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SETHSQUATCH GROW BIG LOG WITH puny hammer

Ok. I'm in the ring. This is really my first year growing from seed and may as well be my first year ever. Last year we had a bag garden (which was pretty weak), and Justaguy contributed a couple of bucket plants later in the season (awesome).

So, just to get this out in the open early, I'm a little OCD. DANGER PLANTS! DANGER! FLEE FROM THE FURRY ONE! My natural tendency is to, well, let's just call it over-love my plants. "You like fertilizer? Well you'll love it straight from the bottle!"

One of my bigger hurdles is to just let the plants do their thing. I mean, I have grown up in a culture of drive-thru instant gratification, which doesn't exactly breed patience… But I'm working on it. Trying to tread gently through the grow instead of STOMP STOMP TEAR BREAK YELL. So far, so goodish?

Well I currently have 93 babies and about that many more in the germination station. Did I mention I like to go all out when starting a project? Does my car need a ejector seat and a rocket engine? Absolutely. Do I need cybernetic appendages and the ability to shoot lasers from my eyes? Most definitely.

Sooooooo. 93 plants. Alive and growing under lights. Here is my count as of this morning.

Scorpion (Moruga) (Justaguy)- 11
Scorpion (Butch T) (Alphaeon by way of Jstaguy)- 7
Brain Strain (Justaguy) - 1
Yellow 7 pot/pod (Justaguy) - 3
Douglah (cmpman) - 8
Fatalii (Pepper Guru)- 8
Avery Island Tabasco - 4
Thai Fire (Justaguy) - 13
Caribbean Red Habanero (Justaguy) - 26
Aji Yellow (Aji Joe) - 6
Naga x 7 pot/pod cross (Justaguy) - 1
Chinese Cabbage, Autumn Torch Hybrid - 3
Unknown pepper - 4

Here is a list of what's in the germination station right now.

Bhut Indian Carbon x Yellow 7 cross (Spicegeist by way of MJdiamond)
Criolla De Cocina (MJdiamond)
Biker Billy Jalapenos
Tabasco
Early Girl Tomatoes
Genovese Basil
Cilantro
Broccoli
Chinese Cabbage Autumn Torch Hybrid
Poblano
Cayenne
Hot Cherry
Dill
Nu mex

My initial germination of the first round of seedlings was done in peat pellets. They came with the tray so I figured I'd use them. NEVER AGAIN. Those things were a real pain in the ass to keep properly moistened. As soon as I could, I removed my sprouts from them and transferred into seed starting mix. Lost a few on the way but nothing to worry about. It's pretty likely I will be sharing some of these plants with some friends the way it is.

I kept my light on 24/7 for the first 2 weeks and then switched to an 18/6 cycle. Right now I am top watering and misting as needed. I was told that top watering helps get rid of all the bad buildups in the soil. Don't know if that's true or not, but whatever. I am trying to base my watering on tray weight. For nutrients I am using Pro Bloom, Liquid Karma, and a weekly compost tea brewed for 24 hours with an air stone in a bucket. All of my water also sits out for at least 24 hours before use to eliminate any chlorine.

Now, I really want to switch soil at this point but I am going to resist. For one, it costs more than I can swing right now.

My setup has evolved from one 2 bulb light fixture to a modified in ceiling fluorescent donated and wired by Justaguy. I drilled some holes, added u-bolts, and used carabiners and chains to hang the fixture from the bar in the closet. This way I can adjust as needed for light height. I can raise one side higher as well if necessary, which is also nice. I have some reflective film on the back wall and closet door to help recapture and reflect some of that escaping light. That's it. My setup.

Here are some pics. I will update with a million questions, and progress as I am able. My next post will probably be showing my outside grow area once the damn rain stops and I can snap some pictures. Anyway, thanks for looking.

Initial setup:




Upgrade:







Peppers 2/29/12 (just one tray but they are pretty similar):


 
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To say that your plot is gorgeous would be an understatement! Seriously, I find myself staring, and staring, and staring, and staring.... :crazy: It looks really professional and I aint gonna lie, I am kinda disappointed I didn't plant some veggies after seeing your veg plot :(. Did you mulch or just put dirt in between the rows? I am trying to find something to put down in between mine and spying on other's plots makes it easier!

But all in all, I can't click the like button enough. I am contemplating liking, unliking, liking, unliking, etc.

Whoo hoo! Top of the page!
 
Thanks Matt! It's cool being first timers. I just got lucky having two forum members that live nearby become friends and offer assistance. I've been watching your grow with tons of interest and learning as you go too. Hell, that's what makes this place so bad ass.

For the rows, I used leaf compost. Justaguy and I split a 4 ton(?)ish load from his township and moved it all over here bucket by bucket (24 buckets per trip, 4 trips, lots of compost). It was super cheap ($35 dollars, delivered). Your township might have something like that available too. I never would have thought to even check, but they gotta do something with that leaf collection. So, if your township takes yard waste and leaves, it's worth checking into. I dumped a bunch of buckets between the rows in hopes of the soil getting conditioned for next year. When I rip the plants out and break the mounds down, I'll be re-tilling and mixing all the goodness together.

Thanks for the encouragemnet MGOLD. I feel very proud tonight and I am celebrating with Gin and tonics. Now I just hope they make it till harvest and I don't love them to death in the meantime.
 
Looks awesome Seth! Stay on top of those aphids - you're right, the beneficial insects are on their way. Never learned to hate a bug as much as I have aphids since I've begun doing more growing inside. Nasty things deserve the deaths they get. But I'm ranting...

Anyway, I love the set up and it'll be fun to watch as you begin getting those ripe pods in.
 
Damn Mr. Squatch, things are looking mighty fine. I really like your garden. How do you get in though? I didn't see a gate anywhere lol.

Glad to see this site affecting your life so positively. It speaks volumes to the quality of people that have assembled here and stay around to get to know one another.

Good luck with the aphids! (We just tilled our garden plot and once we were done, I saw hundreds of fungal gnats flying around the top of the soil.....it was a little disheartening. We will see how that plays out)

P.S. Those rear tine tillers are the shit aren't they!? They are a bit scary when you're ripping through some thick clay though...lol. It's got so much balls, once it grabs in, it wants to take you for a quick ride!
 
Real pro stuff Seth...your grow will be freaking amazing. Folks often overlook the prep work and expect great results. You took your time and did it right, it will pay off in pods my friend. Nice work!
Shane
 
3/5King said:
Damn Mr. Squatch, things are looking mighty fine. I really like your garden. How do you get in though? I didn't see a gate anywhere lol.

Glad to see this site affecting your life so positively. It speaks volumes to the quality of people that have assembled here and stay around to get to know one another.

Good luck with the aphids! (We just tilled our garden plot and once we were done, I saw hundreds of fungal gnats flying around the top of the soil.....it was a little disheartening. We will see how that plays out)

P.S. Those rear tine tillers are the shit aren't they!? They are a bit scary when you're ripping through some thick clay though...lol. It's got so much balls, once it grabs in, it wants to take you for a quick ride!
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Ha! You know it King! Those rear tine tillers are where its at. I wish I had one! But man they are out of my garden budget. Fortunately, Pepp3rFreak has one and brought his A GAME.

I also had a bunch of gnats in the soil but since it was tilled twice, they all got stirred up on the first till (month prior to plant out) and hopefully died. I didn't see any on the second till. What I do have a ton of is yard grubs. When I see them I squish them. Would like to get some good guy nematodes at some point to go all alien on their asses but, once again, finances. The other issue I have is ANTS. Millions of them. Now that aphids are involved, they are my enemy. I shall smite them with glee and will be looking into a way to thin their numbers.

Gates are for sissies. :rofl:

stc3248 said:
Real pro stuff Seth...your grow will be freaking amazing. Folks often overlook the prep work and expect great results. You took your time and did it right, it will pay off in pods my friend. Nice work!
Shane
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Thanks man, that's what I'm hoping. I resisted the urge to overcrowd hoping it will pay off.
 
Looking good brother. I started way too early. A lot of my plants didn't get planted up into gallon pots and are stalled waiting for dirt. Hopefully we don't have a monsoon season like last year.
 
Hard rains ahead this week and heavy winds here, bro. You are all cozied up on that hill with low wind so rock on. Definitely looks like you spread awesomesauce all over that plot.
 
If you can catch the ants when they've formed that big cluster outside the ant hill, boil some water and dump it on them. It does the job quick and without chemicals. Plus if you listen closely you can hear ant screams.
 
Ha! I Actually read about that method not to long ago. They said in the article I read to do it three times a day for a couple days. Might have to mic the screams and record them. Then play a loop around my plants so the ants know I'm for real medieval.

The thing is, my whole yard is like one big ant hill. They are EVERYWHERE. You can't take a step without destroying a hill. I'll figure something out. Maybe get a couple anteaters for pets. :twisted:
 
Sethsquatch said:
I wish there were more pinned "go to" topics on some of this stuff. Like starting seeds, transplanting, pruning, fertilizing, average plant size, garden spacing, and a million others. There is a light, overwinter, and soil thread stickied and they are awesome. Dreamers can dream.
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I've been pondering this as well...thinking about doing something about it too :)
 
Sweet. You certainly have the experience to lend knowledge to many of these fundamental topics. Sometimes it feels like walking in a library with books strewn about randomly, the site is full of knowledge but for some things you really have to dig.
 
Im thinking a collective "sick plants infirmary" where all members can post examples of symptoms, cause and rememdy. Also, Im getting a collective strain guide together. Even though I've never been a strain hunter, so to speak, I think I'd like to start. So getting a library together would be neat. I've seen some online in the past years that are QUITE extensive, but including grower reviews, plant preferences, avg yield, and history/origin would be something that hasn't been done for peppers yet. That I know of at least.
 
Hey bro. You should be fine on lady bugs. I have seen some in your ground cover over there. Just need to catch a couple and set them on/by the aphids and they will go to town.
 
OK. First, a big thanks to BigCedar and Pepper Guru. Without seeing Big Cedar post and hearing from Guru on my leaf issue, my season would have been over. The rain has been wicked. 2 weeks after plant out and mostly rain led to a big bacterial leaf spot invasion on my pepper leaves. It didn't help that I used the whole USDA formula to kill some aphids (with vegetable oil, dish soap, and water) I think I choked my babies and basically gave the leaf spot a perfect growing environment.

So, I did what Brandon did and went out to the garden and pulled out all the infected leaves. The worst of them were just a stem. I have been in full panic mode since, begging the pepper gods for mercy and attempting to keep on top of any issues. I am trying to control my ant situation with diatomaceous earth and it so far seems to be working. Unfortunately, that stuff will kill the good bugs too. I've been spraying with a copper mix to help kill fungus as well.





Cayenne, the worst of the afflicted


GURU fatalii



AJI yellow



One of my main concerns were the strength of my roots. I had issues with fungal gnats which really compromised my growth. Anyway, live and learn. Year one has a HUGE learning curve.

I am happy to report that everything seems to be coming back to life, new growth and no leaf spot. i gave my babies a foliar of epsom which seems to be helping them green up. I have also given them some tomato tone. I'm leaving till Sunday so they will actually get a chance to do their thing now without my incessant over-loving. Hoping for the best.

The veggie bed is doing good even though the weeds are taking over. I should have done mounds and used the fabric but a lot of this stuff is early harvest so I'll mound up when I re-sow this summer.




This is my son's garden. I dug up all the soil/rocks and filled it up with some mushroom compost and top soil for growing root veggies. The dog got in there after the seeds were sown and moved all the dirt around so I have no idea what is what. It would have helped to write down what I planted in there…




Last, I have some random plants spread around the yard and I also have some buckets growing some peppers too. Hopefully I will be adding containers as we go with some more peppers along the fence line. Not only do I get to grow more pods, but it also acts as a deterrent for the dog. He doesn't know it yet but he could easily escape over that fence (another summer project is to replace it).










Anyway, don't have much time. I'm supposed to be cleaning the house… So, thanks for looking! Chili cheers my friends.
 
Coming back with avengence dude ! Like I told Brandon, don't sweat it. Yeah the delay sucks, but they will be looking great in a month and HUGE in two! :)


edit: where'd ya get the genetics on that Guru Fatalii? It sure does look like it avoided the dreaded spot well! hehehe :)
 
Ha. Someone I know has a freaking 7 year mother or something. :rolleyes:

The fataliis and thai fires are doing the best in the plot. It's weird because all the over-achievers in the indoor grow got beat down the worst. Now the weak are strong. :party:

That's cool though because I LOVE FATALIIS!
 
You guys have me skeeved out with all the bac spot. I'm begging for rain here, my yard is already turning brown. Fun to watch the different growth patterns of the plants from seedling on out. I had some over achievers that jumped early but got lapped in the long run.
 
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