Scarlet Fire's first pepper grow (purple beauty bells, giant bhut's, hot cow horns)

Hello all. Back in the fall of 2011, I came across a steal on Craigslist for a 400w HPS light and ballast, and ordered up some pepper seeds. That was when I lived in NC and my grow space was confined to my small apartment's walk-in closet. The plants and I have since moved to GA and I now have 8 pepper plants growing in 5-gallon buckets outdoors. All fully organic, and grown in 100% soilless media (peat moss, pine bark, perlite, vermiculite, and coir). I've taken photos regularly along the way, so I'll try to bring you up to date without getting too caught up discussing the old indoor setup.

I sowed some Purple Beauty bell pepper seeds, as well as some Giant Bhut Jolokia's, during the first week of October 2011. They were started in a plain old plastic seed starting dome, with a 20w fluorescent light overhead 24/7, and a 20w heating pad beneath. Not the most ideal conditions, so they took like 3 weeks to sprout.

November 2011

 

[compmodder26]

from Lexington, KY!

Good luck with your grow.

 

[Scarlet Fire]

It was very slow going early on, and the whole grow was initially just an experiment done out of curiosity. Around December 2011 I sowed some Hot Cow Horns that I got free with my order of Giant Bhut's. Since not much was going on for a while, I slacked on the photo-logging. But look and see how things progressed!

February 2012

3 Giant Bhut's in the back, Purple Beauty up front, and a bunch of new (at the time) seedlings.

Always trying to germ up new seeds!

By the time March arrived, I was spending more and more time maintaining these plants and trying to figure out how and when I would be able to move them down to GA with me. I lost one of my 3 Giant Bhut's to root rot, and only had room for the healthiest Hot Cow horns.

March 2012

Back left: Purple Beauty, Front left and everything in the middle: Hot Cow Horns, Right: Giant Bhut's

 

[jedisushi06]

nice work. I grow with 400 watt hps in my attic. i will upload photos as my progression moves foward. Iv'e got close to 90 plants up there now.

 

[Scarlet Fire]

In preparation for my move, I made an early trip down to get the peppers adjusted to sunlight. They were set outside on March 28, a week after the first day of spring. The first flowers appeared soon after.

April 2012

First flowers were spotted on Easter Sunday.

These first Purple bells were harvested early, to increase later yields.

nice work. I grow with 400 watt hps in my attic. i will upload photos as my progression moves foward. Iv'e got close to 90 plants up there now.

90 plants all under a single 400w?! That's awesome! And encouraging, I intend to move mine inside to continue growing throughout the winter, along with about 20 other plants I expect to have potted up by then. I would love to see pics of your indoor setup.

 

[jedisushi06]

check my topics there is one under grow tech that shows the space im growing in now. I bought with my buddy out here in Co 5 400 watt lights a cloning light 2 watering trays and 5 light rails for 650$ on craigs list 2 weeks ago. Went up to grand junction to grab it. I'm having some electric work done up there thursday morning so i can hook up my other 2 400's on the light rails. Ive also got a 1000w laying around up there. plan on cloning this fall for next year's crop. Moving up to the big leagues. People out here tell me i should grow pot instead becuase its colorado but i prefer the capsain high! The legalization of marijuana is on the ballot this fall here in the state if it passes i will grow some plants but i would still grow chiles more.

 

[Scarlet Fire]

A lot of new growth has taken place this month. I regularly check on the plants, snipping the early Hot Cow Horns, and waiting anxiously for my Bhut's to ripen. On 5/27, I harvested my first red Bhut Jolokia, although it was tiny and its shape resembled that of a habanero.

May 2012

Early samplings of the summer's yield.

I counted about 20 pods this size on this plant less than a week ago.

Moved into full sun.

Can't wait to harvest lots more of these over the next couple months, in MUCH greater size and quantity. Anyway, this brings us up to date. Looking forward to what June has in store!

 

[jedisushi06]

your plants are huge compared to mine.!! great pics btw thanks for sharing.!!!

 

[SanPatricio]

Greetings from North Carolina !

[background=rgb(255, 244, 228)]“The taste is followed by a vicious hot spicy bite……[/background][background=rgb(255, 244, 228)]" [/background][background=rgb(255, 244, 228)] [/background]

[background=rgb(255, 244, 228)]Congratulations! -- WHAT GREAT looking pepper plants !![/background]
[background=rgb(255, 244, 228)]Would you care to share your ratios for your soilless mix? [/background]
[background=rgb(255, 244, 228)]Best wishes for continued success with your grow. [/background]

 

[PapaBill]

Hey howdy from Florida!!

Really nice looking plants ya have... G'luck on your grow!

 

[Scarlet Fire]

your plants are huge compared to mine. !! great pics btw thanks for sharing.!!!

Thanks a lot! I took a look at your growspace pics, should be a killer setup. Looking forward to seeing another round of pics sometime. What do you use for ventilation, humiditiy, etc? Just curious since I imagine an attic being a pretty muggy space to work in.

Greetings from North Carolina !

[background=rgb(255, 244, 228)]“The taste is followed by a vicious hot spicy bite……[/background][background=rgb(255, 244, 228)]" [/background][background=rgb(255, 244, 228)] [/background]

[background=rgb(255, 244, 228)]Congratulations! -- WHAT GREAT looking pepper plants !![/background]
[background=rgb(255, 244, 228)]Would you care to share your ratios for your soilless mix? [/background]
[background=rgb(255, 244, 228)]Best wishes for continued success with your grow. [/background]

Thanks, SanPatricio! I actually used all pre-mixed media for this particular grow.

I started the seeds in coir seed starter pellets. Once they were all sprouted, I stepped them up to 1-quart containers using Fox Farm Light Warrior. I highly recommend this stuff for starting seeds or young seedlings, because it's innoculated with mycorrhizae and also contains humic acids, assuring both healthy root establishment and efficient nutrient uptake right from the start.

As they got bigger, I stepped them up to 2.5-gallon, then eventually 5-gallon containers, using Fafard Organic Potting Mix. According to the info on Fafard's website, the contents of the blend I used are: "Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss (55%), aged pine bark, perlite, Dolomitic limestone, gypsum, organic fertilizer & organic wetting agent." Other than the fact that it's on the pricey side, you can't go wrong with this stuff.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hey howdy from Florida!!

Really nice looking plants ya have... G'luck on your grow!

Thanks! You have some really unique and beautiful peppers up on flickr. Hope mine look half that nice once they ripen!

 

[jedisushi06]

it's humid up there now. I live in a valley no problems yet though. Might have a sink installed up there soon. I suck the air out with a fan that was there when i moved in. It's attached to the ceiling. its about 88 up there at night. I run the lights from 6pm till noon.

 

[Pinoy83]

nice plants and pods and alohaaaa from oahu, HI

 

[Scarlet Fire]

Thanks for all the positive feedback, folks! I look forward to sharing lots of new growth and ripe pods over the next few months, but in the meantime, I recently decided it was past time to get the next round of seeds started up. I sowed 36 seeds on 5/14, and transplanted these 20 sprouts today. I've been trying to find a seed distributor who can help with my current super-hot wishlist: Chocolate Trinidad Scorpion, Naga Dorset, and Trinidad Moruga Scorpion. PM me if you know of a good source for stable, well-isolated seeds.

 

[mygrassisblue]

Looking great !

 

[Scarlet Fire]

Got super busy last week and didn't get to check on the plants for 9 days straight. Luckily we got a couple showers during that time because it was in the lower 90s almost every day last week, but they were in need of a good feeding when I got there.
June 9

I counted about 30 pods on this Bhut Jolokia, Several are starting to darken from the shoulders downward.

Always nice to have some green Hot Cow Horns to snack on here and there while waiting on the next growth spurt .

And of course the next 20 are looking nice as well... thinking of transplanting these into 2-gallons in a week or 2.

Also, just got my Fatalii, Scotch Bonnet, and Spicy Mustard Hab's from Pepper Joe. Next year's already being planned out, shooting for 40-60 5-gallon plants in about 20 varieties. Gotta figure out how I'm gonna do indoor lighting this winter. I've got my 400w ballast and both MH and HPS bulbs, and I'm thinking of getting a dual ballast and running a second 400w to cover more area than a 1000w, thus more plants.

 

[scratchzilla]

How are those cow horns when they're green? I've got a good sized pod, but kind of want to wait for it to ripen up a bit more.

 

[Scarlet Fire]

How are those cow horns when they're green? I've got a good sized pod, but kind of want to wait for it to ripen up a bit more.

I'm with ya, still waiting on some redness myself. My rule of thumb has been once they're at least 4-5'' long, they're hot enough to be worth snacking on, but still not up to their potential heat. I used 7 of those to make a pint jar of pepper juice to use on beans and greens a couple days ago and it came out just right. These immature ones seem to also have the most heat at the shoulders, where they're the widest. So far, my longest Cow Horn has been about 7'' long, but I think some might get up to 9-10'' in a month or so. It's all a learning experience!

 

[scratchzilla]

Can't wait to see what happens for you. It raining again here. Bah!

 

[PaulG]

You have a nice grow going there, Scarlet. Not bad for your first whack at this!