millworkman
eXtreme
What about ones that you plant from seed outside? Personally, if you can get them under sunlight first thing when it first sprouts then you are set. No hardening off required.
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Repotting
- Thread starter Blister
- Start date
Blister said:Wow, do you think you could've found a bigger pot?Seriously though, I can't remember how many times I've heard about "double the pot size or they'll die" repotting theory. Seems as though you jumped from seedling to full size pot right off the bat bigt!
Yeah, that's what I always used to do before because I started seeds so late. I was always in a rush to get them outside. Now Cappy has me hooked on this grow light stuff.
It certainly gets you started earlier and when the plants do go out they are much bigger and stronger. But really, the point I'm trying to make is that the weather is the only thing that determines when my plants go out, not the size of the seedling.
I agree, the weather plays a major influencing role in when they can go out. So far I've only been able to get my plants out into the greenhouse for a total of 3 days. I've got roots poking out the bottom of almost all of my 4" pots, but there's no end in sight for the crappy cool weather. I don't have the room to repot them into bigger pots and still be able to place them under the lights so I'm at a bit of an impasse. C'mon warm weather! Daddy needs a whole lotta space! 
Blister said:I agree, the weather plays a major influencing role in when they can go out. So far I've only been able to get my plants out into the greenhouse for a total of 3 days. I've got roots poking out the bottom of almost all of my 4" pots, but there's no end in sight for the crappy cool weather. I don't have the room to repot them into bigger pots and still be able to place them under the lights so I'm at a bit of an impasse. C'mon warm weather! Daddy needs a whole lotta space!
If you have a garage, just bring them in at night. Being close to a building gives them some shelter from excessive wind and rain during the day.
bigt said:
What he said! There's a whole concept of energy budgets when it comes to plant physiology, and a major part of where a plant can lose heat energy is in exchange with space (a very cold place!) Even putting a shelter of any kind above your plants will influence the amount of heat exchange taking place with their surroundings.
Basically, if temps are the same outside and inside the garage, your plants will do much better inside than out.
I too am learning patience this season. Looks like sunnier weather is on the way here soon in NC. I hope the same is in store for you and your peppers!
This is how things were a couple of months ago. Four trays of 15 plants each, took up one shelf out of 4 and the lights were really low.
Here's how they are today. I've given away 16 plants and have repotted almost a dozen. I've had to reorganize the plants into large and small and I've taken one shelf out so I could move the lights up. After repotting, a few plants took off and are now about 1/4" away from the lights again. I've been pinching buds on a daily basis and can't seem to keep up. I need the warm weather to hurry up and get here so I can move them outside, but mother nature doesn't want to co-operate with me. I don't know what I did to piss her off...
Here's how they are today. I've given away 16 plants and have repotted almost a dozen. I've had to reorganize the plants into large and small and I've taken one shelf out so I could move the lights up. After repotting, a few plants took off and are now about 1/4" away from the lights again. I've been pinching buds on a daily basis and can't seem to keep up. I need the warm weather to hurry up and get here so I can move them outside, but mother nature doesn't want to co-operate with me. I don't know what I did to piss her off...
I have a greenhouse, but the nights are still dipping close to, or below 0c (32f). The days aren't much better. Overcast, raining and highs of 10c (50f) are on the horizon for the next week or so. When it's been sunny we've hit 18c (64f) outside and the greenhouse was hitting 35-50c (94-122f). I had to open the door and turn a fan on. The problem is that we don't get too many months where the temp is all that great. I'm going to have to overwinter a few plants in order to get any real sort of production.
I doubt they would freeze overnight in a greenhouse this time of year, even in the Great White North. You could run a couple of light bulbs out there if it got real low. But leaving the door open during the day should give them some wind. Sounds like they're getting close to going out, pot up time.
I have a small ceramic heater in there right now and have been monitoring the soil temps. It looks like it's getting really close to the time where we can put them out, but I'm a little worried. Wouldn't they end up getting a bit stunted by the cold weather?
I figure I have about 2 more weeks of keeping them indoors where they can get 14 hours of light and warm temps, then it's out into the greenhouse on a permanent basis.
I figure I have about 2 more weeks of keeping them indoors where they can get 14 hours of light and warm temps, then it's out into the greenhouse on a permanent basis.
AlabamaJack
eXtreme
looking at your plants on the shelf makes me want to ask if you staggered your planting or planted all seeds at the same time...I had the same issue with available height to grow in last year for the annuums....it only makes sense to me now to plant the slowest growing species/varieties first and the faster ones last...
So a lesson learned from last year for me was I staggered my planting drastically...I planted all my chinense varieties starting the first week of January and did not start any annuums until dang near the end of february and my annuums are at least a foot taller than my largest chinense...
So a lesson learned from last year for me was I staggered my planting drastically...I planted all my chinense varieties starting the first week of January and did not start any annuums until dang near the end of february and my annuums are at least a foot taller than my largest chinense...
AlabamaJack said:
Hey you want to write that down and send it to last January when I could've used the info!? J/K
No I didn't stagger them, although in hindsight it's a hellava idea. This is my first year growing anything and am learning a lot. Problem is when you put a liter of knowledge into a shot glass of a brain you're bound to forget a few things. Kinda like when I took that beer making course. After I was done I forgot how to drive. Sure some may argue that I was drunk, but I beg to differ!
I am keeping some notes on how the plants are doing and I'm planning on changing things up a bit for next year. Staggered planting is at the top of the list. I'm trying to figure out the ferts as well. There's just so many kinds out there, but I wouldn't mind focusing in on the root system first, then add a bit for the stems and leaves after they get a bit bigger. Right now they are a bit weak and are trying to put out buds like crazy. It'd be nice to limit what grows and when if that's at all possible.
Just an update on what I've found with potting up. The plant on the left was potted up to the current pot 2 weeks before the plant on the left (which was left in a 3" pot). The soil's were the same and each plant received the same treatment in terms of bone meal, blood meal, ferts etc. That's a pretty noticeable difference and something I'll keep in mind for next year.
caroltlw said:
Let me try that again. I had a few beers last night when I posted and may not have been as clear as I could have been
. I had to restart the serrano's because the first batch simply didn't work out for me. Dunno why, but they just didn't work. The seeds were sown at the same time. Both had very close germination times - within a day of each other. Both were transplanted into 3" pots at the same time. Both remained in the 3" pots for the same amount of time until I moved the one on the left to the pot you see it in now. I didn't select for the biggest one, I just grabbed one and potted it up to the larger pot. The soils are the same and they were both treated the same in terms of ferts, bone meal, blood meal etc. regardless of the pot they were in.The only difference is that the one on the left was transplanted to the pot you see it in now approximately 2 weeks before the one on the right.
There was another fellow on here that had noticed the same thing with his jalapeno's and potting up times. I thought I would give it a try with the Serrano's because I had the seedlings on hand. I understand that one sample doesn't mean that it'll the be rule, but I'm still pretty surprised by the difference so far.
SO long story short, the bigger one was transplanted to the larger pot approximately 2 weeks before the smaller one
and I'm not going to wait for the roots to poke out the bottoms.Blister said:
OK, crystal clear.
Good to know 'cause I usually have roots poking out of the shady holes before mine get a bigger home. This year especially since I needed them to be portable for as long as possible. The rootbound ones (1 gal) did have ripe fruit sooner though - which I thought was interesting. I get SO impatient for ripe peppers in the spring.
AlabamaJack
eXtreme
so what do I do if I have roots coming out the bottom of my 5 gallon containers?...I sure the devil and not going to go and buy 300 10 gallon containers to transplant them in...I would have to have another 20 yds of soil...where does it all end? Hopefully they will grow into the ground again like they did last year..