Rich's 2022 Log

Figured that since I'm pretty new at this, and as it's also the first time I'm starting peppers (or anything) from seed that I'd take a run a creating a grow log. Hopefully, this will capture a wildly successful season, or, more likely, will serve as a reminder to me of things I did this year that I should change or improve upon for next year.

Here are the seeds that I have sown thus far:

I have not yet received a couple more varieties that I'm going to start -- KS Lemon Starrburst, and Purple Thunder (from @PaulG.)

I'm starting all of these in my new to me IDOO 12 pod unit (mixed grow with some herbs and tomatoes thrown in......). Here is the state of my peppers thus far:

I've got one pod of Bubblegum that should hook in the next day or so, along with my second set of Anaheim, Mucho Nacho, Poblano, and Bubblegum. The Guajillo, Pasilla, Choc Habanero and Elephant (from Matt's Peppers - @catchthebear) were just sown in the past couple of days, so no activity there yet.

Since I'm limited on space in the IDOO12, I will transplant my seedlings some time in the next week or so to make some more room. The extra IDOO7 unit in my log sheet is one I found on NextDoor recently that I'm going to be giving to a friend of mine, so I will lose that space shortly. All of these plants will eventually be moved outside into containers (I've got four wine barrel halves, and will pick up some 5 gallon buckets or other suitable containers) since I don't have any actual dirt I can plant them into.

I've read a lot, watched a lot of videos, and feel a lot like I did when I first started brewing beer back in '92........so much to process, but most of what I learn, I suspect will come from actually doing it!

I'll try to keep this updated as things progress.

Rich

 

[ahayastani]

Welcome to the madness.

 

[PaulG]

You have the right attitude, @rgreenberg2000!
Good luck getting underway. The IDOO unit
looks like it's doing a good job for you.

 

[MarcV]

You'll soon wonder how you could ever live without growing chili plants!

I've been trying to grow my own beer also but it never seemed to work...

 

[rgreenberg2000]

You'll soon wonder how you could ever live without growing chili plants!

I've been trying to grow my own beer also but it never seemed to work...

Patience, Marc, those will pull through!

Rich

 

[rgreenberg2000]

We'll see how long I stay on track, but I think I'll try to make Sunday my update day for my grow log. Not a ton to report other than I did transplant a bunch of my seedlings into double cups. Hopefully it's not too early to have done this, but I wanted to free up space in my IDOO to start some more plants, and the loaner IDOO10 unit that I had needed to head back to it's home..... So, here are my first transplants:

I picked up some cheap lights from Amazon to give these guys a boost from the South facing window they are in. Will keep a close eye on these to make sure I've got the light right.

While I'm here, my first true leaves from seeds I germinated.....Anaheim and KBX Tomato (I know, not a pepper, but proud pops, what can I say?!?)

Back with more in a week!

Rich

 

[rgreenberg2000]

Checking in with this week's update. Overall, things still seem to be going well, and I must have not messed anything up when I transplanted, as all of those plants appear to be thriving. The only peppers that I'm still waiting on to germinate are my Chocolate Habanero, and the Purple Thunder from Paul (only sowed those four days ago, so didn't expect them yet.) On the non-pepper front, both of my tomato plants (KBX) look very happy, the rest of the herbs are coming along, and WOW my basil germinated and popped out of their sponges in 2 days! Eager little fellas! Here's what the setup is looking like now......

And some closeups of the older pepper plants.....

The rest are still getting started in the IDOO, but I think I may transplant these next.....

Since I'm totally new at this, I'm very open to observations or thoughts if anybody has them! So far, I feel like we're doing well on this journey!

Thanks for checking in on my grow!

Rich

 

[PaulG]

Nothing to complain about here, Rich.
Everything looks like it's off to a great start!

 

[rgreenberg2000]

Nothing to complain about here, Rich.
Everything looks like it's off to a great start!

Thanks, Paul! I thought so, too, but nice to have some confirmation (from afar) from a more experienced eye.

Rich

 

[rgreenberg2000]

Quick update for the week, not too much new happening other than growth! No action on the Purple Thunder yet, but I'm sure they'll take off soon! I did notice some yellowing on the leaves of the BBG2 and Poblano2 (see below), and am wondering if I need to replace the water/nutrients in the reservoir more often (doing it every two weeks now)? Oddly, none of the other plants in the IDOO are showing any yellowing. Any thoughts?

Anaheim, Poblano, Mucho Nacho:

BBG, BBG2, Poblano2:

Guajillo, Pasilla, Choco Hab:

Thanks for stopping by! I took my double cup plants outside for an hour with some gentle sun and a breeze. They seemed to enjoy the field trip!

Rich

 

[rgreenberg2000]

It's a jungle!!! I might need to do some transplanting, as there's a bit of a fight for space going in my IDOO unit!

(pay no attention to the cacti.....those are for my wife for V-day.....much better than roses that die in a few days!)

My oldest plants are still doing well after transplanting a couple of weeks ago. Took these today while they were outside for some real sun..... (Poblano, Mucho Nacho, Anaheim)

Everything still seems to be going well. I'm giving the transplants some water/nutrients in the bottom cup as they need it (about 2-3 days or so), and I haven't killed anything yet!

Our weather has been crazy with the last week in the mid to high 70's. I'm close to planting out some of these guys in my outdoor containers. Maybe 2-3 weeks or so......

Thanks for dropping by!

Rich

 

[PaulG]

@rgreenberg2000 - Great progress, Rich.
Those are nice, healthy starts. The IDOO
unit looks like it works pretty well.


Any luck with the Purple Thunder, yet?

Edit: Never mind. Just saw it on the Purple Thunder
thread!

 

[MarcV]

Nice cacti! There's even one starting to flower!
Looks like you have a couple of chilli plants in the background also!

 

[rgreenberg2000]

G-log update day! Everything continues to grow well. No issues that I can see, other than these can be thirsty little buggers in their double cups!

Ok, so here are the first to be sown and transplanted:

.....and these were the next rounds to get moved out of the IDOO. I love the look of these BBG's....interesting leaves!

And, I've still got a couple hanging on in the IDOO, will probably get those in cups next weekend.....

I'm pretty happy thus far considering that my two previous attempts at a pepper season were pathetic (gross overwatering, low production (like less than a dozen pods over four plants), and I'm not known for having a green thumb.......hopefully I can keep it together.

Oh, and, Paul, if you catch this, don't worry, PT update in the PT thread in a sec!

Rich

 

[PaulG]

Oh, and, Paul, if you catch this, don't worry, PT update in the PT thread in a sec!

Rich

Phew! Had me going for a second

@rgreenberg2000 - I'd say you left your last two seasons
in the dust, Rich! Those transplants look pretty nice, alright.
Those first two BBG pics remind me of Scotch Bonnets at
this stage of growth! Your results are a good advertisement
for IDOO!

You're right about water use. When the plants get to that size,
they use up water fast. I usually give them 4 oz. (120ml) at a
time from the top. When I bottom water them, the roots get
too long. Not a real big deal, I guess, snipping them a few
days before transplanting makes them send out lots of little
roots tips from sides of the snipped root. Keeping the roots
air-pruned makes for a bushier, denser root ball.

Just my quirky 2¢ .
Whatever you are doing, you are doing right!

 

[rgreenberg2000]

Phew! Had me going for a second

@rgreenberg2000 - I'd say you left your last two seasons
in the dust, Rich! Those transplants look pretty nice, alright.
Those first two BBG pics remind me of Scotch Bonnets at
this stage of growth! our results are a good advertisement
for IDOO!

You're right about water use. When the plants get to that size,
they use up water fast. I usually give them 4 oz. (120ml) at a
time from the top. When I bottom water them, the roots get long.
Not a real big deal, I guess, but keeping the roots air-pruned
makes for a bushier, denser root ball. Just my quirky 2¢

So....confession time. The reason I overwatered everything the first two years? I FORGOT to drill drain holes in my wine barrel planters. So.....after my last dismal season, I decided I'd overhaul the soil (thinking that was my issue), and when I went to empty the dirt out of the four barrels......well, let's just say it became clear as mud very quickly where my problem was. Since these things were made to HOLD liquid, well, they did their job without anywhere for the water to go! What a dope!

Onward, upward!

R

 

[PaulG]

We've all been there, Rich! I could tell you a few
real horror stories about my own experiences!

 

[rgreenberg2000]

Ok, back for another installment/update. Not too much going on other then happy plants getting a bit bigger...... I took the girls outside for a field trip, so decided on group shots today!

Everyone here looks good except some browning of one leaf on the BBG to the far right........might have overwatered that one.....

Group 2 looking sharp.....can't remember what I put in the beer can Kratky experiment.....might be an Elephant pepper?

I had thought about planting out into my containers this weekend, but we had some cooler overnight temps the last week or so, which has me holding off. I've got a week trip out of town coming up, though, so may just get it done today so I can watch over them for a week before trusting them to my family for a week!

Healthy and happy looking!

Rich

 

[PaulG]

Looking very nice, Rich. Nice to see plants
enjoying some real sun.

 

[rgreenberg2000]

I mentioned in my last update that I was heading out of town, and figured planting out my plants from their Solo cups would be a good idea to make plant care easier for my stay at home caretakers while I'm gone. Well, I got it done. I've mentioned that I'm a bit of a gardening neophyte, so I'm not a soil master. Thus, I just picked up some potting soil mix that I've used before (G&B Organics Potting Soil), and I'm just going to run with that.....and I'll add nutrients as I go if it appears to be needed. For now, I just got 15 plants into containers, and I'm hoping that they fare well with our mild weather (mid-60's/mid-70's during the day & high-40's/low 50's at night. I'm not blessed with oodles of space, so I have to limit the number of containers. This has led me to plant more in each container than is likely ideal, but I'm hoping that I will just sacrifice a bit of growth/yield because of it. Wish me luck!

Off we go, fingers crossed!

Rich