Hi Everyone!
This is my first time growing and I've started really late. I didn't really get into growing peppers until I did a little research about some hot salsa I ate. It's made by Mrs. Renfro, and it's ghost pepper salsa.
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FViZJ2Um.jpg&hash=27fe46f1c08063f789a86a35e74b2801)
It's great stuff with a nice heat kick. I love salsa so if you have any types or home-makes you recommend, by all means, send me the info and I'll give it a try.
Anyway, I started looking up information about the ghost pepper a while back and I found out it used to be the hottest pepper around so I started looking into who the champ was.
I found that the new one, the Moruga Trinidad Scorpion pepper, could kick the ghost pepper in the pants and make it scrub its floors like Cinderella.
So I was intrigued at the time but left it alone until recently. I was getting people to eat the ghost pepper salsa and hit the same route of curiosity in which I found there was a new champ again!!
Enter HP22B or as all you pepper heads out there know this one as, the Carolina Reaper. Apparently Smokin' Ed did some serious time in the big house over there on the coast and bred some form of torture that humans are willing to subject themselves too. Side note, I must learn from this man called Ed.
Considering how I got a horticulture minor in college recently, my growing instincts and green thumb went beserk. I HAD TO GROW THIS!!!
Thus, I started my research and finally got my stuff together enough to comfortably start growing peppers. So I hit up ol' Ed for a few types of the goodies.
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FQGFcNkr.jpg%3F3&hash=258da48e6e7638c51fc5721718cbaf0d)
I received them pretty quickly and immediately got super giddy. I excitedly showed them to my roommate who was less enthusiastic about my new endeavor. He decided a nap was more crucial to his life.![Boohoo :violin: :violin:](/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/boohoo.gif)
Well I decided to go with the weak chamomile tea soak approach since it was recommended by multiple people, Ed also said to do this, so soak in tea I must!!
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FKvTO4uW.jpg%3F1&hash=7420e9cadd5a410a7fea957e6ad1146d)
So I took coffee filters and layered the different types of seeds by heat level with the mild seed being on bottom and the reapers on top. I let them soak for some time, more time then I intended... whoops. So I immediately panicked and thought I killed all my seeds by drowning them. I felt like a terrible father, I killed all my children before they could even breathe... yeah...
Any-who, I proceeded to get some reusable containers for the rest of the germination phase and give the paper towel and heated area a try. The containers were in a 5 pack for $2.50~ish at the big blue corporation machine known as walmart or as my old roommate so eloquently refers to as child-support. I'm not into being super fancy unless I need too, so this pleased me and my pocketbook. I took them home and got it set up.
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FPzAhtpz.jpg%3F1&hash=c48ab7b8c4fb748ab4f73bf89f512751)
So after they all got safely tucked away I was hoping and praying for some results and I was really nervous about keeping them damp. I had to leave for the weekend on a trip out of state. The GF brought me to a wedding, it was for the company and as a hint probably, women can be so manipulative... kidding she's great.
So I went on the trip over the weekend and this past week something happened. MAGIC!!!![Dance :party: :party:](/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/dance.gif)
I had a few of the super-hots germinate and pop roots. So I got my little humidity dome and tray ready. For the starting mix, I decided to experiment. I put half my tray with Sunshine Professional grow mix, which has peat moss, perlite, and a few other components that would be usefull. The other half I made my own mix since I did my homework and have the hook up.
I used 40% growing medium, 40% Cow manure compost and 20% perlite to lighten this bad mamma jamma up. It turned out great and apparently the seeds are loving it. Side note, I got the Sunshine and growing medium for FREE cause of connections. The cow compost was on sale at Albertson's in 40lb bags. They are selling them at $5 for 3 bags so yeah, I'm about that life. I got 6 bags to work with.
All said and done I planted.
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FeqGygub.jpg%3F1&hash=db74ea0d3b8eed03aebb260aa13f7496)
The jalapenos my roommate brought home and I hung up to dry and collect seeds from later. Possibly make pepper powder as practice.
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2Fdr9a0pA.jpg%3F1&hash=a99375edbd0ab267e44a94413811843c)
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FigAqWN3.jpg%3F1&hash=c9adc8434e6525e7876d1ea1e1e6c377)
They are coming out nicely. Thank God they didn't die!!
I did have a mini heart attack when I saw this guy growing into the towels though.
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FHB6k5Bm.jpg%3F2&hash=95e4a45c19a0497c18278e7a93696497)
After emergency surgery, I got him out and put him in the tray. They all looked pretty happy!
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FXE79ymE.jpg%3F1&hash=453eef3fccddabe464a6e6cd76e84008)
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2F7Mq6TYT.jpg%3F1&hash=27b200024b8ae862809999b86e528ddb)
All said and done, things were running smoothly at this time. As for heat, well I have them sitting on the beer fridge in the mini bar of the house. It keeps them about 81 degrees though so it works.
I ordered gear recently and it's slowely trickling in. I'll update soon when more progress occurs. Much love y'all, till next time!
- JB
This is my first time growing and I've started really late. I didn't really get into growing peppers until I did a little research about some hot salsa I ate. It's made by Mrs. Renfro, and it's ghost pepper salsa.
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FViZJ2Um.jpg&hash=27fe46f1c08063f789a86a35e74b2801)
It's great stuff with a nice heat kick. I love salsa so if you have any types or home-makes you recommend, by all means, send me the info and I'll give it a try.
Anyway, I started looking up information about the ghost pepper a while back and I found out it used to be the hottest pepper around so I started looking into who the champ was.
I found that the new one, the Moruga Trinidad Scorpion pepper, could kick the ghost pepper in the pants and make it scrub its floors like Cinderella.
So I was intrigued at the time but left it alone until recently. I was getting people to eat the ghost pepper salsa and hit the same route of curiosity in which I found there was a new champ again!!
Enter HP22B or as all you pepper heads out there know this one as, the Carolina Reaper. Apparently Smokin' Ed did some serious time in the big house over there on the coast and bred some form of torture that humans are willing to subject themselves too. Side note, I must learn from this man called Ed.
Considering how I got a horticulture minor in college recently, my growing instincts and green thumb went beserk. I HAD TO GROW THIS!!!
Thus, I started my research and finally got my stuff together enough to comfortably start growing peppers. So I hit up ol' Ed for a few types of the goodies.
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FQGFcNkr.jpg%3F3&hash=258da48e6e7638c51fc5721718cbaf0d)
I received them pretty quickly and immediately got super giddy. I excitedly showed them to my roommate who was less enthusiastic about my new endeavor. He decided a nap was more crucial to his life.
![Boohoo :violin: :violin:](/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/boohoo.gif)
Well I decided to go with the weak chamomile tea soak approach since it was recommended by multiple people, Ed also said to do this, so soak in tea I must!!
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FKvTO4uW.jpg%3F1&hash=7420e9cadd5a410a7fea957e6ad1146d)
So I took coffee filters and layered the different types of seeds by heat level with the mild seed being on bottom and the reapers on top. I let them soak for some time, more time then I intended... whoops. So I immediately panicked and thought I killed all my seeds by drowning them. I felt like a terrible father, I killed all my children before they could even breathe... yeah...
Any-who, I proceeded to get some reusable containers for the rest of the germination phase and give the paper towel and heated area a try. The containers were in a 5 pack for $2.50~ish at the big blue corporation machine known as walmart or as my old roommate so eloquently refers to as child-support. I'm not into being super fancy unless I need too, so this pleased me and my pocketbook. I took them home and got it set up.
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FPzAhtpz.jpg%3F1&hash=c48ab7b8c4fb748ab4f73bf89f512751)
So after they all got safely tucked away I was hoping and praying for some results and I was really nervous about keeping them damp. I had to leave for the weekend on a trip out of state. The GF brought me to a wedding, it was for the company and as a hint probably, women can be so manipulative... kidding she's great.
So I went on the trip over the weekend and this past week something happened. MAGIC!!!
![Dance :party: :party:](/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/dance.gif)
I had a few of the super-hots germinate and pop roots. So I got my little humidity dome and tray ready. For the starting mix, I decided to experiment. I put half my tray with Sunshine Professional grow mix, which has peat moss, perlite, and a few other components that would be usefull. The other half I made my own mix since I did my homework and have the hook up.
I used 40% growing medium, 40% Cow manure compost and 20% perlite to lighten this bad mamma jamma up. It turned out great and apparently the seeds are loving it. Side note, I got the Sunshine and growing medium for FREE cause of connections. The cow compost was on sale at Albertson's in 40lb bags. They are selling them at $5 for 3 bags so yeah, I'm about that life. I got 6 bags to work with.
All said and done I planted.
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FeqGygub.jpg%3F1&hash=db74ea0d3b8eed03aebb260aa13f7496)
The jalapenos my roommate brought home and I hung up to dry and collect seeds from later. Possibly make pepper powder as practice.
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2Fdr9a0pA.jpg%3F1&hash=a99375edbd0ab267e44a94413811843c)
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FigAqWN3.jpg%3F1&hash=c9adc8434e6525e7876d1ea1e1e6c377)
They are coming out nicely. Thank God they didn't die!!
I did have a mini heart attack when I saw this guy growing into the towels though.
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FHB6k5Bm.jpg%3F2&hash=95e4a45c19a0497c18278e7a93696497)
After emergency surgery, I got him out and put him in the tray. They all looked pretty happy!
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FXE79ymE.jpg%3F1&hash=453eef3fccddabe464a6e6cd76e84008)
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2F7Mq6TYT.jpg%3F1&hash=27b200024b8ae862809999b86e528ddb)
All said and done, things were running smoothly at this time. As for heat, well I have them sitting on the beer fridge in the mini bar of the house. It keeps them about 81 degrees though so it works.
I ordered gear recently and it's slowely trickling in. I'll update soon when more progress occurs. Much love y'all, till next time!
- JB