Hi Everyone,
For 2020 I'm growing mostly superhots, with some more mild stuff mixed in.
So far I'm doing:
Trinidad Scorpion Moruga Satan Strain
7-Pot Brain Strain X Carolina Reaper
7-Pot Atlantic Yellow
APS Ghost Pepper Orange
Chocolate Long Pepper Seeds
Brazilian Reaper
Apocalypse Scorpion
Habenero
Jalaneno
Banana
Poblano
Paraguayan something, not sure
I'm pretty low tech so far, just some LED grow lights (50Watt and what claims to be 1000W but only draws 110W), in a spare bedroom thats kept a bit warmer than the rest of the house.
I grow in the fiber pods for easier transplanting
On Feb 13th I started the Habenero, Banana, Poblana, Apocalypse Scorpion, and Paraguayan seeds. The Paraguayan ones I don't know the name of, but we go there every couple of years because my wife is from there, and her family still lives there. We're actually headed down again in a couple of weeks. They use those peppers in a lot of stuff. They aren't super hot but have good flavour. I started some from seed last year too, and found our growing season here in Southern Ontario isn't quite long enough for a good harvest. I didn't get any peppers off the plants until like October, only ended up getting a couple dozen. Paraguay has a much hotter climate, so it's not a surprise.
The other peppers I grew last year I got many dozens of peppers from each plant, including the scorpions, reapers, ghosts, etc.
So at the end of last season I moved the two potted Paraguayan pepper plants into my garage before we got a first frost. I have them sitting on top of the garage fridge. There is a space heater and a CFL grow light in there. The light is on a timer, the heater keeps the temp between 9-12 C. I also have two Paraguayan bottle trees in pots I brought in to see if they overwinter. Those have lots all their leaves, but I won't know until spring if they are just dormant, or died. The top of the fridge is wrapped in some reflective-coated cardboard, and has some think plastic drop sheet around it, just to help keep the heat in.
I'm hoping those pepper plants survive and give me a head start in 2020. In Paraguay these can become large bushes with hundreds of peppers on each plant.
I'm waiting for the rest of my seeds to come in the mail, hopefully here this week still.
What I've done the last couple of years, is sometime in April, I move the seedlings outside, into a plastic multi-level lean-to/greenhouse. Still have the heater and grow light there, as we can still get frost here until mid-May.
I typically do 2 or 3 of each variety of pepper, usually 2 of each in the raised bed, and the 3rd is usually potted. We have eight 4x10' raised beds, and one of those is devoted to the peppers.
So far nothing has sprouted. I'll post from time to time as stuff starts. I'm gone most of March so will have someone coming to water. I think I'll setup a camera on the growing area so I can keep an eye on them while I'm gone
Seeds under the lights:
The Lights:
Garage setup, first is the two Paraguay pepper plants, then the bottle trees, then the 'house' they are in.
Here's an example of a full grown bottle tree: https://cdn2.wanderlust.co.uk/media/3939/magazine-alta_palo-borracho-tree-near-filadelfia.jpg?mode=pad&width=1200&height=0&rnd=131480783400000000
I obviously won't be able to grow that here and the winter will kill them, but hoping to keep them alive in garage in 2x2x2 planter boxes each year.
2019 pepper bed. First one is early season, second one mid-summer:
For 2020 I'm growing mostly superhots, with some more mild stuff mixed in.
So far I'm doing:
Trinidad Scorpion Moruga Satan Strain
7-Pot Brain Strain X Carolina Reaper
7-Pot Atlantic Yellow
APS Ghost Pepper Orange
Chocolate Long Pepper Seeds
Brazilian Reaper
Apocalypse Scorpion
Habenero
Jalaneno
Banana
Poblano
Paraguayan something, not sure
I'm pretty low tech so far, just some LED grow lights (50Watt and what claims to be 1000W but only draws 110W), in a spare bedroom thats kept a bit warmer than the rest of the house.
I grow in the fiber pods for easier transplanting
On Feb 13th I started the Habenero, Banana, Poblana, Apocalypse Scorpion, and Paraguayan seeds. The Paraguayan ones I don't know the name of, but we go there every couple of years because my wife is from there, and her family still lives there. We're actually headed down again in a couple of weeks. They use those peppers in a lot of stuff. They aren't super hot but have good flavour. I started some from seed last year too, and found our growing season here in Southern Ontario isn't quite long enough for a good harvest. I didn't get any peppers off the plants until like October, only ended up getting a couple dozen. Paraguay has a much hotter climate, so it's not a surprise.
The other peppers I grew last year I got many dozens of peppers from each plant, including the scorpions, reapers, ghosts, etc.
So at the end of last season I moved the two potted Paraguayan pepper plants into my garage before we got a first frost. I have them sitting on top of the garage fridge. There is a space heater and a CFL grow light in there. The light is on a timer, the heater keeps the temp between 9-12 C. I also have two Paraguayan bottle trees in pots I brought in to see if they overwinter. Those have lots all their leaves, but I won't know until spring if they are just dormant, or died. The top of the fridge is wrapped in some reflective-coated cardboard, and has some think plastic drop sheet around it, just to help keep the heat in.
I'm hoping those pepper plants survive and give me a head start in 2020. In Paraguay these can become large bushes with hundreds of peppers on each plant.
I'm waiting for the rest of my seeds to come in the mail, hopefully here this week still.
What I've done the last couple of years, is sometime in April, I move the seedlings outside, into a plastic multi-level lean-to/greenhouse. Still have the heater and grow light there, as we can still get frost here until mid-May.
I typically do 2 or 3 of each variety of pepper, usually 2 of each in the raised bed, and the 3rd is usually potted. We have eight 4x10' raised beds, and one of those is devoted to the peppers.
So far nothing has sprouted. I'll post from time to time as stuff starts. I'm gone most of March so will have someone coming to water. I think I'll setup a camera on the growing area so I can keep an eye on them while I'm gone
Seeds under the lights:
The Lights:
Garage setup, first is the two Paraguay pepper plants, then the bottle trees, then the 'house' they are in.
Here's an example of a full grown bottle tree: https://cdn2.wanderlust.co.uk/media/3939/magazine-alta_palo-borracho-tree-near-filadelfia.jpg?mode=pad&width=1200&height=0&rnd=131480783400000000
I obviously won't be able to grow that here and the winter will kill them, but hoping to keep them alive in garage in 2x2x2 planter boxes each year.
2019 pepper bed. First one is early season, second one mid-summer:
