Texas Indoor Grow (First Time Growing)

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. 
 

• Rocotillo
• Bhut Jolokia
• Red Thick Cayenne
• Caribbean Red
• Cajun Belle

Here are others I got from the generosity of my fellow pepper heads:

• 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

The company also threw in some free tomato seeds for a purchase over $20, so I got some Red Rose Tomatoes growing as well. I live in an apartment, and we have no way to keep plants outside. Thankfully we have a large sun room that gets both east and southern sun through large windows, and for a time it was my main spot for the peppers before the cloudy days set in. This is what the setup looks like at the present moment.
 
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!

 

[Weed]

Here's the new setup (albeit at night, in a south-facing window).
 

 
 

 
Throw a reflector on those. Even if all you do is lay aluminum foil over them. Or you can crumple and shape it for extra ghetto effect.
Or they can be a lot closer without the foil.

 

[Chilima]

 If you want to load a dozen 2.5 MB files be my guest. Wouldn't want to bother Heckle with his dial-up though.

well its almost 2016 so i think 2.5mb is fine
 
Heckle has images turned off in his browser away

 

[Coup]

I have a problem guys - two of my plants are looking real sorry right now. Observe:
 
Droopy Tomato plant:
 

 
Droopy Cajun Belle:
 

 

[Coup]

Man, the sprouts are looking even worse than before.
 
Rocotillos:
 

 

 
Cajun Belle:
 

 
Red Thick Cayenne:
 

 
Observations: the temperature doesn't drop below 70 around these peppers, and usually stays about 80-85. I watered them yesterday, and it had been two days since their last watering (they were feeling slightly very dry at the top inch I scratched down through). Some got worse, no real change in the others.

 

[AlvaroHD99]

Man, the sprouts are looking even worse than before.
 
Rocotillos:
 

 

 
Cajun Belle:
 

 
Red Thick Cayenne:
 

 
Observations: the temperature doesn't drop below 70 around these peppers, and usually stays about 80-85. I watered them yesterday, and it had been two days since their last watering (they were feeling slightly very dry at the top inch I scratched down through). Some got worse, no real change in the others.

Hello recoup, I'm almost a 100% sure you are overwatering them or they are being overfertilized. In my first yeras of growing peppers, i used to do this errors because i was pamping the plants too much

 

[Coup]

Hey guys, quick update.
 
I moved my peppers into a container lined with aluminum foil out the ass - lid and everything. Here is what she looks like:
 

 
We lost several plants - five in total. I have their deaths marked on the calendar spreadsheet I posted in the OP.
 
I made the executive decision to have the lights running from 6pm until 10am, when the room is coolest. This way the peppers are always sitting pretty at 80-90 degrees throughout the day. I also haven't watered them in almost four days and they seem to still be damp enough under the soil to not warrant a watering. I think damping off and the fertilizer burn is what really took its toll on them.
 
You can see some true leaves beginning to form on some of them. Here's hoping they keep growing!

 

[Genetikx]

I probably missed this in a previous post but what kind of soil are you using? It looks very dark but I don't know if that's from over watering or because the soil is so nutrient rich. I experimented this year with some very nutrient rich soil and it was terrible for seedlings.

 

[Coup]

I probably missed this in a previous post but what kind of soil are you using? It looks very dark but I don't know if that's from over watering or because the soil is so nutrient rich. I experimented this year with some very nutrient rich soil and it was terrible for seedlings.

 
It's on the first post - it's a 1/1/1 mixture of potting soil, coco peat, and vermiculite.

 

[Genetikx]

 
It's on the first post - it's a 1/1/1 mixture of potting soil, coco peat, and vermiculite.

I'd have to think that would be ok although perlite is preferred over vermiculite. The former allows water to drain while the latter retains. Not to say you can't use vermiculite but probably need to water even less. Sorry if you're not looking for advice, just my two cents.

 

[Coup]

I'd have to think that would be ok although perlite is preferred over vermiculite. The former allows water to drain while the latter retains. Not to say you can't use vermiculite but probably need to water even less. Sorry if you're not looking for advice, just my two cents.

 
I'm always open for suggestions Part of growing peppers is realizing I don't know anything about growing peppers! There's a lot of people that have done better than I have currently and obviously know what they're talking about. One guy has some impressive plants after just 18 days - it's been almost a month and I am only just now seeing some true leaves!

 

[Genetikx]

 
I'm always open for suggestions Part of growing peppers is realizing I don't know anything about growing peppers! There's a lot of people that have done better than I have currently and obviously know what they're talking about. One guy has some impressive plants after just 18 days - it's been almost a month and I am only just now seeing some true leaves!

Wouldn't worry about that as long as yours are alive. Some of the problem may be that you're in an apartment and you got these seedlings staring you in the face. So tempting to do something, anything, to them lol. Best to let them be. Re-read your watering techniques and looks like you're doing the right thing by checking dampness properly. Maybe more air circulation and another week or two for them to figure things out on their own. Survival of the fittest.
You know what, another thing since I lived in Houston for a year. That sun is crazy intense. I wonder if being by the window plus lights is too much for them this early. When I blew up the pics on the phone here, looks a little scorched

 

[Coup]

Wouldn't worry about that as long as yours are alive. Some of the problem may be that you're in an apartment and you got these seedlings staring you in the face. So tempting to do something, anything, to them lol. Best to let them be. Re-read your watering techniques and looks like you're doing the right thing by checking dampness properly. Maybe more air circulation and another week or two for them to figure things out on their own. Survival of the fittest.
You know what, another thing since I lived in Houston for a year. That sun is crazy intense. I wonder if being by the window plus lights is too much for them this early. When I blew up the pics on the phone here, looks a little scorched

 
I think the scorching was from the fertilizer I put in them; it was far too early. You're right - it's super tempting to do something with them always being here! Once I let them sit in the bin and just get sunlight and stopped watering them, things seemed to be going well. Their last watering was 10/29 in the evening which puts it at about 4 days ago. When I dug up the crappy-looking peppers from the soil they had impressive roots and the soil was still slightly damp, so I think I can let em' go just a little longer without water.

 

[Coup]

Another update.
 
Noticed some of my peppers had taproots that extended down through the hole in the cup and into the drip cup underneath it. Here's one of them:
 

 

 

[moruga welder]

 
It's on the first post - it's a 1/1/1 mixture of potting soil, coco peat, and vermiculite.

not a fan of that mixture myself , to much moisture . get you some  organic seed starting medium .   

 

[Coup]

not a fan of that mixture myself , to much moisture . get you some  organic seed starting medium .   

 
Oof, I already got so much of the stuff. I think I'll just have to change up my watering patterns until I run out and then switch it up. so far once every five days seems to be working great.

 

[Genetikx]

Go for about 4-6 smaller drain holes in cups like that. Even poking it with a knife would be fine. That way your taproot wouldn't poke out. Definitely no need to go with bigger cups at that point

 

[Coup]

Go for about 4-6 smaller drain holes in cups like that. Even poking it with a knife would be fine. That way your taproot wouldn't poke out. Definitely no need to go with bigger cups at that point

 
That sounds like a good idea. I'll do that for my next batch of cups!

 

[Coup]

New update!
 
Pex was kind enough to sell me a 400W HPS system he had lying about, which has taken the place of my ghetto-rigged CFL system. Check it out!
 

 

 
The light is about 24" from the top of the peppers. Hooray! I moved them up to about 12" per folks' recommendations.

 

[PexPeppers]

good to see it got there okay

 

[Coup]

good to see it got there okay

 
You're a boss, Pex.
 
Also, Pex let me try some of his sauces with the HPS purchase! Gonna give em' a shot with my pizza tonight.