MR2Jay's 2017 UK Heat Adventure

Well, here I am.
 
Stumbled across your wonderful site by accident and signed up despite being the opposite side of the Atlantic to most of you. I have to say, I am really impressed. I've seen many recipes I'm tempted by, soem of the home brew forums I might be able to add to (I dabble in traditional Scrumpy Cider recipes, including a rather punchy Ghost Cider as well as developing my own ales) but my main reason for being here is growing exceedingly hot chillies.
 
I've had very limited success in the past, occasionally by luck getting a great crop from the odd plant but this year I intend to go full on and try and get a good harvest of all the varieties I'm growing over here.
 
First thing I have done is invested in a heated propagator. This is not something I have ever used before, relying on the heat of the house to bring these on. But, as I am trying to start early this year to get really strong plants ready for late April, I have to artificially control the temperature of the soil.
 
My selection for this year are
 
1. Satan's Kiss
2. Carolina Reaper
3. Habanero White
4. Naga Morich
5. Cayenne Long Slim
 
Not only should this give me a good flavour spectrum for cooking but it should also give a good display
 
So, right now I am waiting for my seeds and the propagator to arrive so I can begin to get this show on the road for 2017 I'll try and keep you all up to date with my progress and I am more than open to any suggestions anybody would like to throw in if they can see any improvement in what I am doing.....
 
Looking forward to this journey this year, I actually want to get it right for a change

 

[NeedsWork]

Good call starting early.   
 
Heat was the first thing suggested when I started growing.  I try to keep my germination soil temp 83F/28C.  The next suggestion was a budget lamp since I didn't have great light.  Lots of discussion over in grow tech. (http://thehotpepper.com/forum/109-grow-tech/)
 
White habaneros make one of my favorite powders.  You can't beat fresh cayenne powder either.   Ghost Cider sounds fantastic.  
 
Best of luck this season!
    

 

[MR2Jay77]

Funny you should mention lighting - I also keep Mbuna Cichlids so have a spare fish tank lighting controller knocking around. I think I also have a daylight tube I can use
 
I think I'll start asking about that side of things closer to the time though, get this off the ground first and then develop as they grow.....
 
I'll have to research making powders etc if this all goes well. I imagine a habanero powder would be awesome

 

[PaulG]

Hey, James - good luck with your grow season!
 
Always good to have another mate from across
the pond on the forum!

 

[MR2Jay77]

Thanks Paul - I've had a few other people from here come forward and say "Hello" so I know I'm not alone here but we are certainly the minority
 
Had notification that most of my seeds are now on their way to me now and I know the propagator has been dispatched so hopefully I can get started and get the seeds in this weekend

 

[MR2Jay77]

It appears I still have a lot to learn - for example, I never realised that chilli plants were perennial. Every day is a school day.

In my kitchen windowsill at home, I have a Purple Cayenne which has done really well this year, in fact, it's the only one that produced fruit and the only one that is still alive. For this reason, I am looking at how I can overwinter this plant to see if it can do even better next year.

There are a couple of pods left on it which I will take off and probably use to make a chilli and rosemary salad dressing to help with my diet (I'll post up the recipe for those interested) and prune it right back to remove the flagging leaves and tidy it up a bit. This sounds drastic but due to inexperience, the growth, density and shape are far from ideal so hopefully I can re-train the plant to produce a good bush for next year.

I'll leave it where it is, the plant seems happy enough, and as recommended, I may repot it in around March with some fresh compost. I may switch to a nitrogen based plant food from now up until around April to help with foliage and general growth, where I'll switch to a phosphorous based feed to encourage fruit.

I'll be really happy if I can save this one, the fruits are really flavoursome and do pack a punch, definately one of my favourite chilli flavours.

Here is a pod which is on there at the moment to give an idea

 

[PaulG]

Good luck keeping the purple cayenne going.  
 
I was surprised to learn that Peppers are perennial 
my first season, too  

 

[MR2Jay77]

Thanks Paul
 
Well, I have trimmed back the Purple Cayenne now in the hope that the nodes I can see on the stem develop into branchs and it bushes out a bit. I've also added a touch more compost and will be feeding it a more nitrogen based plant food once fortnightly to encourage foliage. I don't want it to flower at the moment, I want the plant to develop for a few months
 

 
On top of that, I had a close look at my Orange Habenero from this year. It's the only other survivor I have and I was surprised to see that it is suddenly developing a load of new growth, both along the main stem and on each of the branches. I might just see if I can get something useful out of this one as well. The fruits you can see are all it has produced so far but the plant itself seems to have new vigour.... Plus it really won't hurt to see if anything comes form it
 

 

 

[Trident chilli]

All the best James for your 2017 grow

 

[MR2Jay77]

Thanks Trident
 
Getting impatient now.....

Had delivery of the first 2 strains yesterday. The seeds for the Carolina Reaper and White Habenero have now arrived ready to sow. The one thing I am waiting on is probably the mosy important at this stage, the heated propagator. Fingers crossed it arrives today so I can start to get things moving this weekend.

It appears I may have done the right thing with the Cayenne. Having butchered it back to pretty much a stick, I placed some fresh compost into the pot and moved the plant into a south facing window. Literally, in less than 24hrs, I spotted this on the stem

I'll keep an eye on it but I am now hopeful that it should bounce back.

I'm waiting on a new grinder at the moment, one I can dedicate to nothing but peppers. Plan is to use the last of the pods to make a small batch of Cayenne Pepper. I won't get much but it is more of an experiment to see how to do it more than anything else

 

[MR2Jay77]

And we're off the mark!!! Had a delivery today of my Super 7 heated propagator along with planting pots etc
 

 
Started out by placing the compost pellets into the seed trays and expanding as per the instructions
 

 
This involved slowly adding warm water to the pellets, forcing them to expand.
 
Meanwhile, I made up some weak tea and proceeded to place a few seeds of each variety into this brew, taking care to make sure that each pot could be easily identified
 

 

 
I then set about writing labels for each pod, followed by some capillary matting. I like using this stuff as it encourages the roots to reach for the nutrients, helping to create a long and strong root structure
 

 

 
Finally, the seed pots were placed inside and the propagator turned on. This will help the soil come up to temperature while they are softening in the tea. Hopefully tomorrow morning, I'll be ready to plant the seeds into the pots.

 

[MR2Jay77]

After 12 hours in their caffeine infused bath, it was time to take them out and finally get them planted. Thought I would do it while the house was nice and quiet (I rise at 5am during the week so I'm always up early, even at the weekend)
 
Each seed was laid on a piece of towel to remove the excess tea from the husk
 

 
(I probably seem quite anal with my organisation but it keeps them in an order I know so there is no way they can be mixed up)
 
I then brought in the heated propagator which has been running all night to stabilise the soil temp. I dont have a soil thermometer but it didn't feel cold. Planted 2 seeds per tray, which seems excessive as I only have space for one plant per variety outside but I can pick the best to plant out and if I have any real belters, maybe try and grow one indoors as well
 

 
So now it is a waiting game. I'm still waiting for my Naga Morich seeds (One pod is growing striped bell peppers for my daughter that wants to get involved - however, at 4 years old, introducing her to super hots might be seen as child cruelty. She loves Bell Peppers and these are a little different but they also grow in a very similar way and look very similar plant wise to chillies so she is happy)
 

 
Oh, an update on my rescue plants I'm trying to winter. I'm moving them, out of the window at night as it is pretty chilly here at the moment, placing them back in the window at first light. I'm hoping that the Cayenne is going to continue to wake up and push these nodes out but the big surprise is the Habenero. While it doesn't seem to be getting higher yet, the amount of new growth on the stem and branches is amazing. All of a sudden it has sprung into life. I'm leaving the small pods I have on there along as I am trying to encourage the plant to grow rather than produce fruit but I'm starting to think it may suddenly surprise me that one

 

[MR2Jay77]

Hmmm...OK, I've added to my grow list.
 
The Naga Morich have arrived today so they are now soaking in the tea ready to sow. I've prepared the soil which is now stabiling which should be ready by the time they have soaked.
 
Went through and threw away a LOAD of seeds form over the years that are well past their best. That said, I had a few that are good for one last year.
 

 
In one pod, I'm going to try and grow the last 2 "Basket Of Fire" F1 Hybrid seeds and in the other, I have a pack of "Random Chilli Seeds" from House Of Chilli over on the Isle Of Wight. Might as well grow them as I have no idea what they might be
 

 
Waste not, want not and all that....As I already have seeds here, I might as well use them while they are still good

 

[mrwrx]

Looking good & all the best with your grow.

 

[b3rnd]

Looks great mr2jays (or should I say JJ )! What are your experiences with the pellets? I found they molded up a lot in my propagators. Try to air them out sometimes to counter it. I started just sowing directly in soil after trying a few other things, and I find simple is best. Growing is a lot of trial and error so don't be disheartened if something goes wrong! Post up your problem with some pics and the folks here will do their best to help you out
 
Btw you were saying bell peppers 'grow in a very similar way and look very similar plant wise to chillies', but bell peppers actually are the same species as chillies, and can even cross-breed with eachother. So if you want to introduce your daughter to the wonders of growing chillies, starting with bell peppers is perfect!

 

[MR2Jay77]

Thanks Guys
 
b3rnd, I've found they are OK provided you pop the top as soon as the seedling breaks the surface. That gives them a chance to air properly. You are right though, left to their own devices, they mould up horribly. It's only fairly short term anyway as once they are transplanted into grow on pots, I use fresh compost I haven't tried them with chillies yet though, so that is a bit of a new experiment for me

 

[Masher]

Good luck with your grow....I like the waste not want not approach

 

[MR2Jay77]

Thanks Masher....
 
Got some other stuff on the grow, herbs and tomatoes really. Going to replace my chilli growing spot in the kitchen with a herb trough instead as they don't need as intense light as chillies.....
 
Been having a browse through your food section on here and I'm now salivating. Dried off the last of the purple cayenne peppers today ready to blitz into a powder as an experiment (I've never done it before) but can't wait to have some fresh homegrown produce to experiment with now

 

[MR2Jay77]

Ahhh, the old waiting game....

Wasn't actually sure about what temperature the soil was at in the propagator. While I could feel that the heater was nice and warm, I didn't really know just how much of a difference it makes.

Dug out an old temperature probe I used when setting up the fish tanks. This is extremely accurate to within 0.1 degree celsius so I placed the probe in the centre of one of the seed pods. A nice, steady temperature of between 25.5 and 26 degrees C (78 - 79 Farenheit)

Doubt I'll get it much higher than that but I'm happy I should get a good seed rate at that temperature. Next step is to order in a load of PVC electrical trunking to fashion a stand for the lighting. I'll have to get creative pretty quickly as I'm expecting them to start needing light pretty quickly. I'm going to use a Sylvanna Gro-Lux tube for this as I have one knocking about

 

[PaulG]

Really like your propagator - very space-age looking unit!
Looks like it is working great...
 
I'll bet your OW Reaper will bounce back like a champ for you, James.
The Orange Hab as well.  sounds like they are both wanting to get out
and grow.  Good luck getting those seeds into dirt.  I haven't had much
problem with the Jiffy Pellets molding since I transplant as soon as the
hooks are standing up, sometimes when the cots turn green, so they
don't spend a lot of time in the humid propagators.  I just like the 
convenience of transplanting the pellets without disturbing the
developing root.
 
Good luck going forward!