New Setup... Hots

I've been interested in growing Super Hots in their native environment. From what I have read, Ghost ( Naga Jolokia or Bhut Jolokia, ) grow in roughly 80degF heat, and very high humidity...average of 80 percent. Most other Super Hots have similar native environments. My research isn't exactly scientific. After all, until two weeks ago, I thought that the Ghost peppers originated in India.
 
So then here are pictures of my new grow tent. It's very small.  (2ft6in)x2 and almost (5ft11in) tall. To increase the headroom in my system, and to remove the root system from the grow tent itself (decrease the heat in the roots as well), I cut out the bottom of the tent so that the plant will grow UP into the tent.
 
This system is currently using a Re-circulating Deep Water Culture (RDWC) hydro setup.... General Hydroponics "Flora Series" with supplemental "Cal-Mag".  
 
The pictures:
 

 
Since this is RDWC, the lower right bucket is the "maintenance bucket". The lower left will be open for the immediate future. Upper right will be the Reaper, and the upper Left will be the Bhut (Ghost). Those pics in a day or two.
 
I hope, with the addition of either whole room A/C, or the use of a nutrient chiller, I can grow some quality Super Hots. The details on the temperature and Humidity haven't been completely work out yet. Will keep the updates coming.
 
Happy Growing,
 
Jeff

 

[MNXR250R]

Update...  I let these peppers grow for a couple weeks hoping that they would start to look like "Reapers".   They don't at all look like the typical Reaper.  Wondering if I got  jipped or if the hybrid is just unstable.  Pepper Joes seeds.
 
Here is a pic of the peppers. Most of them look similar. These are the "first" peppers from the plant.
 

 

 

[KAOS]

Good looking peppers even if they aren't reapers. Hey at least they not cayenne or bell peppers.
 
I got some "Dorset Nagas"this year that are looking more like this ↓↓↓
 

 

[MNXR250R]

Well the end of the year is here, and today I have to shut down my indoor grow.  I've been battling Aphids for the last 6 weeks and I can't take it anymore.  They have completely taken over the tent... both tents.
 
I plant to fully clean the grow room and the tents, then let everything sit idle for 6-8 weeks. I hope that this will get rid of those little bast@rds so I can have a good grow next time around.
 
Here is what I was able to take from the Reaper.... the only remaining plant. Every single pepper is green.  They have quite a bit of heat, but they also have a floral flavor. Not terribly appealing to me.  Might be useful in a salsa though.
 
 Until next time !!!!
 
Jeff
 

 
 

 

[AvidLiving]

Well the end of the year is here, and today I have to shut down my indoor grow.  I've been battling Aphids for the last 6 weeks and I can't take it anymore.  They have completely taken over the tent... both tents.
 
I plant to fully clean the grow room and the tents, then let everything sit idle for 6-8 weeks. I hope that this will get rid of those little bast@rds so I can have a good grow next time around.
 
Here is what I was able to take from the Reaper.... the only remaining plant. Every single pepper is green.  They have quite a bit of heat, but they also have a floral flavor. Not terribly appealing to me.  Might be useful in a salsa though.
 
 Until next time !!!!
 
Jeff
 

DSC_9100.jpg
 
 

Sad to hear.

You could try some indoor pests that will eliminate them..

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[MNXR250R]

Well it is a Happy New Year,..... isn't it ? 
 
I've been working on the new grow. Same tent, same lights, but a new layout. Instead of trying to grow three plants in the 2.5ft x 2.5ft tent, I've cut it down to one single plant. I ran out of space trying to grow more than one in this size tent.
 
I moved the "maintenance bucket" to the outside of the tent. Make for easier access when changing nutes, and I won't have to open the tent so often.
 
I chose to grow the Jalapeno in this tent. This is the pepper that I eat more than anything else.  I grew some really hot peppers just to say that I "Grew a Ghost" .... but those peppers just don't appeal to me. I can snack on Jalapenos while watching a movie. I can't do that with a Ghost (although I have Ghost Pepper flakes that I add to just about everything except Cheerios).
 
Nothing else has changed from the original setup. I have a 315W LEC light, a nutrient chiller, vent fans, humidifiers, etc.  I did add an Arduino based controller system to turn on/ff heaters, fans and humidifiers though.
 
To start the seeds, I used rock wool. It took 1.5 weeks to see the plant emerge, and another 1.5 weeks for the plant to start growing the true leaves. Damn slow growing even in a constant 80degF and 50% RH tent.
 
Rock wool dries out pretty fast, so to keep it from drying out while I'm away I've added a nutrient pump on a timer to pump nutes from the reservoir up to the plant. I'm using Hydroton clay pellets just as I did in the original setup.
 
Nothing else to add except this..... I will never... ever... ever..... bring a plant from the outside into my grow room. 
 
Happy Growing !!
 
Jeff
 
 
New Tent Setup

 
Jalapeno

 

[MNXR250R]

Not sure that anyone is paying attention to this grow any more, but I'll add an update never the less.
 
The 2.5 x 2.5 tent is just too damn small for a 315W light. The temperature inside the tent was constantly pegging the 90degF mark.  So, I decided to take the same idea I had been using with this tent and setup, and move it to my 4x4 tent.
 
Same principals. Nutrient chiller, 5 gallon buckets for the plants (only two of them this time around) with a third buckets used for maintenance of the system. The remaining real estate in the tent is used for miscellaneous plant fun.
 
So far I have a great environment. Without additional humidifiers or heaters, I have a lights-on temperature ranging from 78-82 DegF (depending on the ambient temperature of the outside of the temp, and the humidity is between 60 percent and 75 percent. Lights are on for 16 hours a day.
 
Here are a few pictures of the newest plants. They have been growing for 6-8 weeks now.... maybe longer.
 

Jalapeno in Hydro... 5 gallon bucket. Plant is getting pretty big and has 3 dozen flowers/peppers growing
 

Two more Jalapenos, but these are in Happy Frog soil with a tiny bit of manure. 
 

A little Kale to with.... well to eat
 

Red Savina Habanero in Hydro.  This little plant took almost two months before it started dip its root into the hydro solution. Man it grows slow !!
 

Peas and Beans in soil. Experimental.
 

And a few Garlic plants just to see if it works inside a tent.
 
I have a couple tomatoes in very small containers which are also in soil. These plants have not done well in the small pots. I got a few fruits from them before they more or less shut down.
 
I'll add more information is anyone is interested.
 
Happy Growing !!
 
Jeff  
 
 

 

[AvidLiving]

Looking great! The beans will do well! I didnt even think of kale.. that's a good idea.

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[AndyW]

Looks like the plants are really thriving under that light!

 

[Selest]

Just a quick update.  I found that my pH meters (two of them) were off by 0.7 (readings were higher than they should be).  So when I kept my pH at 6.0, I was actually keeping at 5.3.  Not sure if that had anything to do with my "flowering" problem, but what do I know for sure.
 
I've taken the advice of some and reduced the nute PPM and dropped the temperatures.  Some of the newer flower look much better now.  I'm hopeful that in the next weeks I will get some fruit.
 
Will post some new pics in a week or so.
 
Jeff

What have you found to be a good ppm for your plants? From what I remember you were running a DWC