Pulpiteer's grow log 2012

I thought I'd do a grow log this year, since I've enjoyed reading the ones that other folks do. I'm up in Michigan and last year was able to get the plants in the garden in mid-May, but that isn't a sure thing. I'm starting a bit early, but I want the plants to be a good size when I do get them in, so that I don't have to wait until later in the Fall to harvest. If we would've had an early frost last year, I would've been in trouble. The grow log puts a bit of pressure on. If this is a tremendous failure, then it'll be public. I've been gardening for awhile, and had great luck with my peppers last year, but I'm taking a giant step up this year, so we'll see.

Here is my grow list:
1. Douglah x4 Ajijoe
2. Scotch Bonnet (Y) x4 Pepperjoe.com
3. Cherry Bomb x4 Farmers market
4. Bhut Jolokia ® x4 Dshlogg
5. Trinidad Scorpion (Red)x6 Ajijoe
6. Trinidad Scropion (Peach) x6 Ajijoe
7. Chocolate Congo Habanero x6 Ajijoe
8. Caribbean Red Habanero x6 Ajijoe
9. Aji Pineapple x4 Ajijoe
10. Peach Bhut Jolokia x6 Ajijoe
11. Naga Morich x4 Dshlogg
12. Scotch Bonnet (Y)x8 Refining Fire
13. Jamaican Red Mushroom x8 Refining Fire
14. Jamaican Chocolate Habanero x8 Refining Fire
15. Thai Dragon x4 Dshlogg
16. 7 Pot (Yellow) x4 Masschilehead
17. Avery Island Tobasco x4 Masschilehead
18. Aji Limon x4 Dshlogg
19. Devil's Tongue x4 Dshlogg
20. Fatali x6 Totally Tomato
21. Red Rocoto x6 Totally Tomato
22. Scotch Bonnet (Red)x4 Hotstuff
23. Jalapeno x4 Dshlogg
24. Bell (various) x20 (I'll buy the plants in the spring)

This website has been tremendously helpful. After some contact with MJDiamond83, I ordered some CFL bulbs. They are 100 watt bulbs that put out the equivalent of 400 watts of light, 6500 on the light temperature, I believe. I get a shelving unit on sale last year from Lowes, some pvc this year from Menards and ordered some mylar emergency blankets off of Amazon (10 for $8) and put up a cheap frame that gives me two levels, with the CFL on top and some florescent strip lights on the bottom. With the lights on, it gets to about 84, and with them off its in the mid 70's. I hope that's enough to get the seeds to pop.

Here's a shot where you can see the three lights and the mylar around the three sides. For the front cover I just have a mylar sheet that drapes down and it's all basically enclosed.

Here's a shot of everything planted. For the most part I have at least two seeds in each cell, sometimes a few more than that. I figure I can cut down if I have too many that germinate.

 

[megahot]

Nice looking plants! Way to keep them nice and happy!

 

[MGOLD86]

Looking great! those guys look like little beasts at 31 days. Really healthy looking plants, and I like the fact that you are watering in between feedings. I was going to go with food at every watering (diluted), but I think I am in the same boat as you and don't wanna overdo it.

 

[Pulpiteer]

Nice looking plants! Way to keep them nice and happy!

Thank you! I hope it continues. At this point I'm in new territory from here until getting them into the ground in May... wow that seems like a long time away. I hope to have larger, healthy plants then.

Looking great! those guys look like little beasts at 31 days. Really healthy looking plants, and I like the fact that you are watering in between feedings. I was going to go with food at every watering (diluted), but I think I am in the same boat as you and don't wanna overdo it.

Thanks! It's going well thus far, but I don't want to jinx it. I think I'll be able to water and not have to do too heavy on the feed. I think the danger of over fertilizing for me is greater than under fertilizing. I just love them so much I could smother them, like that scene from Tommy Boy...
Anyway, AJ has that quote about listening to the plants. I'm trying to learn how to do that. I guess it's something that will come with experience. I think that's the great thing about the glogs - we get to learn collectively from our experiences.

 

[Hendrix1326]

Thanks! It's going well thus far, but I don't want to jinx it. I think I'll be able to water and not have to do too heavy on the feed. I think the danger of over fertilizing for me is greater than under fertilizing. I just love them so much I could smother them, like that scene from Tommy Boy...
Anyway, AJ has that quote about listening to the plants. I'm trying to learn how to do that. I guess it's something that will come with experience. I think that's the great thing about the glogs - we get to learn collectively from our experiences.

I love the learning aspect of this! It's so great that we can all share what we are doing, and what we enjoy. I love learning about how each type of pepper grows, what conditions it is best in, differences in foliage shape and size, etc. It's cool, also, to see what others are doing. You in particular, Andy, have given me a lot of inspiration to brave forward with methods and materials I may not have otherwise considered. I have learned so much from others, as well, regarding feedings, etc., that I will put into practice as the plants get bigger. I can't wait until May/June to see the progress they've made by then! Good luck!

 

[PaulG]

Hey, Andy, your grow log is really first class - very nice documentation
of your progress, and a way over the top cool light set-up! You've
done a lot since i was here last; way to go; you've been a busy guy!
I agree that the main danger now is from over attentiveness - too much
water and feeding, etc. At least that's the way it is for me. The plants
are looking just wonderful, and I hope they are so big and productive
you run out of room : )

 

[Pulpiteer]

First off, thanks Karl and Paul for the kind words and encouragement!

I was out of town last weekend, so I am behind in posting updates for the glog, but I'll make up for it with a lot of pics today.

I did quite a bit of work on Monday (which is my day off). This included some repotting - moving some from the smaller cells up to the 3x3 cells that were empty, which will make room for some of my seedlings that will need to be transplanted up to the 2x2's that I'll have. So, here are the pics and results of the repotting, labeling and shuffling.

Here is my daughter by the flats before repotting

And here is my son with some of the seedlings. #25 is the Brain Strain, which he is most excited about growing. Not so that he can eat them, mind you, but it's ok if daddy does.

Here is a root shot of one of the ones from the 2x2, I can't remember which one... this is either a yellow 7 or a jalapeno (I know, big difference between those two). Don't worry, I have them labeled. Even labeled correctly, I think.

The way my spacing worked out, I had an extra Red Rocoto and an extra Douglah that I wanted to bump up, but didn't have enough space for another 3x3, so I potted them both up to a 6 inch diameter pot.
Here is the rocoto roots

And here are the two in their new pots

Here's a shot of one of my peach bhuts - they've really taken off

Here's a wide pic of the whole set up after all the repotting and what not. You can see the progress from earlier shots. I am definitely running out of room, plus I plan on planting more. I still have some area underneath I can use...

Speaking of underneath, here is a shot of underneath the right side of the grow area. It's where I plan on growing tomatoes. I've got (3) 4' shoplights there: two t-12's with soft white bulbs and a t-8 I just bought for the middle with 6500K bulbs in the middle. It should get my tomatoes going.

Finally, here's my daughter helping me get soil in the 2x2's so we can plant tomatoes. It's been a blast getting the kids involved.

 

[PIC 1]

Nice progress.................... .................plants all look green

Greg

 

[PaulG]

Outstanding, Andy! Your plants are looking just great, and
your grow set up is very impressive, evolving nicely. You
obviously have a pretty good handle on what you are doing -
sure you're not getting a little special help from Someone
'upstairs'? It is pretty cool to see the hand of the creator
play out as these little pepper seedlings become huge plants!

Am really enjoying watching your children getting involved, too.

 

[meatfreak]

Great and healthy looking plants! Terrific job your doing, also like that you involve your children into growing. Planning on doing the same over here, I always liked it as a kid when my grandfather learned me stuff about gardening.

 

[mjdiamond83]

Wow, your plants look so awesome! All of them are a nice dark green and have a lot of dense foliage! You're going to have a great harvest.

 

[Pulpiteer]

Nice progress.................... .................plants all look green

Greg

Thank you very much Greg. Hopefully they all stay green it feels like forever until planting time.

Outstanding, Andy! Your plants are looking just great, and
your grow set up is very impressive, evolving nicely. You
obviously have a pretty good handle on what you are doing -
sure you're not getting a little special help from Someone
'upstairs'? It is pretty cool to see the hand of the creator
play out as these little pepper seedlings become huge plants!

Am really enjoying watching your children getting involved, too.

This is the most luck I've had with an inside start up to date. I have gardened for several years, just not this many hot peppers and this many from seed. Seeing the wonder of creation is a big part of gardening for me for sure. There is a lot I can do to provide the environment for growth, but when it comes down to it, there is something about life that is a mystery and I love seeing that growth happen. And yeah, I'll take all the help from Someone upstairs that I can get

Great and healthy looking plants! Terrific job your doing, also like that you involve your children into growing. Planning on doing the same over here, I always liked it as a kid when my grandfather learned me stuff about gardening.

Thanks meatfreak, it's been a really good activity for me to do with the kids. In fact, today my son is doing a presentation on planting a seed. He'll be showing his class how to plant a pepper seed - so we're spreading the knowledge.

Wow, your plants look so awesome! All of them are a nice dark green and have a lot of dense foliage! You're going to have a great harvest.

Thanks mj - I've gotten some good tips from you. The cfl's are working great and the grow wouldn't be anything like this without them. I also got my order back from supreme growers, after I saw them on your glog. I'm waiting to use the myco blast for a repotting or something down the line. I also got some kelp blast, which I'll start as a fertilizer at some point. So, I've really befitted from all these glogs and this website. I hope it does carry through to harvest - I'm excited to see how these turn out.

 

[mjdiamond83]

I used the myco and soil blasts pretty much right after I got them in the mail. I pulled a plant out of its cup last week to see if they were making a difference and I was real surprised at how thick the roots were. I'll go take a picture of one and throw it on my glog.

 

[Pr0digal_son]

Those plants are rockin it buddy. Keep up the good work.

 

[Pulpiteer]

First off, thanks Pr0digal for the kind words and for checking out the glog!

Alright, it's the end of the day on March 12, which means we're on day 47 for my first round of plants and day 26/29 for my second round. Also, I got some more seeds from Ajijoe that I planted last week on Wednesday the 7th of March, so those are on day 5. Those new varieties are:

• Morougah Red
• Yellow Jamaican Scotch Bonnet
• Chinese 5 Color
• Harold Saint Bart
• 7 Pot Jonah
• Peach Habanero
• Chocolate Cherry Sweet
• Royal Black
• Orange Thai

And then two more from pepperjoe.com

• Mulato Islano Poblano
• Cow Horn

Today I did some repotting, taking two cherry bombs out of the 2x2 cells and putting them in 3x3 pots, and then took the seed from my second round of planting from their 1 1/2 inch cells to 2x2 cells. I also had one extra Brain Strain that I couldn't stand to throw out, so I put it in a 3x3 and am hoping for room to magically appear.

Here are some pics:

First, here is a picture of the right side of my grow area. It's got the 3x3 pots and it is bursting with plants. I've got about two months until I can plant these outside. Not sure how that's going to work out.

Next are the round 2 peppers soon after their transplant. These are: Brain Strain Red (#25), Aji Lemon Peru (#26), Bishop's Crown (#27), Trinidad Scotch Bonnet Red (#28), Trinidad Scotch Bonnet Yellow (#29) - all from Pepperlover and then Datil (#30), Mustard Habanero (#31) both from pepperjoe.com

On February 21, about 20 days ago, I thinned out some plants and put some extras in some 3x3 pots in some Ferry-Morse Organic Seed Starter Mix, and I thought I'd update that. First off, it was more difficult to keep that stuff wet at first. I almost lost a few plants, but they eventually recovered, even a peach bhut I thought I'd lost. It lost several leaves, but kept two and bounced back after being in horrible shape. Anyway, here is a picture of the plants. They are smaller than the ones I separated them from and some a yellowish color. Overall, I'm not impressed with the Ferry Morse mix and glad I ended up doing my own mix this year.

So, one thing I've learned thus far from my growing and from reading other glogs (MGold's comes to mind) is that the soil mix makes a huge difference, and so does the size of the pot. I realize this is probably obvious for most of you, but here are some pictures to show it. I have three douglah's side by side. The small one is in the Ferry Morse mix, the other two are in my mix. They were about the same size 20 days ago. I put the one in the larger pot about a week ago, I believe...
A view from the front:

and one from the top:

As far as size of the pot - these are two cherry bombs. The one of the left was planted in that red cup a couple of days after the one on the right. Today I just repotted the one on the right out of a 2x2 cell into that 3x3 pot. It's amazing how the extra room allowed the one to grow a lot larger.

Here is a picture of the Red Rocoto from totallytomato.com that I've put into the bigger pot.

Finally, three of my Peach Peach Trinidad Scorpions from Ajijoe. I'm loving how these plants are growing.

Alright, that's all for tonight. Thanks for checking it out and for the positive comments!

 

[PaulG]

Wow, awesome comparisons, Andy, both for pot size variables and
soil variables. Every time I visit, I'm more impressed with what you
are doing. Three waves of seeds is impressive for one guy and a
little helper! Your plants look great, for sure!

 

[MGOLD86]

Looking pretty amazing Andy. I love those comparison shots. It is kind of hard telling how much they have grown until you put em side by side like that. Keep it up and there is always more room.

 

[Pulpiteer]

Wow, awesome comparisons, Andy, both for pot size variables and
soil variables. Every time I visit, I'm more impressed with what you
are doing. Three waves of seeds is impressive for one guy and a
little helper! Your plants look great, for sure!

Thanks Paul. I don't think the third wave of seeds should be impressive as much as simply evidence of lack of restraint. So many pepper varieties, so little yard to till up...

Looking pretty amazing Andy. I love those comparison shots. It is kind of hard telling how much they have grown until you put em side by side like that. Keep it up and there is always more room.

Thanks - yeah I was kind of surprised at how big the difference was with those. I thought of your trials and tribulations with soil. I think, like you've said on your glog, find what works and really go with it, because not everything works the same. Not sure if there will always be more room. I live in a parsonage, which means it's owned by the church. I spoke with my trustees chair today and jokingly said we needed to consider an addition to the house - he suggested plans for a greenhouse. Oh, I wish he were serious.

 

[Hendrix1326]

Hey, Andy! Couldn't you put the plants into pots and keep them there, instead of tilling up soil? I'm doing that this year again, so I can overwinter without the hassle, should I choose to keep some plants. Perhaps not, though, since it would kill the grass underneath...

 

[jsschrstrcks]

Thanks - yeah I was kind of surprised at how big the difference was with those. I thought of your trials and tribulations with soil. I think, like you've said on your glog, find what works and really go with it, because not everything works the same. Not sure if there will always be more room. I live in a parsonage, which means it's owned by the church. I spoke with my trustees chair today and jokingly said we needed to consider an addition to the house - he suggested plans for a greenhouse. Oh, I wish he were serious.

Ahh... the parsonage... We eventually got the church to put a privacy fence around the parsonage... I felt bad for the youth pastor (who was living there)... People coming by at weird hours looking in the window to "check on their investment"... The people were addressed any time it happened, but I should think his wife and three daughters (at the time, they just had a boy recently) were little comforted by that...

Any way, if they give you too much of a hard time about the pepper garden, find a way to use them as a sermon illustration!! On fire for Jesus, or becoming acclimated to sin... Or how pruning causes growth... So much fertile (Sorry lol) ground for analogies in farming.

Grow is looking good! Hope all goes well.

Ken

 

[Pulpiteer]

Hey, Andy! Couldn't you put the plants into pots and keep them there, instead of tilling up soil? I'm doing that this year again, so I can overwinter without the hassle, should I choose to keep some plants. Perhaps not, though, since it would kill the grass underneath...

I may try a pot or two, but I end up doing a lot better with plants in the ground. I tried a couple of pots last year and had no luck - so it's not for worrying about the grass underneath, but the health of the plant on top

Ahh... the parsonage... We eventually got the church to put a privacy fence around the parsonage... I felt bad for the youth pastor (who was living there)... People coming by at weird hours looking in the window to "check on their investment"... The people were addressed any time it happened, but I should think his wife and three daughters (at the time, they just had a boy recently) were little comforted by that...

Any way, if they give you too much of a hard time about the pepper garden, find a way to use them as a sermon illustration!! On fire for Jesus, or becoming acclimated to sin... Or how pruning causes growth... So much fertile (Sorry lol) ground for analogies in farming.

Grow is looking good! Hope all goes well.

Ken

Thanks Ken! The church has been great (as far as I know) about my gardening obsession - and I should add they've also been great about our personal space. I do know that does not happen for everyone, so we do appreciate it. And those illustrations come up probably enough that some folks may be tired of hearing about gardening


Ok, I've been super busy, so I haven't been able to update for awhile. So here we are on March 19, the 54th day of the first wave the 32nd or so of my second wave, and the 12th day of the 3rd wave of plantings. I think I've got like 211 pepper plants crammed in my small home office, but I do not have a problem. I could quit growing pepper plants any time I wanted. I am in control. I am in control.

Here is a wide shot of the plants in their grow area - so if you're following along you can compare it to the early shots from this angle:

This space situation has led me to look up greenhouses on ebay, which led me to making a purchase today - here is a link (I hope it works). If it doesn't, then it's a 7' x 4 3/4' x 6 1/2' high portable greenhouse with shelving. It will free up space and make things work by the time we get to April.

It's been warm around here for the last bit, so I got outside and did some tilling:
Here is the garden area for the tomatoes and all things not pepper:

And here is where the pepper fields lie - it's 44 by 14. I'm going to try to get 148 plants in there. Then I'll be giving away the rest of my plants to folks in the church to spread the love of peppers...

On Craig's List I found a guy who was selling worm compost - so I picked up 56 lbs for $20 - not sure if it's a good price or not, but I'm going to use it when putting the plants in the ground.

Today I began an experiment. As I noted last time, I put some extras in 3x3 cells with some ferry-morse seed starting mix. Those plants have been small and yellowing. Here is a pic:

So I took them out, removed as much soil as I could without damaging the roots (which were extensive I found) and repotted them in the same cells but with my soil mix. Then I gave them a good watering. We'll see where this goes. They are extras either way, and now I'll see how they recover.

I have a flower. Actually two. I know I need to pinch them off so the plant can grow big and strong, but this is another extra and it's one of my cherry bombs. I suspect they may be hybrids, so I want to see if a pepper grows out and what it looks like. Plus, I've never hand pollinated before, so my son and I clipped off one flower and rubbed it into the other and now we'll see what comes of it all.

Here is a shot of my third and final round of planting - actually just part of it. A couple seedlings about to totally break free:

Finally, here is a shot of the right side of my grow area, which contains the 3x3's and the bigger plants.

Thanks for checking it all out!