Phadrus on Fire in 2010

[Phadrus On Fire]

Hey all! Just wanted to post on my progress thus far this season, share my experiences, successes, failures, and ask a question or two. My list is as follows, including varieties at all levels of heat:

Red Marconi
Purple Marconi
Quadrato Di'Asti Gaillo
Quadrato Di'Asti Rosso
Sweet Yellow Stuffing
Jimmy Nardello
Anaheim
Poblano (KIA - ran out of room under the lights, had to move outside, lost all three seedlings)
TAM Jalapeno
Purple Jalapeno
Long Thin Cayenne
Golden Cayenne
Beaver Dam
Padrone
Fish Pepper
Cili Gorong
Jamaican Hot Yellow
Fatalli
7 Pod Jonah
Lemon Yellow Habanero
Orange Habanero
Red Habanero
Naga Jolokia
Bhut Jolokia

I started all of these in an APS selfwatering seedstarting tray with greenhouse cover. The model I have has 40 1"x1" cells, which I filled with a peat/perlite based sterile seedstarting mix. After sowing the seeds in moistened mix, I misted the surface twice daily, and, to prevent over watering, I did not put the styrofoam cell tray onto the wicking mat until several hooks started to develop. At that point I filled the reservoir with a dilute (1/4-1/3) solution of BioBizz Root Juice. After a majority of the seedlings developed the first two true leaves I potted up and I've since been using approx 1/4 strength (1/2 tbs/gal) Plant Health Care (PHC) for seedlings (6-12-6) combined with 1/4 strength (1/2 tbs/gal) BioBizz Root Juice and watering as seldom as possible, approx every four days so far.

Here is my indoor setup, includes four 4-foot flouro bulbs, two are standard and two are grow/aquarium bulbs, on timer at 14/10 right now:

Purple Marconi (2), Jimmy Nardello (2), Purple Jalapeno (3), Golden Cayenne (6), and two eggplants:

7 Pod Jonah, Beaver Dam, Hab Red, Padrone (2), Cili Gorong (2), Fatalli (2):

Hab Orange, Quadrato Rosso, Bhut Jolokia (2), Jamaican Hot Yellow (2), Fish (2), Naga Jolokia (2), Purple Jalapeno:

cont...

 

[Phadrus On Fire]

Here is a closeup of my Bhuts. I still have to choose one to cull, gonna be difficult, as they both are so purty:

Here is one of my biggest problems so far. This is happening to all four of my Purple Jalapeno seedlings and none of my other plants. There is also some small bumps on the underside of the affected leaves. I remember this happening to a habanero that I started earlier this season, which has since corrected itself. Any ideas what I can do to fix this?

I also found this guy on my Quadrato Di'Asti Gaillo plant that is outside. He had done some significant damage before I found him, as you can see the holes on the leaves in the top left and top right corners. Fortunately the plant is already over 12" tall and quite healthy.

In fact, I have six plants outside that are in

 

[patrick]

Looking very nice POF.

I would find a way to save both of the bhut's. Just take your time when you separate them,.

Hope you strung up the nasty leaf munching prepubescent moth and let the other critters know you mean business.

Looking at the middle pic and the leaf on the left it looks like it's covered with aphids. If so you'll want to deal with them promptly. One they get going it's almost impossible to get completely rid of them. EDIT: The bumps could also be edema which is kind of how a plant sweats. You might be over watering,

Good luck to ya and welcome to the forum.

 

[Phadrus On Fire]

Patrick -

I would def like to save both of the bhuts, for insurance sake if nothing else. It'll depend on how they mature and how clogged the roots are during the next pot-up.

He destroyed a very nice 3 month old eggplant too! Absolutely devoured all the new growth on it, then moved on to the peppers. Safe to say he is history now though!

Funny you mention aphids, because I found him when I was doing my weekly aphid check outside, dang crape myrtles are a haven for em' I hear. I sprayed all my plants that are outside real good yesterday to take care of the aphids. I don't think they are inside on the seedlings though, as I looked them over very thoroughly.

I'll watch my watering closely over the next couple of weeks, as I was thinking that might be the problem too. Just seems funny that it is only affecting the Purple Jalapenos and nothing else. Every seedling is on the same watering/fert/light regimin.

Thanks for the help!

 

[FadeToBlack]

I agree with Patrick, middle pic looks like aphids have been feasting for a while.

 

[Phadrus On Fire]

I am more inclined to think that it is overwatering at this point. Here is another close up one of the Purp Jals. I can't see any aphids, but my eyesight ain't the best. Maybe you guys will see something I don't or can't.

I'm going to take them outside in the Florida heat and let em' dry out real good to see if that helps any. Then I will water less when I do water, because I did give them a pretty good soaking last time. I guess they might not have been as dry as I thought.

 

[millworkman]

Yup, too much water and humidity. Its called oedema and let them dry out a bit and they will be fine, good looking plants too.

 

[Phadrus On Fire]

So, as of this morning, it looks like all of the Purple Jalapenos that were showing signs of edema have perked back up. The curled leaves have almost completely flattened back out again, still showing signs of blistering on undersides though. Nevertheless, I think they will survive just fine. Don't have any pics of them, but do have some of my other, bigger plants that were started in February.

Here are an Anaheim (foreground) and a Cayenne (background). The Anaheim is the only plant that I bought this year:

Front, left to right, Sweet Yellow Stuffing, Quadrato Di'Asti Gaillo; Back row, left to right Red Marconi, Lemon Yellow Habanero, TAM Jalapeno in homemade SWC:

A very large leaf on the TAM Jalapeno:

The SWC reservoir is a standard 5 gallon bucket, the plant and soil is in a 3.5 gallon bucket that is placed inside of the 5 gallon. There is large hole in the bottom of the 3.5 gallon bucket that holds an approx 6" plastic flower pot/wicking basket (with numerous holes drilled into it's sides). The 3.5 also has a smaller hold drilled as close to the side wall as possible to fit the PVC pipe in which is used to fill the reservoir. I filled the wicking basket with only presoaked shredded peat to act as the wicking agent, then lined the inside of the 3.5 with landscaping fabric, then filled with a local nursery's custom potting mix. It seems to be working quite well and the Jalapeno doesn't use the water very quickly, but at the same time I need to develop some kind of plastic mulch, maybe a garbage bag, to cover the soil to prevent rainwater from soaking the soil and killing the point of the SWC.

And finally, early this morning I pinched all of the large buds, flowers, and pods that were on these plants (except for the TAM Jal) in hopes of having a larger yield later, plus I will be potting up this weekend. Pods are Long Thin Cayenne, flowers are Quadrato Di'Asti Gaillo:

I don't have any previous experience beyond C. Annums, the Lemon Yellow Hab is actually the first C. Chinense that I've grown. I've noticed that the foliage on the Habanero is not as flat as my others. Is this normal for Habaneros/C. Chinense?

 

[Noshownate]

what do you mena by flat?

 

[Phadrus On Fire]

Well, I don't have really good pictures to illustrate. But if you compared the leaf of the Jalapeno in the third picture of my previous post, it would look like a hand that was held out flat, but the leaves on the Habanero are different. They look more like if I cupped my hands together, the edges kind of curve upwards. You can kind of see what I'm talking about if you look at the second picture of my previous post, the Habanero is the plant in the middle, just to the left of the white bucket.

I don't know whether or not this is a normal difference between C. Annum and C. Chinense, or if it is some kind of deficiency or insect problem with this specific plant.

 

[Silver_Surfer]

Here is my indoor setup, includes four 4-foot flouro bulbs, two are standard and two are grow/aquarium bulbs, on timer at 14/10 right now:

Increase your light to 24/7 for their first 4 to 5 weeks of life. Better yet, since you're in Orlando, get them outdoors in a wind sheltered/sun limited area and start the hardening off process.

Overall your plants are doing fine.

 

[Phadrus On Fire]

Been trying to harden these guys off. It is hard working five days a week though, can only get em outside for a couple hours at a time in the early morning and late afternoon/early evening.

Lots of new growth coming on, some slight yellowing, prob from too much water:

Closeup of a Golden Cayenne, coming along nicely at just under 5" tall:

TAM Jalapeno in homemade SWC exploding with blooms and pods:

 

[Phadrus On Fire]

A pest-damaged TAM Jalapeno seedling:

Amazing what such a tiny bugger can do in very little time:

Overall, all plants are doing well and growing fast. Have to get them hardened-off and potted-up ASAP, so they are big enough to fend for themselves when I go to Alaska/Vancouver for two weeks at the end of June.

 

[Phadrus On Fire]

Got all of the seedlings potted up last night. Overall, there were 38 pepper plants and three Reisentraube tomato seedlings. It probably took around three hours, didn't get in until 10:30 PM. Luckily it was a full moon so I didn't have any problems with light. I didn't intend to transplant during the full moon, but I have heard that it can be beneficial for the plants, we'll see what happens. Here are a couple of shots. First one is most of the plants lined up. I say most because I had to split the Nagas, Bhuts, and a two Jalapenos that had two plants in a single 3"x3" container. I figured they'd be better off in the shade for the next couple of days to give their roots a chance to bounce back. Second shot is of the Chinense's (except of course for the Bhuts). This includes 7 Pot Jonah, Red Hab, Orange Hab, Fatallii (2), and Cili Goronong (2). Last shot is of my Louisiana Long Green Eggplant that is throwing out blooms all over the place. Hard to believe this guy is so healthy being in a ~5 gal pot. Can't imagine what the production might be like in the ground.

As far as problems go, my biggest issue right now is some kind of hornworm/caterpillar. They are laying eggs/hatching like crazy. Already lost an entire tomato plant, and they've moved into my more mature tomatos. I also am finding some stray ones getting into the peppers, as you can see in the shot of the Chinenses -- several holey leaves. I've already tried spraying with neem oil. Maybe I didn't do it correctly. I bought some BT yesterday, but couldn't wake up early enough to spray this morning. I might do it this evening.

When is the best time to spray, early morning or late evening when direct sun is out of the picture?

 

[Silver_Surfer]

I like to spray in the evening/late afternoon when the plants are shaded but soon enough b4 dark to allow them to dry before sundown.

Good luck with the horn worms. Spinosad works great for me on those buggers. BTW it's a moth that lays the eggs that hatch into those plant eating monsters.

 

[Phadrus On Fire]

Not peppers, but a harvest nonetheless. Ping Tung eggplant:

Most of the plants are doing really well. The Chinenses that were damaged by the thunderstorms after potting up are bouncing back nicely with healthy young growth. All of my bigger plants are setting pods right now except for the Red Marconi. I'll try to get some pics up of the Lemon Yellow Habaneros that have set thus far. Not really looking like what I thought they would, but I guess they are still young. Plus, I've never grown them before, so what do I know lol ?!

 

[Phadrus On Fire]

Took some pics of the maturing pods this morning.

Here is the first (of many) TAM Jalapeno to start ripening, you can see some slight cracking and color change:

And a shot of the whole plant and most of the pods (I'm estimating 60-75 on there right now):

And a Long Thin Cayenne, plant probably has a dozen or so smallish ones right now:

Sorry no size/scale reference in these shots... more to come...

 

[Phadrus On Fire]

Here is a shot of my Chinense plants that got some damage from a thunderstorm last week (Jonah @ top left, two Habaneros in the middle, two Fataliis @ bottom right):

Lemon Yellow Habanero that was started back in late Feb/early Marchish:

And some of the Lemon Yellow Habaneros that have set so far (approx 6 or 7 right now):

I've never grown habs before, let alone lemon yellow habs. Anybody familiar with this variety that can tell me if they look right? All of the habs that I have seen are rounder/fatter not as long..

 

[Silver_Surfer]

Very nice plants.

HABANERO LEMON YELLOW

 

[Phadrus On Fire]

Thanks SS.

I saw that pic on the CCN site too. Did an image search on the interwebs and it seems like there is a lot of variety in shape out there. Guess only time will tell, as these guys are still pretty young.