KingLeerUK's 2013 (first!) Glog - get these plants outside, stat!

Welcome to my first Glog for THP!  I did get a rather uneven and late start for growing this year but thankfully the season can run quite long in Florida so I still expect to have a good harvest.
 
Unlike last year, my grow has been done in fits and starts due to other competing activities for my time and some seed quality issues.  I've also done a few upgrades to my growing setup and I have some ongoing retrofit to my outdoor area that haven't even gotten started.  This post will serve as a quick catch up on 2013 so far, and hint at plans for the remainder of the year.
 
So, for the past 2 years I've done only very small chili grows for personal consumption and the occasional party salsa.  My growing setup was pretty simple, a DIY frame made out of schedule 40 1.25" PVC piping, some eye bolts and two T12 fluorescent fixtures as follows:

 
This year having made the decision to go a fair bit bigger both in quantity and in grow list entries, I cut down the original configuration and rebuilt it as follows:
 

 
This setup gives me bi-level growing area, with a pair of dual T8 lights for the top and the space to add an optional 3rd fixture on both levels if I need the extra lumens.
 
Here are a few detail images of the construction for anyone interested.
 

 

 

 
 

 

[KingLeerUK]

This is one of those times that you wish you had just waited a few more days...
 
The 2nd Round seed plantings that I had thought I had thoroughly cooked by leaving them on a seedling heat mat, on the back porch in daily 95'F+ temperatures have shown themselves to be truly resilient.
 
Behold:
 

Red Cayenne - rocket from the crypt?  You betcha.
 

More Scorpions than you can throw a boot at!
 

Great googly moogly that's a lot of Golden Cayennes and Purple Jalapenos.
 
So, while I'm happy that these all survived my less than tender mercies, what you should all know is that in thinking I had for sure nuked this Round of seeds I went ahead with ordering and planting a "replacement" set of the Golden Cayenne and Trinidad Scorpions.  And I'm not just talking a few, 25 of each.
 
I've got way more chilis than I will ever have space for - the friends and family give away programme just went from a small time operation to something on the order of global distribution.  It's a good problem to have I suppose.
 
 

Devil's Tongue is also making an appearance.  Still no action from the Scotch Bonnets or the Bishop's Crowns though.
 

Kung Pao enters the arena as well.  Not shown, several of the habaneros also hooked this morning.
 
Tomorrow morning I break ground on the expanded garden space and replacement of 3 fence sections in the backyard.  Wish me luck!

 

[KingLeerUK]

I took everyone on a field trip, it was such a nice day and I had to work in the backyard anyway.
 

 

 
Today I ripped out the old border fence and dropped 4 new posts in for the replacement.  Normally this wouldn't even be worth mention - except for the fact that I had to dig the holes using a hand spade.  The cable service ran their wires right along the fence line so I had to exercise a rather large dose of caution.  Welcome to Florida: where "burying a cable" = success even only 2" under the surface.
 

 
I'm obviously not the first to dig here, note the huge splice jacket I unearthed (in the first 30 seconds).
 
My updates for next weekend will be more exciting as I will be planting out this first round of chilis!

 

[KingLeerUK]

A couple of gratuitous pod shots from the first group harvest of Bhut Jolokias of this year.  These are going off in trade, I could never eat them all by myself.
 

 

 

[KingLeerUK]

In anticipation of weekend update progress photos, I'm going to need a bump!
 
Text update on progress:
 
I currently have 80 seedlings in germination trays that are showing all the signs of being viable.  For the most part, germination percentages were surprisingly good.
 
Trinidad Scorpion (Round 2): 18/20 - 90%
Red Cayenne: 10/10 - 100%
Golden Cayenne (Round 2): 18/20 - 90%
Habanero: 14/15 - 93%
Kung Pao: 10/10 - 100%
Devil's Tongue: 12/15 - 80%
Purple Jalapeno: 14/15 - 93%
(some cells in the tray had 2-3 seeds and I've nipped the less promising competitors in such cases)
 
Except for these disappointments:
Bishop's Crown: 0/10
Yellow Scotch Bonnet: 1/15 (and the one that did germinate still has the seed case on and looks poorly, I'm not so concerned on these as I've had Scotch Bonnet's take 3+ weeks to germ for me in the past)
 
I don't understand my total lack of success so far with Bishop's Crowns.  Everything I've read says that they are an easy-to-medium difficulty to germinate and care for and I've given them the exact same conditions as everything else.  I tried to grow these last year and I had 0% germination.  I bought from an entirely different seed vendor this year and still no-go.   What the hell?
 
Also, my Round 3 plantings of additional Golden Cayenne and Trinidad Scorpions are starting to hook as of this morning, which means that seeds planted one week after the Bishop's Crowns and Scotch Bonnets have lapped them - sitting on the same seedling mat in the same location getting the same hydration and conditions.
 
What am I missing?

 

[calchilihead]

Leer you suck at chili growing given your total faceplant with Bishop's Crown :p

 

[Peptacular]

Wicked looking pods man! Sucks that the bishops crown aren't working out for you. It is a sacred vestment, are you an atheist? Lol jk

 

[KingLeerUK]

 
On Saturday morning I drove to a local mushroom factory facility and picked up a heaping truckbed full of mushroom compost.  The stuff is magical.
 

 
Here it is after a dozen wheelbarrow trips to the backyard and a lot of shoveling.
 

 
Other soil amendments that will be worked into the expanded garden plot.  There are another 4 bags of garden soil out of frame.  I'll also be adding about 5 pounds of powdered lime to the mix due the high acidity in the soils here in Florida.
 

 
Here is the root ball on one of the tomatoes I had potted up to 6" just a few weeks ago.  Behold the power of worm castings!
 

 
My cat does not quite know what to make of vine ripe tomatoes, but I do: huevos rancheros.
 

 
More peppers harvested today, 2 Cowhorns and a Green Bell that was model-perfect.
 

 
Finally, ever wondered what 105 chili pepper seedlings looked like when they came out of germination trays and into 4" pots?  Wonder no more.  Almost 4 hours to complete this task.
 
Not pictured due to rain: plant out of several tomatoes, extensive soil processing work on the new garden plot, cable installer laziness in the form of numerous coax wires buried only 3" deep in the middle of the yard.
 
Like, comment, rejoice!

 

[KingLeerUK]

A text update before bed.
 
Today I gave the 17 Round 1 chilis in 6" pots a few hours of hardening off in the full Florida sunshine.  They actually didn't do very well, with 2 of the Bhut Jolokias falling over and a fair bit of leaf wilt all around even though I gave them all a healthy watering on taking them out.  Most recovered after the first hour, but I've still got one Bhut Jolokia that doesn't want to stand all the way up and I'll probably need to stake it with support.  They will get another outing tomorrow.
 
Of the original 105 seedlings, I've only lost 4 in the past week.  I think it was a combination of being under a dual T5HO + sun coming in through a gap in the back window blinds as it was a very specific group of seedlings that I found collapsed over, yellow on Friday afternoon after the skies cleared.  I've taken steps to control the light a bit better.
 
After contacting the seller of the seeds that I'd obtained for the Bishop's Crown and Yellow Scotch Bonnet I was sent another set of replacement seeds from (hopefully) newer stock.  Although it is very late in the year and I've never germinated anything in June before I'm giving 10 of each one more go in the germination trays.  I am stubborn and I refuse to give up until I get these damned things to grow.  Wish me luck.
 
P.S. I'll need a bump for pictures tomorrow.

 

[KingLeerUK]

As promised, some picture updates to to close out the weekend.
 
My tabasco plant repays my disdain for it by putting on the most impressive poddage I've ever seen.

 
This thing is literally bending over with pods, and there are many flowers on it as well.

 
A top-down view of the plant.

 

[PexPeppers]

LOOKIN GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD

 

[KingLeerUK]

I've had to re-start the hardening off process due to the weather last week.  Here are a few shots of Group 1 hardening off, take 2.

 
A very health Trinidad Moruga Scorpion.

 
NuMex "Big Jim" Jalapeno

 
Bhut Jolokia out for some rays.

 
 
Cayenne Crazy.  My precious... delicious.

 
Bhut Jolokia pods on parade.

 
If you look closely, you can see ants all over the plant.  What is strange is that usually ants are there to tend aphids and these plants have none.

 
White Lightning habaneros are heavy with pods.

 
Here is another side of the same plant.

 

[ItBurns]

Practice makes perfect bud keep it up you will get the hang of it

 

[KingLeerUK]

Closing out the weekend with a visual update.
 
This Sunday I did a quick harvest of goodies for mail trading and eating this week.  Clockwise starting top-left, Bhut Jolokias, 3 Pink Brandywine heirloom tomatoes, two handfuls of Red Cayennes, a single Cowhorn pepper and White Lightning Habaneros.
 

 
 
The back patio germination table is overflowing with seedlings, here is the top tier:

 

 
And the bottom tier:
 

 
 
And finally, the new garden space is FINISHED!  I also was able to get the NuMex "Big Jim" jalapenos in the ground after they hardened off over Friday-Saturday-Sunday.
 

 
I was also able to get this seasons Bhut Jolokias & the single Trinidad Moruga Scorpion in the ground in their new bed.  This location has late-day shade and I've found that the combination of full morning-midday sun and afternoon coverage yields the best growing conditions for these types.
 

 

 

[KingLeerUK]

It's been a while since my last update and I don't have much in the way of visual progress to report.  I finished my back fence rebuild, planted about 20 okra seeds - they all sprouted - so I've given away about 50% of them and I am pulling regular harvests of tomatoes, cayennes and cowhorns.
 
It seems that Florida is getting the perfect storm of conditions for massive pest infestations.  We've had a never ending saturation of rain, lots of overcast cloudy days and no opportunity to really dry out.  My tomatoes are suffering from brown spot fungus, massive whitefly infestation and just yesterday I discovered that one of my Lemon Boys has purple caterpillars with a lime green stripe down the side.  I've started the squishing process and also sprayed down EVERYTHING with Safer brand veggie soap.  Tomorrow I'm going to step up the game by adding neem oil to the regimen.  If we can get a dry day I have some permethrin dust I can spread but it will not work properly unless this place dries out a bit.
 
I've also found some aphids on my new ghosts and scorpions that are in the ground; hit them with veggie soap spray this morning.
 
Thoughts?  Help!

 

[geeme]

Bump

 

[ItBurns]

keep it coming

 

[PexPeppers]

BUMP!

 

[KingLeerUK]

Finally, a visual update!
 
Really not much to tell other than things are continuing to grow in my indoor setup.  I did get all of the 4" seedlings potted up to 6" pots; a 4 hour effort.  This also entailed expanding the grow light rack tiers to use all of my available T5 and T8 fixtures.
 

 
Everything is doing really well though, I only lost 1 seedling in the potting up process.
 

 

 
Also, my final plantings for the year (very late, admittedly) are all doing well.  These include the Chocolate Scorpions and Carolina Reapers from PexPeppers and some Douglahs I was given in trade.
 

 
Outdoors I've got Clemson Spineless okra starting to produce and tomatoes coming off the Fiaschetto row that I have in the Florida Weave (pictures coming soon).

 

[KingLeerUK]

The single Trinidad Moruga Scorpion (closest, foreground) and the other Bhut Jolokias from the first round of this season are doing really well in their semi-covered spot behind the back sunroom.
 

 
Okra plants are growing like weeds!
 

 

[KingLeerUK]

Finally, some updates!
 
I'll need to break this up into several posts, but for this first one I'll cover the indoor progress.
 

 
Above I have the top-tier of my "tall" variants table, almost all of which have exceeded 24" in height.  Last weekend I cut a huge pile of cane and have made over 150 stakes of about 18" in length; one pair per plant.  This top-tier "tall" group has actually had a minor problem with aphids even though it is indoors, so I've been treating with a mild insecticide soap every 3 days.  At this point the problem has been contained and I didn't even lose any new growth on the plants.
 
Yes, I know these guys need to get outside, but I've been strapped for time to actually get them outdoors for hardening off when it's not storming or overly windy.
 
The plants on this tier are a mix of Golden Cayenne, Red Cayenne, Kung Pao, Purple Jalapeno and a few Orange Habaneros.
 

 
This is the bottom tier of the same table which thankfully hasn't shown any aphid infestation.  This level has a combination of Purple Jalapeno, Cowhorns, Scotch Bonnets, Red Habaneros and a few Moruga Scorpions that didn't fit on my shorty shelves.  These haven't needed staking yet, but they will.
 

 
These are my "shorty shelves" of which the bottom tier is shown empty here because I was lowering the bottom rack to give more distance between the plants an that T5HO.  These shelves are a combination of Trinidad Scorpions (some Moruga), Devil's Tongue, Yellow Scotch Bonnets, Douglahs  and a couple of Chocolate Scorpions.  The top rack has some smaller, late season seedlings that include 3 very healthy Carolina Reapers.
 

 
Here is some close-up detail on the Scorpions, Devil's Tongues and Habaneros that were on the T5HO rack tier.  You can see that they are showing some yellow and burned leaves due to the heat/proximity to the bulb that I let go for too long.  I've dropped their tier another 4" to let them recover, but otherwise they are super healthy.
 
Coming soon...
 - outdoor update (podding up Moruga, tons of Red Bhuts, Big Jim Jalapenos producing, Godzilla-sized okra plants and the sad passing of most of my tomatoes)
 - hopefully some planting out pics in the coming weekend
 - AACT tea brewing, my first attempt!