long ass kissing post warning!!!!...first off i'd like to send a shout out and say thanks to everyone(alabama,spicy chicken, hotpooper,avon ,millman,thatguy,potawie,surfer,geeme,redtail,caps,musky,jess,hotstuff,kc anteater WOW!,bigphil unobtanium! n everyone else that had made me laugh my ass off!!! and helped me learn, over the last few days. and to THP thats the reason im here now is bEcause of BOTH of those things. this site is AWESOME! this is my first year growing real peppers( so dont take it easy on me!),other than ones from walmart etc that did produce small tiny jalapenos and got about twenty habs, but it did produce a new love of gardening,especially peppers,that will ensue for the rest of my life! no question. i love it so much i almost just killed my yorkie for plucking out and eating 3 of my seedlings 30 mins ago!!! lil bastard!! i never knew a year ago i could care so much for a plant. no food is too hot for me.....at least not yet.i can eat habs no prob i mean?i know now that thats not saying much.so i ordered everything from nmsu! aji limon black prince ,centennial cajamarca hab cayenne and nm twighlight all sprouted so far.all germinated in a 3 days but nothing since .still waiting IMPATIENTLY! HAD 10 seedlings, 2 died, 3 died from dog attack, 5 left, waiting on hopefully 50 more. i have so many questions i dont know where to start?( 1.) i have my seedlings under a 18 INCH $5 florescent garden and aquarium bulb....how close should my light be to them? (2.) my seedlings are only a 5 days old....can i, and should i be placing seedlings out in sun instead of my floro when possible? (weather in vegas has been beautiful but afraid to kill seedlings? 3. my stems on two plants are completely purple and both leaves on one are black too.is this a problem? 4. i have seedlngs in seedling soil and with fan on it it drys up completely in 12 hours. should i be changing into actual soil now? 5. should i have fan on 24 hours nonstop? should fan be moving or stationary? 6. should i be applying epson salt and aspirin with 5 day old seedlings? i replanted one of the seedlings my dog ate leaf n roots looked damaged but i still put back in soil? it looks like it needs a lortab but i used aspirin on that one? i have many more questions but i will stop there for now.sorry for length and terrible structure and bio u prob didnt want to hear but figured id go all in one. THANKS FOR ANT... I MEAN, ANY AND ALL HELP!
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humbled rookie needs HELP!!!!
- Thread starter VegasVices
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Welcome to the form! I may add my 2 cents, no time right now, grinding hot peppers. and sneezing, what a rush!
Maybe a little easier for us chili heads,
Cheers, SC
millworkman
eXtreme
Welcome from East TN. Glad you are enjoying yourself.
Welcome VegasVices!
It's normal to think you could be doing more, but less is more until your plants get bigger. A fan on for 30 minutes once or twice a day is fine. Don't worry about transplanting or nutrients until you get a couple sets of true leaves. The cotyledons (starter leaves) are providing the plants with everything they need for now. The purple or black leaves is kinda like a suntan and is pretty normal but you could raise your light a bit. Some of your ornamentals have very dark foliage anyway. I would wait a while before introducing them to the sun. When you do, do it gradually.
For now just bottom water when the mix is almost dry and provide a little airflow. Also keep an eye on the temp. That's about it. Good luck!
It's normal to think you could be doing more, but less is more until your plants get bigger. A fan on for 30 minutes once or twice a day is fine. Don't worry about transplanting or nutrients until you get a couple sets of true leaves. The cotyledons (starter leaves) are providing the plants with everything they need for now. The purple or black leaves is kinda like a suntan and is pretty normal but you could raise your light a bit. Some of your ornamentals have very dark foliage anyway. I would wait a while before introducing them to the sun. When you do, do it gradually.
For now just bottom water when the mix is almost dry and provide a little airflow. Also keep an eye on the temp. That's about it. Good luck!
Imotcons are hilarious on here. Thanks mill. Musk how far should i have the light? Is that light ok? And when should i put epson salt and aspirin and pot up?
Sorry thanks spicy chicken.You ve helped me enuff as is on other Peoples posts. Thanks again. Off topic. Your name makes me hungry. You should open afried fast food chain called (your first name?)'s SPICY CHICKEN , seasoned with peppers from your farm and your pic on sign. I'd eat there every day!
hehehe DEEP BREATHS. I often feel the same when I see my babies going through changes. I've lost a handful of peters to cats and lack of moisture.
Distance, from all I've read on here you want to give them around 6 inches or more of clearance. You want all of the light without taking so much heat as to cook them.
And again, just taking from what I've read on here, you don't need to worry too much about the asprin/epsom regimen until you pot up. At the early seedling stage, nutrients aren't as badly needed as light. Once you have 2-3 or more sets of true leaves you're usually safe to pot up and start applying nutrients in a diluted form.
Ultimately you want a strong root system with some nice solar panels when you put it into something it can grow on.
And of course I bow to the wisdom of the far more experienced growers here.
Distance, from all I've read on here you want to give them around 6 inches or more of clearance. You want all of the light without taking so much heat as to cook them.
And again, just taking from what I've read on here, you don't need to worry too much about the asprin/epsom regimen until you pot up. At the early seedling stage, nutrients aren't as badly needed as light. Once you have 2-3 or more sets of true leaves you're usually safe to pot up and start applying nutrients in a diluted form.
Ultimately you want a strong root system with some nice solar panels when you put it into something it can grow on.
And of course I bow to the wisdom of the far more experienced growers here.
n+1 what EOF said. Good root system and some true leaves
Potting up depends on what size your seedling tray cells are, mine are larger (3 in.). I potted up my annums (Jalmundo and Numex) to 18 oz. beer cups last weekend after about 4 weeks from sprouting (seeds went in on 1/16). Chinese take a little longer, I'll probably pot them up this weekend. My lights are about 2-3 in. above plants, little or no heat from them.
I bottom water with a very diluted nute from Botanicare (Karma and ProGro) recommended by AJ
I'm a new grower too and having good success so far with the great help from folks here
Definately check out some of the folks grow logs in the Growing forum, tons of good info there.
Potting up depends on what size your seedling tray cells are, mine are larger (3 in.). I potted up my annums (Jalmundo and Numex) to 18 oz. beer cups last weekend after about 4 weeks from sprouting (seeds went in on 1/16). Chinese take a little longer, I'll probably pot them up this weekend. My lights are about 2-3 in. above plants, little or no heat from them.
I bottom water with a very diluted nute from Botanicare (Karma and ProGro) recommended by AJ
I'm a new grower too and having good success so far with the great help from folks here
Definately check out some of the folks grow logs in the Growing forum, tons of good info there.
Well HOWDY!! Glad ya like it here!
The good thing about these little bastards is if you do somethign wrong, you can always re-plant! Lemme try to answer some of your questions here...let's see....lemme put on my readin' glasses...
#1-lights. For the most part, just about any light will do. It just depends on what you expect out of them. Dont expect to get full-sized plants, and pods, off of a cheapy light. Cheap lights will work fine for growing, but not flowering. (Well, flower to pod.) Like EOF said, 6" is a good distance to keep your lights from your plants.
#2-Your seedlings would LOVE the sun, but they wont like the HEAT. If you can put them in a window, they would LOVE it. It just depends on how many plants you have. Like some of us, with hundreds of plants, it would get kinda cumbersome moving that many plants in and out of windows.
#3-The purple stems mean your plants are perfectly healthy. Forget about it!
#4-As far as fans go, you can vary the amount of time. What you are doing is simulating wind outside. Wind blows all day, so if you can, turn your fan on and off at varying times of day for short periods. I will get back to the soil thing.
#5-See #4
#6-As far as ANY nutes go, you can actually damage them if you give them anything too young. As far as planting up...some people do it right away, some will wait. Personally, I wait until I see roots growing out of the bottom of the peat pellets/soil trays. That means they've run out of room, and need more. Once you pot up, you COULD fertilize. Just remember that they are babies. You wouldn't feed a 2-month old baby a steak and baked potato, right? You feed them baby food. Take whatever nutes you are going to use and REALLY dilute it. Like maybe a 1/8-1/16 strength at most. Then gradually, over time, drop the amount of dilution. You did fine re-planting the one baby. Just put 'er back where she came from. If she'll survive, you'll notice in a day or two.
Like its been said, and is the best advice ANYONE could give...less is more with these plants. Think about it...how do they survive in the wild? They dont have pepper fairies (Novacastrian!!) taking caring of them. They do it all by themselves.
Ok, here's the thing on soil. Here are a couple of things that just about everyone considers when growing....if you water your plants TOO much, you will kill them. Here's the trick...just because the soil on the TOP, the soil that you can only see, is dry does NOT mean the soil underneath is dry. The ROOTS are what needs the moisture, not everything from the ground up. So, if the soil on TOP is dry, and the water underneath is wet, and you water, you are doing more harm than good. What I do is wait until the plants wilt just a tiny bit. You will see the plant actually lean over, and the leaves will either curl up, or droop. Once that happens, THEN I water. That way you know for SURE the soil at the bottom is dry. Then, just set whatever it is you are keeping them in into some sort of container of water, and let them soak up the water. Once the soil on TOP looks wet and damp, take it out and move on to the next plant.
Hope this all helps man!
The good thing about these little bastards is if you do somethign wrong, you can always re-plant! Lemme try to answer some of your questions here...let's see....lemme put on my readin' glasses...
#1-lights. For the most part, just about any light will do. It just depends on what you expect out of them. Dont expect to get full-sized plants, and pods, off of a cheapy light. Cheap lights will work fine for growing, but not flowering. (Well, flower to pod.) Like EOF said, 6" is a good distance to keep your lights from your plants.
#2-Your seedlings would LOVE the sun, but they wont like the HEAT. If you can put them in a window, they would LOVE it. It just depends on how many plants you have. Like some of us, with hundreds of plants, it would get kinda cumbersome moving that many plants in and out of windows.
#3-The purple stems mean your plants are perfectly healthy. Forget about it!
#4-As far as fans go, you can vary the amount of time. What you are doing is simulating wind outside. Wind blows all day, so if you can, turn your fan on and off at varying times of day for short periods. I will get back to the soil thing.
#5-See #4
#6-As far as ANY nutes go, you can actually damage them if you give them anything too young. As far as planting up...some people do it right away, some will wait. Personally, I wait until I see roots growing out of the bottom of the peat pellets/soil trays. That means they've run out of room, and need more. Once you pot up, you COULD fertilize. Just remember that they are babies. You wouldn't feed a 2-month old baby a steak and baked potato, right? You feed them baby food. Take whatever nutes you are going to use and REALLY dilute it. Like maybe a 1/8-1/16 strength at most. Then gradually, over time, drop the amount of dilution. You did fine re-planting the one baby. Just put 'er back where she came from. If she'll survive, you'll notice in a day or two.
Like its been said, and is the best advice ANYONE could give...less is more with these plants. Think about it...how do they survive in the wild? They dont have pepper fairies (Novacastrian!!) taking caring of them. They do it all by themselves.
Ok, here's the thing on soil. Here are a couple of things that just about everyone considers when growing....if you water your plants TOO much, you will kill them. Here's the trick...just because the soil on the TOP, the soil that you can only see, is dry does NOT mean the soil underneath is dry. The ROOTS are what needs the moisture, not everything from the ground up. So, if the soil on TOP is dry, and the water underneath is wet, and you water, you are doing more harm than good. What I do is wait until the plants wilt just a tiny bit. You will see the plant actually lean over, and the leaves will either curl up, or droop. Once that happens, THEN I water. That way you know for SURE the soil at the bottom is dry. Then, just set whatever it is you are keeping them in into some sort of container of water, and let them soak up the water. Once the soil on TOP looks wet and damp, take it out and move on to the next plant.
Hope this all helps man!
from central Pennsyl-tucky! My advice to you is to keep it simple and above all just enjoy it. BTW, a special thanks goes out to Musky for making me shoot my coffee out of my nose!
HaHa sounds like your a newbie :oP .. welcome!! My pup decided a few weeks ago to nibble on my seedlings (and hes 90 lbs, so snacking for him is massive) .. I was sooo mad at him but now all is good and growing back on track!!
This site is extremely helpful and enjoyable I think you will have a good time one here!!!
Nicole
This site is extremely helpful and enjoyable I think you will have a good time one here!!!
Nicole
In reverse order of response...... Thanks luck. Your hair moves in your pic??? Thats awesome! U look like beetlejuice?!
Thanks nicole. Arent you too young and attractive to be playing with dirt and hot peppers? Im thrown off... I thought only ponytail on this sight was in hot poopers goatee?! Very cool.
Thanks redtail. Comedy. This site is great. I hope to become part of this warped dysfunctional crazed derranged soap opera pepper family. U guys are crazy! Maybe this is tmi but i was excited to to even get a response. Let alone have hot pooper do a seedling book report!
Thanks fresno chief n pooper. Hp if my two year old grew huge n bhut jalokia came outta his ass, i'd feed him steak potatatoes aspirin and epson salt. Thanks again guys. I will be transplanting outdoors(if i make it that far) , building ghetto raised bed. Plywood wrapped in trash bags with duct tape. Will send pics when worth showing and have plenty more questions soon. Last ? 7. Nothings germinating now. Is it possible seeds went bad from too much water? It was hot with heat pad in germ box but i watered ALOT!?
Yeah it's possible, you can get damping off (fungal problem) if things are too wet which will prevent the seeds from germinating, or which can kill a seedling that has already germinated. How long has it been and what varieties are they? Some varieties can take 1-4+ weeks even in close to ideal conditions.
How did you water them? It's best just to mist the top of the soil with a spray bottle when it starts to dry out imo. What temperature is the soil? ~85-86F is ideal...they still usually germinate at 70F+ they may just take a little longer.
Aji limons nu mex centennial cajamarca hab black prince N cayanne all came up in 3-4 days. But only half of each that i planted. Carribean red hab orange hab bhut jalokia nm pinata santa fe grande nm jalmundo, cali wonder green pepper. N de arbol havnt and also nothing for 4 days. I basically kept dumping water in there but only a small amount of water remains on bottom of tray.spraying sounds like a great idea. God i hope i didnt drown? Lol. Cuz i only had ten bhut seeds? All from nmsu of course. Again sorry for horrible format. Using iphone
I check em every hour! So i doubt any germinated and died?