Hey guys.
I'm brand new to the field of pepper growing. My brother and I live together and we're both big pepper guys and love hot, spicy food. The idea just sort of came to me one day to grow our own peppers, and it all just sort of stuck.
In all honestly I've been looking for a hobby after my recent divorce and this one just sort of stuck with me. I've grown some basil in the past but wasn't very knowledgeable about growing plants (hurr durr, just water it and it grows). I did my research this time, looked up advice from indoor growers, and started my search for all the right stuff I'd need.
I love tending to my plants, but I gotta be honest guys, they don't look too hot (pun not intended). I'll give you the rundown on when I started up and the specifics of my peppers.
I ordered these varieties from TomatoGrowers.com, which some other pepper growers used.
Let's talk soil composition -I have one part potting soil mix, one part coco peat, and almost a part vermiculite. Threw out the old mixture for various reasons. Right now I am rolling with an organic seed starting mix instead.
Fertilizer - I use a mixture of two parts bone meal, one part potash, and one part urea (though I've only fertilized today, the 27th).
Lighting -I have two 85W fluorescent bulbs lighting them from 6AM to 10PM, but after being advised this might not be enough light I ordered two 105W fluorescent bulbs. In the future I am thinking of experimenting with LEDs, namely the 10W dual ones I can find for a reasonable price on Amazon. 400W HPS bulb, purchased from our very own PexPeppers.
Here are the peppers in question:
Rocotillo
Bhut Jolokia
Red Thick Cayenne
Caribbean Red
Cajun Belle
Red Rose Tomato
When I first planted I put two seeds in each cup, but then after a week or so I decided to add a third cup with a single seed in the middle. I've been tracking germination processes and the like, and placed it all on this handy Google Docs spreadsheet anyone can view. As you can see, for the majority I planted them on October 7 and the first germinated and sprouted on the 13th.
So, let's look at our problem plants shall we? Here are some closeups of the offenders:
Rocotillo Closeup: This is the saddest of them all, the leaves small and curled up, very dark green / almost brown.
Bhut Jolokia Closeup: Small leaves, brown spots on them as you can tell.
Cayenne Closeup: Some variety in shape here - one droops down and the other springs up. The stunted one I had to shed some kind of cap off.
Caribbean Red Closeup: Not much going on here, they look pretty healthy to me although small for being the first ones to sprout.
Cajun Belle Closeup: Again, some browning on the edges of the leaves like the Bhut Jolokia.
Tomato Closeup: Stems are long, but have stunted, and the leaves not as full as before.
So far this has been my routine with watering the plants: water once every two or three days, checking for soil dampness as needed (sometimes I can go three days before they need water, other times only two).
If you guys have any tips or advice for getting these sad puppies off the ground I would be very thankful - I am not super knowledgeable even though I feel as though I have done my homework. There is a ton, and I mean a ton, of conflicting information about growing peppers (indoors or outdoors), but I know everyone has their own successes and failures and know what works best for them. Ray from the Praxxus channel on YouTube has been a huge inspiration in getting starting with growing because of his friendly Mr. Rogers attitude and great advice.
Let me know what you guys think, and I hope to keep cataloging this experience for a long, long time. If you'd like to see the entire album here it is!
I'm brand new to the field of pepper growing. My brother and I live together and we're both big pepper guys and love hot, spicy food. The idea just sort of came to me one day to grow our own peppers, and it all just sort of stuck.
In all honestly I've been looking for a hobby after my recent divorce and this one just sort of stuck with me. I've grown some basil in the past but wasn't very knowledgeable about growing plants (hurr durr, just water it and it grows). I did my research this time, looked up advice from indoor growers, and started my search for all the right stuff I'd need.
I love tending to my plants, but I gotta be honest guys, they don't look too hot (pun not intended). I'll give you the rundown on when I started up and the specifics of my peppers.
I ordered these varieties from TomatoGrowers.com, which some other pepper growers used.
- Rocotillo
- Bhut Jolokia
- Red Thick Cayenne
- Caribbean Red
- Cajun Belle
- Gold Cayenne
- Orange Thai
- Fresno
- Jamaican Hot Chocolate
- Chocolate Scotch Bonnet
- PDN x Bhut
- Red Savina
- Tepin x Lemon Drop
- Yellow Fatali
- Chocolate Habanero
- Sweet Rocoto
- Chocolate Brain Strain
Let's talk soil composition -
Fertilizer - I use a mixture of two parts bone meal, one part potash, and one part urea (though I've only fertilized today, the 27th).
Lighting -
Here are the peppers in question:
Rocotillo
Bhut Jolokia
Red Thick Cayenne
Caribbean Red
Cajun Belle
Red Rose Tomato
When I first planted I put two seeds in each cup, but then after a week or so I decided to add a third cup with a single seed in the middle. I've been tracking germination processes and the like, and placed it all on this handy Google Docs spreadsheet anyone can view. As you can see, for the majority I planted them on October 7 and the first germinated and sprouted on the 13th.
So, let's look at our problem plants shall we? Here are some closeups of the offenders:
Rocotillo Closeup: This is the saddest of them all, the leaves small and curled up, very dark green / almost brown.
Bhut Jolokia Closeup: Small leaves, brown spots on them as you can tell.
Cayenne Closeup: Some variety in shape here - one droops down and the other springs up. The stunted one I had to shed some kind of cap off.
Caribbean Red Closeup: Not much going on here, they look pretty healthy to me although small for being the first ones to sprout.
Cajun Belle Closeup: Again, some browning on the edges of the leaves like the Bhut Jolokia.
Tomato Closeup: Stems are long, but have stunted, and the leaves not as full as before.
So far this has been my routine with watering the plants: water once every two or three days, checking for soil dampness as needed (sometimes I can go three days before they need water, other times only two).
If you guys have any tips or advice for getting these sad puppies off the ground I would be very thankful - I am not super knowledgeable even though I feel as though I have done my homework. There is a ton, and I mean a ton, of conflicting information about growing peppers (indoors or outdoors), but I know everyone has their own successes and failures and know what works best for them. Ray from the Praxxus channel on YouTube has been a huge inspiration in getting starting with growing because of his friendly Mr. Rogers attitude and great advice.
Let me know what you guys think, and I hope to keep cataloging this experience for a long, long time. If you'd like to see the entire album here it is!
Got to give those habaneros a shot!
