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seeds My first jolokia plant (seedling right now). Is it sick maybe?

S

svtcontour

Hi guys, first let me say hi and hello as this is my first post here. I've been looking for a pepper forum and I think this is the one I want to be on. Second, I'm trying to grow my first jolokia and let me say that I'm not very experienced with growing peppers. I've grown a few but they were really easy variety such as hot wax, jalapeno and I lucked out with one orange hab.

I've picked up a seedling from someone locally and they assure me that its a jolokia (and I do trust them that it is).
As its been growing from 2" tall to 3" tall I'm noticing the stem getting lighter at some parts - or maybe its the rest of the plant stem getting darker except for one area but it looks patchy. If anyone can look at these pics and tell me if it looks sick or if that can be normal.

Also the upper most leaves are starting to turn a little dark like as though I took a lead pencil and gently rubbed it. Is it getting burned slowly? I've got a 23W CF bulb about 6" above it. The plant is in a 9" wide pot with 70% miracle grow seedling mix and 30% scotts potting soil. I water it well once a week until it just drips from the bottom of the pot but then I put a towel to soak up the excess from the catch tray at the bottom so it doesnt remain soaked for too long. The room temp is about 22-23C.

Please help because I want to know if its doing well so far or if I should do something different. I'm in Toronto so its freaking cold outside. Maybe once we hit june when its 20C and higher outside, I will put it in a larger pot and leave it outside to get some real sun....

Thanks guys.

jolokia_seedling.jpg

jolokia_seedling_0.jpg

jolokia_seedling_2.jpg

jolokia_seedling_4.jpg
 
Ooops I just noticed I posted this in the wrong area :( How can I move it into the growing hot peppers area? .... wait, no never mind. I just noticed that I mistook the heading above this section that said "growing - other" and thought I was in the wrong area but I'm not. LOL. Its all good :)
 
Welcome from Australia, you've chosen the right forum. Well I've never looked at any others but there are lots of long time members on here so I guess it can't be too bad. With only one season starting plants off indoors I'm not the best person to be giving advice but I'm sure someone out there can help. I will advise you however to get the jolokia out of the baby's bedroom... ;)
 
thanks SeeYouJimmy :) PS. the baby will love Jolokias. Just kidding. No baby. When I moved to the house, I made the existing baby room as my home office because it seemed like the room to cause the least stress :) What better plant for a techie working in a home office than a Jolokia. LOL
 
I hope you have a Bhut or Bih Jolokia and not a Naga Jolokia - people still sell those and "forget" to tell their costumers that it's not the "real deal". Leaves and stems looks perfectly normal to me. You should provide water when the plant needs it, not on a regular schedule. Once a week might be to often now, and way too little in a couple of months. Stick your finger in the soil, lift the pot - you'll see what I mean when you've done that for a while;)

Welcome from Sweden BTW!
 
Welcome to the forum! I found this place almost 2 months ago and actually stopped posting on the other pepper forum I was using, lots of great and helpful people here, plus a good place to find different kinds of pepper seeds if you want.
The plant looks ok to me, but I am by far no pepper green thumb, but my plants are looking ok. I would suggest you start bottom feeding it as well, not a must, but I found my own plants are responding better to it rather than pouring water on the surface and waiting for it to soak down through. Basically, just put the water in the tray and it will wick up into the soil.

Are you using a fertilizer or just water? I would say at this stage, use only water, since the Miracle Grow has food in it. the plant will let you know if it needs food with the color of the leaves, you will know when by looking at it. Like MrArboc said, you might be watering it a little too much. Allowing the surface to dry out a bit wont hurt the plant.

Your lighting seems adequate for 1 plant and since the CFL's dont put out tons of heat, you could actually move it closee to the seedling to combat it from getting leggy. Try moving it down 2-3". How long of a light cycle are you giving the seedling? Seems like most people here will run a 16 on 8 off cycel per day, you can pic up a timer for less than 10 bucks at a hardware store (or even Walmart). Personally I am running mine at 17 on/7 off, because it fits my work schedule and CFL's dont draw near the power of regular bulbs.
 
Welcome from Fort Worth, Texas

svtcontour said:
Please help because I want to know if its doing well so far or if I should do something different.
Click to expand...

We can always make suggestions :)

after growing for a while you will get used to the routine...and remember, the search button in the upper right hand section of the top of this page is your best friend...there is a plethora of information about most anything there is to know about growig peppers contained within these pages...

MrArboc said:
I hope you have a Bhut or Bih Jolokia and not a Naga Jolokia - people still sell those and "forget" to tell their costumers that it's not the "real deal". Leaves and stems looks perfectly normal to me. You should provide water when the plant needs it, not on a regular schedule. Once a week might be to often now, and way too little in a couple of months. Stick your finger in the soil, lift the pot - you'll see what I mean when you've done that for a while;)

Welcome from Sweden BTW!
Click to expand...

no comment on the Jolokia except what he said...just hope you got a Bhut or Bih and not one called a Naga Jolokia that is actually a PC1 (and not the real deal)

dead on for the watering...I use weight of the contaier as an indicator...

Matt50680 said:
I would suggest you start bottom feeding it as well, not a must, but I found my own plants are responding better to it rather than pouring water on the surface and waiting for it to soak down through. Basically, just put the water in the tray and it will wick up into the soil.
Click to expand...

bottom watering and bottom feeding is the shiznit...it will "Git 'er dun"...

again, I will stress weight of the container...that is your key and you will get used to the routine after a while...

Matt50680 said:
Are you using a fertilizer or just water? I would say at this stage, use only water, since the Miracle Grow has food in it. the plant will let you know if it needs food with the color of the leaves, you will know when by looking at it. Like MrArboc said, you might be watering it a little too much. Allowing the surface to dry out a bit wont hurt the plant.
Click to expand...

I probably do things differently than a lot of folks but about 7 days after my seedlings pop, I start giving them a mild treatment of nutrients in their water and spritz some on the leaves too...in about another week, I will give them a spritz of Epsom Salt diluted to 1 Tbsp per gallon of water(thats about 7.5 gms/liter - 3/4 tsp/liter)

Matt50680 said:
Your lighting seems adequate for 1 plant and since the CFL's dont put out tons of heat, you could actually move it closee to the seedling to combat it from getting leggy. Try moving it down 2-3". How long of a light cycle are you giving the seedling? Seems like most people here will run a 16 on 8 off cycel per day, you can pic up a timer for less than 10 bucks at a hardware store (or even Walmart). Personally I am running mine at 17 on/7 off, because it fits my work schedule and CFL's dont draw near the power of regular bulbs.
Click to expand...

agree...but...what you are showing with the "purplish staining" of the leaves and stem is like getting a sun tan...you definitely have adequate light IMO...as long as the purplish color doesn't approach a bronzish color you are ok...

If you aren't mechanically stimulating the stem, you should start either by running a fan on the plant as strong as the plant can stand it or gently brushing your hand across the top of the plant making the stem move...mechanical stimulation mimics mother natures wind and strengthens the stem by stretching the cells....when the stem wall cells stretch, the plant repairs them by making them thicker, thus stronger and able to support a nice large many pod bearing plant....

IMO your temperature is probably a little cool for the plant...maybe Potawie and say how warm he keeps his...from my experience with growig these plants, they like it hot in the day and cooler at night...say 90F/70F......if you want good fruit production, that will be just about perfect....

now, if you can't tell already, I will get to ramblin'.... :lol:

Again, welcome from Fort Worth...enjoy your stay
 
Jolokia actually just means pepper but I guess we all assume you're growing a bhut. I wouldn't worry too much about temps, I grow all my indoor plants in a coolish environment (around 60-70F) they just grow a little slower and more compact.
 
Great to hear from you MrArboc from Sweden :) I hope its a Bhut as well. I'll change my watering schedule to what you suggested. So if I stick my finger down 1" and it feels a bit cool or just a bit damp, thats still ok right? If it feels pretty dry,then water? So far once a week watering equates to the top being dry to the touch but I never stuck my finger into the soil to see how it is.

I'm hoping I will get the hangle of it. I've got other hot pepper seeds in a paper towl trying to germinate (trinidad scorpion, red savina, 7 pod).
 
Ya Its supposed to be a bhut jolokia. So the temperature is more critical I guess during germination than actual growth? If I bring it in when the weather gets cooler (fall), you think it will survive indoor if I keep a couple larger CF lights above it? As long as I can keep it alive for next season, that would be awesome :)
 
svtcontour said:
Ya Its supposed to be a bhut jolokia. So the temperature is more critical I guess during germination than actual growth? If I bring it in when the weather gets cooler (fall), you think it will survive indoor if I keep a couple larger CF lights above it? As long as I can keep it alive for next season, that would be awesome :)
Click to expand...

Sure you can, just keep an eye out for pests (aphids and mites) and you can keep the plant going for years.
 
Hi Matt50680, so bottom feeding would mean I'd fill the dish and the water would get sucked through the drain holes back up right? The only thing I'm not sure about is how to know its gotten enough. Pretty much when it cant suck up any more water and then dump the rest out? I'm guessing :)

I'm not using any fertilizer yet but I was going to start when its a little bigger and weather is warmer (basically when it looks like its really pickingup in growth rate). This is what i picked up so hoping it would be ok to use
http://www.reimerseeds.com/schultz-all-purpose-liquid-plant-food-plus-.aspx

As far as the light. I moved it down another inch (so 5" above) only because i'm a bit paranoid. Even though it doesnt give much heat compared to a normal bulb, I can feel my skin slowly getting toasty warm when I have it at plant level. Eventually I hope to take the plant outside in late spring or early summer to get real sun. I was also thinking of getting another CF bulb and aiming it at an angle so the sides get a bit of light...every day I'd do a 1/3 turn of the pot so every side gets some side light. Not sure if this would work ok. As for duration, right now I've got it turning on at 9am and I turn it off at around 10pm so its about 13 hours.
 
Recently I've been fighting with stupid spider mites on my jalapeno plant and another plant. They are both in my kitchen. I hear its due to low air humidity (its about 28% right now because of the winter and furnace running I guess). I have been taking that plant into the shower and blasting it with water which seems to keep them from exploding in population but I cant seem to totally get rid of them. I've tried the soap and water home made spray solutions and that doesnt work either. I hate the little bastards. LOL
 
Yep, bottom watering is allowing it to wick up into the soil. Like AJ said, you'll learn to judge the heft of the pot when it is watered well and it should only take a few minutes.

I hope you didn't buy your seed from those same folks. If so what you are growing is anyone's guess.

More light is good. :)
 
I beleive you can buy the all purpose shultz plant food at Canadian Tire. And I totally agree, don't support Reimer's in any way
 
A 1:1 mixture of rubbing alcohol and water will kill spider mites on contact and evaporate B4 it can harm the plant. Make sure to cover the entire plant, focusing on the bottoms of the leaves where spider mites tend to hang out.
 
No picked up the seeds locally from a guy...that was just the first link to come up when I searched for the plant food :) I think I picked mine up from Walmart (the plant food of course). The guy I got my seeds from knows this guy Neil on youtube who does a lot of hot pepper taste tests or something - Australian guy who's got some following I guess. I assume he got the seeds from that guy. Well we'll know in a few months :)
 
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