Mildfruits 2020 hydroponic

Mildfruit · Mar 29, 2020

This padron-like pepper is soon ready for harvest I think. Really positive about this mini kratky setup, I didn't really think it would work so well.

The Aji Amarillo is starting to flower and makes lots of pollen. Fingers crossed that I'll have a pod soon!

Look at this beast. Antep aci dolma starting to pod up!

Costa Rica red, lost its flowers 2days ago, im constantly checkin in to see if the pod will start to grow. I've never been successful in growing a c. pubescens variety before. Fingers double crossed

The Flexuosum are starting to bounce back slowly. I've moved it closer to the light and it seemed to have made a small difference so far.

CaneDog · Mar 29, 2020

Looks like things are going well. The AAD seems to have good pronounced striations and the Costa Rica red pods look promising!

The Aji Amarillo flower is a cheery one. I still have a way to go, but I'm looking forward to seeing those on mine.

PaulG · Mar 29, 2020

The cappicinno tepid looks great.
Are you going to top it? Mine responded
well to the topping.

Mildfruit · Apr 1, 2020

CaneDog said:
Looks like things are going well. The AAD seems to have good pronounced striations and the Costa Rica red pods look promising!

The Aji Amarillo flower is a cheery one. I still have a way to go, but I'm looking forward to seeing those on mine.

Thanks mate, I learned a new word today "striations", always good to get familiar with some pepper anatomy

The Costa Rica pods haven't grown since I took the picture, so im not sure they are going to take, however they haven't fallen off either as some other flowers have. Time will truly tell!

PaulG said:
The cappicinno tepid looks great.
Are you going to top it? Mine responded
well to the topping.

I usually never top my indoor plants, but your question had me wondering, it does look a bit tall and thin compared to the other plants. So I did top it minutes ago, hopefully it will respond as great as yours! Else I know who to blame

PaulG · Apr 1, 2020

Mildfruit said:
!I usually never top my indoor plants, but your question had me wondering, it does look a bit tall and thin compared to the other plants. So I did top it minutes ago, hopefully it will respond as great as yours! Else I know who to blame

Like some leaders, “I don’t take any responsibility” :rofl:

I am sure it will work out great for you!

CaneDog · Apr 1, 2020

I think you did right following Paul's "not really"

advice with the cap tepin. When I grew it last season it bushed out beautifully, but only late in the year after spending most of the season developing only the main growth stem.

Mildfruit · Apr 4, 2020

PaulG said:
Like some leaders, “I don’t take any responsibility”

I am sure it will work out great for you!

Haha

It already responded great, so im glad I took your advice!

Lots of new growth!

CaneDog said:
I think you did right following Paul's "not really" advice with the cap tepin. When I grew it last season it bushed out beautifully, but only late in the year after spending most of the season developing only the main growth stem.

Good to know, it does have a rather thin stem, but with all the new side growth I can see it will end up bushy

.
Btw, your aci dolma are doing great! Looking forward to see how big they can get

Advice needed*

My Pubescens Costa Rica red, is flowering all over, but none of the pods are taking yet. I keep a constant 22-26degrees celcius (71-77 fahrenheit) temperature but the yellowing on the leafs suggest to me I might have another issue. Could this be pH related? Or some kind of lockout? I really hope someone can help out

.

Inoks · Apr 4, 2020

What lights do you have, and how big tent (in cm pls

) your plants seem to pod so well. I want atleast as good setup next year

CaneDog · Apr 4, 2020

I'm thinking Mg on the pubescens. I see a similar, but much less pronounced interveinal and marginal chlorosis pattern on the AA Dolma. I'm not a hydro guy, but I wouldn't expect pH lockout to show first as Mg like that. I certainly could be wrong. When you grow in cubes and drip irrigation, how do you address accumulation of salts? I'm thinking without "pour-through" no flushing would occur and salts would build up over time. In the instant case, however, I don't see signs of more general deficiencies I'd expect with a lockout scenario. It's not usually my "go to," but I might try supplementing with Mg in this case to see what happens.

Maybe in an effort to get the rocoto to pod up you could remove it from the tent overnight and set it near a cool window. That might give it a temperature and humidity drop and spur it into action. Just an idea.

Oh, and my response to this...

Mildfruit said:
Btw, your aci dolma are doing great! Looking forward to see how big they can get

is this

PaulG · Apr 4, 2020

Mildfruit said:
Haha It already responded great, so im glad I took your advice!

Lots of new growth!
The little Cappuccino Tepin looks really good.
Nice, healthy new lateral branches.

Advice needed*

My Pubescens Costa Rica red, is flowering all over, but none of the pods are taking yet. I keep a constant 22-26degrees celcius (71-77 fahrenheit) temperature but the yellowing on the leafs suggest to me I might have another issue. Could this be pH related? Or some kind of lockout? I really hope someone can help out .

I would just cut off the yellowed leaves and
let the laterals grow out.

Just my club-fisted way of doing things :rofl:

CaneDog said:
Oh, and my response to this...

is this

No kidding. That Antep is really podding up!

Mildfruit · Apr 6, 2020

Inoks said:
What lights do you have, and how big tent (in cm pls ) your plants seem to pod so well. I want atleast as good setup next year

You can find all that info in my first grow blog in the first post, theres a link in my first post in this topic, im on my phone right now so its difficult to find links :p

CaneDog said:
I'm thinking Mg on the pubescens. I see a similar, but much less pronounced interveinal and marginal chlorosis pattern on the AA Dolma. I'm not a hydro guy, but I wouldn't expect pH lockout to show first as Mg like that. I certainly could be wrong. When you grow in cubes and drip irrigation, how do you address accumulation of salts? I'm thinking without "pour-through" no flushing would occur and salts would build up over time. In the instant case, however, I don't see signs of more general deficiencies I'd expect with a lockout scenario. It's not usually my "go to," but I might try supplementing with Mg in this case to see what happens.

Maybe in an effort to get the rocoto to pod up you could remove it from the tent overnight and set it near a cool window. That might give it a temperature and humidity drop and spur it into action. Just an idea.

Oh, and my response to this...

is this

It makes sense! I think you are right about the Mg deficiency, I've tried to make a spray with epsom salt to increase the supply, also increased my feeding tank with more Epsom salts. Next I've moved it outside for a few hours the last two days, hopefully this will spur it into action. Thanks a lot for the advice

Haha, I've been giving great seeds it seems

.

PaulG said:
I would just cut off the yellowed leaves and
let the laterals grow out.

Just my club-fisted way of doing things

No kidding. That Antep is really podding up!

Haha Paul

Normally I remove the leafs as well, however its starting to creep up the plant, soon I won't have any leafs if I remove all with the discoloration :p
Thanks! Its a joy to see each day that they keep growing

podz · Apr 6, 2020

CaneDog said:
When you grow in cubes and drip irrigation, how do you address accumulation of salts? I'm thinking without "pour-through" no flushing would occur and salts would build up over time.

You need a table/tray that either supports run-to-waste or run-to-recirculate, like an ebb and flood table (dutch tray) with the special grooves designed to allow pour-through and runoff.

Salts build up quite heavily in less than 2 months if you are just using a non-draining tray.

I use one like this:

Hydroponic-flood-trays-ebb-and-flow-table-with-rolling-benches.jpg_640x640q70.jpg

podz · Apr 6, 2020

Totally awesome watching the progress in the grow tent!

Mildfruit · Apr 6, 2020

podz said:
You need a table/tray that either supports run-to-waste or run-to-recirculate, like an ebb and flood table (dutch tray) with the special grooves designed to allow pour-through and runoff.

Salts build up quite heavily in less than 2 months if you are just using a non-draining tray.

I use one like this:

I forgot to address that question, but podz is right, and funny enough I have that exact tray

Normally I just flush them about once every 2 weeks with RO water. It may not be the 100% correct way, but it takes some of the build up

.

podz said:
Totally awesome watching the progress in the grow tent!

Thanks man!

PaulG · Apr 6, 2020

Watching you guys tweak your hydro grows
is fascinating. Good luck getting it all where
you want it.

Mildfruit · Apr 7, 2020

PaulG said:
Watching you guys tweak your hydro grows
is fascinating. Good luck getting it all where
you want it.

Believe it or not, im still very much looking forward to a "real" greenhouse grow someday. There is something fascinating about trying to control all aspects of the environment to produce peppers, but the "good old way" in the garden or greenhouse can something as well

. I guess the grass is always greener eh?

Something I have thought about, c. Chinense plants seem to be harder than others to produce pollen indoor. At least for me, its the only species (and pubescens it seems) who drops tons of flowers and never really produce any pollen. Could it be humidity? My grow tent sits around 55% right now. I know willard3 have this famous list for flower drop:

Flower drop probable causes:

1. Day temp too high >95F
2. Night temp too low <65F
3. Too much nitrogen fertilizer
4. Too much water
5. Low light levels (reduces fertility).
6. Very low humidity (reduces fertility)
7. Poor air circulation (air circulation contributes to pollination).
8. Lack of pollinating insects.
9. Size of pot
10. Too much mineral in feedwater.
11. Too much grower attention.

But it seems not to affect the annuums or baccatums as they seem to thrive. Is the Chineses just harder to grow indoor? Or maybe the problem is they reach adulthood way later than most and it's just about patience?

Inoks · Apr 7, 2020

Chinenses need more heat, more light and for me, also feels like stronger nutes. And Time too

podz · Apr 7, 2020

Pubes set fruit at night and for that they need a temp differential of 10c or so. One trick that works is to spray them with cold water after lights out.

CaneDog · Apr 7, 2020

Mildfruit said:
Something I have thought about, c. Chinense plants seem to be harder than others to produce pollen indoor. At least for me, its the only species (and pubescens it seems) who drops tons of flowers and never really produce any pollen. Could it be humidity? My grow tent sits around 55% right now. I know willard3 have this famous list for flower drop:

But it seems not to affect the annuums or baccatums as they seem to thrive. Is the Chineses just harder to grow indoor? Or maybe the problem is they reach adulthood way later than most and it's just about patience?

I've had success with Chinense producing indoors for years. While I've had challenges from year to year with specific varieties - a recent and notorious example being last year's BOC - the bulk produce quite well. When I look at your grow versus my prior years' grow in terms of what's different that might matter, lighting is what comes to mind. Until this year I've used HID and T5HO lighting, each of which generates more heat than does LED lighting. More heat means the humidity should be higher too, all else equal. That said, I think it's more a matter of time than that the conditions won't work.

I currently have a Chinense (Murupi Red) in a 1.2 x .6 meter tent under an HLG100 that's getting read to open its first flowers (it's been the fastest developing of my current Chinense). I figure this tent's conditions are very similar to yours in the ways that matter, perhaps very slightly cooler/dryer. As I'd typically expect, the Chinense already has been slower in developing flowers from buds than the Annuum and Baccatum around it. I expect it to be slower throughout the process, but eventually set pods just fine. I'm probably still at least a couple weeks away from confirming this, though.

A couple other comments... The only way I treat Chinense different is they generally get the more directly lit and warmer grow areas versus baccatum and rocotos I keep toward the perimeter. Also, IME, indoor grown Chinense will more commonly go through an initial wave of flowering without fruit set (or with reduced fruit set) before setting pods effectively in subsequent waves.

Anyhow, FWIW those are my thoughts.

And I totally want a greenhouse too.

Mildfruit · Apr 8, 2020

Inoks said:
Chinenses need more heat, more light and for me, also feels like stronger nutes. And Time too

I feel like the last requirement you listed may be an important one to remember, so one done care them to death

podz said:
Pubes set fruit at night and for that they need a temp differential of 10c or so. One trick that works is to spray them with cold water after lights out.

What a great idea, I moved the plant into a room with an open window last night, and the temps dropped around 13 degrees celcius. I'll try this forward an see if it can wake it up

.

CaneDog said:
I've had success with Chinense producing indoors for years. While I've had challenges from year to year with specific varieties - a recent and notorious example being last year's BOC - the bulk produce quite well. When I look at your grow versus my prior years' grow in terms of what's different that might matter, lighting is what comes to mind. Until this year I've used HID and T5HO lighting, each of which generates more heat than does LED lighting. More heat means the humidity should be higher too, all else equal. That said, I think it's more a matter of time than that the conditions won't work.

I currently have a Chinense (Murupi Red) in a 1.2 x .6 meter tent under an HLG100 that's getting read to open its first flowers (it's been the fastest developing of my current Chinense). I figure this tent's conditions are very similar to yours in the ways that matter, perhaps very slightly cooler/dryer. As I'd typically expect, the Chinense already has been slower in developing flowers from buds than the Annuum and Baccatum around it. I expect it to be slower throughout the process, but eventually set pods just fine. I'm probably still at least a couple weeks away from confirming this, though.

A couple other comments... The only way I treat Chinense different is they generally get the more directly lit and warmer grow areas versus baccatum and rocotos I keep toward the perimeter. Also, IME, indoor grown Chinense will more commonly go through an initial wave of flowering without fruit set (or with reduced fruit set) before setting pods effectively in subsequent waves.

Anyhow, FWIW those are my thoughts.

And I totally want a greenhouse too.

I really appreciate when you come here and drop a knowledge bomb! I think you are correct in your assessment in the difference in our growths, and the difference in humidity may matter much more than I first thought. Most of the chinenses does come from a place with lots of humidity, so trying to replicate that climate does make a lot of sense. I'll look forward to see how your murupi red does, both in terms of taste, but also as you mentioned, our growths are very similar. Should be interesting to compare.

I did make some changes last night. I moved my chinenses to the most light heavy spots in the tent, and by shutting the door to my grow room, that alone increased the humidity to 70-80%. Now I'll see after the first wave of flowers if it makes a difference. Thanks for your contributions CaneDog!