My first sprouts. Now what?

[locopao]

Finally, my first sprouts

Aji Cristal

Aji Cristal

Aceituno

Should i remove the cover and put them under lights (done that already ), or just wait a couple more days?

So excited ladies & gentlemen!!! Can't wait to see them growing.

Germination rate was 100% (aji 3/3, aceituno 1/1), started December 27th.

Got some more waiting in solo cups (also started december 27th) : 3 Naga Morich, 2 Habanero Orange, 2 African Bird's Eye, 2 Cayennes.

It's my first time trying to grow so early and indoor under lights. I usually grow outside in pots, starting March, just few cayennes and some aji cristals.

Thanks for checking!

 

[geeme]

Lights right away is best, and also, a fan. You don't want the fan blowing hard directly on them, though, so you may need to experiment to find a way to get the air moving around them without overdoing it. The fan serves two purposes. The first is to help strengthen the stems, which will help reduce the amount of hardening off you have to do in the spring. (Look up hardening off on this site if you're not already familiar with it.) The other is to help reduce the chance of damping off, a fungus, from occurring. The youngest plants are most susceptible to damping off, and it will likely kill your plants if you can't prevent or quickly eradicate it.

 

[locopao]

Lights right away is best, and also, a fan. You don't want the fan blowing hard directly on them, though, so you may need to experiment to find a way to get the air moving around them without overdoing it. The fan serves two purposes. The first is to help strengthen the stems, which will help reduce the amount of hardening off you have to do in the spring. (Look up hardening off on this site if you're not already familiar with it.) The other is to help reduce the chance of damping off, a fungus, from occurring. The youngest plants are most susceptible to damping off, and it will likely kill your plants if you can't prevent or quickly eradicate it.

Ok , this is another question i had in mind. Let's say that i manually place a fan blowing the plants once or twice a day for about 10 minutes. Is that ok or the fan has to be on in a continuous mode?

 

[nee]

I can appreciate your excitement...as i was the same when i first spotted my first seeds sprouting! It's an amazing thing

I started my seeds during the winter here in Australia, under lights, but didn't use a fan. I can see the advantages of using one, as when my plants got bigger and spring arrived, i had to be REALLY careful with where i placed them outside as the wind seemed to rip the poor things to bits! But whilst my seedlings were indoors, they were placed really close to our kids bedroom and the last thing i wanted was fan noise keeping them awake. So i'd say that if you can do it, then use a fan...but it's not essential as long as you are prepared to keep a REAL good eye on them when putting them outside. I got around it by first putting them in an outside porch, which gave them a taste of "wind" but not "gale force wind"!!...and then gradually introduced them to the elements in baby-steps. I didn't seem to suffer any damping off from not using a fan, but i might have just been lucky?

Best of luck with your grow!

 

[Xavi]

I have had the best luck with what geeme said above...

Lights - I usually do a 24 hour cycle until they are about three weeks old (make sure the lights are close to prevent them from becoming leggy)..
Fan - Small oscillating one on a timer (usually 3 hours at a time with a few hours off).
Bottom Water - I had a fungus gnat problem a couple of years ago and switched to bottom watering my young plants, and this fixed my problem
And don't over water. Peppers are VERY resilient.
As they get bigger, if they do become leggy, pinch the tops to encourage growth underneath. You can search on this...

Good luck!!

 

[locopao]

Lights right away is best, and also, a fan. You don't want the fan blowing hard directly on them, though, so you may need to experiment to find a way to get the air moving around them without overdoing it. The fan serves two purposes. The first is to help strengthen the stems, which will help reduce the amount of hardening off you have to do in the spring. (Look up hardening off on this site if you're not already familiar with it.) The other is to help reduce the chance of damping off, a fungus, from occurring. The youngest plants are most susceptible to damping off, and it will likely kill your plants if you can't prevent or quickly eradicate it.

Thanks for the input. I'll set up the fan asap.

I can appreciate your excitement...as i was the same when i first spotted my first seeds sprouting! It's an amazing thing

I started my seeds during the winter here in Australia, under lights, but didn't use a fan. I can see the advantages of using one, as when my plants got bigger and spring arrived, i had to be REALLY careful with where i placed them outside as the wind seemed to rip the poor things to bits! But whilst my seedlings were indoors, they were placed really close to our kids bedroom and the last thing i wanted was fan noise keeping them awake. So i'd say that if you can do it, then use a fan...but it's not essential as long as you are prepared to keep a REAL good eye on them when putting them outside. I got around it by first putting them in an outside porch, which gave them a taste of "wind" but not "gale force wind"!!...and then gradually introduced them to the elements in baby-steps. I didn't seem to suffer any damping off from not using a fan, but i might have just been lucky?

Best of luck with your grow!

Thanks a lot for your advice. Since this is my first time growing indoor,i want to do everything "by the rule", so i'll go with the fan as geeme mentioned.

I have had the best luck with what geeme said above...

Lights - I usually do a 24 hour cycle until they are about three weeks old (make sure the lights are close to prevent them from becoming leggy)..
Fan - Small oscillating one on a timer (usually 3 hours at a time with a few hours off).
Bottom Water - I had a fungus gnat problem a couple of years ago and switched to bottom watering my young plants, and this fixed my problem
And don't over water. Peppers are VERY resilient.
As they get bigger, if they do become leggy, pinch the tops to encourage growth underneath. You can search on this...

Good luck!!

You are right. Thanks a lot! I was thinking about 16 / 8 hour cycle with lights. But i will definately go with the bottom watering. Just wondering how much water (sprouts are in solo cups) and how much time should i leave the solo cup with the sprout inside the cup with the water. 5 minutes? 10 minutes? More?

 

[Xavi]

You are right. Thanks a lot! I was thinking about 16 / 8 hour cycle with lights. But i will definately go with the bottom watering. Just wondering how much water (sprouts are in solo cups) and how much time should i leave the solo cup with the sprout inside the cup with the water. 5 minutes? 10 minutes? More?

I just go on feel. Depending on the holes in the bottom of your cups, and the level of dryness of the soil, water uptake can vary quite a bit. I have never had a small container take more than a few minutes. You just want the container to have a little weight to it. The water will find its way to the roots and move upward. Remember, too much water can be a bad thing for the young plants.

 

[locopao]

thanks again xavi!

 

[Xavi]

You're welcome... The hard part is getting them to germinate, so it's all good now that your babies are up.

Best of luck with your growing season.



Bryan

 

[geeme]

Speaking of watering ... Peppers do not like to be wet all the time. Your plants will tell you when they need to be watered by drooping their leaves a tad. Don't let them get bone-dry, though, be sure to water when the leaves are just a little droopy. Remember that the soil may seem dry at the surface, but still be soggy underneath. Good drainage is key.

 

[locopao]

Speaking of watering ... Peppers do not like to be wet all the time. Your plants will tell you when they need to be watered by drooping their leaves a tad. Don't let them get bone-dry, though, be sure to water when the leaves are just a little droopy. Remember that the soil may seem dry at the surface, but still be soggy underneath. Good drainage is key.

I 'll definately do that. Thanks.

The seed caps are still on. Should i start worry about that?(it's been 3 days)

 

[Jeff H]

The seed caps are still on. Should i start worry about that?(it's been 3 days)

The plant will die if it can't get it off. IMHO, it wouldn't hurt to help it along if you feel confident that you can carefully cut the edge of the seed. I've had to do it before.

 

[Xavi]

I've read a lot of varying opinions on this in the forum..

Some people say leave it on and the plant will take care of it, others to try and take them off. I have had quite a few seedlings in the past will seed caps that do not come off, and I have definitely killed MANY more that I have saved.

The best ideas I have heard for trying to remove the caps are to make sure the cap is very wet so that you might be able to get it off and get some nail clippers and clip the very end of the cap off and try and work it off. As I said, it is quite delicate and does not take much to break the stem.

Below is a good topic to read on it:
http://thehotpepper.com/topic/29413-seed-helmet/

Good luck.

 

[locopao]

Xavi, believe me i've red all the topics regarding this issue (actually i ve red A LOT OF PAGES/TOPICS since the day i joined this excellent web site, and i have to say that i've learned SO MUCH -and still reading and learning).

I think i'll leave the nature do its job...

Looks like the plant is taking care of it

I keep the cap moist by placing a drop of water with a straw, and i think i'll not try to remove it.

BTW, this is my Naga Morich

This is a Habanero Orange

the cotelydon looks kind of yellowish though...



and this is another aceituno

So far i got almost 100% germination rate


still waiting the african bird's eye and the cayennes (and waiting some fatali seeds i ordered from pepperlover last night)

 

[Cayennemist]

Looking good!
Like others said "good light"

Stay away from NPK for a while as it can burn young plants easly. I reccomend starting a compst bin outside so that by the time they need to be potted up you will have loads of good soil going FOR FREE

I would start looking in to soil now so it will be ready when you need it later. What ever is in the cups now looks good, lots of organic matter. What kind of soil is it?

With soil, "If you build it they will come" peppers that is

 

[locopao]

Looking good!
Like others said "good light"

Stay away from NPK for a while as it can burn young plants easly. I reccomend starting a compst bin outside so that by the time they need to be potted up you will have loads of good soil going FOR FREE

I would start looking in to soil now so it will be ready when you need it later. What ever is in the cups now looks good, lots of organic matter. What kind of soil is it?

With soil, "If you build it they will come" peppers that is

Thanks Cayennemist. I am not using any NPK right now but thinking of using some later on. I got a bag of 20-20-20. Is that any good?

The soil is just a mix of humus, peat, sand and perlite (i usually get it from a local store in 20lt bags).

Conserning the lights... Ok, cups are in the upper shelf of a cabinet (60cm x 30cm) and i got 4 cfl bulbs (35W - 6400K - 2200 lumens each), about 20cm above sprouts.

What do you think ? Will that be ok for let's say about 10-12 plants until April?

Thanks again for checking

 

[MR_POTS]

The closer they are the better to prevent them from getting too leggy,so long as the light don't give off too much heat to burn em.That's a long time from now,and you will more likely need to add more light even space by the time April comes around.I wouldn't place a fan on them rt away,I'd wait till at least the first set of true leaves come in.The lighting's more important than the fan at this point IMO.

Best of Luck,

MR_POTS

 

[Jamison]

Id bring the cfl's as close as you can get em to the plants without touching em really. If my math is right about 3 to 4 cm would be better.

 

[Cayennemist]

The lights are a go
I start with 6 x 26w(100w equiv) 6500k so you are good
I use the hook and chain method to make my lights adjustible. Keep them 4-5" from the tops of the plants and you are good.

and as for NPK... well that is preference thing

I have gone that ways before (DWC HYDRO) But I am liking the results and easiness of organic.
Last year I didnt use any Cal-mag, very little NPK, and a little pyrithrin. This year I'm 100% OG just AACT, compost, Worm castings.

I have seen people on here get good results from Miracle Grow, Expensive Hydro Ferts, And a combination of organic and NPK.
Some things to consider when you choose your path:

• Cost
• Easy of use
• Environmental Impact (if you care)
• Results
• Brix Results - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brix "basically the taste"

I think organic is better but that’s just my conclusion.


Also I reccomend putting a pan under them and watering from the bottom. This will help prevent fungus gnats, powdery mildew, damping off, and over watering.

Good luck and have fun.

 

[locopao]

I decided to upload some updated pictures of my sprouts...

Here they go



AJI CRISTAL

ACEITUNO

NAGA MORICH

NAGA MORICH

AJI CRISTAL

JALAPENO

HABANERO ORANGE

I bottom water, and try to keep the surface as dry as i can. Unfortunately, water sometimes goes all the way up to the surface, even though i leave the cup into water for just 2-3 minutes. (maybe next time i'll leave it for just a minute or so).


BTW, sprouts now growing under these lights (4 of them):

Any advices?
Comments?

More than welcome!



Thanks for checking!