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

 

[OrganicChiles]

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.

If you still have any seedling i would leave them in the original container you sprouted them in. Its not a good idea to plant them to a big pot when they only have like two roots. The stress of the transplant will slow them down and they need all that energy at this stage to establish. You could keep two peppers in the same pot until they were four or five inches tall and then seperate them, it doesnt matter if the roots are tangled they'll come free. And when you trasplant only trasplant into a pot a little bigger than the one it came out of. Give them a lot a lot of light and dont water them very much. They like to almost completely dry out before they're watered again, just before they wilt. If the roots are surrounded by water too much at an early stage the roots will surely rot. If i was you i'd keep the best looking ones that grew the fastest and kill off any that grew slow or with leaf deformities. Choose the plants with the best vigor. And dont plant the stem that grew out originally down into the soil because it won't grow roots. The stem will just rot under the soil and cause helth problems. Just let them do their thing and keep them happy and trasplant to outdoors onjune 1 depending on your climate where you live. I would get them to real sun as soon as possible.

 

[OrganicChiles]

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

The little things coming out of inbetwen th branch and the stem are new branches, that is a good sign that the plants growing alrite. The places they grow from are called nodes. every node will send out a branch.

 

[Jody]

Wooop. New branches

Regarding re-potting. The Habs, Scotch bonnets and all others are still in the cups pictured above. I only moved the two Cayennes on because the roots were looking pretty packed in and the side of the cup was showing more roots than soil. They are about 4-5" tall

I have given quite a few out as presents instead of doing away with deformed weak plants.

Thanks for the help