mjdiamond83's 2012 Grow Log

I'm trying to get a head start on the upcoming season. This is my first year growing superhots, so I'm hoping the early start will help me get some pods, despite having a pretty short season. I started one plant each of Trinidad Scorpion Yellow (first pic) and Trinidad Scorpion Red (right side of 2nd pic) at the end of October and aside from a minor (luckily) aphid attack on my TS Yellow, they're doing fairly well. I think I need to hit them with a little calmag soon though.

I planted a bunch of Chinense seeds on 1/10 and 1/11:
7 Pot Jonah (3)
7 Pot Red (4)
Yellow 7 Pot (2)
Yellow Trinidad Scorpion (2)
Trinidad Scorpion Morouga (3)
Madballz (3)
Bhut x Douglah (3)
Goronong (2)
Bhut Jolokia (3)
Chocolate Bhut Jolokia (3)
Dorset Naga (3)
Yellow Bhut (3)
Orange Bih Jolokia (2)
Fatalii (3)
Datil (3)
White Habanero (3)
Scotch Bonnet (3)
Aji Cachucha (3)
Chocolate Habanero (2)
Paper Lantern
Chocolate Cherry Chinense (2)

I also have 10 Bhut Jolokia Indian Carbon, 4 Cajamarca x Chocolate Bhut, 4 SB7J, and 4 Bonda Ma Jacques seeds germinating in paper towels in ziplocks on the pellet stove.

I was originally going to try and grow twice that many Hots/Superhots, but I finally sided with reason, and decided to cut back a bit. I'm starting a restaurant with my brother in May, so I'm going to grow more mild/medium peppers that will be more practical to make a sauce for the average patron.
Right now a lot of my grow box is being taken up by my first attempt at hydroponics and those two pepper plants. In another month or so when I have to start my other peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, tomatillos, etc., the hydro is going to get moved and the Chilly Chile and Scorpion are going to the bay windowsill.

 

[stc3248]

Maybe it will turn out to be something real cool! I have a few isolated scotch bonnet seeds left if it isn't too late, and you want to grow some still.

That's an awesome offer! I am very tempted, but I am just going to go with what I got. I already have WAY too much going on. They are looking very similar to the fish peppers I received on the same seed train. Wonder if that's the cross??? Might be a good one!?!?! I really think my Chocolate Bhuts might be a cross as well. I am sure to have a few surprises this year come pod time. I have a TON of OP stuff so I am sure to have more than 1 hybrid...
Thanks for posting the pics, I figured something was up.

Shane

 

[mjdiamond83]

You're welcome. If your pepper growing compulsion leads you to change your mind, just let me know! I'm sure I'll be finding some surprises at harvest this year too. Out of the 150 or so plants I'm growing, only about 15-20 are from isolated seed, so I'm sure there will be some interesting pods forming. Fish pepper x Scotch bonnet could definitely be a cool cross. A slightly elongated, variegated pod with scotch bonnet flavor would be awesome!

 

[stc3248]

You're welcome. If your pepper growing compulsion leads you to change your mind, just let me know! I'm sure I'll be finding some surprises at harvest this year too. Out of the 150 or so plants I'm growing, only about 15-20 are from isolated seed, so I'm sure there will be some interesting pods forming. Fish pepper x Scotch bonnet could definitely be a cool cross. A slightly elongated, variegated pod with scotch bonnet flavor would be awesome!

Problem is if I had them I would probably plant them! lol I promised momma no more, but I started some Big Jim and Aji Amarillo today ! I'll PM the Addy...You want anything I got let me know.
Shane

 

[mjdiamond83]

I finally got around to an update. The weather has been awesome here. I can't believe temps in the 60's and 70's have held on this long. I hope its a sign of the weather pattern that is going to hang around for the next few months; maybe I'll be able to plant out around May 5th instead of May 15th-20th this year. Here's some pics of my garden plot (if it wasn't for the short season, I'd love to really expand the pepper growing someday, but the season here really won't allow it), the plants where they're at now, and the nearly dead plants that I threw into the hydroponics setup. Thirteen days later and they're completely revitalized!

Before

After

 

[Sethsquatch]

Are those top pictures your beds?

 

[mjdiamond83]

Yeah, our property is everything down to the railroad tracks and to the tree row on the 2nd picture. Right now we have about 6 beds to work with (this year, a full one will be peppers, plus more in containers), but I'd like to expand it and add a greenhouse eventually, with a goal of having the majority of the vegetables for the restaurant grown myself.

 

[Spicegeist]

Nice views, will be great to see how everything looks in the summer.

 

[stc3248]

[sub]Nice looking land and plants! That 13 day turnaround is freaking amazing! [/sub]

 

[PaulG]

Woah, Matt, your peppers are looking great - nice job mr. green thumb
They will look great planted out on the property!
The before/after of the hydro plants is amazing, indeed!

 

[mjdiamond83]

Woah, Matt, your peppers are looking great - nice job mr. green thumb
They will look great planted out on the property!
The before/after of the hydro plants is amazing, indeed!

[sub]Nice looking land and plants! That 13 day turnaround is freaking amazing! [/sub]

Nice views, will be great to see how everything looks in the summer.

Thanks guys! The turnaround on those 2 peppers in the hydro setup is absolutely amazing. Here it is today, which would be somewhere around day 25. I'm going to toss the yellow 7 back into soil in a few weeks and try and get it outside, along with the rest of them, in May. If it takes well going back into soil, I may start a lot next year in Hydro, since they really seem to grow much faster when you take away the resistance that the soil creates.

Here are some plants in 3/4 gallon buckets and the red scorpion plant I started in November; it's in a 3 gallon bag right now. In another month I'll toss it into a 7 gallon container and get it ready for what I hope will be a prolific summer.

A couple shots of the plants in the grow box and some annuum (and a few chinense) seedlings along with some romanesco and savoy cabbage sprouts. Is it May yet???

 

[PaulG]

Matt, your hydro plants are crazy lush. Very nice.
Oh, the other plants look great, too

Really, you are definitely a master grower, my friend!
Love catching your updates!

 

[stc3248]

That scorpion is going to be a MONSTER! I just dropped 2 more of your sb seeds in the germ tray, and moved it back to where it was sitting when I first started planting. Think it may have been getting too hot where it was while I was at work and not monitoring it. The wife had also opened the curtains and when I got home early the other day the sun was blazing on them...maybe that is the cause of my recent non success. I'll get some to pop!
Thanks again!
Shane

 

[Sethsquatch]

Looking good my friend! I am really wanting to get my hydroponics merit badge soon. Maybe for the holidays (thinking long term and trying to justify it with the better half ) I will order or build a setup for some plants. I would love to have some year round peppers and tomatoes. Hell, I want a damn farm! And I'm talking old school. None of that tractor shit. Dirty hands and honest hard work. A man can dream...

On another note, 5/6 of the bhut cross I got from you germinated, lived, and are growing up. Which is awesome. Sweet lawdy, I love to grow stuff! Been giving away plants to people and spreading the chili fever too! Woot!

Anyway, looks like you are going to be in crazy good shape come plant out. Good work keeping those babies going!

 

[Pulpiteer]

Wow, your plants are looking great! I'm just waiting for May over in Michigan too. That Red Scorp looks great. Amazing.

 

[mjdiamond83]

I guess it's time for my bi-monthly update. I got incredibly busy and had some setbacks with the peppers and took (too long of) a break from obsessing about the plants, but I decided to put an update together of where I'm at now.

First, here's the setback. I planted out 3 rows of peppers around May 10th (I used silver 'mulch' for 2 rows to see what kind of difference using it makes. I thought I had them hardened off enough (4 days wasn't enough), but transplant shock mixed with unseasonably hot temps for a few days after they were transplanted led to every plant losing the majority of their leaves and about 4 or 5 of them died off completely. They're starting to slowly rally back and I'm still hoping I should get a decent harvest out of the in-ground plants, it'll just have to be much later that I was hoping for.

After that debacle, even though I hardened the remaining plants off for another couple weeks, I was leery about putting them into the ground, so I transplanted them into 3-5 gallon pots full of 3 year old aged manure. Aside from a few of the Chinenses that lost a few leaves (they seem more sensitive during transplanting than Annuums and Baccatums), they're doing great. At least half of them either have buds or peppers on them. The SB7J and Inca Red Drop are doing the best so far. Here's a couple pics of them from 4 or 5 days ago. I'm going to get some new pictures of my 50 or so potted plants later today or tomorrow.
SB7J-There's a couple peppers on there already!

Inca Red Drop

 

[stc3248]

OUCH! Those stick picks hurt my heart brother! I know most of them will still come back and make you proud. Several of my once worst looking plants are now some of my biggest and best. I was toying with the idea of the silver mulch, but decided to go with what I know for my first super season. Hopefully I can watch yours explode and it'll make my decision easier for next year! Best of luck on the continued recovery and hope to see more updates soon!!!

Shane

 

[mjdiamond83]

Thanks Shane! As they start growing back I should be able to see what kind of difference the mulch makes, if any. So far all I've noticed is at dusk there are hundreds of bugs hovering over it.

 

[Spicegeist]

I'm curious to see how things are turning out for you...

 

[mjdiamond83]

I'm curious to see how things are turning out for you...

Hey Charles,
I've been having a hard time keeping up with this. I've been renovating my restaurant every day the past month. The shop is an hour away from my house, so between the work and 2 hours driving I've just been crashing when I get back home. The plants are doing so-so. I was having a bad combo of mite and bacterial issues earlier this year, but the mites seem to be gone and the plants in containers and a few of the annuums in the garden are doing well now; the chinenses seem to take more of a beating and aren't quite as resilient. Here's a few pics I took last week and was meaning to post.

F2 SB7J Pod

Criolla De Cocina, producing like crazy

Inca Red Drop

Aji Dulce with some newly formed pods on them

Hot Portugal, Really delicious, large, mild pepper

 

[stc3248]

Matt my man glad you updated! Those plants look to be rockin for you now!!! The three SB's that I started from you have had their share of issues and fell way behind in the growth department, but are finally starting to pull out of it. Thanks again for the seeds man, really cool of you. Hopefully the restaurant reno works out for you too...

Shane