Jodys grow log

Hi Guys,

I thought I would keep a log of my activities this year for reference next. Its my first time growing peppers or pretty much anything so any advice appreciated.

I planted 10 Cayenne as an experiment on the 16th of January to act as guinea pigs and because I couldnt wait. At fist only a couple sprouted but now this is up to 7 out of 10

Foolishly I thought only 2-3 out of ten cayennes would sprout in total. So I put 3 Hab or Scotch bonnet seeds in one cell when germinating the next batch. The Habeneros appeared after 4 days and the Scotch bonnets took 6 days. But I now have nearly all cells with three seeds that germinated. I re-potted a couple of Cayenne guinea pigs yesterday and am wondering about the depth I planted them. I covered about 3/4 of the stem with soil so the roots can establish from the stem. Is that right?

They are now in the heated prop and in a milar backed box under a small fluorescent tube.

What size/age can they come out of the heated prop?

Should I cull the smaller seedlings before they get any bigger (keeping one per cell) so they dont get tangled roots.

Also, the seed caps arent falling off the leaves. Should I pull them off or will they drop off naturally?

Habenero are the top seeds and Scotch bonnet are the bottom. Pics from a couple of days ago

Cayenne sprouts before the two largest ones were transferred

 

[Tonly]

I covered about 3/4 of the stem with soil so the roots can establish from the stem. Is that right?

They are now in the heated prop and in a milar backed box under a small fluorescent tube.

What size/age can they come out of the heated prop?

Should I cull the smaller seedlings before they get any bigger (keeping one per cell) so they dont get tangled roots.

Also, the seed caps arent falling off the leaves. Should I pull them off or will they drop off naturally?

In my experience peppers will grow roots on the stem above where the seed was but only a limited amount. I usually plant about up to the seed leaves deep maybe a little more if it's leggy.

Unless your grow room is very cold, I'd take them off the heat. It will help keep them from getting too leggy.

You can gently tease the roots apart and probably save all the seedlings if you do it while still very small. Just be careful not to bruise or break the stem.

I probably have about a 30% or less success rate when I try to remove the stuck seed caps. Good thing I'm not a surgeon.

With the clear dome in place, it doesn't look like you'll be able to get the light close enough. You want the light really close to the plants.

Hope this helps. Happy growing!

 

[PepperLover]

looking great for first time

 

[Flakes]

Hey Jody!

Good luck with those, I'm a first-timer myself. A couple of things - the light is way too far away unless you're pumping some serious wattage. I have a 200W CFL which is suspended about two inches above the top of my seedlings. If I have my light 2 inches away and you have yours two feet away, that means your plants are getting about a hundred times less light than mine are (assuming equivalent light source) and that's just not going to be enough. Plus they'll get leggy and that does them absolutely no good.

Don't bother removing the caps (unless it's taking absurdly long), just put a little drop of water on them, that should really spead things up and they should fall off on their own.

 

[Flakes]

Oh... about the other thing...

Most people would probably advocate killing off the brothers and sisters. You could always experiment with a few though (check this out!- scroll to the bottom of the page)

 

[LUCKYDOG]

I wouldnt kill'em off unless I didnt want them at all. I generally keep 3-4 until they a permanently planted then I decide if I want to keep them or give to friends. Anything can happen from now until May

 

[Jody]

Thanks for the responses.

I decided to re-pot most of the Habs and some Scotch Bonnets yesterday. It felt like I was performing brain surgery trying to remove them. I was so fearful they would be damaged but managed to get them all out and without damaging the root or stems. They are looking well this morning so only time will tell if I did it right.

Flakes, to put perspective on my lights I have added a picture (first one below). They are only lowish power flouresent down lights under my kitchen units. My partner wont allow me to fabricate anything to grow plants so this is the best solution I can think of It might look like the seedlings are 2 feet away from the light but its probably about 6". the newly re-potted plants are now nestling under another kitchen light and distance is about 1 1/2 inch.

 

[Flakes]

Flakes, to put perspective on my lights I have added a picture (first one below). They are only lowish power flouresent down lights under my kitchen units. My partner wont allow me to fabricate anything to grow plants so this is the best solution I can think of It might look like the seedlings are 2 feet away from the light but its probably about 6". the newly re-potted plants are now nestling under another kitchen light and distance is about 1 1/2 inch.

Kill partner?

Well, I hope they do ok - if not just put a spotlight or two fitted with 20w white (6400K) CFL bulbs pointed at the seedlings and you're back on track. No fabrication required!

I mean, it looks like they're doing fine so just keep up what you're doing and don't fix it if it ain't broken.

 

[nailingtoheaven]

Kill partner... HAHAHAHA! I luckily have a basement where I can do whatever I wish because she hates going down there. It's also a good thing I take care of the power bill because it is going to be way higher this year with my HID lights running. Looks like you have this set up running in the kitchen? I see those flour and sugar style jars next to it. Classic!

 

[Jody]

Pepper progress......

1 month since planting my seeds and the Cayennes are growing well and much better then the Scotch Bonnets and Red Habs. Just planted my main crop of Cayennes seeds for this year.

I have a couple of questions though if anyone can help?

Do Scotch Bonnets and Habs grow slower than Cayennes. I know the flowering period is a lot longer but is it growth also

Will they flower if I put the Chillies under a HID lamp (metal halide to give them a boost) for say 18-20 hours a day and then move back into natural sunlight (conservatory) in the next couple of months. The daylight hours are still less than 12-14 hours a day so would this force flower or would the plant understand we are still not in summer due to the light spectrum of Spring?

Whats the max temp they will continue to vegetate at?

The two strongest Cayennes

Tray of Habs and Bonnets

True leaves on the Scotch bonnets coming through strong

 

[Paco]

Awesome start and great questions look forward to the answers!!

 

[Blister]

Yes Habs and Scotch Bonnets grow slower than cayenne's. There is usually a Days to Harvest (or called something similar) date printed on the seed package. Days to Harvest means just that - the approximate amount of time it'll take before you can harvest fruit. Habs and Scotch Bonnets are around 90-100 days. Cayenne's are 60-70 DTH. So your Cayenne's will outgrow the others in no time.

 

[Jody]

Couple of picture updates. Peppers coming along well and the yellow leaves have almost disappeared. I am now watering them with PH adjusted water as my tap water was around 7.5-8

Question though if anyone can help. I planted my seeds on average 5-6 weeks ago and they arent tall or wide. Probably no more than 2" tall with the largest having around 6 nodes and 3" tall. When I re-potted I buried the stem to about 1/4" under the seed leaves. My friend planted his seeds in a small grow tent under 50w CFL tubes. His plants are on 18 hour light periods but have sprung up. They are now about 3-4" tall and the two seed leaves probably stretch 4" span two weeks after planting. So are his plants the right height size for age or would that be classed as leggy? I dont know if mine are just not growing at the right speed.

Thanks

Habs

Scotch Bonnets

Cayennes (test crop see post 1)

Hab and S.Bonnet twist (dont know if this will work or not)

 

[JSNI]

Awesome little 'Twister' - hope it will work for you! That plant will be beautiful

 

[Jody]

Thanks. I "borrowed" the idea off someone on here but cant remember which post and who to thank.

Forgot to mention going to plant some Razmatazz for some different colours in the conservatory.

 

[Jody]

Plants coming along nicely now although the Habs and Scotch bonnets are still small on the leaves although staying very low (height) and compact.
Test Cayennes re-potted into 4" pots and main crop of Cayennes have sprouted and are showing their first true leaves

Could someone tell me what these little bits are growing from between the stem and leaf?

One of my Cayenne's leafs droop quite a lot over night and the other one doesnt. Is this normal?

Drooping plant

Normal plant

Habs

Scotch Bonnets

 

[JSNI]

Could someone tell me what these little bits are growing from between the stem and leaf?

Sure looks like new branching to me

 

[patrick]

Nice work with those. Your growth is slow due to lack of light. You can also start to fertilize them but go easy with it. The drooper probably just needs some water, wait until you see how much they droop when they're outside and get a little dry, you'll think they're dead.

I'm not exactly sure what you're referring to with the "little bits growing between the leaf and the stem" but if it's coming out of the plant it's either a leaf or the beginning of another branch on the plant. Don't see too many mutants around here.

Best of luck to you.

 

[Sandgroper]

Oh... about the other thing...

Most people would probably advocate killing off the brothers and sisters. You could always experiment with a few though (check this out!- scroll to the bottom of the page)

I pot up multis all the time and they grow OK for me. Gives you more options, if one gets sick just chop it off and you still have something to show for the effort.

 

[Jody]

Dont know why the light is holding them back. Sunny days they are in the conservatory and other times they are under a 250w MH bulb. 18 hours minimum light a day.

I watered them when they started to droop and also put in a 1/2 recommended dose of Chilli Focus. Although I have been trying to keep them moist but not too wet.

Top pic in latest post is where you can see small (what look like leaves) coming out right next to the stem. There are three in that shot and pointing at 30 degrees ish from the stem. Didnt know if they were side shoots similar to Tomatoes that needed removing. But I am happy if its new branches growing