indoor New Indoor Grow

P

Pickapeppa

Hello all,

I am a first time pepper grower, and I have been lurking on the forums for about a month. I have always been a pepper and hot sauce fan, so it only made sense to grow some of my own. I live in a very mild climate in the winter, but pretty rough in the summer. Lows in the winter only get down to about 40F, but our highs in the summer are around 120F. I am starting an indoor grow, with a small HID lighting system. After my research it seemed like the best choice. My seedlings are about 2 weeks old, and doing great, but I am afraid they are a little leggy. My lighting system tends to get a little warm, so I am currently hesitant to lower the light too close to the peppers in fear that the seedlings will get too hot. On the flip side, it now appears that my seedlings are getting a little leggy. They may be fine, and I may just be paranoid but I figured it is time to ask the experts.

20111112_215314.jpg


This is my first set of peppers, it was basically my test batch with a few assorted seeds, from Jalapeños to Habs. I mostly did these, just to make sure I could germinate seeds before I wasted my expensive seeds.

20111112_215146-1.jpg


These are my expensive seeds. A few Butch T's and the rest are Bhut Jolokia.

So ultimately I guess my question is: Does it look like the seedlings are a little leggy? If so, should I lower the light? and by lowering the light, could the heat damage the seedlings? Any other advice is welcome. Glad to be a part of the forum officially. :beer:

EDIT: Photobucket will not flip that picture to save its life, sorry.
 
Hmmm, get an oscillating fan to blow the lil fellers around. And a thermometer to check temps near the seedlings. Lower the lamp depending on what temps you get down on the deck. And make sure the growing medium stays moist while germinating. All can be done for relatively low price. Good growing dude, great to see your experiments.... :cool:
 
Yah they do look a little leggy.
You could add either a floro or a cheap led placing it closer with out adding a ton of heat.

Or try enclosing part of that rack with mylar to reflect more light such as the rear and 2 smaller sides.

If you are concerned about heat you can pick up a thermometer for a couple of bucks in the pet section at Walmart.
 
A Cool Tube will have your heat problems sorted, normally used for the 'other' crop but they work well. I use a CFL for my seedlings, so your HID setup should be a hell of a lot more light, I suspect the problem is as it's said above - get some Mylar to keep that light where it's needed.
 
What's the wattage on the HID? 250, 400? You should be able to keep it ~8-12 inches from the plants without burning them. It looks like it's about 2 feet away in the pic. Just hold your hand under the light and feel how hot it is and you should get a good what distance is too hot. And definitely get a fan on them ASAP if you don't have one already.
 
Thanks for all the tips! I will swing by and pick up some mylar in the next few days, along with a cooling fan. The gap between the light is about a foot. It is an 150W, but I have been doing some research and I am thinking I might make the investment in an 600W, but I worry about the monthly cost associated with it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top