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Jeff H's 2014 glog- Season ending harvest pics.

Okay, time to kick this growing year off. First a pic from last year of the hydroponic scorpion right before I added it to the compost pile. The plant was so productive with 4 gallon freezer bags stuffed plus more already dried that not only did I decide to not overwinter it, but TSBTs won't be on the grow list next year. This was truly a beast and by far my most productive plant. IIRC, it was over 5' tall and just about as wide when hte branches were heavy with pods.
 
It was started about this time last year, so it is about time to start some of those pesky slower growing plants if I want them this big next year.
 
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All good things come to an end. The plants will be chopped up and mixed with the leaves for compost.
 
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Okay, with that out of the way, let's get started on next year.
 
First, a shot of some of the over winter plants in the upstairs window sill. I just plan on keeping them alive here with no real growth expected until I put them outside next year. The two small plants are scorpion clones from the monster. I still don't think they will make the grow next year, but I just couldn't kill it without taking a couple clones. Other overwinters in this pic include a ghost pepper, hot paper lantern hab, tabasco pepper, my largest and most productive giant jalapeno and a couple of others.
 
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Now down into the grow room for an overall shot of what I am doing this year. The flood table is new, but everything else is the same from last year. Same 600W MH light and same mylar on the walls.
 
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Now at this point, let me take a minute to explain that there is no organic soil in anything I brought inside, nor anything that I plan to plant this year. Everything will be hydroponic in one way or another. Even the plants upstairs. My soil for all plants not in the flood table is 50/50 perlite and peat moss. I water them with hydro nutes every few days, but probably can get away with once a week or so. Soil drains really well but the peat moss holds a decent amount of moisture. I'm hoping that we have no issues with root rot this year. I'm also betting that fungus gnats won't like this fast drying soil either. Well that and the mosquito dunks that will be in the hydro water if those bastards do show up again this year.
 
A close up of the "soil". Look at all that great perlite.

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Now, looking at the plants in the flood table, the perlite/pete moss is about 80/20 and I flood hte table once a day. As it is, there is probably too much pete in the soil because the grow bags stay soaked all the time and I'm going to have mold issues. I need to rethink this, but this is what I have for now.
 
Here they are the day it was installed on Oct 21st.
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Here they are a week later (last night). You can't really see it, but there are a couple of tiny growth nodes on the ghost pepper (big pot on the left) and the paper lantern in the black pot. No sign of growth on the monzano yet, but if you look close at the pot, you can see what looks like mold starting. I tossed a cup of H2O2 into the rez last night to kill it if it was mold. We'll see. Maybe plastic air pruning pots would be better suited, or giant net cups.
 
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That is all for now. Join me back on the next update. I'm working hot and heavy on some clones and other projects that aren't quite ready to be photographed yet. Soon though.
 
maximumcapsicum said:
 
Your hydro looks amazing Jeff. I love the deep, clean look the plants get. And from what I hear, production is going to be killer as well. About how old is that Carolina Reaper?
 
Keep it up, looking sharp!
Production is very good with hydro. Last year, I think the hydro plants put out twice as many pods and the soil plants.
 
That reaper is only a week and a half old or so. I don't remember exactly when it popped, but it wasn't long ago.
 
PepperDaddler said:
Thank you sir.
 
Plants look great Jeff!
 
I see you have the hydro tang down pat.
 
The really dark green, under a T5? I haven't given any nutes to any plant and I have them just as dark....just wondering...and they are setting leaves so close together it's unreal.
 
Devv said:
Plants look great Jeff!
 
I see you have the hydro tang down pat.
 
The really dark green, under a T5? I haven't given any nutes to any plant and I have them just as dark....just wondering...and they are setting leaves so close together it's unreal.
 
Thanks Scott. No they are under a 600W MH bulb. In my experience, really dark green isn't necessarily a good thing. It usually means too much nitrogen which can cause a whole different set of issues, but since I am controlling the nutes and they all get the same,  I really don't know why a few of my plants are dark. Maybe it is the the light, or something else entirely. 
 
 
A score from Lowes tonight. If you can't figure out what I am doing with this, just stay tuned. Construction update sometime over the weekend. 
 
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Your plants look awesome, Jeff.  I wouldn't worry about the
different shades of green as long as the plants are healthy.  
There is some color variation between varieties naturally, and your
plants look great!
 
Yes, great work on your growing. I find that I dont get twice as many pods, but more than in soil. The quality of the pods you get from hydro is what is really mind blowing. My hydro veggies always carry more weight than my soil competitors as well. Juice/liquid content is also usually higher from my experience.

Cant wait to see how your project goes! I've got another hydro system that I am setting up as well!
 
maximumcapsicum said:
Ooo. The suspense is deadly.

Interesting about the green leaves. I would have figured it meant healthier plants too.
To an extent, it does, but not always.
 
PaulG said:
Your plants look awesome, Jeff.  I wouldn't worry about the
different shades of green as long as the plants are healthy.  
There is some color variation between varieties naturally, and your
plants look great!
Thanks for stopping in Paul. I'm not really worried about the plants. They all look healthy so far.
 
slade122 said:
Yes, great work on your growing. I find that I dont get twice as many pods, but more than in soil. The quality of the pods you get from hydro is what is really mind blowing. My hydro veggies always carry more weight than my soil competitors as well. Juice/liquid content is also usually higher from my experience. Cant wait to see how your project goes! I've got another hydro system that I am setting up as well!
 
I agree with you on the quality of the pods. Larger and juicier. The reason I said twice as many pods, is that the plants seem to get much larger. Especially the chinense plants. I had a few absolute monsters last year.
 
New project should be up and running sometime Saturday I hope.
 
Been doing some grinding and coughing recently. This will keep me and my son warm over the cold winter nights. :D The wife isn't all that interested in anything warmer than a jalapeno so she misses out on these. 
 
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Scorpion powder is brutal. the ghost pepper is my staple. I put dat sheet on everything. not 7 pot yellow is my go to powder for fish and tabasco is mostly for my son, although it is quite good. 
 
 
 
So there was a discussion in hte fall about planting garlic that got me interested. My in-ground garden space is in flux right now so I didn't get any planted outside this year, but I had a little space in the grow room. so I thought I would give it a try and see what happened. 
 
8 grocery store cloves planted. All sprouted within days. 
 
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Jeff H said:
Been doing some grinding and coughing recently. This will keep me and my son warm over the cold winter nights. :D The wife isn't all that interested in anything warmer than a jalapeno so she misses out on these. 
 
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Scorpion powder is brutal. the ghost pepper is my staple. I put dat sheet on everything. not 7 pot yellow is my go to powder for fish and tabasco is mostly for my son, although it is quite good. 
 
 
 
So there was a discussion in hte fall about planting garlic that got me interested. My in-ground garden space is in flux right now so I didn't get any planted outside this year, but I had a little space in the grow room. so I thought I would give it a try and see what happened. 
 
8 grocery store cloves planted. All sprouted within days. 
 
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I've been wondering how long I should leave it in the ground. I've got a "perimeter" of garlic around my other plants that has been going since August... not sure when to pull it up! I read there should be three or four green leaves... that each leave supplies a clove or some such. Will be fun to watch your progress!
 
maximumcapsicum said:
 
I've been wondering how long I should leave it in the ground. I've got a "perimeter" of garlic around my other plants that has been going since August... not sure when to pull it up! I read there should be three or four green leaves... that each leave supplies a clove or some such. Will be fun to watch your progress!
 
I was reading that the green tops start to die and turn brown when it is ready to be pulled. I guess I'll find out later this year. I also read that the green tops are a good substitute for green onion. Interesting, but I don't know if I want to chop the tops off and risk the garlic clove dying.
 
 
 
I'm contemplating adding the MOA Scotch bonnet to my grow list. Anyone know who has seeds?
 
 
Construction photos coming soon.
 
Jeff H said:
 
I was reading that the green tops start to die and turn brown when it is ready to be pulled. I guess I'll find out later this year. I also read that the green tops are a good substitute for green onion. Interesting, but I don't know if I want to chop the tops off and risk the garlic clove dying.
 
 
 
I'm contemplating adding the MOA Scotch bonnet to my grow list. Anyone know who has seeds?
 
 
Construction photos coming soon.
 
Indeed, I have read that as well! I've probably left the in the ground way too long at this point, but in my experience letting a couple frosts roll in really makes the root crops taste better. I'll have to pull 'em soon either way to start prepping for the pepper crop!
 
maximumcapsicum said:
 
I've been wondering how long I should leave it in the ground. I've got a "perimeter" of garlic around my other plants that has been going since August... not sure when to pull it up! I read there should be three or four green leaves... that each leave supplies a clove or some such. Will be fun to watch your progress!
 
Soft-necked Garlic and Onions are both alike in that the tops die and fall over when they're ready for harvest. If you planted hard-necked Garlic, the tops will die and go brown. They still need to "cure" by losing excess water so they're firmer and store better. Dry them out in a warm, shady spot so they don't get sunburned.
Jeff H said:
I'm contemplating adding the MOA Scotch bonnet to my grow list. Anyone know who has seeds?
 
Check out the MoA growing thread and pm the folks who did. http://thehotpepper.com/topic/37675-moa-jamaican-scotch-bonnets/page-15?hl=moa#entry904402
 
+1 on #73, both Ramon and Denniz should be able to hook you up. I'm out of seeds, but have some growing...or I would gladly share. The pepper is fantastic!
 
 
Thanks Scott. No they are under a 600W MH bulb. In my experience, really dark green isn't necessarily a good thing. It usually means too much nitrogen which can cause a whole different set of issues, but since I am controlling the nutes and they all get the same,  I really don't know why a few of my plants are dark. Maybe it is the the light, or something else entirely.
Jeff,
 
I asked about the T5 because mine under one are super dark, I haven't given them any nutes yet. New growth in the sun this week is normal color, so my assumption is the color of the lights can cause the super dark green. I have a Jigsaw that went to a rust/brown color under the lights and it's new growth is normal too.
 
Powders and garlic.  Hmmmm.
Looks great, Jeff!
 
The leaves on my plants are much lighter during the Winter and early Spring.  
They darken to normal shades with more sun exposure.  The T5s HO bulbs
are sun in a box, so I guess that's why they have darker leaves.  More chlorophyl
production, I suppose.
 
So I made an interesting discovery. Lettuce and cabbage grow fast. I didn't take them anytime to start taking over the flood table. 
 
What to do with them? 
 
Put them in their own NFT system up out of the way of the peppers. 
 
Start with a few dollars in supplies from Lowes
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Drill a few holes
 
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I cut out a couple boards to hold the pipes and screwed them to the studs in the wall of the grow room. 
 
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Some strapping holes everything in place. 
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Start filling it up. 
 
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Some of the technical details:
the pipe is 4" PVC. The end caps are the cheap test plugs that are in the same isle as the pipe. Just siliconed in place. 
I have (2) 1/4" lines providing water and a 1/2" drain line going back to the reservoir. The upper pipe is drained into the lower pipe on the far side. 
the holes are 3" and so are the net cups. To be honest, 2-7/8" would have been a better size to drill the hole for the net cups, but I couldn't find a hole saw that size. I would have preferred to use the 3-3/4" net cups I already had, but alas, a 3-5/8" or 3-3/4" hole saw was also made from unobtanium. - at least at my Lowes. 
My little 250gph pump provides the water and at close to 5' of head pressure, the (2) 1/4" lines is about all it can do. My first attempt was to run a 1/2" line up and then branch it off to the 1/4" lines up at the top. No dice. The pump couldn't handle it. 
 
I'm calling this my NFT system because that is what it looks like, but the water level is about 3/4" due to putting the drains in the end caps. It is really more like a recirculating DWC system for lettuce, spices, cabbage. 
 
Very efficient set-up Jeff.
Interesting concept.
 
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