Megamoo's 2011/2012 Grow Log

megamoo · Oct 14, 2011

I just took an inventory of all my growing plants.

Overwinters most in final pots:
Dorset Naga
Aji Lemon x2
Black Pearl
Tabasco
Fresno
Habanero x2
Bolivian Rainbow
Bhut Jolokia
Hungarian Black
Black Prince
Thai Orange
Serrano x2
14

In buckets, final places:
Red Bhut x2
Choc Bhut
Purple Tiger
Poblano
Peter Pepper Orange
Gold Cayenne x5
Big Jim x2
Jamiaca Scotch Bonnet
Habanero Red
Burke's Backyard Thai Chilli
Jalapeno
Peter Pepper Red
Tabasco
Naga Morich
Limon
Trinidad Scorpion x3
Trinidad Scorpion Butch T
Aji Amarillo
Congo Brown
Cochiti
28

Large Pots, final places:
Gold Cayenne x4
Fatalii
Aribibi Gusano
Red Bhut
Bishop's Crown
Topaz
Mystery Pepper
Poblano
Scotch Bonnet TFM
Hungarian Hot Wax
Nagabon
Chilli Costa Rica
15

In their first pot up stage:
TS Butch T x8
Gold Cayenne x2
Naga Jolokia Purple x2
Hungarian Hot Wax x2
Anaheim x3
Congo Brown x3
Chilli Costa Rica
Purple Tiger x2
Mystery Pepper
Pusa Jwala x2
Jamiaca Scotch Bonnet x2
7 Pot Brain Strain x2
Poblano
Asian Birdseye
Black Prince x3
Hot Cherry
Jimmy Nardello
Orange Lantern x2
Bahamian Goat x2
Nagabon
Limon x3
Aribibi Gusano
Douglah
Long Red Cayenne x2
52

Germinated but still inside under lights, some are multiples:
Habanero Big Sun
Explosive Ember
Trinidad Perfume
Rocoto Peru Bitumi
Bolivian Rainbow
Manzano Amarillo
Mystery Pepper
Hungarian Black
Douglah
Guampinha De Veado
Butch T
Long Red Cayenne

I've been slack and let these dry out too much and a few have died.

There are also a few jiffy pellets with nothing going on and I don't think there will be any more sprouts from those.

This all sounds awesome but I don't think I have room for all these plants to get a decent sized pot. After having germination troubles last season I worked hard at developing my methods and it worked.... too well.

gasificada · Oct 15, 2011

ahaha it's all too easy to end up with plants coming outta your ears, isn't it?

Nice little shadecloth enclosure. I really gotta get off my ass and rig something up myself. Been hitting 9 or 10 on the UV Index here lately. :eek:

megamoo · Oct 15, 2011

gasificada said:
ahaha it's all too easy to end up with plants coming outta your ears, isn't it?

Nice little shadecloth enclosure. I really gotta get off my ass and rig something up myself. Been hitting 9 or 10 on the UV Index here lately.

It's a hard decision to make about what will get a nice big pot and what won't.
The forecast tomorrow is sunny and 34 and its not even close to summer! The shadehouse looks good but the roof is a very thin gauge, I might double it up so they don't bake. I plan to put the retic together tomorrow so then they won't die of thirst because I forget

I put the sides on it to supress the wind and repel children. One of the bucketed plants has been stripped of leaves and is recovering and another was pulled completely out. I managed to put it back in quickly and it still had a lot of roots attached. I'm not taking any chances now, they are fenced off.

megamoo · Oct 16, 2011

Put the retic in today. They were starting to wilt and by the time I finished they need a water in the 34C heat so it was very much appreciated. They all perked up.

Hurts your fingers after doing 50 of them but now they are on a timer and won't dry out.

Shadowchilli · Oct 16, 2011

nice work megamoo!!
Cant wait for the weather to get a bit better here, its around 20-22c max at the moment during the day. Which aint to bad, but i want it to be around the 30c mark.
Nice drinking weather

Dot Com · Oct 16, 2011

gasificada said:
ahaha it's all too easy to end up with plants coming outta your ears, isn't it?

Nice little shadecloth enclosure. I really gotta get off my ass and rig something up myself. Been hitting 9 or 10 on the UV Index here lately.

my sentiments exactly. Nice set-up. looks like you've done your 1/2 now its the plant's turn to reciprocate

megamoo · Oct 20, 2011

I cleaned out everything in my indoor grow shelf. Lights are off and can be taken down and stowed for the off season. Job done.
They got potted up and moved into the greenhouse outside, which was already full so it's most matured and hardened plants were also potted up and moved to the shadecloth chilli ailse. After all the potting up this season I've got my system down and it all went pretty quick

A comparison shot.
Before

4 days after.

You can see all the new ones. Any difference in the existing plants? I think there is some growth, definitely lots more flowers.

Used up almost all of my large pot space but still have these ones to go somewhere!

More photos

Jalapeno sowed earilest of all the plants, survived all the problems. Got a nice colour to it, still a bit short though.

Shadowchilli · Oct 20, 2011

Looks like most of the plants are happy, maybe the weather was a little to hot though...
also looks strange having flowers on such small plants, but then again some of my overwintered plants have much the same thing, producing flowers low down on the plant and nothing up top.

either way, looks like you have done, and still have to do, alot of work crongrats lol.
Lookin good

Edit: Your soil looks really nice and fluffy, whats your mix?

megamoo · Oct 21, 2011

I sort of went on what Neil outlined on the Hippy Seed Company facebook page. But I put some more coir-peat in because I think it does good stuff.

50% Coles cheap potting mix
50% Coir-peat expandable brick
and about a cup of rooster booster pellets

The coir holds onto water and I didn't want the roots drowned, so when potting up I layered that mix with sugar cane mulch. I added a lot of perlite into the mix for the first few buckets instead of layering but I only had a bit left.

Water quickly comes through the pot after I turn on the retic so it definitely drains well! There is only the rooster booster for nutes in the mix so I'm going to have to remember to feed them, and not over feed them.

gasificada · Oct 21, 2011

What's wrong with the ol' Dynamic Lifter?

megamoo · Oct 21, 2011

gasificada said:
What's wrong with the ol' Dynamic Lifter?

I meant I will have to feed them when it runs out. Not for a while tho.

um... rooster booster is the same as dynamic lifter isn't it? I thought it was all just chicken sh$t

gasificada · Oct 21, 2011

Wait... what? You feed your plants with energy drink!??

J/K! I know the stuff you speak of.

Is it just chicken poo or does it have other stuff added as well? Dynamic Lifter also contains fishmeal, seaweed and blood & bone I believe.

megamoo · Oct 21, 2011

Never seen them before

I went out and read the bag and took this photo too.

It says `composted pelletised chicken manure` doesn't mention anything else.
Funny, I had the idea in my head that it was high in N and low in other nutes. Guess I should read labels a bit better next time and complain less about not having healthy plants. :crazy:

I put it in the mix as a base fertiliser and was going to add other stuff. From that table do you think I should be giving them more of anything?
BTW It's in there now and I am NOT repotting anything!

Edit: Just saw on another site a hydro flowering nute (for chillies) listed as 3:2:1
I guess this explains why all my short ass plants are budding and flowering :doh:

This all happened because I quickly bought a bag of stuff and didn't really think about it. In my head it was "Rooster-booster - yeah I know thats high N. Get that one" :banghead:

gasificada · Oct 21, 2011

megamoo said:
Never seen them before

It's some American one I found when I googled rooster booster. It wouldn't surprise me if it also contained chicken poo. Crazy Americans--I heard somewhere that Monster is the most popular energy drink over there! :crazy:

(What can we talk though... with the popularity of V here and all. Red Bull FTW!)

megamoo said:
From that table do you think I should be giving them more of anything?

I'm the wrong person to ask--I really know nothing about that kind of stuff. Zip. Zilch. Nada! :lol:

megamoo said:
Edit: Just saw on another site a hydro flowering nute (for chillies) listed as 3:2:1
I guess this explains why all my short ass plants are budding and flowering
This all happened because I quickly bought a bag of stuff and didn't really think about it. In my head it was "Rooster-booster - yeah I know thats high N. Get that one"

Honestly, my plants always flower early regardless of what I feed 'em. I can't be bothered anymore and just let 'em do their thing....

megamoo · Oct 21, 2011

Ok well I don't know what I was on when I started feeding my plants this year but I obviously wasn't thinking.

If you are going to market a specialised Chilli nutrient you would obviously have to do some research into it.
So you would think the NPK of Chilli Focus - 1.85 : 0.31 : 2.76 - is ideal for growing chillies.
The NPK that I have been feeding my plants - 3.0 : 2.0 : 1.7 -

My maths was never good at these sorts of things but that seems like way too much P, and not enough K.

I had better give them some potash.

nitwit · Oct 21, 2011

try to relax a little mega dude

the chillis look healthy

if you want to add a little of this or a little of that no worry

please remember the plants are only supposed to flower and fruit

to fulfill their responsibility

yours is mostly to sit in that white chair and observe patiently

if you listen they will tell you what they want from you next

lookin good :woohoo:

patrick · Oct 21, 2011

Coco coir is great at moisture retention moo but when it gets dry the water will pool on top or run right past it. Something to be aware of buddy. Chili garden is looking good.

megamoo · Oct 21, 2011

Thanks everyone.

I do sit in that chair when I can. :cool:

I'm only thinking about adding things because all of them are flowering and none are very tall. One with pods has the tips of the pods growing into the dirt, and I can't dig away enough of a hole for it

Some in buckets have stood up and some are just stagnant. They are all bushier than I'd like, none are even close to being leggy! I'm more upset with myself for reading for a year on this forum and elsewhere about the right nutes for chillies and giving people advice about what to feed, then I go and ignore all that

I think they will be alright in the end.

gasificada · Oct 21, 2011

megamoo said:
I'm more upset with myself for reading for a year on this forum and elsewhere about the right nutes for chillies and giving people advice about what to feed, then I go and ignore all that

Don't worry, I've been guilty of the same kind of stuff--on more than one occasion!

I hate being amateur. I just want to be pro already! :lol:

megamoo · Oct 27, 2011

An update. Lots of problems but everything is still alive.

It rained a lot yesterday. However my chillies are in pots that are set up for retaining water in hot dry weather. I am going to have to drill some more holes in the buckets at the bottom to help drying them out.

A few of the chilli plants I potted up into buckets have not grown and are now turning yellow. Their leaves are curling upward as well, which looks like overwatering but I think there is something else going on. Can't figure out what is their problem.

Some that had taken off are now slowing with the new growth yellow and wrinkly. Probably a nutrient lockout thing.

And some of the bigger plants have burnt tips of the lower larger leaves.

A few plants have yellowing/with dirty looking spots on their lower leaves, then they fall off. This is the original problem I had with the indoor grow and I think it is an infection, made worse by overwatering.

I sprayed them all over with a fungacide and eco-oil a few days ago and its probably been too soon to see any result from that.

Everything seems to be related to overwatering, and seeing as though its still raining there's not much I can do about it. I had the idea to use H2O2 because apparently it takes oxygen to the roots which is what is missing in drowned plants. I wouldn't work for very long because H2O2 reverts back to H2O quickly and then they are soaked again. I will give it a go once they have had a few days of sun and wind.