in a little liquid miracle grow in between feedings.

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[HeatMiser]

I don't know what you were using, as I went to sleep before finishing the reading. I use Master Blend and it works for me. That's in Kratky. For the year and container feeding I usually add in a little liquid miracle grow in between feedings.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 
I was using General Hydroponics Flora Series Nutrients since that was what I could buy at the time on Amazon, and a lot of the YouTube channels I was following recommended it. The original inspiration for getting into hydroponics was MHPGardener. He uses Master Blend, but it was not available at the time.
 
Now that Master Blend is available (and it is cheaper), I have been able to compare both of them using lettuce and got much better results with MasterBlend. So far, peppers seem to be following a similar trajectory, so I think I'll stick with MB.

 

[Devv]

Well thought out and an interesting read HM. The plants look great!
 
I wish I knew just anything about hydro growing I'll get there hopefully...
Interesting what you say about the T5 bulbs, I think I'm in year 7 with mine.
 
Good luck and enjoy the grow!

 

[Bookers]

 
I was using General Hydroponics Flora Series Nutrients since that was what I could buy at the time on Amazon, and a lot of the YouTube channels I was following recommended it. The original inspiration for getting into hydroponics was MHPGardener. He uses Master Blend, but it was not available at the time.
 
Now that Master Blend is available (and it is cheaper), I have been able to compare both of them using lettuce and got much better results with MasterBlend. So far, peppers seem to be following a similar trajectory, so I think I'll stick with MB.

There is an Amazon link for 2 1/2 lbs mb
1lb mb 1lb calcium nitrate 1/2 lb magnesium sulfate... if you can't find it let me know. It's about 24.00 ...I use 6 grams MB 1/2 gram magnesium sulfate and 6 grams Calcium nitrate to a 5 gallon bucket... it has worked for me in 2 totes and has sent my grow into over drive...

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[HeatMiser]

Well thought out and an interesting read HM. The plants look great!
 
I wish I knew just anything about hydro growing I'll get there hopefully...
Interesting what you say about the T5 bulbs, I think I'm in year 7 with mine.
 
Good luck and enjoy the grow!

 
Thanks Devv!
 
I guess hydro can be as simple or complex as you decide to make it. I don't mess around with nutrient concentrations and basically just follow the label. So that leaves me with only the Ph and lights to fiddle around with, which for me is simpler than growing in soil. However, some people make their own nutrients by mixing in the chemicals individually. While I haven't seen their results, I guess at some point the law of diminishing returns kicks in and the extra work is not worth it. 
 
You should give it a try - lettuce is a great way to start and super rewarding come harvest time.
 
Yeah, those T5s haven't been kind to me (or I to them), just last week I found around 15 burned-out bulbs tucked in a corner in a closet... that's why I've been so interested in LEDs
 

There is an Amazon link for 2 1/2 lbs mb
1lb mb 1lb calcium nitrate 1/2 lb magnesium sulfate... if you can't find it let me know. It's about 24.00 ...I use 6 grams MB 1/2 gram magnesium sulfate and 6 grams Calcium nitrate to a 5 gallon bucket... it has worked for me in 2 totes and has sent my grow into over drive...

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Yup! that's what I'm using now, but I got their 5lb pack because it was $30-ish compared to the 2.5lb for $24. I think that will last me several seasons, and I'm quite happy with those nutrients.