-
Do you need help identifying a 🌶?
Is your plant suffering from an unknown issue? 🤧
Then ask in Identification and Diagnosis.
To the pros - if you were to give your best advice on first time growers what would it be ?
- Thread starter afr0n0me
- Start date
Start with at least twice as many seeds if not more than you plan on growing. You will most likely lose a good percentage of them from over/under watering, over/under fertilizing, bugs, children, and various animals.
As they say so often on the other forum I post in.....LITFA! Leave It The Fu#k Alone!2Goats said:
A bit of help I received a few years back was to remind me that this is just a hobby, and hobbies are suppose to be fun, so just relax and don't stress to much.
Peppers are just like weeds, they do just fine in the wild, so they should be able to do fine in a domesticated garden as long as you do not stress over them to much. Have fun!
Peppers are just like weeds, they do just fine in the wild, so they should be able to do fine in a domesticated garden as long as you do not stress over them to much. Have fun!
I agree. If you want it to grow peppers, there are tried and true methods. If you want to experiment, grow a control batch so you aren't saddened when everything else dampens off, gets over fertilized or burn by your high intensity lighting.Proud Marine Dad said:As they say so often on the other forum I post in.....LITFA! Leave It The Fu#k Alone!
Phil said:
Yup. Just do your best to turn your garden into a little slice of nature, and everything will just seem to fall into place.
Don't over think things.. It's not rocket science!
When youre not sure of which option is the best, try out a few different options in parallel, to find out which is best for you - what works good for someone else, does not nessensarily work good for you
Quarantine any new plants in a separate location, if at all possible. Some fungal pathogens and some insect pests can be explosively disastrous. Either can start being visibly a problem without warning, weeks after the pathogen/pest gets introduced.
I used to advocate indiscriminate spraying of new plants with 1% hydrogen peroxide. However, any plant that has, previously, been sprayed with potassium stearate (insecticidal soap) or oil-based sprays (such as neem) is going to get badly scorched and burned. It would seem that the wax layer on the leaves (rather like the epidermis layer on our skin) is compromised by these chemicals.
I still recommend frequent spraying with water, and pay special attention to leaf undersides, during the quarantine period. Watering in a colloidal suspension of diatomaceous earth (3 Tbsp in 5-gallon bucket of dechlorinated water), once ever week, will eliminate fungus gnats, springtails, thrip pupae, etc. -- most soil-borne pests. As diatomaceous earth degrades and dissolves, it releases water-soluble silicates that some plants use to improve their defenses against diseases -- i don't know if peppers benefit from this.
Sticky strips for whitefly are an asset.
I also sometimes use a preventive spray of 50% Listerine mouthwash, diluted with 50% water -- the active principles are menthol and thymol, and they are effective fungicides... a purist could try applying sage oil iin some fashion, i suppose. It's the same two chemicals in each source.
So far, this hasn't had the hideous side effects i've occasionally met with the peroxide spray.
It also works well outdoors, on roses, to treat powdery mildew and sometimes anthracnose.
Note that this will also kill off any beneficials introduced (ie.: predatory mites).
EDIT: Error here: should have said 50% Listerine, 50% water. Not "1% Listerine" as originally posted.
I used to advocate indiscriminate spraying of new plants with 1% hydrogen peroxide. However, any plant that has, previously, been sprayed with potassium stearate (insecticidal soap) or oil-based sprays (such as neem) is going to get badly scorched and burned. It would seem that the wax layer on the leaves (rather like the epidermis layer on our skin) is compromised by these chemicals.
I still recommend frequent spraying with water, and pay special attention to leaf undersides, during the quarantine period. Watering in a colloidal suspension of diatomaceous earth (3 Tbsp in 5-gallon bucket of dechlorinated water), once ever week, will eliminate fungus gnats, springtails, thrip pupae, etc. -- most soil-borne pests. As diatomaceous earth degrades and dissolves, it releases water-soluble silicates that some plants use to improve their defenses against diseases -- i don't know if peppers benefit from this.
Sticky strips for whitefly are an asset.
I also sometimes use a preventive spray of 50% Listerine mouthwash, diluted with 50% water -- the active principles are menthol and thymol, and they are effective fungicides... a purist could try applying sage oil iin some fashion, i suppose. It's the same two chemicals in each source.
So far, this hasn't had the hideous side effects i've occasionally met with the peroxide spray.
It also works well outdoors, on roses, to treat powdery mildew and sometimes anthracnose.
Note that this will also kill off any beneficials introduced (ie.: predatory mites).
EDIT: Error here: should have said 50% Listerine, 50% water. Not "1% Listerine" as originally posted.
Your hands should be the only pesticides you will ever need.
Never bring plants inside without taking measures to be sure there are no aphids. I do this by stripping them naked and changing the soil.
Drainage, drainage, drainage.
Make sure there is plenty of perlite and sphagnum moss in your soil. Most commercially available potting soils aren't well draining enough for growing healthy nightshades! Don't put rocks in the bottoms of the containers!
Never bring plants inside without taking measures to be sure there are no aphids. I do this by stripping them naked and changing the soil.
Drainage, drainage, drainage.
Make sure there is plenty of perlite and sphagnum moss in your soil. Most commercially available potting soils aren't well draining enough for growing healthy nightshades! Don't put rocks in the bottoms of the containers!