Hi Guy's
Last year I experimented converting soil grown chilli peppers from soil to kratky hydroponics with spectacular results
I normally sow in winter grow on in my home made light box to get a head start hear in Scotland which I've found to be a great advantage in our climate.
I transferred the first plant from soil to kratky April I believe in my greenhouse wow ! Amazed at the results i continued to transition other plant's over the next few months.........learnt a lesson transferred too late resulted in a stop of flower/fruiting
and a surge in general growth leaves branches etc which was detrimental to fruit production in my short growing season............lesson learned. Although I think it was in part due to the extra root space and resulting root growth followed by the plant just deciding it could be grow bigger !
2024 plan is to transfer from soil to kratky as soon as the temperature allows me to transfer my plants full time to my unheated greenhouse...... as inside I'd run out of room.
Ive already started my 2024 crop in late winter germinated on wet rock wool in ice tray in my heated propergater than transferred to a small cell of soil , i like to prick them out while still small I select mostly on root's I've noticed in the past the bigger the root system the better the seedling seems to turn out .
Germinated on rockwool transferred to a small cell of soil allowed to grow on for a short period before selection and culling.
I selected 3 with the best root system and cotyledons 1st choice and spare and another spare just incase
they go into 3" to grow on.
This season is the first time I've moved some into a micro kratky set up at this stage not my Main crop as I'm worried I'd run out of space inside and it will be some time before they can go outside full time .
I have my main crop in the light box and a few micro kratky in there too my spares are on the window sill on a long tray with dome to keep the cosy
I started to notice my soil seedlings rapidly over taking my micro kratky seedlings !
which I didn't expect at all ..............
You can clearly see the soil seedlings were performing much better than the micro kratky a few weeks ago !
However..................
The other day I was talking to work colleague who loves eating my chillies and hearing how they doing he was blown away with my kratky hydroponics last year, observing first hand in my greenhouse.
Having given them their weekly bottom water and cthem being on a timer I hadn't really looked in on them for a few days.........
Wow ! All of a sudden my micro kratky seedlings have caught up and in many case's over taken there soil bretheran !
Strong healthy 7 pot Barrackpore in 3" pot
My Mustard Naga in micro kratky and all my other micro kratky plants have gone baserk ! Not that I'm complaining Just surprised by the delay and subsequent catching up.
I'm planning on converting some of my main crop to bug kratky set up from the soil but the micro kratky are plants I want to force into fruiting quickly to get f7 from f6 and to check if they are a crozz or mutation in the case of my mustard naga.
Don't know about you guys but I do enjoy the process and observations in growing chillies
Stephen
Last year I experimented converting soil grown chilli peppers from soil to kratky hydroponics with spectacular results
I normally sow in winter grow on in my home made light box to get a head start hear in Scotland which I've found to be a great advantage in our climate.
I transferred the first plant from soil to kratky April I believe in my greenhouse wow ! Amazed at the results i continued to transition other plant's over the next few months.........learnt a lesson transferred too late resulted in a stop of flower/fruiting
and a surge in general growth leaves branches etc which was detrimental to fruit production in my short growing season............lesson learned. Although I think it was in part due to the extra root space and resulting root growth followed by the plant just deciding it could be grow bigger !2024 plan is to transfer from soil to kratky as soon as the temperature allows me to transfer my plants full time to my unheated greenhouse...... as inside I'd run out of room.
Ive already started my 2024 crop in late winter germinated on wet rock wool in ice tray in my heated propergater than transferred to a small cell of soil , i like to prick them out while still small I select mostly on root's I've noticed in the past the bigger the root system the better the seedling seems to turn out .
Germinated on rockwool transferred to a small cell of soil allowed to grow on for a short period before selection and culling.
I selected 3 with the best root system and cotyledons 1st choice and spare and another spare just incase
they go into 3" to grow on.This season is the first time I've moved some into a micro kratky set up at this stage not my Main crop as I'm worried I'd run out of space inside and it will be some time before they can go outside full time .
I have my main crop in the light box and a few micro kratky in there too my spares are on the window sill on a long tray with dome to keep the cosy
I started to notice my soil seedlings rapidly over taking my micro kratky seedlings !
which I didn't expect at all ..............You can clearly see the soil seedlings were performing much better than the micro kratky a few weeks ago !
However..................
The other day I was talking to work colleague who loves eating my chillies and hearing how they doing he was blown away with my kratky hydroponics last year, observing first hand in my greenhouse.
Having given them their weekly bottom water and cthem being on a timer I hadn't really looked in on them for a few days.........
Wow ! All of a sudden my micro kratky seedlings have caught up and in many case's over taken there soil bretheran !
Strong healthy 7 pot Barrackpore in 3" pot
My Mustard Naga in micro kratky and all my other micro kratky plants have gone baserk ! Not that I'm complaining
Just surprised by the delay and subsequent catching up.I'm planning on converting some of my main crop to bug kratky set up from the soil but the micro kratky are plants I want to force into fruiting quickly to get f7 from f6 and to check if they are a crozz or mutation in the case of my mustard naga.
Don't know about you guys but I do enjoy the process and observations in growing chillies
Stephen
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