My first grow!!! If that’s what I’ll call it!

All right yall. Decided to keep a log of my tobasco/habaneros. Been at it since April 26th and pretty sure Ive done every possible thing wrong so far.... So as I watch my wifes tomato plants and her one Serrano plant grow and flower (which I know is too early in season) Im starting to have doubts. So heres where Im at so far...

Ive battled pests, heat, dogs, black plastic containers, over watering and lastly over nutrients. Now with all that being said. Im trying to let them do their things and lay off but will probably go get a couple more plants to have a clean slate. Not giving up on these yet!!! But I believe my zone will allow me to start at this time and still make the end push. Ill post pics of where I started and keep updating as I go! Any advice, inputs or sthups is perfectly acceptable! Also any good peppers yall think I can start now and finish by end of season? North Central Texas in Fort Worth.

 

[Jimenezcs]

Starting pics. White easter basket. Yes... easter basket. Is tobasco. Red is habanero.

 

[Jimenezcs]

After repot. Because well... I planted in an easter basket originally... and the dog mentioned above opened up this container by destroying plant in it.

Habanero pulled up...

 

[Jimenezcs]

1 month in

 

[Jimenezcs]

And here we r currently....

 

[The_NorthEast_ChileMan]

 

[PaulG]

Your plants have recovered nicely.
 
Should be good to go! Most peppers don't
like to set flowers in the high heat, so you might
have to shade your plants from the hot sun
in mid-day. You should talk to Devv about Tejas
growing weather.

 

[Jimenezcs]

Thanks for the input and good luck haha!

Probably dumb question. Starting to heat up here for summer, it’s 97 degrees outside - I assume that’s the shaded temp by what I’ve read on the internet... so I assume sunlight will be much hotter...?

Since I’m growing in containers, I’m bringing them inside once temps reach those mid 90s. My house provides shade from around 1-3, but after that there’s really no shaded areas without opening them up to bushes and probably bugs...

With all that being said, I keep my house about 72 during day. Will the dramatic shift in temps mess with plants?

I also read about shade cloth on some of Devvs and others post, will that help decrease temps of like 100 degrees? Or should I just go ahead and bring them in? Also Looked through forums specifically about shade cloth but not entirely sure I understand if that’s going to help container plants in 100 plus weather...

 

[Jimenezcs]

All right! So pretty stoked. Repotted the plants above into 5 gallon buckets. When I pulled them out the root system looked great. The ball was firm, White hairs around it and not root bound by any means. Actually made me feel pretty good! Sigh of relief...

Fast forward. Well decided to add some peppers as mentioned above.

So now I have a Cayenne, ghost pepper, red Fresno and some Jalapeños. All in 1.5 gallon pots right now and all still very small. Ghost looks in bad shape but hoping to put some life back in it! Will keep the posts coming in the future.

 

[Tybo]

Thanks for the input and good luck haha!

Probably dumb question. Starting to heat up here for summer, it’s 97 degrees outside - I assume that’s the shaded temp by what I’ve read on the internet... so I assume sunlight will be much hotter...?

Since I’m growing in containers, I’m bringing them inside once temps reach those mid 90s. My house provides shade from around 1-3, but after that there’s really no shaded areas without opening them up to bushes and probably bugs...

With all that being said, I keep my house about 72 during day. Will the dramatic shift in temps mess with plants?

I also read about shade cloth on some of Devvs and others post, will that help decrease temps of like 100 degrees? Or should I just go ahead and bring them in? Also Looked through forums specifically about shade cloth but not entirely sure I understand if that’s going to help container plants in 100 plus weather...
 
I think shade cloth would help a lot.  Last year when the sun was glaring all day and the temps got really hot some of my plants were suffering.  I had a small 6'x10' shade cloth that I put up and set the containers under.  I was able to move some others under shade from some trees that i "had".  The shade helped a lot. 
Hopefully Devv or others that are close to your area will chime in.  You could always pm Devv with your question in case he misses this thread. 

 

[Siv]

I'm in the Houston area and the East side of my house is a magic grow spot. Provided there aren't any obstructions like houses in the way, I would put your plants on the East side and leave them there or maybe you have an East facing fence you can line them up against. They'll get enough sun but also shade from the house itself during the worst of the sun. You shouldn't have to move them inside at all (unless avoiding frost).

 

[Jimenezcs]

Question...looks like my plant dropped a pod. Habanero plant is only like 6 inches tall. This is also the one that got dug up earlier in my posts.

Should I go ahead and chalk this one up to done growing? Not Too many spots for the plant to produce more...

Even probably dumber question. Pinching... is that literally squeezing the pod till it busts?

 

[PaulG]

It's not unusual for a plant to drop the
first few pods, it probably is most certainly
not done. Patience is demanded.
 
Pinching is removing growth tips so the
plant sends out more lateral shoots from
the nodes below the pinched tip.

 

[Jimenezcs]

It's not unusual for a plant to drop the
first few pods, it probably is most certainly
not done. Patience is demanded.
 
Pinching is removing growth tips so the
plant sends out more lateral shoots from
the nodes below the pinched tip.

Patience is demanded! That is by far one of the greatest statements I’ve read. Haha.

So go ahead and let these do their thing or pinch? After reviewing a lot of posts their is definitely no consensus but I’ve read a lot more pinch them off if the plants are still small and the season allows for it.

 

[Siv]

Where about in Texas are you? With our weather we have a very long growing season. I have had 6" plants in May that will be 3ft tall in August and will be producing pods until at least November. These are some of my plants on Nov 8th last year:

 
So definitely patience. And personally, I'm lazy so I don't bother pinching or anything like that. I just let the plants do their thing. I would just water every 2-3 days, fertilize every month (or use osmocote every 3-4 months) and see what happens. Pepper plants will grow additional flowers, pods and branches from all over so don't worry about a pod drop, every inch of your plant is a potential new grow site!

 

[PaulG]

Oh, I see, you were talking about pinching off
the flower buds, not pinching the growth tips.
Removing the flower buds to promote veg
growth is okay if you don't have many plants,
but once plants really get going, it becomes
quite a task. I ageree with Siv, and just let
the plants decide what they want to do.
 
If you don't have many plants, a method I like
is to pinch the buds on the stalk crown and
first nodes, then every other node after that.
It worked well when I had a few plants in a
winter inside grow, and seemed to increase
pod-setting. But that is just anecdotal evidence,
I don't have any real data.

 

[Jimenezcs]

Where about in Texas are you?

I’m in Fort Worth, TX. If I can get like half your plant I’ll be satisfied it’s my first attempt! Hahaha

Oh, I see, you were talking about pinching off
the flower buds, not pinching the growth tips.
Removing the flower buds to promote veg
growth is okay if you don't have many plants,
but once plants really get going.
If you don't have many plants, a method I like
is to pinch the buds on the stalk crown and
first nodes, then every other node after that.
It worked well when I had a few plants in a
winter .

Yeah see that’s where I lie. I only have one of each plant and honestly jacked these up by doing a lot wrong. Lessons learned. But yes talking about the pods on the very top shoots of the plant. Looks like both my starter plants had some grow over night. So In this case, I would just pinch off underneath the pod to Remove the pod (sack looking thing)?

 

[PaulG]

Yes, you are just removing the flower bud before
it opens up into a flower. They come off easily,
you just kind of snap it off at the base of the
flower stem. If you are worried about damaging
the plant, you can cut them off with a pair of
small scissors.

 

[Siv]

I’m in Fort Worth, TX. If I can get like half your plant I’ll be satisfied it’s my first attempt! Hahaha

 
Watch Khang Starr's videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/KhangStarr010
 
He's in Dallas and it'll show you what can be achieved in your back yard!

 

[Jimenezcs]

Thanks all for great advice. Made myself what I consider a ghetto shade for now to help out where it can. Keeping them outside and gonna just shade it during the peak points. My fence line unfortunately has weeds and junk behind it so Im fairly certain itll open them up to a bunch of unwanted bugs. Working off the patio for now.