Husker21 2013/2014 Glog Indoor/Outdoor

I have been meaning to keep better notes and records on what I have been messing around with.  This past spring/summer was my first year growing anything.  In July I saw the writing on the wall.  Winter would arrive soon enough and then I would be without pepper plants to keep me occupied until next spring.  So in July I germinate some giant chocolate hab and bhut jolokia indian carbon seeds.  A couple of months later I did the same with some aji limon and tobago seasoning.  
 
The goal is to produce some pods this winter and then have some kick ass mature plants to plant out in the spring of 2014.  All of these plants are potted up with Coast of Maine Potting Soil that I amended with perlite, bone meal, and some tomato-tone.  I am guessing the red pots are about 4 gallon each.  I think the blue ones are about 1 gallon.  I have a 2' UltraGrow fixture with some T5 bulbs.  In the fixture I have three 6500k and one 3000k bulb.  I am running the light on a timer from 6am to midnight.  I also hit them with a fan for a few hours every other day.
 
So far the bhut is kicking ass.  I am noticing a lot of flower drop though...  Need to keep an eye on it.  The choco hab went through some rough times.  I was getting leaf drop and some black spots on a lot of the leaves.  The choco hab also got an aggressive pruning that has since taught me to ease up on being all up in my plant's grills.  lol  Both plants were topped at some point.  The bhut also saw a little pruning.
 
A nice tight family photo (red pot on left is the choco hab, red pot on the right is the bhut, blue pot on the left is the aji limon, blue pot on the right is to tobago seasoning)
 

 
Zoomed out to show the set up...
 

 
Giant choco hab stem...
 

 
Bhut stem...
 

 
Bhut flowers and lots and lots more wanting to open on this plant...
 

 

 

[Husker21]

Your OW project is looking good Chris... great job! I used "Mosquito Bits" last year to control Fungus Gnats in my seedlings that transferred over from the plants my wife brought inside for the winter. Fans will help dry out the top layer of soil as well as strengthen the plant stems and keep fungal issues at bay. Your two largest plants are short and stout-looking, so you don't need the fan to strengthen them, but it's  just a good idea in general and the little ones will appreciate it. +1 on Greg's advice to bottom water, or for mature plants you could use something like these "plant nannies" that perk the water in slowly at root level.

 
Bhuts are pretty picky about being warm, as are the rest of the superhots. If keeping your plants warm enough so the flowers stick is a problem, you could make an enclosure fairly cheaply with Gorilla Tape and three quarter inch styrene board with a reflective face on one side. The waste heat given off by your lights will be warming the inside of the enclosure so you don't have to plug in an additional heater... I tried that first last year, and the increase in the electric bill killed me!   http://thehotpepper.com/topic/35512-stickmans-2013-glog-time-to-pull-the-plug-on-2013/page-20#entry774488

Thanks stickman. I have all the PVC pipe and joints I need to make an enclosure. I have just been procrastinating gluing it all together. It gets down to 60 at night in the room I have my set up in so the added warmth sounds like it will help.

The choco hab is putting out lots of buds now. No flowers opening yet.

 

[maximumcapsicum]

How long do choc Hans generally need to go from flower to ripe?

 

[Husker21]

How long do choc Hans generally need to go from flower to ripe?

 
I will keep track for you.    This spring/summer was my first year gardening.  This is my first indoor project.  

 

[maximumcapsicum]

Yeah, I have some chiero roxa clones flowering right now. Very small plants, was considering clipping the buds to encourage more foliage before the Spring. But it'd be fun to see if I could get a handful of pods before the weather warms up. I'll post some pictures soon.
 
Keep on going strong Husker!

 

[HillBilly Jeff]

Looking nice man.

 

[Husker21]

These gnats suck.  I think at this stage they are just a nuisance. But I am sick of seeing those little freeloaders!  I haven't watered in 1.5 weeks and the pots don't need it water right now.  So I am hesitant to do another mosquito dunk and re-saturate the soil.  I want to dry out...  I also haven't fertilized in weeks because I have been doing the dunks.
 
I think I am going to hit the plants with a fish/seaweed foliar spray to give the plants some love.  I think I am also going to dig up the top layer of soil and replace it with new and sterile soil.  After that I will switch to bottom watering.  
 
Can anyone give some suggestions on a good source of sterile soil?  Or do I need to bake that $hit myself to sterilize it?  I want these gnats gone!

 

[PaulG]

Are you able to bottom water now?  That might let the top dry out
and discourage the fungus gnats w/o having to dig it out.
 
 I like to keep the top one inch of my containers and pots well-cultivated
and dry for that very reason.  tTey never go away totally, but I can't say
I canpin any real damage on them, either.  In my grow shelf I let a yellow
card clean up when they have a little 'population boom'.

 

[Husker21]

Are you able to bottom water now?  That might let the top dry out
and discourage the fungus gnats w/o having to dig it out.
 
 I like to keep the top one inch of my containers and pots well-cultivated
and dry for that very reason.  tTey never go away totally, but I can't say
I canpin any real damage on them, either.  In my grow shelf I let a yellow
card clean up when they have a little 'population boom'.

 
Thanks Pauly.  I have yet to bottom water.

 

[stickman]

Are you able to bottom water now?  That might let the top dry out
and discourage the fungus gnats w/o having to dig it out.
 
 I like to keep the top one inch of my containers and pots well-cultivated
and dry for that very reason.  tTey never go away totally, but I can't say
I canpin any real damage on them, either.  In my grow shelf I let a yellow
card clean up when they have a little 'population boom'.

 
+1 on bottom watering. Once they're established in your soil it's hard to totally eradicate them without making it too harsh for the plant, but you can keep their numbers down to tolerable levels the way Paul's doing it. If you want to "seek and destroy", you could add some beneficial nemetodes or water with Mosquito dunks.

 

[PIC 1]

Let your soil dry out. Roots grow downward and will seek out moisture. Bottom watering = no gnats. No need to bake or replace the top layer of soil. Scratch up the top layer to allow air to penetrate and moisture to evaporate faster. What is the humidity of the grow room ? High moisture levels will slow down evaporation. I use a dehumidifier in the grow room and replenish the water. Gnats can damage and stunt young seedlings but larger plants seem uneffected by them. They're beatable. Nemotodes will do the trick but come with a heavy cost, mosquito dunks probably work but you'd once again be wetting the soil.
A forceful fan is another great addition.

 

[Husker21]

You guys rock.  I switched over to a smaller fan.  Looks like I will bring back the bigger one.  
 
This is a total noob question.  But if I switch to bottom watering, how will I fertilize the plants?  I have been using liquid ferts when I water.  Will I have to water top down when its time for a feeding?

 

[maximumcapsicum]

Let your soil dry out. Roots grow downward and will seek out moisture. Bottom watering = no gnats. No need to bake or replace the top layer of soil. Scratch up the top layer to allow air to penetrate and moisture to evaporate faster. What is the humidity of the grow room ? High moisture levels will slow down evaporation. I use a dehumidifier in the grow room and replenish the water. Gnats can damage and stunt young seedlings but larger plants seem uneffected by them. They're beatable. Nemotodes will do the trick but come with a heavy cost, mosquito dunks probably work but you'd once again be wetting the soil.
A forceful fan is another great addition.

 
 

You guys rock.  I switched over to a smaller fan.  Looks like I will bring back the bigger one.  
 
This is a total noob question.  But if I switch to bottom watering, how will I fertilize the plants?  I have been using liquid ferts when I water.  Will I have to water top down when its time for a feeding?

 
Regarding bottom watering, how do you prevent roots just sitting in water? In my experience this leads to some nasty rots that are hard to get under control. I'm pretty new at this though.

 

[PaulG]

I have been bottom watering with fish emulsion with no real problems
for the past week or two.
I'm using Root Pouches, so they soak up the water pretty fast and the
fabric mostly dries out.  I've just started doing this with the cloth pots,
so I don't know the long-term effects yet.

 

[Spork]

I'm using homemade fabric pots (same material as commercial type) and bottom watering. My fertilizer is 1tsp/gal so I premix in a gallon jug, then fill a plastic tray and fill to about the 2.5" mark. The tray only holds about 5 pots, so I dunk 5 at a time which raises the water level quite a bit and gets them nice and watered. I replace the water after 10 pots to keep it fresh, as it will leach some salts from your soil.
One thing I have noticed, is that my pots stay wet for a day or so and the roots have grown through in several cases. They get 'air pruned' by drying out eventually, but I don't know if this will be problematic when I go to pot them up again.

Regarding the "Plant Nanny" above, I would pass on a product like that. It seems like it would lead to a very small area being watered and allow your roots to dry out at the ends, which is not what we want when we pot up.

 

[Husker21]

Why are my baby pods purple?  I was given these seeds labeled as bhut jolokia indian carbon.  I am a total noob but I am already having doubts that these are bhuts.  I am also growing choco habs.  Did I mix up my seeds?  Someone commented earlier in this thread that they were surprised to see bhut flowers that were purple.  Regardless I am stoked to have pods setting indoors!  The other plant which I think is the choco hab looks like it starting to set pods now! 
 

 

[Husker21]

1/2/2014 update!  
 

 
I think what I thought was my bhut is actually my giant chocolate habanero.  The other more mature plant that I am now assuming is my bhut is putting out flowers with white pedals and that are green around the edges of the petal.
 

 

 

[Husker21]

So the # of gnats are down.  I think the water globes and keeping the top layer or soil dry are helping.  Its also nice to see how much and how fast each plant is taking in water.  My aji limon is finally putting out some new growth from the top to the bottom of the plant.  I have pruned off a few of the really large leaves and at some point I will top it.  I also propped it up on some CD cases to get it closer to the light.  Both mature plants (still not sure I have them labeled correctly) are setting pots.  The one I suspect is a choco hab is setting more pods and the ones that have been there for some time are getting bigger.  The other plant that I think is the bhut india carbon is setting some itsy bitys pods.  I have been noticing some leaf and flower drop.  I think the temp in the grow room takes some drops down to 50/55.  I think this could be a factor.  I need to build the enclosure I keep putting off to trap in some of the heat from the lights.  I also need to get some panda paper.
 
I just ordered 100 rapid rooters.  Time to start the rest of this seasons seeds!  Looking to start 50-70 pepper seeds.  The goal is to keep roughly 20-25 of the healthiest plants and give the rest away.  In addition to the 3 plants I have going now I plan to germ the following:
 
7 pot red
7 pot orange
7 pot white
Orange habanero
Early jalapeno
Giant jalapeno
Jimmy Nardella
Scotch bonnet
Thai orange
Thai red
Tobago seasoning
Trinidad scorpion yellow CARDI

 

[Husker21]

Started 51 Rapid Rooters today. The bag contains 50 and there was an extra in there. . I did one seed per plug. I have another bag of Rooters so I can start more later if I need to. Hoping to keep around 25 plants for the outdoor grow this season. The rest will go to friends. Here is what I went with:

2 Tobago seasoning
6 7P Primo
4 7P White
4 TS CARDI
3 7P Red
3 7P Orange
3 Aji Limon
3 Early Jalapeño
3 Thai Red
3 Thai Orange
3 Jimmy Nards
5 Scotch Bonnets
3 Orange Habs
3 Giant Choco Habs
2 Giant Jalapeños

 

[maximumcapsicum]

Great spread Husker! Looking forward to seeing some hooks! How do you like the rapid rooters?

 

[stickman]

Nice list Chris... A THP chilehead sent me some Tobago Treasure seeds too, and I've been debating whether or not to start them since my garden area is so small... maybe in pots? Good luck with 2014!