Since first starting to tinker with growing peppers a few months ago (see my intro post: http://thehotpepper.com/topic/41958-hello-from-nova-scotia-canada/#entry882722 ) I've really dug my feet in with the research (after some losses from very naive mistakes) and I feel like I'm learning pretty quickly.
Around late-July, early-August I bought and installed my first fluorescent lights (after realizing that a typical 100w light bulb definitely wasn't cutting it). Here's how my setup looked at the time:
The light fixtures I picked up are 4' in length and hold T8 32w bulbs. The bulbs themselves are Sylvania Gro-Lux T8 32w bulbs (~3,000 lumens). At the time I didn't realize the effect of having the lights up so high from the plants would have on the way they grow.
By August 30th I picked up a 3rd light fixture which I installed (and that -just- fit) into the part of my small room (that was once a bathroom) where our old cast-iron bathtub still resides. Once constructing a make-shift counter over the old tub this spot makes for a cozy little "nursery" area. By this point I also got the idea of using emergency blankets I found at our local Canadian Tire store as reflective covering for the walls of the room.
Here's how my "nursery" area looked at that point:
[ In the far right long container you can see my lone Carolina Reaper baby (first seedling on the left).
]
Jump ahead a few days to last weekend...
Looking at my young Jalapeno, Cayenne and tomato plants I realized that they were growing far too tall without strengthening their stems and without filling out - based on all the other plants I was seeing online. That Friday I decided to take a risk and prune my second-biggest tomato plant. I cut it back from around 3 feet tall - and VERY thin and lanky - to just a few inches, leaving only a few leaves. At that point all my tomato plants had several inches of stem between each branch or leaf. Many of my pepper plants weren't much better.
I waited a day or two to see if it would pull through. I actually figured I'd be waiting -much- longer to see any signs, but I quickly noticed it was already sprouting new leaves near the top.
Based on that, I decided to go for it - and I pruned back all my tomato plants (except for one pot - just to see how it'll go) and most of my pepper plants - except for my Habanero, Bhut Jolokia & bell pepper seedlings, Carolina Reaper, and "Super-Chili"). I even pruned back my largest Cayenne - which has been absolutely flourishing (especially compared to my other 5 I originally bought as small seedlings).
Here is how that Cayenne has grown in the past 2-3 days:
And take a look at how my Bhut Jolokia have grown compared to how they looked back on August 30th (a couple of pictures up):
Notice how one of my light fixtures is much further down in this last photo?
Once I realized that my plants were growing too lanky, I thought back to a video I had seen online where another grower had setup a rather complex pulley system in a sort of closet/wardrobe he built for growing his peppers in. So I hit up my local Central Supplies store and after picking the brains of about 3 different workers (who, sadly, for a company that provides building materials, help with planning, etc, were rather oblivious to pulley systems) I finally worked out in my head how to put one together and I picked up a few parts.
The result is a make-shift pulley system that uses a chain and two tough pieces of twine (in case one breaks) - because they didn't have enough of the chain that I needed (and I couldn't afford the extra $1/foot for the pretty gold chain). BUT it seems to be working great!
I actually installed it on the left-hand side of my small room, to my very first light fixture that I had installed when I bought my first two. So, as a result, I ended up re-organizing (for probably about the 30-40th time since I started trying to grow this summer), and put all my seedlings under the newly-installed pulley light fixture.
My seedlings (Bhut Jolokia & Bell peppers) are absolutely LOVING it. They've stopped rushing to grow upward and I'm starting to see tons of new leaves coming out from the existing leaves & branches.
And while I moved all the seedlings under this fixture, I moved all my pruned tomato & pepper plants to the "tub counter" that was my original "nursery" section of the room.
And to cap it off: Tonight I transplanted my Carolina Reaper. It was nearly touching the light fixture (it was in with the Bhut seedlings), so it was time for a move. And since that freed up space in one of my long containers I transplanted my oldest Bhut into the free spot. I think it'll -love- it's new home. Even though it's a few weeks older than the rest of my Bhut's, a number of them have outgrown it, so it's high-time it deserved a chance to catch up.
OH - and I've also clued in (in the past week) to NOT water them daily. I'm attributing that and my improved understanding of the lighting to their suddenly start to fill out with leaves starting to break out all up their stems (on the ones I pruned).
Any feedback or advice?
(p.s. my room stays around 30-32C with the lights on. I usually turn them off when I go to bed and when I get up the room is sometimes down to around 28C. It generally waivers around 60-70% humidity)
Around late-July, early-August I bought and installed my first fluorescent lights (after realizing that a typical 100w light bulb definitely wasn't cutting it). Here's how my setup looked at the time:
The light fixtures I picked up are 4' in length and hold T8 32w bulbs. The bulbs themselves are Sylvania Gro-Lux T8 32w bulbs (~3,000 lumens). At the time I didn't realize the effect of having the lights up so high from the plants would have on the way they grow.
By August 30th I picked up a 3rd light fixture which I installed (and that -just- fit) into the part of my small room (that was once a bathroom) where our old cast-iron bathtub still resides. Once constructing a make-shift counter over the old tub this spot makes for a cozy little "nursery" area. By this point I also got the idea of using emergency blankets I found at our local Canadian Tire store as reflective covering for the walls of the room.
Here's how my "nursery" area looked at that point:
[ In the far right long container you can see my lone Carolina Reaper baby (first seedling on the left).
]Jump ahead a few days to last weekend...
Looking at my young Jalapeno, Cayenne and tomato plants I realized that they were growing far too tall without strengthening their stems and without filling out - based on all the other plants I was seeing online. That Friday I decided to take a risk and prune my second-biggest tomato plant. I cut it back from around 3 feet tall - and VERY thin and lanky - to just a few inches, leaving only a few leaves. At that point all my tomato plants had several inches of stem between each branch or leaf. Many of my pepper plants weren't much better.
I waited a day or two to see if it would pull through. I actually figured I'd be waiting -much- longer to see any signs, but I quickly noticed it was already sprouting new leaves near the top.
Based on that, I decided to go for it - and I pruned back all my tomato plants (except for one pot - just to see how it'll go) and most of my pepper plants - except for my Habanero, Bhut Jolokia & bell pepper seedlings, Carolina Reaper, and "Super-Chili"). I even pruned back my largest Cayenne - which has been absolutely flourishing (especially compared to my other 5 I originally bought as small seedlings).
Here is how that Cayenne has grown in the past 2-3 days:
And take a look at how my Bhut Jolokia have grown compared to how they looked back on August 30th (a couple of pictures up):
Notice how one of my light fixtures is much further down in this last photo?
Once I realized that my plants were growing too lanky, I thought back to a video I had seen online where another grower had setup a rather complex pulley system in a sort of closet/wardrobe he built for growing his peppers in. So I hit up my local Central Supplies store and after picking the brains of about 3 different workers (who, sadly, for a company that provides building materials, help with planning, etc, were rather oblivious to pulley systems) I finally worked out in my head how to put one together and I picked up a few parts.
The result is a make-shift pulley system that uses a chain and two tough pieces of twine (in case one breaks) - because they didn't have enough of the chain that I needed (and I couldn't afford the extra $1/foot for the pretty gold chain). BUT it seems to be working great!
I actually installed it on the left-hand side of my small room, to my very first light fixture that I had installed when I bought my first two. So, as a result, I ended up re-organizing (for probably about the 30-40th time since I started trying to grow this summer), and put all my seedlings under the newly-installed pulley light fixture.
My seedlings (Bhut Jolokia & Bell peppers) are absolutely LOVING it. They've stopped rushing to grow upward and I'm starting to see tons of new leaves coming out from the existing leaves & branches.
And while I moved all the seedlings under this fixture, I moved all my pruned tomato & pepper plants to the "tub counter" that was my original "nursery" section of the room.
And to cap it off: Tonight I transplanted my Carolina Reaper. It was nearly touching the light fixture (it was in with the Bhut seedlings), so it was time for a move. And since that freed up space in one of my long containers I transplanted my oldest Bhut into the free spot. I think it'll -love- it's new home. Even though it's a few weeks older than the rest of my Bhut's, a number of them have outgrown it, so it's high-time it deserved a chance to catch up.
OH - and I've also clued in (in the past week) to NOT water them daily. I'm attributing that and my improved understanding of the lighting to their suddenly start to fill out with leaves starting to break out all up their stems (on the ones I pruned).
Any feedback or advice?
(p.s. my room stays around 30-32C with the lights on. I usually turn them off when I go to bed and when I get up the room is sometimes down to around 28C. It generally waivers around 60-70% humidity)