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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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Great job so far Seth! Don't agree with folks that bash on overcaring...the real issue is usually overanalyzing and giving them things they don't need or thinking every yellow spot is some dramatic disease. That leads to overwatering, fertilizing and treating ailments that aren't necessary. As long as you understand what's going on and what the plants need I think its fine! I brood over my plants to, keeps me in touch and helps me know when its time to feed and notice pests before they're out of control!
 
Wow Seth! Definitely worth coming back for a second look on the computer. If you would have never told me that you had disease issues, I would have never known. Those babies look healthy and ready to really take off. Great update Seth, it is always a good thing to hit your limit and then come back for more!
 
stc3248 said:
Great job so far Seth! Don't agree with folks that bash on overcaring...the real issue is usually overanalyzing and giving them things they don't need or thinking every yellow spot is some dramatic disease. That leads to overwatering, fertilizing and treating ailments that aren't necessary. As long as you understand what's going on and what the plants need I think its fine! I brood over my plants to, keeps me in touch and helps me know when its time to feed and notice pests before they're out of control!
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It's nice to be among people with the same diligence. Hell, this forum teaches me new things every day. I have found though that experience is by far the best teacher. Year one is teaching me quite a bit. Good habits, bad habits and how high the cost of each can be. I didn't mound my veggies and I'm regretting the hell out of it now. Sorry for the tangent.

romy6 said:
:hot: That pizza does look yummylicous :hot:
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It was incredible. I'm still munching your pods. Have the Aji's to throw in some salsa this weekend. I can wait!

meatfreak said:
Awesome job, Seth. Both gardens look great and that's the fun in doing it you keep on learning every time :) The pizza looks stunning! :drooling:
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Thanks Meat! Haven't been over to your Glog or chatted you up in a while. I imagine your keeping pretty busy. Good to hear from you.

MGOLD86 said:
Wow Seth! Definitely worth coming back for a second look on the computer. If you would have never told me that you had disease issues, I would have never known. Those babies look healthy and ready to really take off. Great update Seth, it is always a good thing to hit your limit and then come back for more!
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Matt, it's wild. Everything is working out! I'm sure Brandon's plants are going nuts right now too. Amazing the rebound time. I was in full panic a couple weeks ago.

Here at the Squatch house, Thursdays are the new Fridays. Got my beautiful night all set up. Gin and tonics, fire, music, the moon, my boys, my favorite wife and me.


 
Nice set up Seth , that looks to be the ideal lounge area, and the garden is lookin great-good spacing!
I always end up "crunching" my spacing down to 16-18" because the sub soil is solid hard clay, and after wrangling several row extensions, I always seem to have just "a few more" to include!Ideally, more space means more pods per plant usually...but once you reach past the 20-30 plants mark, it is a variety vs quantity issue!Glad your enjoying the puppy dog...they can beat the greatest minds in psychology when it comes to mood improvement for sure, mine refuses to allow me to stay pissed off for long, besides my truck can't go anywhere without her!
 
Yeah, I've been busy like an madmen. Totally underestimated everything, there's just not enough hours in a day :P Did a big update on the glog and that's gonna be it for a while. Great too see and read everything is going well over there!
 
Nice come back.. It feels good when your babies start getting healthy again. I know how you feel!!!! I lost my two naga morich plants tho. But my 20 other plants are doing great. I cant wait to get them in the ground. Im a nervous nelly
 
Pr0digal_son said:
Looking good man.... Been meaning to ask you about the concoction you made for your bugs. You mentioned soap and oil,and some various things. Did the soap you use have lotion or antibacterial chemicals? The reason I ask this is because I used a dawn soap solution once and it was the kind with lotion and not the plain blue. Fast forward a couple days and the plants,and girlfriend were royally pissed. Not counting out BLS but just thought I would pass that along for future growing knowledge.
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We talked about this on PM but for those of you that may be in the same boat, there is certainly some truth to the matter of my USDA home brew aphid killer being an altogether plant killer. I think the soap and oil facilitated a great breeding ground for the BLS, not to mention the shock of plant out and the crazy and persistent rain. Hope we aren't doing the same thing as last year with all the record breaking rainfall...

Sanarda said:
Nice come back.. It feels good when your babies start getting healthy again. I know how you feel!!!! I lost my two naga morich plants tho. But my 20 other plants are doing great. I cant wait to get them in the ground. Im a nervous nelly
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Glad to hear it Sanarda! It's tough all the way through the grow. From killing seedlings to losing mature ones. I never get used to it. When you put them in the ground make sure you leave some stem space (like 2") between the leaves and the ground. Keep in mind you are looking at a couple weeks before they acclimate to their new homes! Try not to panic! (easier said than done).

MGOLD86 said:
Hey Seth, how did you use the diacotamous earth, and how did it work for you?
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Initially I powdered the hell out of my plants. Top, underside, ground around and just slapped them to get rid of excess. My main issue is the ant farmers. My yard is ant hell (the DE is slowly fixing that, find a mound = add a mound of DE). It seems to have helped. Now I just hit the base of the stem and around the plant so anything going to and up them will pay in blood. :hell:

The drawback is that the stuff kills ANYTHING that crawls. Ladybugs, mantis, anything. So the good guys get dead too. :tear:

My plants are too small right now to provide a good home for ladybugs so I just went with the DE and hope for few casualties. It has to be reapplied after rain so eventually, when the plants are a little bigger and more stable I'll quit applying. I also used Sluggo as a preventative for all my beds because I had a huge infestation last year with all the rain and that was the only thing that stopped the onslaught.

Pepper-Guru said:
Guitars and peppers....nothing better dude.
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It's great man. Add fire, beer, and smoke and you have a recipe for epic. :dance:
 
thanks Seth!! check out my grow. I purchased My plants from CCN here in Jersey (perfect growers. Love em) and killed my nagas.. ahahaa But I purchased my morouga on line.. It lost all its leaves as soon as I took it out of its plastic casing and now it looks great. The soil I purchased from another nursery holds moisture like a mutha fka. so I dont water till the leaves look like they need it and thats all i need. I have my nagas that I think are dead in soil hoping they will come back. I purchased my now ( how hated) fish emulsion and bug spray ( I think I have aphids. Pix are on my glog) but they are doing so good now i want to kiss them. here is the link to my glog. tell me what u think. The first pix a a week after i purchased. they stayed inside no lights ( cuz i am such a newb i didnt know) till yesterday... http://thehotpepper.com/topic/30830-sanardas-glog/
 
That set-up you've got there is everything that's great about spring/summer! Glad to see that your plants are rebounding nicely. In a few weeks you won't even notice they had a major set-back and you'll have a solid 3 months to produce a ton of pods.
 
FIRST let me show you what has me excited! My first pods! :dance:

I am little behind most of you but this is really exciting for a first time grower! (hot cherry pepper)




Also, I have a new guardian in the garden. An old sculpture I made in high school has been repurposed.




Next, a package of love from MGOLD. That powder smells so good I had a hard time putting it down to photograph it.




The pot ups dipped in compost tea with one each of the packets added for extra oomph.




And the dehydrator has started running again now that it's warm enough to keep on the porch. Family doesn't love the smell inside... :crazy: But my wife did say she missed the smell from last year... For now.




More to come... Computers out of gas.
 
That looks familiar. :)

I have started emptying the unscheduled peppers from the freezer. I have some cherry smoker yellow scorp powder over here for you.

Looking good bro.
 
You aren't far behind, it can give you that impression when you see peoples plants from the south and west coast. I get wrapped up in that also, then I look at dated pics from last year and I am wayyyy ahead. Our weather should even out and you will see an explosion. Lots of "tea" talk around here lately. Waiting for Guru to get back and so I can pick his brain a bit. Do you guys use chlorine or chloramine out that way? I'm guessing they both adversely affect the process? Is it affecting your PH? Are you using it solely for foliar feeding?
 
Pr0digal_son said:
You aren't far behind, it can give you that impression when you see peoples plants from the south and west coast. I get wrapped up in that also, then I look at dated pics from last year and I am wayyyy ahead. Our weather should even out and you will see an explosion. Lots of "tea" talk around here lately. Waiting for Guru to get back and so I can pick his brain a bit. Do you guys use chlorine or chloramine out that way? I'm guessing they both adversely affect the process? Is it affecting your PH? Are you using it solely for foliar feeding?
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Those are good questions. I have come to expect such from you. I actually fill up a big old kitty litter container with about 3 gallons of water. I then air stone it for 24 hours (to eliminate the chlorine). Then I add my microbial tea mix (a custom blend from the hydro store here. 1 tsp per gallon) and let it bubble for another 24 hours. Usually that's it for me as a chopped up fish would attract all kinds of unwanted vermin. This time I added one each of those packets from MGOLD after the initial brew and let it mix in for another few hours. I then dipped my roots in and potted up. The compost tea is great for container growing or transplants. I used some in my bed today and mostly it just ran off. If I use it again I will be trying to get closer to the roots using a funnel or something. Plans are to use as a foliar feed the rest of the season. I actually need to test my PH still. After the end of this season I will be getting one of those soil test kits from the state and trying to amend everything for an optimal grow next year. So I can't speak to the PH question.
 
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