Megamoo's 2012/2013 Glog

megamoo · Sep 11, 2012

DocNrock said:
^^^ I'm still a noob at this, but I agree with you about the water stagnation. It would seem that a rapidly draining soil would be very useful. It would require more frequent watering, but that water would be fresh each time.

It seems to make sense doesn't it DocNrock? Sounds right enough for me I'm going with that!

I forgot to add that the plants in the centre of this picture, next to some sad looking tomtoes on the left and some baby basil seedlings on the right:

are the leftovers when I potted up the test jalapenos which are in this picture:

When potting up I chose the strongest and healthiest seedlings and the leftovers were the worst of them. I just sat them in a tray and bottom watered them with some seaweed concentrate and tiny splashes of a few different liquid fertiliers. The box gets closed at night and openned in the morning.

The light conditions of the two pictures are different but the leftovers are definitely a nicer, darker green and look really healthy despite still being in the tiny seed cells with only coco coir. They wilt pretty quickly if they don't get a daily drink. This suggests that its not the size of the pot but the availablilty of water and nutrients that plants need. The size of the pot obviously affects how big the root system, and therefore the plant can get, but its not the most important factor.

I'll take a side by side shot tomorrow for comparison.

megamoo · Sep 13, 2012

Ok the light coming through the lattice makes it hard to make out any details but you can see the size comparison between the two.

When I potted them up the size difference was larger and was the other way around. The ones that are now bigger have had regular watering and feeding and some protection at night from the cold.

If I can successfully pot them up then I'll use that method for my other good seedlings that are ready to come outside in a week. The roots may need a bit of teasing out but apart from that as long as they get regular water and nutes the tiny cell tray shouldn't be an issue.

DocNrock · Sep 13, 2012

I like those cell trays. I found them here online and will be using them next season. Your method is how I envisioned the progression. Keep the updates coming!

Sownseeds · Sep 24, 2012

Looking good Moo, looks like you have more space at this place , you have some spots that look like there part sun part shade , not like the other house were you had them out under shade cloth in full sun , i found last season my best plants were down the side of the house where they only got 4 or 5 hours of morning sun . During the heat of the day when it reached 40 deg they were in shade..

nee · Sep 25, 2012

Sownseeds said:
i found last season my best plants were down the side of the house where they only got 4 or 5 hours of morning sun . During the heat of the day when it reached 40 deg they were in shade..

Thats great news, as that's currently the position i have my plants in, and as they seem to be doing well there i was reluctant to move them.

megamoo · Sep 25, 2012

I potted up all the seedlings in my hydro section to make way for the new sprouts. These were sown on 18/9, I always seem to get first germination at around 5 days, and then they pop until 14 - 21 days. After that If they aren't up I don't expect to see anything. I still leave them on the heat mat but rarely get anything.
My current heat mat allows only 4 of these blue trays to be on the heat mat at one time. The other 13 are next to them but are above a computer and stereo and foxtel box, and a gas heater is nearby so they stay pretty warm.

Also I FINALLY! got the pH meter in the mail. I complained to the ebay seller four weeks after it was supposed to have been posted from Sydney to Perth, and they said it must have been lost in the mail. OK seriously this is like "the dog ate my homework" excuse and from their feedback responses a lot of their stuff gets lost in the mail. Either they're incompetent and forgot, or they practice a random `send nothing` policy and every now and then the buyer will forget about it and they get a freebie payday? In any case they sent me another one and it took seven days. Just got it today in time to refresh my reservoir for the new sprouts. Up to this point I have been winging it on the pH and some of the older plants had started to look sick. Had to rant about that.

After potting up I realised my hardening off box is far too small and so inspired by sownseeds design I screwed some poly retic tubing to a table and covered it with a plastic paint drop sheet. It sort of looks like a american pioneers wagon

The plastic is hopelessly flimsy and inadequate for the job but it cost $1.44 and I'll be able to get some thick black plastic from my dad whos been doing house renovations and has a ton of it. Didn't take any photos yet

but I will.

The root balls on the older ones were pretty dense and I had to tease them out a bit.

It looks really good but trying to unball them and tease them out at this stage damages the roots and adds some recovery time. Probably better to pot up before it gets like this.
The smaller sprouts hadn't filled their cells enough to be pulled out so they went outside as is.

Planted some of my Jalapenos and Bhuts in a few different areas to see what grows where. The small seedlings down front in this photo were some spare seeds I cast onto the dirt and stirred in ages ago just to see if they'd sprout. What ya know they did

top left are weeds.

The other pots are enjoying the sunshine, seems to be more green and less yellow.

Some tomatoes I've forgotten about but theres been on and off rain so they are still alive.

megamoo · Sep 29, 2012

I looked back to the first post and lots has changed from then including the list of seeds, and there were two complete seed sowings that ran into setup problems and were abandoned so I'll update my current list here. I started with all chinenses because they take longer to grow.

These have had their first pot up transplant.
Name - number of plants
Naga Jolokia Purple - 2 ( yes I know this is an annuum, I made a mistake

)
7 Pot Jonah - 4
7 Pot Yellow - 2
Dorset Naga - 4
Magnum Habanero - 1 ( Was 2 but bad bad child ate 1 )
Habanero Red - 4
Orange Lantern - 2
Jamiaca Scotch Bonnet - 2
Pimenta De Neyde - 1
Bih Jolokia - 3
Peach Habanero - 2
Orange Habanero - 4
Trinidad Perfume - 2
Congo Brown - 1
Mystery Pepper (red savina?) - 1
35

These next were sown about a month after those above and weren't ready to be potted up. They have been hardened off and are looking good.
Indian Carbon - 5
Barrackpore - 2
Bhut Jolokia -3
Moruga Red - 4
Moruga Yellow - 5
Chocolate Habanero - 3
Mystery Pepper (red savina?) - 2
Trinidad Scorpion - 2
Limo Blanco - 2 ( had 3 but bad child ate one of these as well! )
7 Pot Red - 3
Beni Highlands - 2
Datil - 1 (its very small and maybe a bit sickly might not make it

)
34

These were sown on the 18th and are still hooking up but so far..
7 Pot Primo - 8
7 Pot Brainstrain - 8
7 Pot SR Red - 8
Scarlet Lantern - 8
Habanero Rojo - 8
Chocolate Bhut Jolokia - 7
Habanero White - 5
Cheiro White - 4
Douglah - 3
7 Pot Yellow - 2
Wasp - 1
Butch T - 1
Naga Morich - 4
Aribibi Gusano - 1
68

I've sown many more varieties but some are stubbornly not germinating, such as:
Habanero Big Sun
Aji Panca
~~Butch T~~
Habanero Peruvian White
~~Wasp~~
~~Aribibi Gusano~~
~~Naga Morich~~
Fatalii
All zero

I just got some new Fatalii Yellow and Choc seeds from a different source so hopefully they'll do better.
The 7 Pot SR Red were amazing though. I sowed three seeds in each of 8 cells and pretty much every seed sprouted!

Also I have the many many disposable Jalapenos that were saved seed bought from a supermarket. They are testing various raised beds at the moment, and when the time comes they may be tossed to make way for the other plants. There are also a handful of Red Bhut Jolokias that were saved from open pollinated pods grown by someone else so I can't be sure of their purity. I'll be growing them to maturity to see what I get.

Pictures
These are the young ones

Older

Eldest

This is my quick and cheap pioneer wagon table. Polytubing and screws, thats it.

For really cold nights I pull plastic over it and for nasty sun I'll be using shadecloth.

These plants are at a critical stage. In previous years this is the point where my poor choices in soil mix have derailed a potentially awesome season. Also its spring, the weather is warming up and the cold nights are pretty much done so now is when they plants should really take off. Despite the early false starts there is still plenty of time so its all open and ready to go. I'm excited

edit to add one Wasp hook that just showed up

another edit to add a Butch T
and again to add a Naga Morich seedling and 2 more Choc Bhuts

chsy83 · Sep 29, 2012

Awesome. Just started looking at your glog. Looking good!

megamoo · Sep 30, 2012

chsy83 said:
Awesome. Just started looking at your glog. Looking good!

Thanks chsy83 I hope it gets better to look at with.... PODS!

Sownseeds · Sep 30, 2012

You will have pods in no time Moo, keep those pics coming.

DocNrock · Sep 30, 2012

This is looking great, MM. Youngsters look great. Very healthy.

megamoo · Oct 1, 2012

Sownseeds said:
You will have pods in no time Moo, keep those pics coming.

DocNrock said:
This is looking great, MM. Youngsters look great. Very healthy.

Thanks guys.
I'm itching for things to move along and happen now. Might get some time this week to tear into the garden.

megamoo · Oct 3, 2012

Very bored so I'll post a picture I took today. Look good in the sun.

Starting to wilt. I watered them just after this photo was taken.

Pablo_h · Oct 3, 2012

Are they in coco coir?
As you know I started all mine in coir, but I could never get them that big. I probably didn't fertilize them enough though.
I wish I did, because I transplanted many to potting mix where most got fungus (damping off ) and shrivelled at the soil line, or got root rot. I used recycled mix as I thought it would be good (with all the old manure pellets and blood and bone in it). Big mistake as it was full of nasties, lots of them dying.

The ones that were in fresh potting mix and going great I had to spray with pyrenthrum as they were loaded with aphids, and they all went yellow and brown and lost most of their leaves. Very slow 2 month recovery, so not much happening here.

Got an experiment going on right now, lost so many seedlings that shrivelled up at the soil line, I cut off all the roots and most leaves, and shoved them back into soaking wet coir. Maybe it will grow new roots like a cutting. If it works, I'll upload photos. So far it's been 4 days and the seedling looks healthier than before I cut the roots off!

megamoo · Oct 3, 2012

Yeah they are in coco coir. It's stuff I got from a hydro supplier.

The cheap expandable bricks can be full of salts and apparently can suck the Mg and Ca out of the nutrients you put in. I had less success germinating in the cheap stuff, and using the cheap stuff in soil mixes.

Coco coir holds lots of water and still lets air in so it's perfect for germinating in, and using in hydro which is where I put them once they've sprouted. After the seedlings come out of their small cells I use a different soil mix. I should maybe try a pot up into all coir and see how it goes. My fear is that it will hold too much water and drown the roots. Need to experiment with that.

I wish I could give you advice about damping off and the potting up but I've not had much experience with damping off (thank god!) and I'm still trying to find a good mix that works for me. My first pot ups are alive and look ok but not 100%. There is definitely shock for the plants in the step from coco to soil mix, and when going outside.

I'm also going from hydro nutes to different soil nutes. That is probably why they look so big in the coco coir, with the hydro nutes you accurately control the nute ratios and the pH etc.

The plants you repotted possibly look good because of the air that got into the root zone. I've done this before, expose the roots and repot and they suddenly take off. Sadly it doesn't last if the same mistakes continue. Pablo you could try to water with water thats been left out and had a bubble stone bubbling away in it for a few hours. Not saying yours will live or die, just an idea.

Sanarda · Oct 3, 2012

I am loving the glog. I am following intensely. Everything looks great and past mistakes will not show up this season. I am so excited to follow I can hardly contain myself :rofl:

gasificada · Oct 3, 2012

megamoo said:

Are you mixing instant noodles in with your mix again, moo?? :lol:

Seriously though, nice roots!

The planties in the ground are gonna love it!

Premium coco, huh? :think:

Is it pre-flushed? And is it still relatively cheap?

megamoo · Oct 4, 2012

Thats the go-getter attitude I like to see Sanarda

Gas I should have taken a before being teased out photo, it was a solid noodle mass. Thats not the best thing though because when you tease them out you break them and it takes longer for them to recover. They were well past due.

I can't remember how much it was exactly but I do remember thinking its a bit expensive for coco coir. That said its lasted for a while now, takes some time to use up 50 litres if you are only putting it in tiny seed trays. I've used a few buckets worth in soil mixes as well. I definitely think its worth it after having some bad growth reactions in cheap coir though. Just looked at your glog, are those podding up plants from this season or overwinters? I'm jealous !

Trippa · Oct 4, 2012

No new to worry about deforestation .... your chilli plantation looks set to overtake the amazon any time now. Best of luck for the season ahead

megamoo · Oct 4, 2012

Thanks Trippa I hope so. :pray:

I've got my germination thing down, the next parts tricky.

In case anyone has been wondering I've been editing post #67 to update new hooks. Finally got a Wasp, Butch T and Naga Morich to show themselves.

With this last sowing I've had a big go at some hard to germinate ones.
These varieties didn't sprout the last time round and are yet to sprout this time.
Habanero Big Sun
Habanero Peruvian White
Aribibi Gusano
Fatalii
Nagabon
Aji Panca
Pimenta Di Bico

The thing is I've had a few seedlings from these same seedstocks last season (except for Aji Panca and Pimenta Di Bico which are new) so I can't blame it on a dodgy lot of seeds. I guess they are expiring or I'm impatient

It's just over 2 weeks from sowing.