seeds Newbie, bought seedlings (4 varieties, 9 total) that arrived the other day, in a little over my head

[dokool]

Hello all, sorry for another newbie post. Always wanted to give hot peppers/doing my own hot sauce a shot, so this spring I found a farm in Japan that specializes in super hot peppers and ordered several seedlings: Naga Viper, Bhut Jolokia, Habanero, and Hot Thai Chili. I ordered two of each because I expected that in my first effort there would be casualties.
 
Unfortunately I underwent ankle surgery about 6 weeks ago and am just starting physical therapy, so I was completely unable to buy any of the materials needed for planting. Then the seedlings showed up:
 

 
There are 9; they threw in a bonus seedling that I'm pretty sure is one of these.
 
So long story short this caught me a bit unaware, and so far I've watered them (slightly!) once or twice a day and left them out in the sun before bringing them back in at night.
 
I ordered three fairly big rectangular planters from Amazon (I figure for 3 plants each) and enough potting soil to fill them; will that be good enough to start or have I made a mistake by not getting individual pots for each plant? The instructions the farm sent me are in Japanese, and I grok most of it but my gardening vocab isn't exactly up to par.
 
Any tips/tricks for the short term? I'm not in any position to do any super-complicated growing methods; just want to get some peppers & a couple bottles of hot sauce out of this summer and learn more to apply next year.
 
Thanks!

 

[Prehensile]

From the Swamp, just continue to do what your doing the plants look good.  Get some bigger pots and prepare to transfer them after they get used to their new home. I can see 2 that will need to be potted up soon, you have time on the others.

 

[spydrweb77]

It's good that you're not up to any super-complicated growing methods, because,generally speaking the less complicated the better off you are...

New growers tend to over do just about everything lol... Over complicate, over water, over fertilize, over attend, etc...

How big are the rectangular containers they are going to go in?

So far they look great.

 

[Al-from-Chile]

they are looking good overall ... so you did a good job
 
 
you might want to look into worm poop (1/2" layer on top) or fertilizers (use very low dosage of tomato ferts if you dont find anything else).
 
You should be able to get myco and use it when you uppot ... it is def. worth the investment (time and $)

 

[Nightshade]

I would say put them in their own 3 to 5 gallon pot to get good production

 

[dokool]

Thanks all! Just want to restate that I didn't grow these from seeds; the seedlings showed up like this so if they look good it's thanks to the farm (Tongurashi Akutagawa, who I'd highly recommend if you're in Japan and want to try this).
 

It's good that you're not up to any super-complicated growing methods, because,generally speaking the less complicated the better off you are...

New growers tend to over do just about everything lol... Over complicate, over water, over fertilize, over attend, etc...

How big are the rectangular containers they are going to go in?

So far they look great.

 
The leaves on the Thai Chilis (the tallest plants) are drooping quite a bit; just added a bit more water to each or is that normal? Perhaps I should leave them outside but move them into the shade? OH GOD MY BABIES D=
 
these are the planters; they're each about two feet long, 8" wide, and 7" tall.

 

[Arkennon]

I am a newbie myself but the first thing I learned quickly is they do not like to be over watered, and once or twice a day sounds like a lot to me. I am now watering mine every 3 to 5 days depending on how the soil feels. Oh, And welcome to the forum  There are a lot of very knowledgeable people here you will soon learn.

 

[BakersPeppers]

From Land O Lakes Fl!
 
 
Make sure u have a well draining medium and watering isnt such an issue....in fact as they begin to fruit u may not be able to keep those roots wet enough in the right medium.........
 
Just my Dos Pesos
 
Sizzlin' Salutations!,
Dale E. Baker Jr

 

[OhioHeat]

If you can get some deeper pots you'd be better off. My 1st few years of growing have been pots only and the majority of what you have will require something deeper 4-5 gal size.  Most I think will need at least 18"-24"  spacing (or potted by themselves) with the exception of the Thai Hot's but with less restrictions the better.
        You'll need to keep a watchful eye on the pots because they heat up easier and even though you want Hot peppers they themselves don't like hot roots so water daily(maybe 2 days) if you have them stationed on concrete or rocks that generate heat.
   I don't use elaborate soil stuff good ole Miracle Grow potting soil© or the like works good, just don't compress the soil much so the roots can grow freely. ( I had done it myself and when yanking the roots out after the season I noticed they bottomed out about midway down because it was packed too tight)
Keep these basics down and you'll do just fine I think.
 
 
btw....   to THP .... Enjoy !
 
OhioHeat aka Ed

 

[Nightshade]

I would say those planters could fit the two Thais in one container and the two habaneros in one container. But the supers would only fit one plant in that container.

 

[Jetchuka]

Nice pepper variety for a beginner and welcome to the forums!
 
640 mm × 220mm x 180 mm
 
Agreed with OhioHeat, that container is only suitable as a temporary home for three plants. Within a few weeks you'll need to get most of them into something close to standard bucket size (US 5 gallons, but more is always preferable), for their permanent residence.
 
If your mystery pepper is a Capsicum frutescens then you may want to harvest the peppers when they are green going onto yellow color. When they ripen red they tend to go mushy and soft. They are thin fleshed and are excellent when pickled. That plant may turn into a 5 to 8 foot tree with hundreds of pods.
 
Good luck with your new grow, and welcome to a very fun and rewarding hobby. Also wishing your ankle a speedy recovery.

 

[dokool]

Thanks for all the advice, very helpful.
 
Okay, so for now, as a temporary growing environment, how does this look:
 
(T=Thai, N=Naga, H=Habanero, B=Bhut, F=Frutescens]
 
First planter: [T N H]
Second planter: [N H B]
Third planter: [B T F]
 
And then after they've grown a bit (and I have no idea how to judge when the right time to move is),
 
First planter: [T    T]
Second planter: [H      H]
Third planter: [   F?    ]
 
And then put the Ns and Bs into their own pots. Or just get separate pots for all of them. Didn't realize this would be such an expensive hobby >_>
 
Would these work for pots? They hold about 3.5 gallons each and I'm actually having trouble finding any that are larger (or for that matter affordable). Big-scale gardening isn't really a thing in this country...

 

[DasBhut]

From Land O Lakes Fl!
 
 
Make sure u have a well draining medium and watering isnt such an issue....in fact as they begin to fruit u may not be able to keep those roots wet enough in the right medium.........
 
Just my Dos Pesos
 
Sizzlin' Salutations!,
Dale E. Baker Jr

my habanero plant hates water more than 2 days of rain and the bottom leaves start falling off, and it's in a mostly sand mix in the ground

my datils and red bhut sprouts have been underwater for the last few days and are doing fine, so it really depends on the plant

 

[georgej]

Welcome! from tokyo!

Good to know there`s another chilli grower in the city. suprised at that site selling superhots, the market for it doesnt seem so strong.

 

[dokool]

Welcome! from tokyo!

Good to know there`s another chilli grower in the city. suprised at that site selling superhots, the market for it doesnt seem so strong.

 
Another Tokyo user, well I'll be damned! Yeah, it was recommended to me through Reddit and the seedlings came as delivered. A bit worried that this wind we're getting today might be hurting them, but I keep reminding myself that adversity probably makes peppers spicier. I'm in Nakano-ku, what about you?

 

[georgej]

I'm Kawasaki (Takatsu-ku) right by the Tamagawa. juust across the border.
The wind can rip up here. but it's been kind on the plants outside right now (just get them indoors next typhoon eh?)

That site has a real good selection! i was almost gutted that there's live plants available and i had assumed that no one would be doing it (because the Japanese don't deal with spice too well!). But, rearing these plants from seed has been so much fun! I have 25 plants going that i started in January. no garden. but strapped to the side of my balcony

Start a glog so we can keep an eye on what you are up to, eh!? i'm super curious. 
I have a glog if you wanna check it out.

 

anywhere i can help out with products etc (that i have spent many hours trying to find/translate) let me know. i can send you pics of labels, or kanji etc that you can show people at the home centre.. just let me know. I'm not expert yet, but i'm doin pretty well so far.
alot of stuff you need to go to amazon though

 

[USMC]

Welcome! I'm a newbie as well, currently working on my first grow. If it wasn't for the people here my plants works still be drowning in 3"-4" pots. First thing, i believe you're over watering a bit. I did it too. But over watering will stunt the growth and possibly kill the plant. Esse off on watering, the plant will let tippy know when it needs water. It should be roughly 3-5 days. I don't believe you NEED all the crazy soil stuff a lot of these pros use, not yet anyways. I use miracle grow soil, using fish emulsion and miracle grow fertilizer every 2 weeks. But the knowledge here is immense. I have my plants in 5 gal buckets now

 

[ZenPepper]

nice! dont worry too much about peppers they are very easy to grow, Im sure you will do fine. but I would change all the soil that came from Japan because I know for certain Japan is pretty radiated after the nuclear plant incident.

 

[georgej]

nice! dont worry too much about peppers they are very easy to grow, Im sure you will do fine. but I would change all the soil that came from Japan because I know for certain Japan is pretty radiated after the nuclear plant incident.

is that a fact?? lol. *sigh*

Nah we're all good man. that shitstorm was actually tested officially and independantly and we aren't in any danger.
I was living about 100km from fukushima in 2011 and there was no immediate danger.

Doesn't mean they shouldn't wise up and shut down all the reactors on a fault line because we might not get it so easy next time.

 

[dokool]

nice! dont worry too much about peppers they are very easy to grow, Im sure you will do fine. but I would change all the soil that came from Japan because I know for certain Japan is pretty radiated after the nuclear plant incident.

 
There's always the one asshole 
 

I'm Kawasaki (Takatsu-ku) right by the Tamagawa. juust across the border.
The wind can rip up here. but it's been kind on the plants outside right now (just get them indoors next typhoon eh?)

That site has a real good selection! i was almost gutted that there's live plants available and i had assumed that no one would be doing it (because the Japanese don't deal with spice too well!). But, rearing these plants from seed has been so much fun! I have 25 plants going that i started in January. no garden. but strapped to the side of my balcony

Start a glog so we can keep an eye on what you are up to, eh!? i'm super curious. 
I have a glog if you wanna check it out.

 

anywhere i can help out with products etc (that i have spent many hours trying to find/translate) let me know. i can send you pics of labels, or kanji etc that you can show people at the home centre.. just let me know. I'm not expert yet, but i'm doin pretty well so far.
alot of stuff you need to go to amazon though

 
 
Very appreciated, thank you. I've just started PT so I'm not in a position to go to a home center and carry back stuff so if you can shoot me some Amazon links it'd be perfect, especially if there's any big pots that you recommend because my searches for 鉢プラ were mixed at best. Also need a good soil, preferably in economically-priced bags... good thing shipping's cheap, eh?