Hello Everyone! Oh, and a question regarding Reapers...

EliteMcScruffin

EliteMcScruffin

Hello everyone!  I've been checking out this site for a few months now and have really enjoyed pretty much everything about it!  I decided, since I am falling deeper and deeper into a pepper addiction from my long standing love, that it would be a good idea to go ahead and join up.
 
I look forward to learning more and taking part in conversations with everyone.
 
Now... on to business!  I have started growing a few peppers this year (first time with this) and while most are performing *okay* by most standards, the Reapers I have planted just don't seem to be doing much.  I'm not sure what the problem is, but having started germination in mid February and transplanting to 10 gallon smartpots (Fox Farm Ocean Forest for soil with an extra 15% perlite added) about a month ago nothing really seems to be happening.  They are only about 4-6 inches tall as of today and just haven't seemed to do a whole lot.  I don't believe I'm over watering--about once every two days in Katy, TX which is averaging mid 80s right now--and it hasn't been long enough to require additional nutes... has anybody had Reapers that grow this slowly?  My buddy at work seems to be having the same problem and we both ordered direct from PuckerButt.
 
It's starting to get too dark to take a good picture, so I'll try and take some to post tomorrow when there's more light.
 
I can't wait 'til all my babies start producing some pods as I have had a very limited selection of what's generally available around here until now.  I'm currently growing jalapenos, red savina habanero, 7 pot red brainstrain, paprika, cayenne, bhut jolokia, bhut jolokia peach, fatalli, mustard habanero, and poblano.  Oh how I can't wait to try some of the more exotic peppers!
 
Thanks in advance for any help!
 
Welcome!

And directly to your question, the super hots do indeed grow MUCH slower than other varieties.... BUT, given that you started them in Feb, I'd say they're under par still. Not knowing much on how you're raising them, I'll have to ask:
-were they under lights (if so what kind)
-were they outdoors
-have you fertilized
-what soil do you have them in
-how often do you water/what size pots are they in (which also factors to where they're located)

These were my plants at ~2months or so (many of which, but lost count - we're super hot varieties):
25tybug.jpg



Granted FL weather may be a bit more conducive to pepper growing, but it seems as if yours should be larger at this point. Everyone here loves to help out, and I'm more than happy to share how I go about it as well! We've all got our own little knacks, but the baseline is nearly the same ;)


As a reference, the same plants above were sown seed in soil on Jan 2nd 2014... Which makes these guys almost 4 months and 1 day on the dot:
30th3cz.jpg



Happy to help, for what I can at least, we'll try n figure it out.
Trust me, there are some serious growers on here... I am NOT one of them, I just love hot sauce!
^correction: 4months, and one week ;)
 
JutsFL said:
Welcome!

And directly to your question, the super hots do indeed grow MUCH slower than other varieties.... BUT, given that you started them in Feb, I'd say they're under par still. Not knowing much on how you're raising them, I'll have to ask:
-were they under lights (if so what kind)
-were they outdoors
-have you fertilized
-what soil do you have them in
-how often do you water/what size pots are they in (which also factors to where they're located)
 
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the response Juts, I'm really hoping to figure this problem out.  To answer your questions, here's a bit more of the story and details:
 
I started them indoors in peat pods sitting on top of my router for heat.  They took nearly 3 weeks to pop but finally did.  After the roots started popping out from the pods a little bit I moved them to 3 inch peat pots with some Miracle Gro organic soil and sat them at my breakfast table which is right next to windows facing east and south.  They stayed there for about 3 weeks and then I moved them outside to my patio table for increasing time over the following 4 or 5 days to try and harden them off.
 
After another 2 weeks outside (and little to no growth as they were still only sticking up about 2 inches from the soil) I then mixed up about 12 bags of Fox Farm Ocean Forest (FFOF) with an extra 2-3 cubic feet of perlite and transplanted them into the 10 gallon smartpots.  I also planted some brandywine tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, etc. which all appear to be doing great.  Since it's been pretty dry here the past few weeks up until some rain finally yesterday, I've been watering every 2 days.
 
Oh, I also have these pots near the southern fence of my back yard which allows for about 12 hours of direct sunlight and 2 hours partial sunlight recently, though it will be much longer as daylight expands over the next couple of months.  Average temperatures have been mid 80's in the day and low to mid 60's at night.
 
I haven't added any additional nutrients because FFOF generally has enough already in it to last about a month.
 
When I get home from work this evening, I'll take some pics to show you just how little these guys have grown in the two months they've been in existence.
 
I would assume that being small right now, they are putting all the energy they have into the roots. with a upgrade of that size, they will hopefully explode with growth very soon   :party:
 
You'll get a lot of great advice here as I have. Welcome.
 
My super hots were started in Feb. as well and have not grown much at all. I attribute that to a lot of mistakes made along the way as well as our Canadian climate. The Reapers are the smallest but the plants look good so I remain hopeful. 
 
Post some pics and specs and some real experienced growers will tell you what's what.
 
Well, it sounds as if you've got it under control... And w them taking 3 weeks or so to germinate, it really sets back the growth time of them - so the smaller size may make more sense now. Agreed that the new soil should have all the ferts they need for a while too. Lighting situation appears well also, and the 10 gal pots are perfect. Give em a bit more time and see if they start to shoot out. Do they look stressed at all?
 
Thanks for all the replies everyone! Makes me feel a bit better. :)

I meant to take pictures Friday and yesterday but the weather hasn't been cooperative.

On the only plus side at least I get a few days break from watering!

I hope to get the pics posted later today after Mother's Day festivities are done.
 
I have some under t5's and some in the window.
SSE exposure, and the window plants are 1/2 the size of the t5 plants.
As for reapers, I have 1 still growing from the original first sale of the seeds.
No pods first season, minimal pods the second.
 
Hydro first season, "hydro in dirt" the second, in the ground this year after last frost.
 
I have about 6 Reapers in my basement that are about 3 inches and 6 months old, grown under lights.
 
I'm hoping they pick up once they get outside.
 
Okay so here are the two reapers I'm growing:

20140511_175511_resize_20140511_210143.jpg


20140511_175529_resize_20140511_210142.jpg


It's worth mentioning that it seems they have actually increased in size by at least 10% since I started the thread. Also could be my mind playing tricks on me, but now that I'm taking pics at least I'll have something to compare to moving forward.
 
What was your stepping up process before they made it into the fabric pots?  I noticed a significant difference in ones I stepped from 3" to 5" and also the growth progress was significantly different with plants that had finer soil in their starter pots compared to ones with more coarse soil.  I had size issues myself but that was mostly because Virginia doesn't normally have 20º temperatures or colder all the way into April, our basement was quite cold and dry.
 
ikeepfish said:
What was your stepping up process before they made it into the fabric pots?  I noticed a significant difference in ones I stepped from 3" to 5" and also the growth progress was significantly different with plants that had finer soil in their starter pots compared to ones with more coarse soil.  I had size issues myself but that was mostly because Virginia doesn't normally have 20º temperatures or colder all the way into April, our basement was quite cold and dry.
Click to expand...
All the stepping up occurred indoors... started with the peat pods and then planted in 3" peat pots with craptastic Miracle Gro organic soil (this stuff seriously has terrible drainage) which I would consider very coarse soil. They were in the peat pods until I saw roots starting to pop out which was about 1.5-2 weeks after they finally popped (so 4.5-5 weeks after starting). The house stays around 65-75° with humidity around 40% according to my hygrometer.

They went to the fabric pots with ocean forest soil a few weeks later after some outside hardening which is definitely a more fine grain and wonderful soil in my opinion.

The only light these plants have ever known is indirect and direct sun. I have a 400w HPS and MH and all the wonderful indoor equipment, but didn't have the space any longer (or approval from the lovely lady in my life) to set it all up. Based on how this has gone so far this year, I'm wondering if I should look at making some room as well as a lot of brownie points with the fiancée so I can have more fun...
 
The coarse soil I was referring to myself was the MG organic choice.  I wisened up on my third round of seedlings and started mixing in a crap ton of perlite.  I'd be willing to guess the size problem is because of that stuff and how coarse it is.  The good news is that once they made it into the fabric bags starting last weekend some of them have doubled in size.  They also had nice root systems, I guess because of their actual age, in spite of (or maybe because of, I dunno) the crappy coarse soil.
 
So in a matter of 4 days I am seeing progress.  Here's another shot of my baby that was in the first picture in my previous post.  Seems my patience failed me for once... at least so long as we continue growing at this rate:
 
20140514_193938_resized.jpg

 
Looks like about a 300-400% increase in size (not height) since Sunday evening...
 
I would post the other one but it turned out blurry.  Looks about the same in improvement though.
 
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