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!

 

[Coup]

First day of HPS growing report.
 
I realized too late that the plants were way too close to the light - I moved them down to about 24" again from the foot they were. By then, however, all the Rocotillo peppers had died and shriveled up into nothing. 
 

 

 

 

 

 
Replanting some Rocotillos today, four along with two other backup plants. We'll see how it goes...
 
EDIT: New germination bin.
 

 

[Coup]

Peppers got mega toasted under the HPS. Going to have to ween them onto it per Pex's instructions.

 

[Coup]

This is all that remains of my original batch.
 

 
Four hearty survivors, though I doubt they will last much longer - they have lost their green color and are more yellow now.
 

 
A new hope?
 

 

[Coup]

All the old pepper seedlings were thrown out. All new set was planted - here we go!
 

 

 

[Coup]

So I took some drastic steps.
 
I had received a lot of comments on the soil composition being unfavorable for growing plants. I also had an infestation of fungus gnats in this bad soil and in the grow room, so before any of the plants got started I decided to go ahead and throw out all the existing plants (only 3) and the soil I put together. Instead I got ahold of some organic seed starting soil without fertilizer. I also received a present from user chocolatescotchbonnet in the mail!
 

 
Going to plant everything from the start tomorrow. We'll see how it goes from there.

 

[Coup]

Here we all are.
 

 

[chocolatescotchbonnet]

too wet, too dry.... your gaining experience. good luck with the grow!

 

[N8thaniel]

steep learning curve growing indoor ur doing ok persevere
 
fyi about your potting mix-have u mixed in the verm or is it still separate?

 

[Coup]

steep learning curve growing indoor ur doing ok persevere
 
fyi about your potting mix-have u mixed in the verm or is it still separate?

 
I've thrown out my potting mix since a lot of folks said it didn't drain enough and the mixture retained too much moisture. Plus I had a fungus gnat infestation so I just pitched all of it.
 
The new stuff is an organic mix with worm casings but no added fertilizer. Seems to be a good quality soil and some of the folks I talked to said it'd work just fine.

 

[N8thaniel]

ok cool
 
yeah what u want is perlite for drainage if u think u need it
 
be sure to fertilise that potting mix-pale leaves set in quickly
 
and be sure to post lots of pics 

 

[Coup]

Given that my current puppies aren't growing in their potting mix, generous resident badass Mr. Pex instructed me to try out coco peat. So, here it is.
 

 

 

[Coup]

I got my peppers from Juanitos and finally some tomato sprouts after leaving the bin saturated in water for a while.
 

 

 

 

[Coup]

More and more sprouts are popping up. Moved the whole bin under the light, will rotate out the chocolate brain strains or give away the four extras if need be.
 

 

[Weed]

I got my peppers from Juanitos and finally some tomato sprouts after leaving the bin saturated in water for a while.
 
 

 
"dont worry theyre not dry
 
can you not see the water" -Coup

 

[Coup]

 
"dont worry theyre not dry
 
can you not see the water" -Coup

 
Not dry =/= dry, old man.
 
They were wet, but not saturated enough.

 

[Coup]

 

 

 
Maybe time for a transplant?
 

 

[Guatemalan Insanity Pepper]

yay  
 
I knew you could do it Coup
 
 
 

 
Guatemalan Insanity Pepper

 

[Coup]

yay  
 
I knew you could do it Coup
 
 
 

 
Guatemalan Insanity Pepper

 
Your peppers arrived, GIP!
 

 

[Coup]

 

[Coup]

Run into this weird snag with the bigger peppers.
 
I've split them into two groups - one is 24" directly under the light, seen above. That is the one on the right.
 
The one on the left is off the light, another 12" or so lower. It's not ideal lighting by any means. It is on the left.
 
As you can see the right one is more droopy, lighter green. The left ones are darker and more firm. Are the ones under the light getting too much exposure?