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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!
 
Click to expand...
Run into another snag. My tomato plants in the coco peat are a yellow-ish green color, something like this:
 
7QtOGyZ.jpg

 
Any ideas?
 
i think the good quality seedling mix shoudl do better
 
in all honesty i wouldnt try hydro(coco) until u got the basics down
 
if i were you i woudl stay away from nutrients completely for now
 
i would just use seedling mix for seedlings
and transplant into furtalized potting mix(organic though so u dont have to worry about ph)
 
and every pot up would give more food
once they are big and in the final pot you could start thinking about slow nutriets as you will know a lot more by then-this aproach woudl also be cheaper
 
Looking good coup!
Don't worry about the leaves hanging a bit, mine do too and they still grow fine, i'm guessing they are having to work overtime to transpire moisture under the intense light and heat, but i could be wrong.
Keep up what you're doing, it all looks good!
 
my Aji lemon drop did the same thing... I staked it with a toothpick and now after a week it's sort of straight again, you could try that
 
Your doing a lot better coup.
I will add a note what I do if I am ever worried about if my seedlings need watering that is if your rootball is fully mature, you could pull the the whole root ball carefully. Some instances the top will be dry yet the lower rootball will have plenty moisture still.
 
Trying to stay positive, though I feel disheartened when I see my babies start to whither. Easy to get discouraged!
 
looks like fan is too close/ontense and too much water still
 
try having ur fan further away=just a breeze 
 
try letting your soil totally dry out(bone dry) between waterings-they will grow quicker
 
and yeah you should get a light
 
N8thaniel said:
looks like fan is too close/ontense and too much water still
 
try having ur fan further away=just a breeze 
 
try letting your soil totally dry out(bone dry) between waterings-they will grow quicker
 
and yeah you should get a light
Click to expand...
 
I fixed the fan angle so it just gives it a slight breeze over the smaller ones and has to reach the back to hit the taller plants.
 
I learned earlier this week to let it dry out.  :confused: I was giving them too much water. Now I only water the large ones maybe once every 4-5 days and the smaller ones when they start to look a bit wilty or the trays are light. That may be once every two or three days depending on the cell.
 
As for the light, I'm using a 400W HPS bulb for them. It is about 20" away from the tops of the small peppers and probably about 18-16" from the tops of the tall ones.
 
QsS6ccI.jpg
 
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