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.

 

[PIC 1]

Hey Matt,

Your plants are looking lush especially the mystery hab...

Your SBJ7 on the plant looks similar to mine, bonnet shaped....unfortunetly I only have one pod on the plant so far, alot of flower drop with the heat.
I've got the Inca's from Kevin also, I haven't tryed one yet, but they're starting to turn red so I'll pick a few this weekend...

That Yellow 7 looks like a keeper, I bet it has some nice oil on the inside.


Greg

 

[mjdiamond83]

Nice little pull Matt! They're really gonna pick up soon. That Yellow 7 looks HUGE!

Hey Shane, that yellow 7 was huge! I'm ready for the ripening to become a lot more frequent. I'm really anxious for the bonda ma jacques to start ripening; I've heard great things about them.

Hey Matt,

Your plants are looking lush especially the mystery hab...

Your SBJ7 on the plant looks similar to mine, bonnet shaped....unfortunetly I only have one pod on the plant so far, alot of flower drop with the heat.
I've got the Inca's from Kevin also, I haven't tryed one yet, but they're starting to turn red so I'll pick a few this weekend...

That Yellow 7 looks like a keeper, I bet it has some nice oil on the inside.


Greg

Hey Greg,
That mystery pepper is easily my largest, healthiest and most productive of the potted plants, ahead of the yellow bhut and dorset naga, which are both doing real well.
Are your inca red drop plants growing tall or staying pretty bushy? I've seen some pictures online of real tall robust inca reds, but mine is fairly small and bushy. The 3.5 gallon container could be restricting it a little bit though.
That Yellow 7 was the first ripe pepper from the plant I started back in November, for fun, to see if I could get any pods indoors under a 105W CFL. It refused to set fruit indoors, but by the time I transplanted, it had a nice large frame and is doing pretty well.

 

[Spicegeist]

The shape on the mystery looks a bit like the SB7J...

 

[mjdiamond83]

Hey Charles,
It definitely looks similar to that SB7J, but I only had 3 seeds germinate and one died off early. It's a pretty cool looking pod though! You should see that Chocolate Bhut x Cajamarca. Its absolutely teeming with pods; They should start ripening any day now; I feel like its been about a month since there have been full sized pods.

 

[Spicegeist]

That's awesome, the mother plant was the chocolate bhut, but they do look more cajamarcish in the pics... will be good to see a ripe one later...

 

[mjdiamond83]

I'll take a better pic tomorrow. They definitely have attributes of both varieties. They have that purplish 'blush' to them like the cajamarca, but they're green and not pale, more like immature bhuts. They have some bumpiness to them too (albeit not to the degree of a pure chocolate bhut).

 

[Spicegeist]

I'll take a better pic tomorrow. They definitely have attributes of both varieties. They have that purplish 'blush' to them like the cajamarca, but they're green and not pale, more like immature bhuts. They have some bumpiness to them too (albeit not to the degree of a pure chocolate bhut).

That's awesome. I'll have more crosses avail. for 2013 too if you want. Do you have any idea of what you'll grow next year? I keep fantasizing about getting it under control and growing more of fewer plants instead of one or two varieties of everything...

 

[mjdiamond83]

I'm going to try and focus more on the varieties that I really enjoy next year, instead of growing out something like 43 varieties. Narrowing it down will be real hard though. I really like the way trinidad scorpions look, but they're not my favorite for taste, and I love the flavor of bhuts (chocolate and red), but planting too many of them is overkill, since they're so hot, using just a little in a meal is more than enough. Next year will probably be dominated by Inca Red Drop, Chocolate Habanero, Scotch Bonnet, Fresno, Hot Portugal and Golden Cayenne, and then a mix of other varieties. Whether I stick to that or not is another matter. I have lots of land and pots, but it was tedious watering over 100 seedlings and potting them up multiple times this year. That being said, I'll gladly try some more crosses next year. I still have some of the chocolate bhut x cajamarca seeds left over. With the productivity from those things, they're definitely going to work their way into next years roster.

 

[Spicegeist]

This year I have about 100 plants in a community garden and probably about 30 or so on my patio. I don't know if it's my nightmare or dream, but I sometimes think what it would be like to grow max 5 varieties at 20 plants each. Either way, the idea fascinates me.