PaulG 2014

capsidadburn · Dec 16, 2013

Paul, Great looking start! Love the Tepin sculptured look. It reminds me that I need to check on mine which I generally leave outside. Wonderful detail and controlled data. I have drifted away from such documentation but I love and admire it for sure.

Best of luck to you in 2014!
Mike

PaulG · Dec 16, 2013

HillBilly Jeff said:
Kewl looking little 18 packs you got there. Now you just need one tray per variety

That's the ticket! And a 20x40 greenhouse!

I could live with that!

wildseed57 said:
I should have a fairly large amount to grow this coming year I have some near stable crosses that I want to grow again along with some others like the Savannah, and Jay's peach and red ghost scorpion along with the Infinity which looked much like my Barrackpore only bigger and some different types of the Ghost peppers. I got two pods with no seeds in them of the Moruga Blend that Chris has been growing (CMPman1974) really very hot!!, made my mouth hurt for some time, I have it over wintering and plan to grow some more from seeds, with all of them I'm looking around for some different wilds I have several chiltepins that I plan to grow and have some overwintering and I'm going to be growing a bunch of sweet peppers So I will have my hands full. I'm hoping I have better luck with my tomatoes and eggplants both was a washout last year as I spent the spring and early summer in the hospital which was really a bummer, but pulled through it all but I was unable to put out the cash I needed for insect control as all my cash went into gas and to the doctors and to the hospitals which I had to drive back and fourth to. Well enough of that sorry for being long winded, I'll pop in as much as I can to see how you are doing best wishes for your Christmas Holidays and New Year.

Yeah, I remember the travails you went through early in the season.
Glad you are on the mend.

You have a very interesting plan there; sounds like a great grow.
I'll try to keep up with ya!

You and your family have a nice Christmas, too, my friend!

capsidadburn said:
Paul, Great looking start! Love the Tepin sculptured look. It reminds me that I need to check on mine which I generally leave outside. Wonderful detail and controlled data. I have drifted away from such documentation but I love and admire it for sure.

Best of luck to you in 2014!
Mike

Hey, Mike, thanks for the well wishes. Cool that you can leave peppers outside!

I'll probably get tired of the data stuff, too, but for now it helps to know just what
the plants can produce so I can have something other than memory when I choose
what to grow later!

Have a great season, yourself, MIke. And a nice Christmas!

Devv · Dec 16, 2013

Those 18 packs should serve you well!

Paul I cut some of the top off the pellets, on I pot I remove the fabric.

Have a great week!

PaulG · Dec 16, 2013

Here's a look at a tray of Jiffy plugs all loosened up and fluffed up as per
Jason's instructions. It seems iike they should work very well:

Here's the germination set-up. Will take some tweaking to get the temp right. Have already put the cover on the heating pad:

PaulG · Dec 16, 2013

Devv said:
Those 18 packs should serve you well!

Paul I cut some of the top off the pellets, on I pot I remove the fabric.

Have a great week!

Interesting, Scott - why do you cut off the tops?

If these Jiffys work well for me, I may try the 18-pack.
Otherwise, back to the cell packs with seedling mix.

chilli whisperer · Dec 16, 2013

Nice start-up Paul

I'm following this glog for sure!

PaulG · Dec 16, 2013

chilli whisperer said:
Nice start-up Paul I'm following this glog for sure!

Thanks, CW - glad to have you on board!
Good luck with your own grow; it's off to a good start!

Jeff H · Dec 16, 2013

Looking good Paul.

Interesting approach with the peat pellets. I bet it helps them from getting too compacted.

Sawyer · Dec 16, 2013

Looking good in here, Paul. Watching all you guys, I don't think I'm going to be able to hold out until the 1st to start mine.

PaulG said:
The foam core board is a great material, really lightweight and has some decent R value.

I really like using the foam core board. It's easy to work with and it's not terribly expensive, either.

PaulG · Dec 17, 2013

Jeff H said:
Looking good Paul.

Interesting approach with the peat pellets. I bet it helps them from getting too compacted.

Thanks to Jason, GaGHead, for the good idea. Really makes sense. It is definitely worth a try!

Sawyer said:
Looking good in here, Paul. Watching all you guys, I don't think I'm going to be able to hold out until the 1st to start mine.
I just wanted to try to avoid the late-season-hurry-up-and-ripen blues next season
We'll see if a two week earlier start makes any difference; they have to germinate, first!
I really like using the foam core board. It's easy to work with and it's not terribly expensive, either.

I'm with you, John. It ranks right up there with duct tape and steel wire!

wildseed57 · Dec 17, 2013

On the Jiffy plugs I would spray them with 1-3 hydrogen peroxide mix every other week or so to kill out any mold or mildew that might show up. Are you going to give your overwintering plants some heat or just go with the room temp from the T5's, My T8' fixture give off some heat but I might get a small heater, to warm things up some and hook up a fan just to keep the air around the plants moving.
Right now I'm having problems with aphids I have been using a insect soap spray with neem in it, but they keep coming back for more so I might have to break out the big gun and and dust them with pepper powder and Diotam. Earth and see if that will kill them out.
If the weather warms up some more I plan to take a trip up to Bakers creek Heirloom seeds and pick up a few things the first of the month as I need to get some tomato and eggplant seeds, they have a OP eggplant that is resistant to flea beetles, so I hope that It true at any rate it will get a good work out at my place. the worse bugs that I have is flea beetles and spider mites, after that the squash and stink bugs pretty much eat everything else unless I can keep them dusted With D.E, BT, and a small amount of seven dust when they get real bad.

maximumcapsicum · Dec 17, 2013

Lookin good Paul! I was going to go with seedling mix and cells too but may try the peat pellets again this year. Time will tell, still go a a couple of weeks to decide!

Jamison · Dec 17, 2013

Givin er hell eh buddy! Never had any experience with peat pellets, but have used lots of coco pellets. Jason has really good luck with em and I see you took his advice. Interested to see how you do.

PaulG · Dec 17, 2013

wildseed57 said:
On the Jiffy plugs I would spray them with 1-3 hydrogen peroxide mix every other week or so to kill out any mold or mildew that might show up. Are you going to give your overwintering plants some heat or just go with the room temp from the T5's, My T8' fixture give off some heat but I might get a small heater, to warm things up some and hook up a fan just to keep the air around the plants moving. The Tepins are in the grow shelf for now. That's where the whole August plants started. The others are in the greenhouse for the winter. I have a space heater in the greenhouse, and a shop light with 2x4' 6500K T12s just to augment the winter daylight. O got the heater at Home Depot three seasons ago for $12.95. It's a Patton, and the only one they had made out of metal. All the rest were plastic. My Montana-raised buddy said it was the kind of heater they put i hen houses during the winter. My night temps hover around low 50's and in the day it hits the 60's, and on a sunny winter afternoon, can get to 75. Most of the plants seem to be doing okay in this environment.
Right now I'm having problems with aphids I have been using a insect soap spray with neem in it, but they keep coming back for more so I might have to break out the big gun and and dust them with pepper powder and Diotam. Earth and see if that will kill them out. I fight aphids constantly in the greenhouse. I have been using NEEM, but have switched to Sucrasheild, also an OMRI listed furmuaition. The little suckers like the bunches of new growth coming out on the OW's/ the up side is there is so little vegetation on the stalks, that it's easy to spray the little bunches of green and kill the aphids! I think I'll alternate with Neem and Sucrasheild to try to prevent resistance on the art of the aphids.
If the weather warms up some more I plan to take a trip up to Bakers creek Heirloom seeds and pick up a few things the first of the month as I need to get some tomato and eggplant seeds, they have a OP eggplant that is resistant to flea beetles, so I hope that It true at any rate it will get a good work out at my place. the worse bugs that I have is flea beetles and spider mites, after that the squash and stink bugs pretty much eat everything else unless I can keep them dusted With D.E, BT, and a small amount of seven dust when they get real bad.

Man, I don't envy the bug situation you have there. Mostly aphids and some borers here, and late summer finds a few shield bugs hanging out, but by then, the season is waning. Good luck with the Eggplant and Tomatoes, and with your grow in general, WS!

maximumcapsicum said:
Lookin good Paul! I was going to go with seedling mix and cells too but may try the peat pellets again this year. Time will tell, still go a a couple of weeks to decide!

I really don't know what to say. I'm using the pellets and trays because I had acquired them a while back. I'm not sold on 'em totally, but maybe by following Jason's advice, I'll have better luck with them. By the time one does the breaking up and fluffing up, it's just as easy to use straight seedling mix. I use the Black Gold brand, and found it very satisfactory. Time will tell.

Good luck getting your list finalized and your grow under way, MaxCap!

Jamison said:
Givin er hell eh buddy! Never had any experience with peat pellets, but have used lots of coco pellets. Jason has really good luck with em and I see you took his advice. Interested to see how you do.

Hey, Jamison, good to see you here, my friend! You had quite a
season last time with the move and all, but still had some good
success! Way to go, buddy!

Good luck with your own 2014 grow!

slade122 · Dec 17, 2013

Good luck growing paul!

I have not had great luck with jiffy pellets in the past. I purchased one or two packs with little success in germination.

Ever since I started with hydroponics, Rockwool has been my go to for sprouting. Light weight material makes it really easy to tell when the cube is wet and holding a lot of water. They also seem to have more predictable drying times, and always dry out more evenly than my experience with soil, coco, etc. Rapid rooter plugs work well too, but they feel more airy and dry out more quickly.

PaulG · Dec 17, 2013

slade122 said:
Good luck growing paul!

I have not had great luck with jiffy pellets in the past. I purchased one or two packs with little success in germination.

Ever since I started with hydroponics, Rockwool has been my go to for sprouting. Light weight material makes it really easy to tell when the cube is wet and holding a lot of water. They also seem to have more predictable drying times, and always dry out more evenly than my experience with soil, coco, etc. Rapid rooter plugs work well too, but they feel more airy and dry out more quickly.

I've seen those on the forum; they look interesting. I know the pellets should work.
Cell-packs with peat is pretty straightforward, but the rockwool looks really easy.
Maybe I'll give them a go next year.

Take it easy, buddy - good luck with your grow!

Jeff H · Dec 17, 2013

PaulG said:
I've seen those on the forum; they look interesting. I know the pellets should work.
Cell-packs with peat is pretty straightforward, but the rockwool looks really easy.
Maybe I'll give them a go next year.

Take it easy, buddy - good luck with your grow!

rockwool is reeeeeeeeeeeel easy. I've used several different methods in the past. I think rockwool is my favorite.

Devv · Dec 17, 2013

PaulG said:
Interesting, Scott - why do you cut off the tops?

If these Jiffys work well for me, I may try the 18-pack.
Otherwise, back to the cell packs with seedling mix.

I should have been more specific, the top of the material, just like you did in the above pic.

PaulG · Dec 17, 2013

Okay, Now I get it!

capsidadburn · Dec 17, 2013

Paul, Looking good on the tips from Jason about peat pucks. I did not use them a whole lot but those are very sensible ideas and great results I suspect. I like to use Rockwool for the tougher germing wilds. I suppose paper towel or coffee filter is the same benefit though.

Keep it green!

Mike