• Blog your pepper progress. The first image in your first post will be used to represent your Glog.

Proud Marine Dad's organic grow 2014

Here's my Glog for this season. I don't grow a lot of peppers and usually have 10-12 plants each season.
I received some seeds from a good member here San Patricio who was kind enough to share his seeds with me. Thanks my friend.
I planted the super hots near the end of January as I put the lights on them for the first time February 1st.
I am using the old shop light with standard T12 6500k lights in them about 2" above the plants.
 
The super hots are: Chocolate Bhut, Chocolate Hab, Datil, Red Habanero and SB7J.
This is them on 3-16-14. The Datil's are runts so far. Is that common?
 
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I'm going to try organic in a few months for my second ever grow season in Australia, so I will be following your glog closely for tips...
 
I've left a question on your "Finished filling all my pots" thread for when you have a spare minute.
 
Good luck with this season PMD!
 
filmost said:
Did you start your seeds in your super duper organic mix?
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No, if I put them in that mix they might not make it as it's still too "hot" yet. I started them in an OMRI certified seed starting mix in the propagator and when they were big enough I put them into these 4" pots in the picture with a mixture of compost, EWC and perlite.
Kyox89 said:
Have you started fertilising your datils?
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I gave all of these peppers some kelp meal soaked overnight in water but that's all.
 
Gave my plants a little kelp recently and some alfalfa a while back and some leaves fell off one SBJ7 and there is some brown on the edges of another plant. Gave them all.some distilled water yesterday hoping to flush them a bit. Lesson learned...alfalfa is a great plant food but it will burn. Kelp will not.
The peppers are getting about big enough to go into larger pots than the 4" ones they are in now. I mixed soil for them but it needs to cycle for a while as it's only a week or so into cooking. Night temps are now in the low 50's so I think it's time to put them in 1 gallon pots and put them outside. The light they are getting from the 6500K T12 fluorescent lights is minimal now for growth I am thinking. Time to harden them off and get them out in this nice weather we are having with mid 70s to low 80'js this week. All I have to pot them up though is compost and peat as I am almost out of EWC. I have maybe a gallon or so that I harvested yesterday when I put the worms into the Worm Inn I bought from a guy on Craigslist. 
 
I went and bought some 1 gallon nursery pots today and put my super hots in them as I think they were outgrowing the 4" pots.
I mixed equal parts of homemade compost, peat and perlite and added 3/4 cup of crab meal to help buffer the peat.
Hopefully they get healthier now.
 
 
4" to 1 gallon pots is a pretty big jump. I've done it before and had great growth in the uppers, but the root system never really developed to the point where it could support the plant and produce decent amount of fruit. That said, my growing season really is only around 90 days. You could very well have better luck, especially given the better soil. I had only been using pro-mix hp.

Neil
 
The plants were looking sickly Neil so I thought potting them up would create a better environment and larger food web for them to be able to use the nutrients more efficiently. I will be putting them in 10 gallon Root Pouches in about a month to six weeks. Our grow season goes until October sometimes.
 
That California sun will make them perk up!
I agree on the T12s maybe not having the strength to make them go.
 
What were your grow area temps like from hook time to 3/16/14?
 
Why no sphagnum moss in the Compost/EWC/Perilite mix?
Did that mix cycle before planting in February?
 
Good Luck on 2014!
 
JJJessee said:
 
What were your grow area temps like from hook time to 3/16/14?
 
Why no sphagnum moss in the Compost/EWC/Perilite mix?
Did that mix cycle before planting in February?
 
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Not sure what the temps were. I had a heating mat under them for a while but turned it off as I didn't think it was helping much. The house has no heating during the day while we are at work or when we are asleep so it probably averaged around the low 60s in the day and the high 60s to low 70s in the evening.

I did have peat moss in the mix. Did I forget to mention that?

The soil did not have to be cycled as it does not contain higher nitrogen sources like alfalfa and others. With just compost, ewc, peat and perlite no cycling is needed.
 
I think that's what caused the slow growth and purple leaves on my plants as well. I have my temps set fairly low at night - 65ish. Because momma is home with the boy during the day, our temps are set to 71-72ish during the day. I put a heat mat under my seedlings to help keep them warm and productive during the day. Can't say for sure if it's really made a difference though. Now that we're getting some decent sun during the days I've had them in the windows and on the steps outside. It warms up the root zone a fair amount and given that I'm paying the hydro bills I'm all for free light!

Neil
 
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