JJJ Glog 2014.....in summary

Whew!
2013 Swirling down the Drain of Time.
 
Washing the 10x20s for a New Year.
 

 
 
By last October I was so peppered out  -40 some superhot plants and over twice that many mild and sweets. Didn't think I'd ever see the end of it. But, an early surprise freeze caught me off guard and I lost several mild and sweeties. I did get almost the entire superhot crop, dried, smoked, fermented, frozen or pickled. so I should have no dearth of heat to see me through to 2014 harvest.
 
I owe most of my pepper success in 2013 to YOU.
All the folks here at THP helped me from seed, to advice, to encouragement, to inspiration.  Couldn't have done it without y'all.
 
Some changes for 2014:
 

 
I'm moving my Cappy 1000 Pepper Incubator into my  basement utility room. Last year I had it in a minimally heated out building and the night times often dipped into the 50s or lower. And come to find out, baby peppers don't much care for that. They survived, they were just slow growers.
 
 
Dirt:
 
Fox Farms Ocean Forest will be my potting mix. It's organic and hopefully will be as good as the Miracle Grow Moisture Control and it can't be any worse than my home-brew last year which wasn't horrible but coulda been better.
 
Timing:
 
Instead of putting most of my seed in the ground in early February, I'm going to hold off until later on the Annums. The Chinensis at least some in early - mid January and some Manzano seeds earlier than that if I can find them.
 
How Many for Plant Out?:
 
Not 140.
I'm devoting 2 raised beds -a 4x30 and a 4x16 to Sweet Peppers -Jimmy Nardello, King of the North, Gaint Marconis, Aji Dulce. About 26 plants. 
100' in my row garden. Probably 40 plant's. Haven't decided on the balance, Bhuts, 7 pot, Habs, Bonnets, Jalas, the usual suspects and a few odd balls.
66 plants +/- total. I totally neglected my maters last year(which given the season didn't make much difference), but this year I vow to do better by tomatoes. I hope to do 50 or so -all heirlooms, mostly paste.
I'll start several more of both than needed for selling and give-aways.
 
 
 
In related news....
 
My buddy up in Richmond grew a lot of peppers last year. He has a geodesic dome greenhouse. At the end of season he just dug up several of his pepper plants and moved them in inside.
 

 
They're looking pretty good for late December.
 
My last "harvest" of 2013 was 12/22/13; some Thai Chilis that I'd pulled the whole plants in October and just laid up on a table outside. Most had dried leather-hard.
 
I pulled, cooked, seasoned, ground and strained them into a sauce for Pad Thai for this winter.
 

 
 
Everything subject to change without notice.
(But I'll keep you posted)
 
Thanks for reading,
JJJ
 
 

 

[Blister]

Loving the direct comparison between coir and soil. It's kind of what I expected, but it's nice to see the actual results.

It looks like you nailed the nutrient strength as well. All your leaves are nice and flat rather than crumpled and puckered up like I had before I dropped the overall strength from 700ppm to 500.

The coir plants are slightly lighter green than the ff soil, but if it's a concern (not one in my mind) give them a misting with Epsom salt once a week. Other than that everything is looking great!

Neil

 

[JJJessee]

MaxCap, Ocean Forest is the bomb, my plants are exploding. I have an MoA that's barely an inch tall and the leaves cover the top of the 3.5" pot +
 
But, that coir setup the Blister has turned me on to is sweet too, may in the long run produce more growth at a few bucks less.
 
I want to try some epson salt to see if I can match the deep forest green the OF is putting out.
 
We shall see.
 
Not much prep to do in the garden today

 
I've been scooping up snow about the yard to melt for plant water.
Yes, I'm a little eccentric, or somethin'.
 
 
The postperson was awfully kind today.
Two separate goodies
 

 
The Reapers are a share from Ocho Cinco.
And the rest I purchased form Sandia.
I'm joining up with the Hatch people. And if those Rainbows do well and I have the energy after harvest, maybe the Bonchites too.
 
Almost forgot, and while we are talking about Humbolt County's finest,
I think I found THE DEAL on Horticubes. 20 sheets of 1", 162 cells per sheet, $100 plus shipping (35-40 bucks ouch!) 
AmHydro
Don't think I'll need them for the annums this year and these Reapers t'will be the last chinense I sow this year.  : 
But next year...
 
g'day
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

[maximumcapsicum]

Nice seed haul JJJ! I got some goodies coming from THP folks, but the mail person hasn't surfaced for a week! Apparently no one moves when the snow hits atlanta.

Can't wait to see those Bolivian rainbows sprout. You're gonna be on the bonchi train soon mon ami.

Happy growin!

 

[Devv]

Love the comparison of the two growth mediums, plants all look great!
 
And I would be scooping up the snow as well, one just can't pass up on rain water no matter the form.
 
More seeds hah! I feel your pain addiction!
 
Keep it green!

 

[stc3248]

Really like how you're just rolling with the weather punches and getting it done JJJ...Last year you did amazing even though you struggled with your grow room setup for a bit in the beginning. You put those lessons in the bank and will be cashing in by June this season!!!

 

[Jamison]

Glad you finally have some Bhuts to walk in!  Awesome job on the germing!

 

[Blister]

Love the comparison of the two growth mediums, plants all look great!
 
And I would be scooping up the snow as well, one just can't pass up on rain water no matter the form.
 
More seeds hah! I feel your pain addiction!
 
Keep it green!

I'm also considering using the time realeased rain (aka snow) we have here again. It has a really low ppm, but is fairly acidic (somewhere around 4ish). Not sure what's in it that causing that though.

Neil

 

[HillBilly Jeff]

Nice bunch of seeds.  My garden looks about like yours.  Snow is good for the garden though...

 

[Durham Bull]

Have not been here for a while... WOW you have been busy!!!
looking great though.

 

[JJJessee]

Nice seed haul JJJ! I got some goodies coming from THP folks, but the mail person hasn't surfaced for a week! Apparently no one moves when the snow hits atlanta.

Can't wait to see those Bolivian rainbows sprout. You're gonna be on the bonchi train soon mon ami.

Happy growin!

 
I'm kinda excited about the Rainbows too. The packet says they are a little on the long time to fruit. Maybe I should get them started.
Does that sound like a good enough excuse?
 

Love the comparison of the two growth mediums, plants all look great!
 
And I would be scooping up the snow as well, one just can't pass up on rain water no matter the form.
 
More seeds hah! I feel your pain addiction!
 
Keep it green!

 
Yeah I'm surprised the difference in the mediums is still not more apparent. And as the coir plants age their color seems to "improve", gets darker. I'm still thinks about sneaking in a 50ppm of the epsom salt in their nutes -a few at a time. 

Really like how you're just rolling with the weather punches and getting it done JJJ...Last year you did amazing even though you struggled with your grow room setup for a bit in the beginning. You put those lessons in the bank and will be cashing in by June this season!!!

 
Yeah, I'm definitely enjoying the momentum this year. After a late-ish, slow start last year I still ended up with plants to my eyeballs and swimming in pods for 2 months. Don't know what's coming down the pike, but this year could be prodigious. I'm seriously considering doing some plants "Søren Style". But I've also vowed to take better care of my maters too. Who will win?
 
 
 

I'm also considering using the time realeased rain (aka snow) we have here again. It has a really low ppm, but is fairly acidic (somewhere around 4ish). Not sure what's in it that causing that though.

Neil

 
, yes we got another dusting of that time-released rain last night. 
I can't imagine where you're picking up the acids in the rain considering your geography. I was actually surprised mine was so close to 7. 
 

Nice bunch of seeds.  My garden looks about like yours.  Snow is good for the garden though...

 
Can't beat snow to put water in the ground. I'm diggin' it.
 

Have not been here for a while... WOW you have been busy!!!
looking great though.

Thanks, Sy. I go in spurts, though
 
 
 
 
A few tray shots.
 
 
Mostly MoA, and JA Habs

 
 
 
4-5 weeks

 
The Jamison Tray 7 days
He bailed me on Red Bhuts plus some BOCs (the bigger ones)

The BOC popped a little quicker, but the Reds had a fantastic pop rate and a tight window. I think I planted 13 seeds and got 14 plants     
They were pretty small when I potted them but they are taking hold. I should have put them on the warm shelf before today.
 
 
 
The 1 month manzanos, plus a few days.
 

 
 
 
Bonda ma Jaques at 28 days.
 

 
Thanks for reading.
 

 

[stickman]

You got it running on rails JJJ! Lots to look at with the LED experiment, soil improvement project and all that green. Keep up the good work buddy!

 

[Jamison]

Plants are looking AWESOME dude! Don't stop chuggin man!

 

[Blister]

...

Yeah I'm surprised the difference in the mediums is still not more apparent. And as the coir plants age their color seems to "improve", gets darker. I'm still thinks about sneaking in a 50ppm of the epsom salt in their nutes -a few at a time. 

, yes we got another dusting of that time-released rain last night. 
I can't imagine where you're picking up the acids in the rain considering your geography. I was actually surprised mine was so close to 7. 
...
 

H3AD's modified Lucas formula of 6ml/gal micro and 9ml/gal bloom in RO water has a nutrient profile of:

N 97
P 60
K 105
Mg 41
S 27
Ca 97

He was originally adding 1 g/gal epsom salts to the solution and that changed the numbers for mg and s to:

Mg 67
S 61

He abandoned the addition of epsom shortly after trying it because his plants were doing ok without it, but you may want to give it a go. Another option would be to add in some Cal-Mag if you happen to have some. It provides both in the propoer ratio of 2:1 Cal to Mag and ensures that you don't lock one or the other out.

Since your plants in coco are fairly well established you could up your watering schedule to 2 times a day. Lots of folks that grow in coco have great luck with watering once then waiting until until the pot is half the original watered weight. Others water every day and some yet water twice a day. As I understand it watering more often allows you to provide the plants with fresh nutes AND oxygen. Those that water more often claim faster, more robust growth.

Although I can't prove one way or the other, it seems like more frequent watering with my plants has helped draw the roots to the top of the smaller pots. Since I potted up and have only been watering once a day, the roots really haven't developed much above the halfway point. I'm thinking of upping my schedule. Yea it uses more nutrients, but the pods seem to grow larger as well.

I think I'm going to try the time released rain again. The last time I had tried it I had melted it in a large aluminium pot. Could that have caused an increase in the acidity? Going to have to see how it compares to being melted in a glass cup in the microwave.

Just a few thoughts. Your plants are looking fantastic as they are.


EDIT: I just grabbed a cup of snow and melted it in the microwave. The PPM is at 25 and the PH was 7.7-8.1. The aluminum pot I originally melted the snow in the first time must have affected the ph. This is good news for me though because now I can use the snow rather than buying water.

Neil

 

[HillBilly Jeff]

Those plant shots are looking well.  They will be needing bigger pots before you know it.

 

[maximumcapsicum]

New shots are looking great JJJ! Soren's plants are very cool. I am thinking about trying that out with a couple as well, but am unsure really how to go about it. At what point do you stop the pruning, etc, and let it stretch its arms?

 

[Jeff H]

Plants are doing super JJJ. Garden looks a little snowed in at the moment, but warmer weather is coming. 

 

[Devv]

Plants are looking supper JJJ!
 
You're ahead of the game this year for sure!
 
Keep it green!

 

[Peter S]

JJJ, Your plants look awesome!

 

[Nick08*]

Things around here are looking excellent! I as well love the coir/soil test. 
 
Hope those rainbows go well for you, and you have the energy for a bonchi project!
 
Also digging the snow for watering idea.
 
Keep up the good work!

 

[JJJessee]

Thanks, guys.
 

H3AD's modified Lucas formula of 6ml/gal micro and 9ml/gal bloom in RO water has a nutrient profile of:

N 97
P 60
K 105
Mg 41
S 27
Ca 97

He was originally adding 1 g/gal epsom salts to the solution and that changed the numbers for mg and s to:

Mg 67
S 61

He abandoned the addition of epsom shortly after trying it because his plants were doing ok without it, but you may want to give it a go. Another option would be to add in some Cal-Mag if you happen to have some. It provides both in the propoer ratio of 2:1 Cal to Mag and ensures that you don't lock one or the other out.

Since your plants in coco are fairly well established you could up your watering schedule to 2 times a day. Lots of folks that grow in coco have great luck with watering once then waiting until until the pot is half the original watered weight. Others water every day and some yet water twice a day. As I understand it watering more often allows you to provide the plants with fresh nutes AND oxygen. Those that water more often claim faster, more robust growth.

Although I can't prove one way or the other, it seems like more frequent watering with my plants has helped draw the roots to the top of the smaller pots. Since I potted up and have only been watering once a day, the roots really haven't developed much above the halfway point. I'm thinking of upping my schedule. Yea it uses more nutrients, but the pods seem to grow larger as well.

I think I'm going to try the time released rain again. The last time I had tried it I had melted it in a large aluminium pot. Could that have caused an increase in the acidity? Going to have to see how it compares to being melted in a glass cup in the microwave.

Just a few thoughts. Your plants are looking fantastic as they are.


EDIT: I just grabbed a cup of snow and melted it in the microwave. The PPM is at 25 and the PH was 7.7-8.1. The aluminum pot I originally melted the snow in the first time must have affected the ph. This is good news for me though because now I can use the snow rather than buying water.

Neil

That's great news on the snow, I've got all the spare tubs I could round up in service. But the snow is going fast here.
Still,  I'll be on the spring water  for a while.
I'm gonna hold off on the MgSO4 in favor of the Cal-Mg, which I decided not to get on the last grow-store trip.  
But, we have a new grow store that's only 30 miles away instead of 100. It maybe time to investigate.
 

Those plant shots are looking well.  They will be needing bigger pots before you know it.

I'll be pricing gallon pots while I'm there. I'm not rushing though. In fact Blister was talking about a Cannazym product that may help delay pot -ups by breaking down old, dead roots to make room for new ones. I plan on a 2x4x? PVC rack to hold that LED light or something over my gallons and hope it works. As it is, my maters, and most of my annums are going have to sprint from coty to plant-out in 2.5 pots and probably coir substrate.
 

New shots are looking great JJJ! Soren's plants are very cool. I am thinking about trying that out with a couple as well, but am unsure really how to go about it. At what point do you stop the pruning, etc, and let it stretch its arms?

I'm going to have to go back and re-read, but I think he said, strip leaves and suckers below the 7th point what ever that means.
 
Forecast is for a 7 day frost free stretch.