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

Samcanadian's Great White North Glog, 2014

I figured I'd put as much information I can find in this thread, not only to make it easier for others to help me...but to maybe help other growers who are at the noob stage like I'm at.  (Maybe I'll ask some of the dumb questions so they don't have to!)
 
This year I'm growing Serranos, Habaneros and Jalapenos...having started them all indoors under fluorescent lights on February 28th.  Rather than bore everyone with pictures they've seen a million times of the seeding process, I decided to opt against posting them and just instead mention that I got WAY more seeds sprouting than I had allowed for and was dealing with multiple plants in each little Peat Pot we'd planted them in.
 
At about two months we transplanted the sprouts into Red Solo cups, and next year we will likely skip this step and plant them directly in the solo cups to begin with.  It was just too much trouble to split up all the little peat pot sprouts and replant them individually without harming them, and if I could do it again I'd get a seedling tray and transplant into Red Solo cups from there.
 
IMAG2956_zpsa708afa2.jpg

 
 
Now, it's past last frost for my area (Winnipeg, Canada) so the wife and I were busy in the garden this weekend...planting our crops for the upcoming year and filling pots with potting soil and peppers.  The Wife bought a generic brand of organic potting soil from Costco for $10/85l bag and we figured it was a good price for our area.  We also bought 16 cheap pots from the Dollar Store and figured our first try at this would be in an ultra-cost effective manner...just to see how much it really costs to produce peppers.
 
Here's a few pictures taken on May 25th of my babies!  The temperature is steady around 23-25 during the day for the next week so I can expect them to get some decent growing weather without being too hot.  
 
 
IMAG3109_zps0034d5b7.jpg

 
IMAG3110_zps26086c43.jpg

 
IMAG3111_zpsf62ccfe4.jpg

 
 
 
Here are a few of my concerns with this growing season
 
1. That the pots aren't big enough:  I hadn't really thought about the size of pot necessary and when I saw these at the Dollar Store I assumed they'd be plenty.  Since the varieties I'm growing don't get too much bigger than 24" (Except the Habs which are estimated to get to 30") I didn't think they'd be too bad...but I'm still a little nervous when I see all these suggestions saying 5 gallon pot MINIMUM.  I'll measure one tonight and see how big it is and update this post with accurate dimensions.
 
2. The the season won't be long enough:  I just have this nagging worry that I'll have a bunch of unripe green pods on my plants when the weather starts to turn cold.  While I'm sure I'm worrying for nothing, I'd still really hate for this to happen.
 
3.  I won't know what to do with all these peppers:  Self explanatory!
 
 
 
Anyway, I'm looking forward to keeping this updated with perhaps a once a week update with pictures, etc.  If you've stumbled onto this page, thanks for reading and any advice you have to give!
 
More often then not people over fertilize peppers. They are not heavy feeders like tomatoes.
 
In #1 pots it is a different ball game, you will need to keep a careful eye on a day to day basis. For some the challenge of growing the super hots in a small pot is all the fun, but to me it requires a lot more effort and knowledge on which nutrients the plants need throughout growth.
 
Here's my big, pretty Serrano!!!
 
IMAG3211_zps071af0a1.jpg

 
we got absolutely poured on for about 3 days straight, but since I had my peppers under the eavestroughing, they didn't get too badly soaked (Just a few did).
 
I'm realizing with their position on my hot deck outside, the peppers growing there have somewhat of a micro climate that gives them the hottest weather and a controllable amount of ambient moisture.  It's actually pretty nice to have them protected from ultra-severe winds, but getting enough that their stems grow nice and thick.
 
got to love serranos. I prefer snacking on them to jalapenos, come to think of it I don't even know why
 
That plant will keep you happy in no time at all. My annuums are loaded with pods, but with this damn rain they could drop. we supposed to get 80mm of rain today alone.
 
mine are doing ok, the ring of fire and the thai hots have about 12 buds on each, my ghost peppers are starting to bush out and up and same with the caribbean red habanero and scotch bonnets, its been raining for a week here off an on and they are not liking that at all, it rained for 4 days, then stopped for a day then rain the next day and sunny the next, all my plants are water logged and im hoping it stops raining so they can dry out. so far in total we have had 248mm of rain and 90mm in one day, i really hope it stops soon
 
magicpepper said:
mine are doing ok, the ring of fire and the thai hots have about 12 buds on each, my ghost peppers are starting to bush out and up and same with the caribbean red habanero and scotch bonnets, its been raining for a week here off an on and they are not liking that at all, it rained for 4 days, then stopped for a day then rain the next day and sunny the next, all my plants are water logged and im hoping it stops raining so they can dry out. so far in total we have had 248mm of rain and 90mm in one day, i really hope it stops soon
 
Swartmamba said:
got to love serranos. I prefer snacking on them to jalapenos, come to think of it I don't even know why
 
That plant will keep you happy in no time at all. My annuums are loaded with pods, but with this damn rain they could drop. we supposed to get 80mm of rain today alone.
 
When did you start your Annuums?  Mine are still a little ways away from Pods, and I'm wondering how big yours are?  
magicpepper said:
mine are doing ok, the ring of fire and the thai hots have about 12 buds on each, my ghost peppers are starting to bush out and up and same with the caribbean red habanero and scotch bonnets, its been raining for a week here off an on and they are not liking that at all, it rained for 4 days, then stopped for a day then rain the next day and sunny the next, all my plants are water logged and im hoping it stops raining so they can dry out. so far in total we have had 248mm of rain and 90mm in one day, i really hope it stops soon
 
Yeah, my habaneros are getting ultra thick/bushy and I'm starting to see some buds.  I've got a good overhang on my house that keeps them out of the direct rain so they haven't been soaked.  Coincidentally after the three days of rain we had, there were 5-6 pots that NEEDED water because I neglected to water them in that time!
 
Swartmamba said:
i guess we are getting rid of any salt build up in our soil mix, all planned really. :shh:
yup thats the plan lol
 
they were started in febuary, but not by me. i was busy driving back and forth to the hospital to visit my dad and drive my mom to work.
anyway a friend started them for me, some i bought and some i started from seed, the ring of fire and the thai hots my friend started, scotch bonnet, and the Caribbean red habs i bought, and the ghost i started from seed, they were under lights 24/7 to get them to catch up to the rest lol
i will take some pics when it stops raining and the sun is out, none of them are over 12 inches tall.  there is a rolling thunderstorm hitting right now, sent both my moms dogs for the basement hahaha shook the house a few times. man i love loud thunderstorms
 
link worked. Looking good, very bushy plants
 
I started all my seedlins on march 11. chinense/baccys were all up april 2nd. Anuums were all up by march 19. Anuums grow extremely fast though
 
Swartmamba said:
link worked. Looking good, very bushy plants
 
I started all my seedlins on march 11. chinense/baccys were all up april 2nd. Anuums were all up by march 19. Anuums grow extremely fast though
i wish i was able to start all my plants in january, to be honest. they would yield more pods and produced most of the summer. but next year i will start them in january, maybe even december
 
lol yes it is, but at least by june you will start to see buds on the plants, and hopefully double your pod count. but we can only work with our space and some times its hard to take care of 20+ plants inside for 5 months
 
wow thats a lot lol. i started all my veggies indoors but i didnt have them inside to long, it was a month or so. then i planted them, 72 plants not including my peppers. i think for next year i am going to make a staircase setup and grow roughly 80 hot pepper plants, 40 different kinds and 2 of each. but i will see what happens when that time comes, 5 months indoors is a long time.
 
I have enought varieties that if I plant one of each I would have well over two hundred plants. Honestly thinking of sowing no annums next season
 
Back
Top