Sarge's 2013 - Sydney, Some extreme variations!

Alright to kickstart off on this forum, I might as well write up a glog where I can show you guys what I have started, what I have and where I hope to be.
 
I never used to be a fan of chilli. Couldn't tolerate the hate and the day after. After time went on I started getting an itch for it and started to like it more and more to the point I eat hot things just to experience the burn. Well I consider my self to have always had a green thumb. Ive grown many plants in the past, mainly fruitful like tomato's strawberries and other types of berries. I then tried Bonsai but with uni and other things in the way it was far too hard to maintain and after a year trying to grow plants from seedlings, it only took one bad day to wipe out an entire batch I worked so hard on; a scorching 43C summer day.
 
Now I'm starting my run with chilli's, namely the super hots. So what did I do? I headed over to eBay and bought some bhuts in reds and chocolate, some trinidad scorpions, morugas, naga x 7 pot just to get me started.
 
I started my seedlings as I did previous plants Ive grown, moist paper towel in a plastic bag behind the fridge or somewhere warm. The bhuts were the first batch I tried and I hit a 100% germination rate after 10 days. These were then sewn into the Scotts seed raising mix which I bought from Bunnings. They were planted in trays in those little mini greenhouse things and I kept an eye on them every day until they broke through the surface. I obtained a heat mat, a reptile grow lamp and built a box in my cupboard to house them in which is lined with aluminium foil to keep light and heat in. After the bhuts cracked the surface I tried a batch of 10 of each of the other seeds. The seeds were from different sellers on eBay. I had 70% with the naga x 7 pot, 70% with another batch and two other batches I had had completely failed on me. I'm not sure what happened, I didn't take pictures but the seeds seemed to change colour, some went black while others stained the paper towel in a yellow colour run.
 
I threw those bad seeds out and named it to a bad harvest of seed. The bhuts I germinated looked extremely better quality than the other seeds which failed. Most of the seeds had little cracks in them, some werent whole, and they looked overly dried out.
 
After the plants got their first true set of leaves I started feeding them, and this is where I request input. Ive been using seasol at half strength every other week and the other weeks between I have been using power feed. I have also got a bottle of Chilli focus but have not tried this out. I feed straight to the soil. I think as of late though I have been over watering slightly. The soil looks too moist for my liking so I have backed off the watering(please reference the attached pictures).
 
I have a couple of questions of things I have seen along the way and things I need cleared.
 
Firstly my plants are grown in my room up stairs in a cupboard, isolated from any other plants. I have noticed a flying insects in there which I have squashed whenever Ive seen them. They are smaller than a fruit fly and when I lift the cover off the seedlings the bugs either fly out or run and hide in the soil. Ive seen about 4 now and killed all of them. There is no point getting a picture, no camera I have would be capable of getting a clear image, these things are tiny as. Are these of concern? How the hell did they get there? The only time the cover is off is when I water.
 
Secondly, should I remove the cover off the seedlings now? A chap suggested I remove it while another suggested to keep it to retain humidity. Checking all the photos I see online, no one keeps their seedlings enclosed. Refer to the pix to see the housing.
 
Third off, and I have a pic for this one, two of the seedlings have strange patches on their new set of leaves, they look like dark spots but they aren't theyre actually thinner spots and the illusion of darkness comes from the fact its the soil being semi visible through the leave. There are no bugs or insects other than the flying ones that I have seen. Nothing leeching off the plant. The leaves otherwise are a nice green colour.
 
For now no more writing, here are the pictures. In two days these will be about 3.5 weeks old.
 
I will post pix and updates as necessary.
 
Hope you guys enjoy!
 
P.S if anyone here is in Australia and has some fresh seed to sell(or even in the US), please PM me. I'm trying to find some pure 7 pot varieties and depending if I can get my red bhuts to germ maybe some fresh red bhuts. The ones which have grown so far are chocolate bhuts.
 
These are the strange looking leaves. Its only the two plants at the front bottom corner of the tray. Any ideas?

 
I found this little bastard growing in one of the cells.

 
Bigger picture of the damaged leaves

 
This is my current setup

 
Soil moisture


 
Soil temp

 
Close up of soil moisture. Looks too wet.

 
 

 

[Helvete]

Hi, looking forward to following your grow!  I hope you have a lot of room for all those fellas.  Summer is basically over here so I'm gearing up for my Winter grow personally.
 
It seems like you're on the right track, I would let them dry up some and keep them under the lid for maybe a week longer and let the humidity water them.  The soil shouldn't feel wet, only damp.  Don't take this for gospel, I'm just sharing what works for me.  I have no idea about the see-through spots unless it's nute burn.
 
I can't help you with the bugs, there's no guarantee we have that kind in Virginia but they sound an awful lot like fungus gnats.  There are several Australian members who could help you with that though.  A lot of people on here sell and trade seeds for any kind of pepper you can imagine.  I haven't been a member here for very long myself and have already found it to be a great resource.

 

[chilli whisperer]

Hey man,nice glog,an nice selection of seeds,I'm growing me some origional 7Pot red's,and I see you are looking for some,I don't have much seeds,but next year I'll be able to send cuz they all busy germinating (:
Hey man,nice glog,an nice selection of seeds,I'm growing me some origional 7Pot red's,and I see you are looking for some,I don't have much seeds,but next year I'll be able to send cuz they all busy germinating (:
Good luck with your grow!

 

[Nightshade]

Never buy seeds from eBay there are tons of reputable dealers out there eBay is not one. Check out the vendor vault for places to buy

 

[PetersChilli]

I agree with Nightshade, Ebay is NOT the place to buy seeds... your plants might even turn out to be Habernero's.
Use reputable sellers here in Australia like... The  Hippy Seed Company, Jungle Rain, these are who I bought my seeds off. There are others as well.
 
Best of luck with your grow, looking forward to seeing how you go.

 

[Sarge]

Just a quick reply off my mobile. After looking at the pictures and reading the behavior of the fungus gnat I think that is what they are so I set up some traps earier today.

In regards to the seller he was the guy who suggested this forum. His seeds so far have given me the seedigs. Two other ebay sellers ive had no success in germinating. I hope I don't get stooged into haberberos. I need to get my hands on some certain seeds which I can grow. I don't want to waste the season. I also want to use a different seed raising medium.

 

[Cartz]

G'day Sarge, and 
 
I just want to +1 ikeepfish's comment on the fungus gnats. I'm 99% sure that's what you have described. I've only been doing this for 2 seasons (in Brisbane) but I've had those guys materialise out of thin air both times. Their larvae live in the soil and can interfere with your roots, but in my experience they aren't a huge issue. I had a swarm of them infesting my seedlings last season, but they didn't seem to slow them down at all. They need moisture to survive, so if you are worried about them you can interrupt their lifecycle by letting your potting medium dry out completely, but I wouldn't recommend that if your plants are still brand new. 
 
As for seed vendors, my entire stock is from Grant @ junglerain.com.au and thehippyseedcompany.com. They are both as good as any of the vendors out there and come highly recommended. I can understand the appeal of ebay to a new grower, so I'll cross my fingers you don't end up with capsicums. 
 
Good luck with your grow.

 

[PepperDaddler]

Looks like the aussie sub-community has found you. Cool.
 
As for getting Habs from ebay; in that case you would be lucky.
 
Most likely you would get bells or japs, if they even sprout. Hope yours turn out true, stay positive!

 

[Sarge]

From day one buying seeds off ebay I was sceptical. I got burned when I was trying to grow trees for bonsai. I ended up weeding out the false sellers back then and applied the same principle here. Find a seller eho has more than 1k feedback of nothing but chilli related and let it be positive. I hope these deliver. None the less I am in the market for a few more chillis so will be sourcing some off those suggested websites. Just got home from work and had a check up. No water for my plants today and theres no signs of drooping. Also made some positioning adjustments as I was getting about 30 plus degrees soil temps in my humidomes. Now they're relatively stable at 26.5c. Also had a few more bhuts crack the surface.

Do you guys suggest a final home after the replant or should I go another larger temp home then final when ready.

 

[Cartz]

Some guys on here go all out and will replant several times before the plants find their final home, however I only do it twice.
 
Once when the seedlings have their 2nd set of true leaves, at which point I move them from their germination home (I used jiffy pellets exclusively this season) into 120mm pots. It's important to put them into something large enough to allow rapid growth, but small enough to be mobile, as you will be moving these pots daily as you harden off the seedlings. It's especially important to harden them off very gradually now that we are well into Spring and daytime temps are rising. 
 
Once they have been completely hardened off (a process that takes me at least a month) they are ready to be planted outside. By this time they should have many sets of true leaves (you can check out pics on my glog for examples if you like). I'm restricted to container growing so it is then that I transplant mine into their final home, 2900mm pots. (But the bigger the better!)
 
You can transition the process a bit more if you like, but frankly it's a lot of effort transplanting and I'd rather not risk slowing their growth by messing with their roots and potentially putting them into shock any more than I have to.  

 

[Sarge]

I think I am going to have to transfer them into something larger then where they are. I will grab some styrofoam cups and stick them in those. I had some styrofoam bowls but what I have read chilli plants prefer a deeper root system over a wider root system.
 
I have been hardening them up, I give them about 6 - 8 hours of morning and afternoon sun depending on what time I wake up and what time I leave for work. I have accidently left them in sun for the whole day but it didn't seem to negatively affect them at all.
 
My intentions were as yours Cartz, from a germination cell tray into something a little larger than into the ground or dedicated pot. Found another of those flying specs in there today, crushed the little bastard.
 
For the aussies here, can you give me layman names of the items you guys use for your older seedlings and is this the same stuff you use for fully developed plants? I was told grab 100% organic potting mix and maybe add some perlite in there for aeration and mix some blood n bone with the soil. I was reading the soil thread in the grow section and I see things which I have no idea what they are or where you get them from(worm casings, mould leaf, etc). In the past Ive used Scotts Professional seed raising mix for seedlings and always use Hortico branded potting mix. Not sure if I should try one of those "premium" potting mixes and mix in some perlite, blood n bone, and Richgro dolomite lime.
 
Edit:
 
I just lifted up the cell tray and some of the seedlings have their roots coming out of the draining hole. Would this be an indication they need a bigger home?

 

[Cartz]

A healthy seedling is going to shoot out it's taproot pretty deep, pretty quickly, so seeing some roots coming out of the drainage hole is a pretty common sight. You'll only have problems with the plant becoming root-bound if you leave it too long until the roots start running many concentric circles back up and around the cell/cup/pot whatever, because then even when you give it some bigger shoes the roots won't want to spread out, and it'll severely inhibit its growth.
 
As for potting mediums...keep it simple for your first season. Your plants will do just fine with a decent quality potting mix, a little something to aerate the mix, and maybe a little something to release some extra nutrients over time. There are some absolute masters of their craft of these forums, who have been growing for decades, and have come up with soil mixes that could probably get a damn rock to grow. Unfortunately the sheer volume of (mostly) good info on here can really overwhelm a new grower (as it did to me). The key is just to keep it simple for your first season, and then slowly ingest the rest of the info on here to improve your results, as your circumstances require. I'm sure mixing in some worm sh*t would be a good move, but it is not by any means essential.
 
You'll find everything you need at bunnings. You can see the specific brands of everything I've used in my potting medium on my glog...but they are by no means proscriptive. All you need to start off with is some quality potting mix (use hortico if you are familiar with it and like the stuff), some coir-peat bricks to aerate the mix, and some nutrients such as dynamic lifter or osmocote. If, down the track, you notice your plants showing some signs of ill health, that's when the forums really become helpful when trying to correct the problem.      
 
To answer your other question, when potting up for the very first time into their intermediate home, I just use straight up potting mix. Nothing else. I only worry about aeration/nutes etc when doing the final plant out. Why make things harder than they need to be. My seedlings lived in their intermediate homes (120mm pots of pure potting mix) for approx. 6 weeks this season and absolutely flourished. I had flowers on some and pods within a week of the final plant out.
 
Lastly, if your plants are already enjoying 6-8 hours of outside sun per day, they probably aren't far away from being hardened off sufficiently to plant out. Cold night time temps should no longer be a worry, just make sure they are otherwise sturdy enough to survive the wind/rain etc. 
 
Happy growing.  

 

[Sarge]

Awesome awesome awesome. Answered many questions and confirmed what I needed to know. Very very much appreciated. I'll probably give them another week maybe two in their seedling tray. I will use what I have at home to take care of the plants, judging from what you've written and from what Ive heard, it should be enough to see stable, healthy plants which should flourish and be fruitful.
 
My roots aren't at that stage and I believe it is how you said its the one single long root sticking out of the bottom. Ive got 100mm pots which they will sit in until I chuck them into the ground and larger pots, if all my plants survive the seedling stage, I want to try half in the soil(we have good nourished soil here, my dad, mum and brother plant veggies all the time) and half in pots to see how they progress.
 
I'll dig up your glog and have a read and bookmark. There is a plethora of information here just like you said, and as a novice, I will read and absorb this information to learn new techniques for my future seasons. My first mistake which I have learnt from is over watering. I will not make this mistake again.
 
Here in Sydney, the winds this season have been blowing insanely. My greenhouse outside flew away and fell apart, luckily nothing was in it. If I put these outside, they will not stand a chance.
 
I'll use the Hortico stuff I have. I should also have a bag of premium potting mix somewhere. I don't have any coir peat bricks, but I do have perlite which I used for my bonsai a while back. Could I use this for aeration?
 

 

[SeeYouJimmy]

Hi Sarge, The Hippy Seed Company and Jungle Rain are both reputable sellers of seeds. Neil (THSC) makes some great sauces too...... sorry Grant, I've not tried any of yours. If you hadn't noticed there is another thread in the growing section about getting superhot seedlings from Masters stores. Probably a better option at this time of year than starting more seeds.
And I agree with Cartz, keep it simple and use what you've learned this year for your next season. Good luck with your grow.

 

[Cartz]

Happy to assist Sarge. I think you are well on your way. And yep, Perlite will do the aeration job just fine if you've already got some. I suggested the coir-peat bricks because they are much cheaper then perlite and will stretch a bag of potting mix a long way. I'd still probably invest in a couple of bricks at plant out time just to get more bang for your buck. True that about the wind lately...it's been crazy up here too!

Edit: And you're in good company...EVERYONE over-waters in their first season!

 

[Sarge]

Just dropped into Masters and picked up some seeds. For anyone interested, the Chullora store has a whole heap. When I got there, only one had sold! I got a red bhut jolokia(not having luck germinating these) and also a 7 pod. I might go back soon and grab a yellow bhut, a choc hab and that weird penis one haha.
 
My dad is good friends with a farmer who usually gives my dad a bunch of garden stuff to eat/grow at home. How well does chicken shit do on chilli plants?
 
I'll also ask him if he can get me some peat bricks and other bits and pieces.
 
My seedlings are looking good, I gave them another feed today with half strength seasol and half strength Chilli focus. I'm concerned about the fungus gnats. They seem to be shitting more eggs on the surface. Ive been scraping them off but they keep coming back. Looks like I lost a second seedling to their effects, the plants never grow true leaves just the first two false leaves then they slowly die.
 
I potted up the two plants I got from Masters in regular potting mix, put in some teaspoons of blood bone and watered them in. The wind is atrocious today, again, so I had to bring them inside. I'm gonna have to stalk these up. New pics up this weekend when theres something worth showing!

 

[PepperDaddler]

The language!
 

 

[Sarge]

Lol old lady doesn't approve of my words.
 
Alright guys just a little update with a couple of pix. I still have no control over these gnats and from what Ive read that BTI stuff(mosquito dunks) isn't available in Australia and chances are quarantine may restrict it(from what Ive read).
 
Anywho my little seedlings look like they're will be about a month old in a couple more days. Also added pix of the plants I got from masters. The thirsty one to the left is a trinidad and the other is the red bhut.
 
25c outside and soil temps hit 35c so I moved them into the shade. Is there any way to regulate this or is this due to the fact the small tiny seedling cell will get hot much faster?
 

 

[Sarge]

With the guidance of Cartz and the help of these forums, I am now 20 plants potted up and hopefully ready for a growth spurt. Generally speaking everything went smoothly, the hardest part was smelling all that manure at bunnings and trying to decide which potting mix to use. For reference, I went with the Scotts Osmocote Premium potting mix. No need to add anything this stuff should have everything to see the plants through their life in these smaller pots for now. Hopefully they adapt well to their new home and have a growth spurt, or three!
 

There are only two varieties in there, 8 plants are 7 pot x naga hybrids and the rest are chocolate bhuts.

 

[Sarge]

Just a little update, I know its too soon for anything amazing or awesome to happen but hey, I feel like sharing and showing you guys and also harvesting a little more information regarding some seedlings I bought.
 
You'll see in the pix below a few plants which I bought from a local store. The super hot varieties are all short stocky looking plants, they look great, they're doing well and get there good dose of sun and wind to help strengthen them up. My question is with the bigger plants. One is a hungarian black and the other is a red jalapeno. The hungarian black has already started to produce flowers, one is on the verge of opening while another 3 or 4 are developing. They are all developing at the very top of the plant. The red jalapeno is doing the same. We're a month into spring here now so there is still alot of time for these to grow. My question comes after reading 50/50 information regarding topping the plants. Do I intend to keep them in a pot or plant them out? I'm not quite sure yet, I may be planting them out. In saying that most people suggest to let the plant grow by it self. Ive seen pictures of this and the plants usually look really lanky with no real bushyness.
 
What would you guys suggest, should I trim these back? They haven't forked yet, they're still just one stalk right up. I don't know whether to let them roll and see how they do or if I should trim them back to encourage the plant to shoot outwards.
 
That's it for now guys, will keep this updated in another week or so. Good luck all!
 
These are the seedlings progress pic 1 week after the above repotting happened:

 
Aji Lemon, nice strong, stocky looking seedling:

 
Red Bhut:
 

 
7 pot:
 

 
Red Jalapeno, lanky looking plant, but healthy green leaves:
 

 
Hungarian black with its little flowering bud:
 

 
Top of the hungarian black, with its new buds developing, snip or skip?