pics Newbie here with my setup pics and some ?'s

[berninga87]

Hey all, I'm fairly new to gardening as a whole and very new to serious hot pepper growing. My main goal for this year is to really get my feet wet and gain some confidence in myself with growing. Currently I've got a few different things going on that I'm sort of experimenting with. Ok so I just realized I dont know how to post pictures here. If someone would help me out that'd b awesome!
Anyways, what I have is three habaneros I bought as plants. I have two in planters I made from ice cream buckets and one in a bigger one (3 or 4 gallon I think). Also I have a 72 count starting tray that I started seeds in. I followed the directions with the tray to the letter and have had pretty good luck so far I think. I've got about 55 sprouted and all but a few are over 2 inches tall now. In the planter I have serrano, cayenne, red and orange habs. They get sunlight whenever the weather will allow, as it hasn't been great here lately, and I live in a somewhat crowded house so sun time inside is difficult as well.
To offset the lack of sunlight until I can safely put them outside full time for the summer, I bought 3 "lights of america" fluorescent grow lights. I was very skeptical on these mostly because they are cheap, but they had pretty good reviews, and after getting them set up the plants really perked up and their color has improved. I'm not getting the kind of growth I do from true sunlight, but they are growing under these lights. All plants are roughly 6 inches from lights. They will be all going outside as soon as I can trust the weather, because it's still getting into the 30s at night here. Now I realize the lights I have are not the best, but the price was right. My plan for them is to keep my plants healthy until they can go outside, at which time I may return them and look into better options for overwintering if I can get some strong, healthy plants over the summer. I should also mention I have everything in my basement currently, It's the only space I have, so if anyone can help me out with problems I may encounter there, that'd b great.
For soil, I have noticed a very wide variety of options that different growers swear by, and I picked a mixture that worked for my knowledge and budget. I used a 5/1/1 mix of orchid bark potting mix/perlite/and potting soil. This mix seems to drain well and I have holes in the bottom of the planters with some river rock under the soil just to help keep water from sitting in the bottom. The orchid bark and perlite were both MG brand and are supposed to have plant food in them. Do I need to add a fertilizer? If yes, what is recommended and where can I get it?
Please let me know what you think I'm doing right and what I need to change. I will post pictures us as soon as I figure out how, so if someone can help me with that please send a PM.
Thanks!

 

[Mezo]

Ok so I just realized I dont know how to post pictures here. If someone would help me out that'd b awesome!

Well if its like my own forum & many others out there you don't actually upload pictures to this website, rather you host them offsite & then link your images to your post, this is done simply to take load of the host sever & so it saves money.

Mezo.

 

[berninga87]

Well if its like my own forum & many others out there you don't actually upload pictures to this website, rather you host them offsite & then link your images to your post, this is done simply to take load of the host sever & so it saves money.

Mezo.

Could you tell me how to do this? the other sites i've been on I could just upload from my files on my computer

 

[MGOLD86]

Go to photobucket.com, get account, upload photo, click the IMG code, paste in the text area. BAM! Photos a plenty!

Can't wait to see em!

 

[3/5King]

Ey Ba87, upload any pictures you want to put on THP to a image hosting website like Photobucket or Imglur. (Both Free) Then once you have them uploaded, you just click on the link, copy it and past it into your comment box. This will display the image in your comment once it is posted.

It will look something like this before you post it [IMG]peppers13566[IMG]. Then it will show up as the picture after posting.

Secondly, if your lights are weak and cheap like you say, you should put them as close to the plants as you can get them. If they are just normal fluorescent lights then you can have them almost touching the plants, this will help.

As for the potting mix having fertz in them. They do but normally will only last a little while and then you will have to add something. If you don't have a lot of money, there is a guy in Wadsworth, Illinois (If that is at all close to you) Giving away free compost. (It's right over the boarder of Illinois) [url="http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwc/zip/2953423565.html"]http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwc/zip/2953423565.html[/url]

Good Luck

 

[berninga87]

Thanks for the help guys! I dont know how I got away with not using photobucket this long, just created my account and loaded pics so here we go.

On the left is the tray with the 4 different kinds of peppers, then the habaneros in the middle and on the right. The one in the front/middle is just two more hab plants in the plastic container they came in. My plan for these is to plant them in a couple locations around the house to experiment with. The only thing different about this set up now is that I lowered the lights to just a couple inches above the plants going on advice from 3/5King. The lights say "grow light" on the packaging, and the packaging also claims 17 watts usage with 75 watt light output, if thats even true idk, but based on 75W output are my lights ok that close?

I really wasn't thinking to hard when I planted these, because I didn't label anything. To the best of my knowledge, the left 3 rows are cayenne, middle left 3 are serrano, middle right 3 are orange hab, and right 3 red hab. Something interesting I noticed is that the serranos and cayennes popped up quickly, while the habs(red especially) really took their time, and I think I only have about 10 of the 18 reds sprouted. The ones I did get to sprout seem to be doing quite well, and really shoot up any time I can get them out in the sun.
Take a look and tell me what you think! Just a fun fact, I built the entire structure from a walmart futon frame that I didn't use anymore, and the lights are held up with shoestrings(makes for easy adjustment!). Maybe I should post this in the ghetto set up section! And no I don't have a lot of money(in my opinion haha) but I don't mind dishing out a little more for a good fertilizer. I went cheap with the lights because they are only temporary until I can move everything outside for the summer and they will at least keep the plants alive for the time being. I plan to invest in some better equipment this fall if I get some plants I want to over-winter. If anyone can refer me to some good fertilizers/plant foods and where to get them it would be appreciated! Also, if anyone would like more pics of anything just let me know.

 

[HwyBill]

Where in SW Wisconsin? I am in Chicago, and I know 3/5th is even closer than I am, so you definately have some good local support.

Congratulations on getting them all to germinate so well, but they look like what is called as "leggy." Bascially that means their intial stems are reaching up too far trying to reach the light. You should move the lights closer to them to prevent this.. the stems might not be strong enough to hold them up once they get this long.

That first set of leaves, which you are showing on many of them, are the ones that pop up on the seedlings and are called cotyledons.. they are leaves which help the plant sustain itself until it gets what is known as "true leaves." The true leaves are the leaves that will actually look like the leaves of the mature plant, can photosynthesize, etc., and once they sprout true leaves the plants will be much more stable and hearty (i.e. difficult to f**k up).

The good news is, pepper plants are super robust, and as long as you are sensitive to their needs and don't try to intentionally sabotage them they will probably be alright.

You should consider moving those really "leggy" ones into a larger container (cup, pot, bucket) before they fall over. Bury them in soil to just below the cotyledons and let them go (this will eliminate the "legginess..." all of that extra stem will sprout roots).

You should be looking for all those sproutlings to begin expressing a second set of leaves. They will look different than these cotylendons you are showing. These will be their first "true leaves," and mean the plants are going good and growing well.

You can see this on the larger plants you have that are not in the tray.

 

[LGHT]

Glad you found the form and got the pics posted up.


The lights you have are fine for seedlings, but you should try and point the light down directly onto the plants and not across them. Since they are flourescent they shouldn't put off too much heat and burn the plants so you should be able to get them pretty close to the plant. The containers are fine since they are still growing, but I've learned that the larger the container the better so I typically try and dedicate at least 15 gallons per plant. It's funny because my first year I had 2-3 seeds in each cell of the 72 jiffy container and ended up with 120 plus plants. The sad part is I got twice as many peppers from only 20 plants I grew last year than all the 120 plants combined and I ended up doing a LOT less work.

As far as your soil I also tried Mircle Grow my first year and the plants showed signs of too much fertilizer when young and didn't get enough when they where full grown. Since then I tried several different ways and realized that it's best to have total control of what your plant gets and how much of what it gets. This allows you to give you plant WHAT it needs and more importantly WHEN it needs it. As a result I only foliar feed my plants as scientific research has shown it to be a lot more effective as the plant intakes the nutes 60% faster and you never end up with fert build up in the soil or even worse wasting money because 90% of your fert gets washed right throw the soil when you water. This type of setup allows me to get it nitrogen / potassium focused feeding when the plants are young and switch over to a more focused phosphorus feeding when they plants are fruiting.

On a side note now that your a THP chilli head pm me and I may be able to help you out with your previous request on SMF.

 

[HwyBill]

LGHT: Could you give a little more information on your use of fert and nutes?

When? What? How much? How applied? What brand? Etc...

 

[Sawdust]

Hey B87, your grow looks good and all of the above input from my friends is very solid, there are some good knowledgable peeps here on this forum. Yea you can definitely push those lights closer to the leaves, I had some Tepins this over-winter within a half an inch of the bulbs and they loved it and the tops soaked it up but even then they still got leggy below. I had to move the lights up an inch every day cause they would just hug the bulbs. It seems a lot of your light is being wasted or absorbed by dark, I know it sounds redneck but I am one so here goes couldn't you temporarily lay some sheets of aluminum foil across the backs of those three lights and lit a little bit over hang on the ends at a 30 degree angle? I dunno just wondering... You know to kind of focus, maximize, and reflect that light which you pay the electric company dearly for :} Or white sheets or plastic around the perimeter of the plants...
Just a thought..
Looks good and Thanx for the post..

ps: I use the orchid soil myself for the same reasons, it just takes getting used to but once you are it works well..

 

[HwyBill]

Good call Sawdust.

Get some aluminum foil and make a little enclosure for the plants so all of the escaping light is reflected back unto them.

 

[berninga87]

Where in SW Wisconsin? I am in Chicago, and I know 3/5th is even closer than I am, so you definately have some good local support.

Congratulations on getting them all to germinate so well, but they look like what is called as "leggy." Bascially that means their intial stems are reaching up too far trying to reach the light. You should move the lights closer to them to prevent this.. the stems might not be strong enough to hold them up once they get this long.

I'm about as far as SW Wisconsin goes, 10 miles from IA and 3 from IL. I have moved the lights closer, and many of them do have a second set of leave coming in.

LGHT: Could you give a little more information on your use of fert and nutes?

When? What? How much? How applied? What brand? Etc...

X2 LGHT

Hey B87, your grow looks good and all of the above input from my friends is very solid, there are some good knowledgable peeps here on this forum. Yea you can definitely push those lights closer to the leaves, I had some Tepins this over-winter within a half an inch of the bulbs and they loved it and the tops soaked it up but even then they still got leggy below. I had to move the lights up an inch every day cause they would just hug the bulbs. It seems a lot of your light is being wasted or absorbed by dark, I know it sounds redneck but I am one so here goes couldn't you temporarily lay some sheets of aluminum foil across the backs of those three lights and lit a little bit over hang on the ends at a 30 degree angle? I dunno just wondering... You know to kind of focus, maximize, and reflect that light which you pay the electric company dearly for :} Or white sheets or plastic around the perimeter of the plants...
Just a thought..
Looks good and Thanx for the post..

ps: I use the orchid soil myself for the same reasons, it just takes getting used to but once you are it works well..

That sounds like a good idea! I thought building this thing out of a futon frame was redneck haha, so some aluminum foil cant hurt. thanks for the idea!

Glad you found the form and got the pics posted up.


The lights you have are fine for seedlings, but you should try and point the light down directly onto the plants and not across them. Since they are flourescent they shouldn't put off too much heat and burn the plants so you should be able to get them pretty close to the plant. The containers are fine since they are still growing, but I've learned that the larger the container the better so I typically try and dedicate at least 15 gallons per plant. It's funny because my first year I had 2-3 seeds in each cell of the 72 jiffy container and ended up with 120 plus plants. The sad part is I got twice as many peppers from only 20 plants I grew last year than all the 120 plants combined and I ended up doing a LOT less work.


On a side note now that your a THP chilli head pm me and I may be able to help you out with your previous request on SMF.

Good call, Less is always more right?

Another question I had about fertilizer/plant food. I've read other places about ratios in the fertilizer. Some prefer it one way with high or low PH until they are more established and then switch it around, others say that equal numbers are best (8-8-8 or 10-10-10). Well at the garden centers I've visited they have a wide variety of things to choose from, and the only one I found with equal #'s was a 13-13-13. I would think maybe I could use this but just go easy since the concentrations are slightly higher? Some other things I saw that people use are fish emulsions, which I haven't found in a store yet, or grass clippings from an untreated lawn. I'd like to keep things relatively simple this time around, I don't need my plants to be popping out peppers at me like a whack-a-mole game, but I do want them to produce something and be fairly healthy. Opinions? Results? Thanks!

 

[LGHT]

LGHT: Could you give a little more information on your use of fert and nutes?

When? What? How much? How applied? What brand? Etc...

GH Flora Series with the addition of nitrozime. I foliar feed them nutes bi-weekly until peek growth and then feed them bloom weekly. In addition I also foliar feed them a dose of worm tea bi-weekly and of course add other macro nutes and epsom salts as needed.

To increase the intake of the nutes via foliar feeding I use a wetting agents from Dutch Masters called "Liquid Light" and "Gold Saturator". You can find info on the fets from the GH website here http://generalhydroponics.com/site/index.php/products/nutrients/flora_series/ For info on foliar feeding and wetting agents check out dutch masters website at http://www.dutchmaster.com.au

Here are pics of the products.

 

[LGHT]

Another question I had about fertilizer/plant food. I've read other places about ratios in the fertilizer. Some prefer it one way with high or low PH until they are more established and then switch it around, others say that equal numbers are best (8-8-8 or 10-10-10). Well at the garden centers I've visited they have a wide variety of things to choose from, and the only one I found with equal #'s was a 13-13-13. I would think maybe I could use this but just go easy since the concentrations are slightly higher?

It depends on what type of feeding you do and how often you feed. I have found that if you feed via soil you will need a LOT higher ratio like 10-10-10 because most of the fert isn't taken in by the plant directly and is simply washed through the soil down the drain. If you notice the ratio's on the GH products they are a lot lower because foliar feeding is a lot more efficient and allows the plants to intake a LOT more nutes a lot faster so you really don't need that high of a concentrate.

 

[berninga87]

It depends on what type of feeding you do and how often you feed. I have found that if you feed via soil you will need a LOT higher ratio like 10-10-10 because most of the fert isn't taken in by the plant directly and is simply washed through the soil down the drain. If you notice the ratio's on the GH products they are a lot lower because foliar feeding is a lot more efficient and allows the plants to intake a LOT more nutes a lot faster so you really don't need that high of a concentrate.

Thanks for breaking that down for me. I just looked up what foliar feeding is and what you were talking about before makes a lot more sense now. I think I may go and pick up some of the 13-13-13 and see how it does. I did see some ferts that came pellet form though, that were supposed to be worked into the soil. I don't think I'm ready to try the foliar feeding yet, but I will read up on it and possibly make the switch eventually.

 

[berninga87]

Well I picked up a fertilizer tonight. Here is a like to it on amazon http://www.amazon.com/Easy-Gardener-09521-All-Purpose-Fertilizer/dp/B007BUY8VE/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1334802825&sr=8-6 Its Jobe's all purpose organic. It's a 4-4-4 and it got pretty good reviews in the research I did, so we'll see how it works

 

[Sawdust]

I am glad you picked a lower concentration because I was concerned about the potential for leaf edge burn and excess residue buildup in the soil and containers. I quit using 10-10-10's (+ or -) and such a long time ago and now I use diluted fish fertz on some (it really makes my leaves wide and dark green) and I also have the three part GH series posted above me by Lght, I am experimenting with hydro on some plants just getting my feet wet and learning a lil more every day thanx to the great peeps on this forum.

Be Well and Good Growing Bro..

Frank

GH Flora Series with the addition of nitrozime. I foliar feed them nutes bi-weekly until peek growth and then feed them bloom weekly. In addition I also foliar feed them a dose of worm tea bi-weekly and of course add other macro nutes and epsom salts as needed.

To increase the intake of the nutes via foliar feeding I use a wetting agents from Dutch Masters called "Liquid Light" and "Gold Saturator". You can find info on the fets from the GH website here http://generalhydrop...s/flora_series/ For info on foliar feeding and wetting agents check out dutch masters website at http://www.dutchmaster.com.au

Good info for me too! LGHT Thanx a bunch for the post

 

[LGHT]

With ferts I found from trial and error that it's best to use a weaker mix more often then a stronger mix less often. Keep in mind that peppers need certain types of ferts at certain times. That's why I wouldn't suggest dry pellet ferts or miracle grow ferts at all mainly because you have no clue how much of what the plant is getting.

When peppers are young and growing leaves you want to provide them with more Nitrogen and potassium. Then when it's blooming and producing fruit you want to cut back on the nitrogen and really increase the Phosphorus.

That's why it's good to have 3 different bottles with different NPK raitings and add a little of this and more of that depending on the growth stage of the plant.

If you look at the GH Flora Series simple recirculating feeding chart you will notice that they start off with 10ml of flora grow and 2ml of flora bloom once the plant is a couple of weeks old. Then it's just the opposite in mid bloom as they suggest 2ml of grow and 10ml of bloom. During peak growth they increase it to 12ml of bloom and 2.5ml of grow.

Here is the flora series Recirculating chart. (you can find other feeding schedules on their website)

http://generalhydroponics.com/site/gh/docs/feeding_sched/GH-FloraSeries-REC-Charts.pdf

I started off the first couple of years feeding with fish ferts, and other dry ferts that I added to water, but after hours upon hours of research and lots of testing and suggesting from master growers I moved over to foliar feeding.

There isn't really a right or wrong way to grow peppers so it's not for everyone, but since my goal is to get the most fruit possible from a limited amount of plants I'm trying different things to increase my Maximum Yield.

 

[berninga87]

thanks guys, after some thinking and looking around more I decided on the tried and true "less is more" because I can always add more if the plant seems malnourished, and I think I'll start looking for something a little more phosphorous rich to use when they do start producing. So far everything is looking pretty healthy, I just have to keep reminding myself not to over water.

 

[mrz1988]

Just remember that babies don't need much ferts at all, wait for a few sets of leaves!