Stickman's 2014 Glog- That's all folks!

stc3248 · Feb 15, 2014

Damn...you got me eyeing them Horticubes...but I am still getting them to pop the old fashioned way. The low seed helmet rates got me thinking though...

stickman · Feb 16, 2014

maximumcapsicum said:
Thanks for the plantout guidelines Rick. I know Jason plants out when the temps stabilize in the 50°s at night, but that happens around early April here. University's nearby say pepper plantout rangers between the 1st and 20th of March... seems way too early. I was probably going to follow Jason's lead, though I may get it a little early than he thanks to the downtown ambient conditions. Also I don't have room for too many pot ups, so they're gonna have to sink or swim. Can't make an omelette...

To get the peppers in the ground in March they must use something like a low row cover to provide warmth and protection. That's what Scott's doing to see how it works out in his area.

stc3248 said:
Damn...you got me eyeing them Horticubes...but I am still getting them to pop the old fashioned way. The low seed helmet rates got me thinking though...

Even on a Chief's salary they'd be a little on the pricey side for starting a grow like you had last year Shane... I'd save them for hard-to-germinate seeds or varieties you really want but maybe only have a couple of seeds for... Vigorous growers like Anaheims and Poblanos don't really need the help, but I tried them out in the Horticubes to see if they'd scrub off the seed coats while hooking up. I'd say I still got the usual amount of helmet-heads, but the moist environment made it really easy to slide them off without damaging the cotys.

You asked how many plants I have potted up Adam... Here's the list minus the OW plants and the ones that haven't hooked up yet...
King Naga x2
Guwahati Bhut x2
BOC x2
Pimenta Lisa F2 x2
Scotch Bonnet MoA x5
Donne Sali x2
Lotah Bih x2
Piri Piri x3
Aji Lemon x3
Dedo de Moca x3
Dilley Street Tamwork x3
Chintexle x3
Shane's Pequin x3
Wild Brazil x1
Chimayo x4
Jalapeno Coyame x2
Serrano Tampiqueno x1
Espanola Improved Anaheim x1
Almapaprika x2

I also started 26 Kurtovska Kapija seedlings for my Mom, and I'll be driving them over to her place later today so we can pot them up and transfer them to her grow box.

Still waiting on the Vesena and Hungarian Tomato peppers to break dormancy, but the rest are at least showing radicles, and I'll pot them in soil as they hook up. I gave up on the Tabasco when it didn't germinate in the second round, but I've still got 3 varieties of Fruts going, so no big deal. I'll try them again another time.

Cheers all!

JJJessee · Feb 16, 2014

Hey, Rick.
The hoop over black plastic is an ideal way to warm the ground quickly. All nightshades crave warm ground. I may try to warm the ground if I get a strong craving a week or so before plant-out, maybe even early May. But I'll take the plastic up before plant out, just not a fan of plastics in general, but it does have some strong points.

Question on the H-cubes. While sitting in their tray of water, does the water wick all the way to the top surface noticeably?

stickman · Feb 16, 2014

JJJessee said:
Hey, Rick.
The hoop over black plastic is an ideal way to warm the ground quickly. All nightshades crave warm ground. I may try to warm the ground if I get a strong craving a week or so before plant-out, maybe even early May. But I'll take the plastic up before plant out, just not a fan of plastics in general, but it does have some strong points.

Question on the H-cubes. While sitting in their tray of water, does the water wick all the way to the top surface noticeably?

I'm hip JJJ... I wouldn't use them if I didn't need to either. Just take what you need and leave the rest, eh? Our season is short enough that I need the extra help to get a good crop in though.

I think the Horticubes do an adequate job of wicking up enough water for the seeds as long as you keep a quarter of an inch of standing water in the bottom of the tray. It'll evaporate away surprisingly quickly, even with the plastic dome in place over the tray, so I check it at least every other day.

PIC 1 · Feb 16, 2014

Things are looking good on the East coast.
Rick it sounds like you have a plan with the black mulch and the hoop frame.
I bet you can't wait for the snow to melt.........that is, to water the seedlings...

HabaneroHead · Feb 16, 2014

Hi Rick,

So you have 45 plants plus the OW, plus the Kurtovska...That is impressive.
Too bad on the Tabasco...I had the same with the Tobago Seasoning in the last years. I was trying to germinate them for two years in different batches...then I just gave it up. This year I was having issues with the 7 Pot Barrackpore, only two popped out from 8, now my aim is to grow at least 1 healthy plant to harvest some seeds for next year.
Has my package arrived yet? I checked the tracking number, and instead of having details where the package is (in which city, like in the previous years), I found only: 'Item sent abroad'...

Balázs

stickman · Feb 16, 2014

PIC 1 said:
Things are looking good on the East coast.
Rick it sounds like you have a plan with the black mulch and the hoop frame.
I bet you can't wait for the snow to melt.........that is, to water the seedlings...

Yes to both Greg, lol! I have a bucket thawing down cellar as I type this. I'm wondering if the yellowness on the Lotah Bih might be because of the Chlorine in the tap water, so it'll be a good experiment to see if this takes care of the problem. It might just be because it needs natural light and warmth, but that's still a couple of months away yet.

HabaneroHead said:
Hi Rick,

So you have 45 plants plus the OW, plus the Kurtovska...That is impressive.
Too bad on the Tabasco...I had the same with the Tobago Seasoning in the last years. I was trying to germinate them for two years in different batches...then I just gave it up. This year I was having issues with the 7 Pot Barrackpore, only two popped out from 8, now my aim is to grow at least 1 healthy plant to harvest some seeds for next year.
Has my package arrived yet? I checked the tracking number, and instead of having details where the package is (in which city, like in the previous years), I found only: 'Item sent abroad'...

Balázs

It hasn't come yet Balázs, but we've gotten over 35cm of snow in 8 days and it's slowed things down quite a bit. I'll let you know when it arrives.

HabaneroHead · Feb 16, 2014

Hi Rick,
You got me thinking about Horticubes. I know it is a different material, but are they much more better, than rockwool?
IMO they can be used similarly, both are sterilized, roots can penetrate them easily.
I did some quick search, and did not find Horticubes, only rockwool in the local grow shops.
They are quite expensive, a tray of rockwool cubes cost 15 dollars, while you can get rockwool (used in houses) 10 square feet for 2 to10 dollars. Wondering whether it can give back the same results, or the ones sold in the grow shops are in a different league.

Balázs

HabaneroHead · Feb 16, 2014

I found this interesting comparison: Horticube. vs Rockwool. Would be interesting to see something similar with peppers.

http://sahibaquaponics.com/project-news/how-do-you-grow-your-seedlings/

On the other hand one of my teacher said: 'Just because 2 or 3 persons are having the same result, it doesn't mean it is correct.' :-)))
This system has obviously proven its benefits, so: 'Gentlemen, you had my
curiosity , but now you have my
attention' :-)))))

Trippa · Feb 16, 2014

Did you end up repotting that lotah bih Rick??

stickman · Feb 17, 2014

HabaneroHead said:
I found this interesting comparison: Horticube. vs Rockwool. Would be interesting to see something similar with peppers.

http://sahibaquaponics.com/project-news/how-do-you-grow-your-seedlings/

On the other hand one of my teacher said: 'Just because 2 or 3 persons are having the same result, it doesn't mean it is correct.' :-)))
This system has obviously proven its benefits, so: 'Gentlemen, you had my
curiosity , but now you have my
attention' :-)))))

Thanks for finding this info Balázs... it confirms what coheed was saying, that Horticubes are great for germination but once the cotys have fully formed you need to get the seedlings into a more traditional growing medium or soil. I suppose based on the info in the website, I'd choose rockwool for the growing medium if I was growing hydroponically, but since my aim is to pot up and/or plant outside in the dirt, I think the Horticubes are more suitable as long as they don't cause stunting over time. I guess we'll see if that happens over the course of my growing season.

Trippa said:
Did you end up repotting that lotah bih Rick??

No I haven't Tristan, but thanks for reminding me... it's been a busy weekend and it slipped my (alleged) mind... I have to work this morning, but I'll do it when I get home.

Yesterday, I drove out to my Mom's place and gave her the 26 Kurtovska Kapija seedlings I started for her. She had some other chores for me too, but before I left, she gave me a freebie packet of seeds she got with an order that came last week... it's a Vietnamese variety of Cayenne pepper called Ot Do (Do Pepper)... I won't plant it this season, but maybe next year.

maximumcapsicum · Feb 17, 2014

Nice little seed score. Always good to have a diverse collection for when you expand your grow! Such is inevitable.

Spicegeist · Feb 17, 2014

Hm, I'm curious about the enclosed hints

stickman · Feb 18, 2014

Spicegeist said:
Hm, I'm curious about the enclosed hints

I doubt it's anything you need to know about Charles... lol! Just growing tips for the uninitiated.

The star player on my lineup is still the Naga King I potted up in a 1-liter airpot. It grew out 7 nodes and about 15cm tall, so I clipped the primary node this morning to encourage the inch-long side branches to bush out.

I repotted the Lotah Bih plants Tristan, and gave them some epsom salts... the bottom leaves are greening up.

some of the other 1st round players...

Some 2nd round players

and 3rd string players

Even a shot of whimsy... this Mockingbird is back early and eating from my suet feeder.

Have a great Tuesday all!

Spicegeist · Feb 18, 2014

Nice bird, with all the food you have out for them, I'd probably come back early too!

Good to see the Lota Bih is greening up, it looks like it'll be just fine. Judging from the leaf shape, it looks like they're growing true too.

maximumcapsicum · Feb 18, 2014

Looking good Rick! That king naga is still the king of your grow! 7 nodes and two forks already! Nice. I may have asked this before, but what are your thought on søren Larsen's pruning technique, basically removing everything below the 7 node in order to encourage an umbrella canopy.

Devv · Feb 18, 2014

Rounds 1 through 3 are happy!

The Manzano is looking really happy!

Hows the OW 'zano?

Around here the birds just eat the dogfood, until the maties start to turn red! Twice in the last week a skunk has come into the yard and sprayed Otis, this makes 5 times, guess he'll never learn. I'm wondering is it going after the dogfood or their water?

Have a great week!

PeriPeri · Feb 19, 2014

Hey Rick buddy - looking awesome again there. Loads of fantastic stuff on the go! Did you top the Naga King? Do you top all your seedlings?

stickman · Feb 19, 2014

Spicegeist said:
Nice bird, with all the food you have out for them, I'd probably come back early too!

Good to see the Lota Bih is greening up, it looks like it'll be just fine. Judging from the leaf shape, it looks like they're growing true too.

Good news that the Lotah Bih is looking true Charles, I'm definitely looking forward to it!

I have the bird feeders located outside the sliding glass door in our dining room. Our table is set in front of it so our morning entertainment is birdwatching while eating breakfast.

maximumcapsicum said:
Looking good Rick! That king naga is still the king of your grow! 7 nodes and two forks already! Nice. I may have asked this before, but what are your thought on søren Larsen's pruning technique, basically removing everything below the 7 node in order to encourage an umbrella canopy.

PeriPeri said:
Hey Rick buddy - looking awesome again there. Loads of fantastic stuff on the go! Did you top the Naga King? Do you top all your seedlings?

Yeah, I topped the largest King Naga... it was gonna become an issue anyway, so I made a virtue of necessity and clipped the primary node the way Jeff (Spicy Chicken) did with his grows. The idea being that flowers are produced at the nodes, and if you clip the primary node and force the axillary nodes to grow out, you get a much bushier plant with more nodes. It makes the plant a bit shorter of course, but since my long-season chiles will be planted in black plastic mulch for warmth it makes sense to keep them fairly close to the ground so the pods will ripen more quickly in the increased warmth provided by the mulch. Here's a pic of Jeff's results...

Devv said:
Rounds 1 through 3 are happy!

The Manzano is looking really happy!

Hows the OW 'zano?

Around here the birds just eat the dogfood, until the maties start to turn red! Twice in the last week a skunk has come into the yard and sprayed Otis, this makes 5 times, guess he'll never learn. I'm wondering is it going after the dogfood or their water?

Have a great week!

The OW 'Zano is just holding its own Scott. There's a little new growth that's pretty yellow, but I think it's the temperature down cellar. I followed Greg's advice and shoveled some snow into a 5-gallon pail and put it downstairs to melt. Did my first round of watering with the meltwater last night, and everybody looked perky this morning except the MoA plants. They all seem to have some upward leaf curl that I hope is only because they're a bit chilly. I'll bring them upstairs and see if warming them up a bit makes any difference.

A big shout out to ronniedeb and you Scott! I got Ronan's seeds and your Doe tail in the mail yesterday. Texas deer must have a much shorter coat than they do up here in New England... The hair on a winter-harvested Doe tail up here is 5 inches or longer... perfect for saltwater streamers. The hair on yours is almost 3 inches long. Perfect for freshwater streamers, which I use a lot.

Ronan, your package is in the post is all I can tell you. Please let me know if it hasn't gotten to you in the next week or so. Cheers all!

PeriPeri · Feb 19, 2014

wow wow wow - now that is a lot of Nagas!