My first attempt

[Flakes]

Hi all!

I've been hanging around this forum for a couple of weeks now, soaking in the information you guys and gals were kind enough to share with others. I've just recently decided to give this whole growing business a try, as I've been a fan of super hot things for as long as I can remember. Plus, the local market sucks when it comes to habanero strength chilis.

I ordered my seeds (Bhut Jolokia, Red Savina and Burkina Yellow Habanero) from chileseeds.co.uk and have been germinating/growing 3 of each for the last 3-4 weeks. So far I've only had success with the Red Savinas, which are all already growing nicely (no pics atm), but the Bhuts and the Yellow Habaneros seem to be taking their time. Well...or I might have already sent them to an early grave, who knows. With my lack of plant-related skills, there's a good chance that could be true.

Anywho...

One of my more successful Savinas (about two inches tall with a couple of true leaves already developed) has recently taken a bit of a downturn - the original leaves (I don't know what you call them, seedling leaves?) have started turning a bit yellow-ish and it just doesn't seem to be doing that well. And I'm not really sure about the other two planties either, they seem to be growing very slowly. So, I was hoping you can help my identify the problem...

I'm just going to say it...I might have been over-watering them.

They're in little 2x2x2 inch pots (well, not proper "pots", those brown little seed pots that look like cardboard, but aren't! ) and I'm giving them 4-5ml of water a day (I've got a little syringe thingy to keep it consistent ). The temperature in the improvised growbox/closet is about 80-85 degrees fahrenheit. I'm using two 6500 kelvin 20watt cfl's (keep in mind, the space they're in is really small, so 40 watts goes a loooong way) which are my second biggest cause for concearn - they might be a bit too close to the little guys and might be causing heat damage (although, they're not really getting that hot...). I just have no idea how sensitive the plants are to a little bit of heat.

What do you guys think? What's your advice?

 

[PepperLover]

 

[UltraZelda64]

You mentioned those "brown little seed pots that look like cardboard, but aren't," which would most likely be peat pots. I have yet to have much success growing from seeds, but in retrospect... I've found that one of my biggest mistakes was using those things. For me, they just absorbed too much water, which instead of going back into the soil, just dried off of the sides of the containers. This made it about impossible for me to maintain a decent and even amount of water. There are some people who have had luck with them though, so your experience may be different. I would recommend little plastic containers with drainage holes at the bottom if those peat pots begin giving you problems. Good luck.

I might experiment with a few seeds this fall/winter in the little plastic pots I received last year from Cross Country Nurseries and with a better soil mix and see what happens, now that I also have a better light bulb. I think I've mostly sorted out my problems from my last attempt, but I'll probably still screw up a few times before I get it right...

 

[Flakes]

You mentioned those "brown little seed pots that look like cardboard, but aren't," which would most likely be peat pots. I have yet to have much success growing from seeds, but in retrospect... I've found that one of my biggest mistakes was using those things. For me, they just absorbed too much water, which instead of going back into the soil, just dried off of the sides of the containers. This made it about impossible for me to maintain a decent and even amount of water. There are some people who have had luck with them though, so your experience may be different. I would recommend little plastic containers with drainage holes at the bottom if those peat pots begin giving you problems. Good luck.

I might experiment with a few seeds this fall/winter in the little plastic pots I received last year from Cross Country Nurseries and with a better soil mix and see what happens, now that I also have a better light bulb. I think I've mostly sorted out my problems from my last attempt, but I'll probably still screw up a few times before I get it right...

Yes! Peat pots...

Well, up to this point they've been working well enough, but that could be one of the reasons my chilies aren't making much progress. I guess I'll just start another batch of seeds in plastic pots and compare the results, thanks for the tip.

I know chilies don't like to have their roots disturbed much, but when do you think I should transplant them (in bigger pots)? Now?

When I do, do you think I should leave them in their peat pots or should I get rid of those?

Currently I'm just using regular potting soil, which I've noticed gets really "compact" after a while. Seems ok for now, but I'd probably want to mix it with something for the bigger pots, so it's a bit more "airy". What do you think?

 

[Flakes]

Thank you!

 

[megamoo]

They need air circulation. Do you have a fan in the grow closet? That was one of my first big mistakes, (and there have been many others!!!) I had them in a closet and no fan and once they had gotten to a few inches high they really slowed down in growing and almost died.

 

[Silver_Surfer]

"Regular potting soil" is too course to perform best for seed starting, but you could sift it if it isn't overloaded with timed release fertilizer.

Your starting medium should be covered to retain moisture and humidity until the seeds pop.

Peat pots are notorious for wicking moisture away from your medium.

4 to 5 ml of water per day is too little if applied from above as well as too frequent if covered for seeds. Use bottom watering less frequently until the seeds pop and as required after they are up. You'll learn to judge a seed trays watering needs by weight. 4 to 5 ml will evaporate before it reaches a plants roots if applied from above, and more so in a peat pot.

 

[Flakes]

They need air circulation. Do you have a fan in the grow closet? That was one of my first big mistakes, (and there have been many others!!!) I had them in a closet and no fan and once they had gotten to a few inches high they really slowed down in growing and almost died.

Nope, no air circulation in the grow closet. I mean, I have it slightly opened, so it's not like they're hermetically sealed, but I guess they're still not happy. Do you think something like a PC fan would suffice?

 

[Flakes]

"Regular potting soil" is too course to perform best for seed starting, but you could sift it if it isn't overloaded with timed release fertilizer.

Your starting medium should be covered to retain moisture and humidity until the seeds pop.

Peat pots are notorious for wicking moisture away from your medium.

4 to 5 ml of water per day is too little if applied from above as well as too frequent if covered for seeds. Use bottom watering less frequently until the seeds pop and as required after they are up. You'll learn to judge a seed trays watering needs by weight. 4 to 5 ml will evaporate before it reaches a plants roots if applied from above, and more so in a peat pot.

Yeah, I did actually use a metal strainer for the soil, because it was very chunky.

I should have said this earlier, but I didn't really start the seed in the peat pots... I used the "wet paper towel in a freezer bag" technique. The mistake I made (I think) was planting all the seeds as soon as the Savinas started to germinate. I guess Bhuts needed a bit more time and didn't like the peat pot conditions...

I did cover the pots with plastic foil - and that keeps a lot of moisture in, so I didn't need to water the seeds as frequently... 5ml of water daily is the amount I use on the cca. 1 inch seedlings. You think that's too little? I was afraid it was too much! When I water them I do see the peat pots get a bit wet on the bottom so at least some of the water is getting through - also, I try to water them about half an hour before the lights come on (I set them on a 20/4 cycle) so that there's as little evaporation as possible.

I guess I should have gone for the plastic pots...

 

[UltraZelda64]

Silver_Surfer brings up a good point about regular potting soil. That was another of the three main mistakes I made (the last of the three was accidentally using a light bulb that is horrible for plants, which I thought was better than it really was).

And he brought up one mistake I didn't even notice... I always top-watered because I was afraid bottom-watering would lead to water not getting up to the roots. I would've likely switched to bottom-watering much later, after the root system was more developed. But in reality, the heat from the fluorescent light seemed to dry the water near the surface of the soil extra quick, and I would assume there wasn't much below the soil line.

 

[Flakes]

Silver_Surfer brings up a good point about regular potting soil. That was another of the three main mistakes I made (the last of the three was accidentally using a light bulb that is horrible for plants, which I thought was better than it really was).

And he brought up one mistake I didn't even notice... I always top-watered because I was afraid bottom-watering would lead to water not getting up to the roots. I would've likely switched to bottom-watering much later, after the root system was more developed. But in reality, the heat from the fluorescent light seemed to dry the water near the surface of the soil extra quick, and I would assume there wasn't much below the soil line.

Ok, so here's another noob question... How exactly do you go about bottom-watering?

 

[UltraZelda64]

Ok, so here's another noob question... How exactly do you go about bottom-watering?

Find a saucer, bowl or some other container to fill to a certain point with water, then just set the plants' pots in the water for a few minutes. The water will be soaked up into the soil, and will rise further up the longer you keep it sitting in the water. But you *must* take it out before too long, or you'll basically drown/suffocate the plant.

How much water, how big of a saucer/bowl, etc. all depends on the size of the plant's pot and its age. I've done it with more mature plants, where I let them sit in one to several inches of water (depending on size of pot) for 12-15 minutes, but like I said this would need to be drastically changed for seedlings. I'm sure someone else will be able to help on that one.

 

[siling_labuyo]

Goodluck.

 

[Flakes]

Find a saucer, bowl or some other container to fill to a certain point with water, then just set the plants' pots in the water for a few minutes. The water will be soaked up into the soil, and will rise further up the longer you keep it sitting in the water. But you *must* take it out before too long, or you'll basically drown/suffocate the plant.

How much water, how big of a saucer/bowl, etc. all depends on the size of the plant's pot and its age. I've done it with more mature plants, where I let them sit in one to several inches of water (depending on size of pot) for 12-15 minutes, but like I said this would need to be drastically changed for seedlings. I'm sure someone else will be able to help on that one.

Cool, I'll have to look into that... thanks.

 

[Flakes]

Goodluck.

Thank you!

 

[Flakes]

Goodluck.

 

[Hot Pooper]

Definately a few good pointers here! Silver Surfer really knows his stuff!
I know a lot of people dont like peat pellets, but for me, they were the easiest way to learn when to water, and NOT to water. Sure, they dont have as good of germintaion as the starter soil. But they are REALLY easy for someone to take care of the seedlings.
The main thing you need to realize with the soil issue, with the "regular" potting soil, like SS said, is that the "regular" potting soil had the time-release fertilizer in it. If Im not mistaken, just about every one of the top soil brands has the fertilizer in it. Fertilizer actually hurts your babies. They MIGHT be whats turning the leaves yellow. Good thing to do to address the yellow leaves is, IF you want to keep the plants, find a starter spoil and GENTLY repot. Try to get as much of the old potting soil off of the roots, then repot. If I can make a suggestion though....I would just go ahead and dump those plants. Will just be too much work for babies, IMHO.
As far as seed starting in general goes, most people use either starter soil, or peat pellets. Either works fine. You will generally see better germination with soil, but I personally use pellets. Just keep them at roughly 85 degrees F, and keep the moisture kinda high if you can. If you get one of those little Jiffy 72 section mini greenhouse deals, they work perfect for that. Then, once they germinate, make sure they have a regular schedule of light and a little breeze on them. (It helps them grew stronger and faster.) The lights need to be fairly close to the plants all the way through their growth. I usually keep the lights about 6" from the top of the plant.
Now, watering....this may SOUND simple, but its a VERY big deal. Most new people over-water. I damn sure did. I killed every single plant I had the first go around, too! The funny thing about watering plants is that even though the TOP of the soil looks dry, and IS dry, the soil UNDERNEATH may not be. So, if the soil on TOP is dry, but the water underneath is still moist, and you water the plant, you are over-watering. What I generally do is wait until RIGHT when the plant starts to wilt just the tiniest bit, THEN I water them. And yes, BOTTOM WATER!! Its the easiest way to do it, and it helps promote root growth. The roots are going to "stretch" to try to get to water. The faster the roots go, the faster, and STRONGER, your plants will grow. The way I do it is, like others have mentioned above, just take the pot they are in, and set in into a container that is bigger than the little pot is. (Obviously! lol) You will see the soil get darker. As soon as the soil on the TOP gets completely dark, take it out and go on to the next one, if needed.
Other than that, I would experiment. As far as the leaves go, the first little set that comes out when the plant first germinates arent really leaves, All leaves AFTER that are leaves. (I BELIEVE the first little leaf-looking things are called cotylydons. I dont know how to spell that. lol) Once they have their 3rd set of "true leaves," THEN you can pot up to a bigger size. You dont want to go too big. I use 3" pots to pot up to.
I hope this helps!!

Sean

 

[Flakes]

Damn it, who told them to put fertilizers in my soil!?

I just can't give up on these guys... Yesterday I dropped one of them on the ground and the funny thing is, it seems to be doing much better now! It lost the two yellowing cotyledons (googled it!) and about 2/3 of the soil from the peat pot ended up smashed all over my floor (along with the torn roots). So... I put it in a bigger pot with fresh, time release fertilizers saturated soil, overwatered it (which was almost mandatory after having messed everything else up) and put it directly under one of the lamps.

And, at least for now, it seems to be doing even better than its non-floor-smashed companions!

I realize this might very well only be a temporary effect but I'm not giving up on any of them just yet. After all, they're my first!

Thanks for the help, Sean, I'll try to use all that info on my second set of seedlings.

 

[Hot Pooper]

No problem Flakes! Just be weary of soild with ANY ferts in them when your plants are young. They have a tendency to ruin young plants.

 

[franzb69]

looking forward to seeing pix.