• Blog your pepper progress. The first image in your first post will be used to represent your Glog.

The Moruga Project

One ton is one cubic yard of topsoil. 48 X 48 X 6 is roughly one cubic ton. REGARDLESS... I can use extra topsoil on my lawn to smooth it out a bit. As far as the price, I guess I'll go to the place and see their soil. I didn't know if $13.50 was cheap or the regular price but where I live it's topsoil heaven.
 
I would use the drive way if it gets the most sun and just grow in massive air pruning pots. You can buy the material and a sewing machine and make them yourself. Grow 10 - 20 big plants using lots of organic techniques including your own ACCT brews and you'll be on to a winner. I would leave the lawn alone until you are 200% sure you know what you are doing more.

Get that 1st year grow under your belt and then may be go bigger next year. Your setting yourself up for a lot of bad feedback if you keep posting with the attitude of becoming a pepper sensei in the first year. If however you do, I want seeds! But bear in mind some people who have offered advice to you already across the threads you have started have been growing big for many years and still suffer from a bad season from time to time. It's pretty mush a given that on your first year you will make LOTS of mistakes, so write them down and change them next year.

I feel you would be better off trying to grow 10 - 20 big plants rather than 100's of smaller plants. That's what I would do if I was in your situation. But good luck on you decision when you get there. At least your trying to work out the best method, everyone can see that. But don't forgot to actually grow yourself some peppers along the way, actions speak louder than words and all that.

Pete

Sorry for a double post- just thought it might help.

I have a Moruga Scorpion growing at the moment which is 43 days old and this is she:
Moruag%20Scorpion%2023rd%20MARCH.JPG


I'm not being a show of at all - I'm not like that Joe, just trying to help. But you can see the difference between yours at 2 months and mine at 43 days. This too is the first year growing peppers for me also, so I am not Sensei but I have tried to start with the very basics and get them right or as best I can and then move on as my plants move on.
You can see and have been explained to about the importance of quality light, soil and a watering schedule so try and get those down pat and then if you can keep your plants alive until they are big enough to withstand out doors then look at going bigger.

Like I said I'm not ribbing you, just trying to help. I have been following your glog from the start and have read some of your other threads so I have a interest in seeing/hoping you succeed on your venture.

My Ma always said if you don't know just ask, so +1 on that my friend. But keep the dream real so there ain't no spill!

Pete
 
I give you an A+ for being willing to jump head first into pepper growing. I will be following this thread as well. Best of luck to you brotha and remember.. keep it simple and start with the basics.

I started growing all together last summer and by the end of last year barely had anything to show for it because I did not learn the basics. Then I found this forum and the wealth of information on here (both good and bad) and have come to realize that if you don't have a quality base i.e. soil/food web, you will be chasing and mitigating constant problems from fungal disease, insects infestation, flower drop, and pods dropping. You would be surprised how quickly an aphid infestation can take over your small crop.

This season I took a step back (read Pepper Gurus 2012 Glog, AACT thread and many others) and kept it simple. I started my germs jan 1st 2013 so I'm close to 4 months in already and have about 15 decent healthy plants with only minimal and under control issues.

Here are some crappy cell pic's so far. Been pretty cold here in FL this year so growth has been a bit slow.

Red Bhut
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My Hoop House
cTFUfNZ.jpg
 
moruga said:
One ton is one cubic yard of topsoil. 48 X 48 X 6 is roughly one cubic ton. REGARDLESS... I can use extra topsoil on my lawn to smooth it out a bit. As far as the price, I guess I'll go to the place and see their soil. I didn't know if $13.50 was cheap or the regular price but where I live it's topsoil heaven.
Click to expand...

1 cu.yd. is 27 sq.ft. A planting bed that is 4'x4'x6" is only 8 cu.ft. so you will need 1 yard for 3 planting beds. Roughly.

If buying by the ton, make sure the soil isn't drenched or you will be paying for more water than soil.
 
Along with more light you need to get the plants closer to it. Using CFL works great but you have to get them within a few inches of the seedlings. They can't be as far away as you have them. You'll get extremely long, very weak stems. I'm not bragging either here, I'm showing you what the right lights kept the right distance can do for you. These are are older than two months, by about two weeks.

DSC029172300x1725_zps863790c7.jpg


At the rate of growth you're going at you're not going to get many peppers. You're perfectly capable of outgrowing anyone here. There are very few rules to growing peppers but you have to pay attention to them. The first thing you have to do is get the lights within a few inches of the plants. Light is energy. Light is life. Light is growth. Look at the plants that grow wild; all they have is light and water and what ever nutes they can get from the ground and rain. Their light is the sun though, that's a wicked ball of pure energy for plants. Little CFL's don't compare, that's why they have to be close.
 
In the adult section, I have 29 plants:

moruga9a_zpse2f1da73.jpg




In shelf #2 are 31 plants that are just budding true leaves:

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Shelf #3 has 40 in pots and 26 in the seed tray:

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And shelf #4 has 49 plants that came out in the past couple of weeks:

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WIND THERAPY:

I keep the fan on the plants pretty much all day. At night I put the fan real close to the plants and blast it for a half hour per shelf so they get some exercise.


WATER:

Little to none. They dirt is still moist. I can get a feel for when they need water based on their weight, I am sure most of you do too.

I am going to pot the seedlings until I run out of space.
 
I wish they were bigger but they could be smaller. And they have a month of growing still to do. And I plan to plant no more than 60 of them- a lot less actually, most of what I have now is overstock.
 
Yes- 48 X 48 X 10 wood planter boxes on the lawn. 4 per planter with planters spaced 4 feet apart- lots of space for the roots and leaves to grow.
 
Do yourself a favor and don't toss any of them away until the ones you plant outside are growing and healthy. Keeping some as back up until then is always a good idea.
 
RE: LIGHT

I switched a 22 watt CFL for a 100 watt incandescent bulb then put a lampshade on the light so the light is concentrated straight down. Well- it worked. Don't know how well you can see it in the pic, but the plants are definetly responding after 48 hours. One plant (with the red arrow) was even pointed at the other light then made a U-Turn and turned towards the new light.
moruga10_zps6c610b02.jpg
 
NOAH'S ARC



I consolidated all the plants into 3 groups with 53 morugas, 10 sweet bell peppers and 4 cantaloupes. Everything else is being culled. This is the final setup I will use for the next month.



moruga11a_zpsc7089859.jpg




moruga11b_zpseba1bdde.jpg




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nice!!! they look almost ready for those boxes you putting them in :dance:
cant wait to see when they get dumped outside :onfire:

best of luck with the grow!!!!!!! :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:
 
It's been a couple of weeks since I reported in. I took all my plants and condnsed it down to about 80, then put them into cube-shaped milk cartons where 16 plants fit tightly in. I further condensed my plants down to 64 or less... 4 milk cartons.

I started putting them out a few days ago and they got some good sun. It's kind of funny how I worry about them outside from months of worrying about them in my grow room and then I say- nature will take care of them from now on and I laugh, because that's what nature does and I was playing "Mother Earth" to these plants during the winter which I feel proud of.

Not much growth to mention or photo, maybe next week I will have something to show. It's worth mentioning that several of the plants have long stems and some fell over and collapsed, requiring emergency dirt therapy. Mostly because of the winds here. The fan wasn't enough to straighten the stems.

My sweet red bell peppers and cantaloupes are doing amazingly well... the red peppers are double the size of my morugas.
 
keep on keeping on!! growing lots of plants comes with lots of problems. just keep on learning from everything the plants do,and you will have more peppers than you know what to do with.
 
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