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Next to My Chair

Been thinking about it.. pretty sure I'm growing peppers because I'm bored.  Like, deeply, existentially bored.  Plus, a little harmless pain never hurt anybody, right?  Hell, it's probably even good for you.  We'll see if those are good enough reasons, I guess.  I bought me some "Scotch Bonnet Orange" seeds from Amazon before I found you fine folk, lurked around here for a while, then planted them anyway along with other, infinitely less suspect seeds I ordered from far flung places around the globe(!) as recommended by the very venerable Vendor Vault.  I've got them growing here by my chair.  I sit here and read. (The wall to my right as I took this picture is lined with bookshelves I'm slowing filling as I try to forget the world each afternoon.  Mostly scifi the last few years.)  It would be distracting to have a big boxy tent looming over me, so I've just got them sitting there on a cardboard box.  I hope to replace the box with a little table here soon.
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My rig consists of something like a quarter of the full Amazon Indoor Garden of Tomorrow-orrow-orrow-orrow ®.  This LED light I got is something else, man.  It's REALLY bright!  Paper towel germination, used a few Jiffy pellets, stuck some seeds straight in some old Miracle Grow I had, kept them in the Jiffy box there until they sprouted.  I'm glad to be rid of that Jiffy dome now; it was a pain in the ass.  Ahh.. let's see.. I'm mixing CNS17 Grow into RO/DI water, testing and adjusting up with GH pH kit, pouring it over my little darlings there in about 3:1 coco:perlite.  Just culled and potted up today to 3.5 inches.  All seems to be going well except for some slight canoeing of leaves, which I'm ready to blame on the 24% humidity (We wake up half mummified in the winter.  I know - grow tent.) and a few early spills on my rug.  Trying to keep it simple and not drive myself crazier futzing with dozens of parameters here, so I'm not going to sweat it unless things turn worse.  I'm not!  Worry verges on religion with me, so this will either be therapeutic or turn out to have been a bad idea.. 
Any and all comments or criticisms are very welcome and I thank you all most warmly for having me and schooling me and reading my noodlings! 
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Good deal on the cuttings!  Are they Cayenne?  Hard to remember when they so take their damn sweet time about rooting.
 
I'm still waiting on my last batch and hoping for roots to show from drain holes - now at 5 weeks.
 
EDIT - I'd buy plain, not peppermint.  May not make a difference, but I figure plain is a safer bet.
 
Topped up the reservoirs under P. Dreadie 1 (had an incident with him today), P. Dreadie 2, and cappuccino this afternoon.

Also got the Lemon Drop garbage can filled and fitted with its cage. Still need to mix in nutrients, adjust pH, cut the hole in the lid, and move the plant. He took the 92° and high humidity today like a tall, stringy badass.

Came home to find P. Dreadie 1 flopped over on his bucket and wilted all to hell. The cage let go of the bucket lid in the wind. The plant recovered nicely, no serious damage.
Seems I'm going to abandon the rain cloaks, so I'll go back to cable ties to fasten the cages to the lids.
 
Uncle_Eccoli said:
The aphids have arrived. I squished several on the bucket cayenne this morning.
 
This stuff okay? Peppermint? Or should I buy the plain version? 
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Hey E. Did you end up going with the peppermint castile and have you applied any to your plants? 
 
I may be doing a little spraying and thought I'd pick up castile instead of using regular dish soap as I've done in the past. Trouble is everything is scented or has tea tree or aloe in it or, if unscented, is the baby-light sensitive mix or has some other shenanigans going on. Peppermint or lavender are now looking like the lesser adulterated versions except for the baby-safe stuff which isn't available locally - plus I'm not lookin' to baby the bastards.
 
Any intel for me?
 
CaneDog said:
 
Hey E. Did you end up going with the peppermint castile and have you applied any to your plants? 
 
I may be doing a little spraying and thought I'd pick up castile instead of using regular dish soap as I've done in the past. Trouble is everything is scented or has tea tree or aloe in it or, if unscented, is the baby-light sensitive mix or has some other shenanigans going on. Peppermint or lavender are now looking like the lesser adulterated versions except for the baby-safe stuff which isn't available locally - plus I'm not lookin' to baby the bastards.
 
Any intel for me?
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Baby Unscented was the plainest flavor I could find, but I ended up using the peppermint after reading online about folks having used it to no ill effect. I think one guy even said he prefers the peppermint version.

I mixed it all up, went to go spray, and opened the door to find it raining as steadily as unexpectedly. Haven't been home in a suitable duskiness since. Did get the lemon drop into the garbage can today, though. Will post photo tomorrow.
 
Edit: Yikes, just saw your horror shots.  Hose 'em down good. 
 
Thanks man.  I quickly sprayed off (with water) just that one flower before I had to run, then a few hours later I inspected the plant thoroughly and after that just about every single plant on my deck.  Turned leaves over, opened the new growth areas, etc.  Did not find one single aphid or any sign of honeydew.  Still, I'll likely spray at least that plant, plus I just talked to a friend who has aphids really bad on a couple of her plants so I may need to spray those too. Guess I'll go with the peppermint.  My local QFC has their generic 32oz on sale for $9.
 
I think that lemon drop will grow into an absolute beast in that big can.  I sure hope you like the pods because there'll be no shortage.
 
Uncle_Eccoli said:
Baby Unscented was the plainest flavor I could find, but I ended up using the peppermint after reading online about folks having used it to no ill effect. I think one guy even said he prefers the peppermint version.

I mixed it all up, went to go spray, and opened the door to find it raining as steadily as unexpectedly. Haven't been home in a suitable duskiness since. Did get the lemon drop into the garbage can today, though. Will post photo tomorrow.
 
Edit: Yikes, just saw your horror shots.  Hose 'em down good. 
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Hey Unc, what's the dose of soap per gallon of agua for spraying? What's it good for besides killing aphids? Could it be useful for worms to give the BT and Spinosad a day off?
 
I've never seen an aphid but I'm looking to lay in additional general purpose non-toxic pest remedies.
 
Ya, I saw your horror shots too CD.
 
 
I heard four or five drops somewhere on the GoogleToob, but I overshot that accidentally. I probably got something like half a teaspoon in there. 
 
Doubt you'd hurt anything.  The stuff is supposed to act as a foliar fertilizer. Maybe that's hokum, dunno, but the bottle I got reads, "Organic Leaf Polish."  A good fer what ails ye sort of deal. But you know, sometimes those things work. Sometimes. Anyway, it's held to repel or kill aphids, whiteflies, snails, nematodes, mealybugs, cabbage worms, gnats, moths, roaches, flies, termites, mosquitoes, and scale; so sayeth the Oracle. 
 
I hope it works for you.  The shot you posted of that big creep eating your poor mater can't be unseen.
 
Thanks Unc. I can't find where it would do any good on caterpillars but I'm laying in a quart to have it on hand. The cheapest way I found to get the peppermint version was order it in to the wally store so I can pick it up the next time we go to town.
 
The mixing info is all over the map. I've seen up to 5 Tbs per gallon and 5 Tsp per quart. All of these dosing recommendations come with a stern warning about burning up your plants. Imagine that.
 
I figured out where the wormy bastards are coming from. They're eating up the poke salad weeds with the help some sort of weevil looking bugs. I need a flame thrower but a good spray with my outlaw dursban ought to work. Then I'll hack them down with a machete and take them to a burnpile  :flamethrower:
 
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DWB said:
Thanks Unc. I can't find where it would do any good on caterpillars but I'm laying in a quart to have it on hand. The cheapest way I found to get the peppermint version was order it in to the wally store so I can pick it up the next time we go to town.
 
The mixing info is all over the map. I've seen up to 5 Tbs per gallon and 5 Tsp per quart. All of these dosing recommendations come with a stern warning about burning up your plants. Imagine that.
 
   :flamethrower:
 
 
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QFC/Kroger has their brand on sale in the local stores right now so I picked that up. Not sure about the right mix amount. I think Castile is less harmful for the plants (burning) because of missing ingredients (certain degreasers is my understanding), but I also think it's supposed to be a more concentrated soap too.  With the normal dish soaps I've used in the past I don't remember using concentrations as high as I read about in many of the webpages now. Long story short is I'm unsure of what concentration I'll use, but it'll be less than 5 tsp / quart that's for sure.
 
 
I'm concerned about the large plant next to my chair.  I replaced its nutrients the other day and found the root ball has grown to fill the reservoir.  It wasn't easy to retrieve the air stone from the cylinder of root mass.  The obvious thing to do would be replace the 5-gallon bucket with a larger container, but I'm not sure that's smart.  The thing is already gigantic.  I'd hate to hack it back, though..  Thoughts?  Advice? 
 
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