I recently signed up here because I had one Bhut plant I was trying to keep alive over the winter. Fast forward a few weeks and now I'm in the process of growing ten varieties and possibly up to 72 plants in my bedroom. What could possibly go wrong?
This whole thing started with the one plant I'd managed to keep alive through the summer. I didn't provide it with nearly enough sunlight until too late in the season. By the time it was producing peppers it was already going into the fall. There was one orange pepper, so I cut everything but that branch down, stuck it in a pot and brought it in. Months later I realize the pepper is going bad, so I make a thread:
http://thehotpepper.com/topic/58444-controlled-growth-vs-dormancy-in-the-winter/
Even though the pepper is bad and using its seeds is questionable, I pull 8 decent looking seeds and put them aside.
I toy with the idea of trying to grow them. It's so cold, barren, and depressing here in the winter growing something green would be a welcome change. I mention the idea to my family and I end up with a small LED grow bulb and a small seedling heat mat for Christmas. A couple days later I've given a couple of seed packets from the hardware store. I've got a heat bulb somewhere a thermometer someone purchased for making homemade yogurt. I could feasible start this now. And I do:
Version 1 is a plastic container that held pinwheel sandwiches stabbed with a yogurt thermometer, propped up on a couple books and a slab of insulation beneath a heat bulb screwed into a desk lamp with the shade removed. Despite being pretty energy inefficient it's keeping the contents at a constant 85F. Inside the contraption is the 8 (possibly diseased) Bhut Jolokia seeds from my plant and probably half of the contents of each of those hardware store seed packets ("Pepper Cayenne Long Slim" and "Pepper Carribean Red"). Each type gets folded into a moistened and cut down coffee filter and placed in its own labeled sandwich bag.
I realize the light is really irritating when I try to sleep and I already knew it was an inefficient design. I had planned on using the heat mat I had received, but I didn't like how hot it got. I had already ordered a thermostat for it and it was on its way, but I had to start with the heat lamp because I was impatient and excited.
I only had the heat lamp setup a couple of days before the thermostat arrived. I swapped the heat bulb out for the thermostat and the seedling heat mat. A drastic improvement. No more light, no more waste, just the right amount of heat. I have it set to 82F. A cycle (from the lowest temp of around 79F up to around 85F and back down again) takes about 20 minutes. The heat mat is on for about 5 of those. At 18W on 1/4th of the time vs a constant 50W from the heat bulb, this setup is a hell of a lot more energy efficient. Now the slab of insulation beneath it really shines.
I don't know what I'm doing, but it seems to be working. The cayenne pepper seeds have germinated in half the time suggested on the bag and they're growing (I have the grow light on a few hours a day for a tiny, leggy succulent I placed adjacent to my "germinator". I guess they popped out, saw the light, and just ran with it.
I bought one of those seedling trays with the cells and the dome. I got the all natural one because it looked sturdy and it held 36 cells (no way I'd need that many, right?). Bad idea, the thing leaks, so I opt not to use it for this project. I should've just got the basic plastic one from the start. I bought a bag of soil from my local nursery. I don't know what happened, but a couple days go by and after many trips to Home Depot (between this and two additional projects) I finally have a decent seedling tray thing (it's got hexagonal cells - fancy), the soil, a bag of Miracle Gro perlite, red habs that are sprouting, and cayenne peppers that are basically plants already crammed inside the sandwich bag. Of course the Miracle Gro perlite has unnecessarily added fertilizer, so I have to scoop some out and rinse it hoping to wash away some of that. I mix it in with the soil in a 2:1 ratio ( 66% soil, 33% perlite), toss some in the cells, and transplant the six most developed seeds from each variety. On one of those Home Depot trips I picked up a packet of your run of the mill jalapeno seeds. I don't remember the timeline exactly, but those too were germinated and planted, either at the same time as the others or a day or two after.
Now I think I took this picture the following day, but basically the cayenne peppers were already plants when the went into the dirt. One of the six shed its seed casing while in the filter. The other ones I decided to gently slip off after planting. I knew that was risky, but I rolled the dice and it turned out well. I used two precision tweezers I'd normally use for circuit board components. I used one to gently grip the stem and I tightly pinched the far side of the seed casing with the other and slipped it off. I wasn't sure if it would come off having never been in soil and I opted to remove them while they were still wet, rather than risk having them dry out and prevent the cotyledon from getting out. Having observed some of the others grow, I don't think this was necessary. Many of the plants propel the seeds up into the air like little spiraling rockets if I don't secure them beneath the soil (in which case they do the "U" thing like a battering ram. At this point the other variety seeds are in the soil mix, but they're not doing anything note worthy.
Now this is where it gets fun. About the time I started with the heat lamp I began talking with [mention]rkempston[/mention]. I didn't have any seeds to trade, but he was super awesome and offered to send me some anyway. He told me to choose a few from his impressive list. I handpicked a couple, and expressed interest in trying another superhot (though not picky as to which) and asked him to choose the others based on what he think I might like, what he had the most of, or just completely at random. A day or two later he let me know he sent them out and let me know what he sent. Now I'm pumped. My setup seems to be working beautifully and I can't wait to provided a nice cozy home for six pepper types I've never tried before. Having them come from a forum member rather than a vendor makes them extra special.
A few days pass and it arrives - a handwritten envelope from IL containing the following goodies. Drum-roll please:
So in addition to the cayenne, red habs, and jalapenos I'll (hopefully) be growing the following thanks to rkempston:
Trinidad Moruga Scorpion, Reaper (Carolina?), Chocolate Scotch Bonnet, Yellow Fatalii, Jigsaw (Fatalli Gourmet?), and Bishops Crown
The Choc. SB, and Y. Fatalli are the two I told him I was interested in.
I took about 12 of each and gave them the same treatment as the others, only I had purchased smaller bags and coffee filters ahead of time. Something I forgot to mention earlier, with the others I'd experimented with using hydrogen perioxide to soften the seeds before germination. For the Bhut seeds I stuck them in 3% HP for 5 minutes, then let them soak in 1 part HP, 9 parts water for like three days (I jumped the gun and had nothing setup, so they just sat in there - less than ideal). For the cayenne and red habs I did the same, but only left them in overnight. For the jalapenos and these six I just left them in the 3% HP for 5-10 minutes and then dunked them in water to wash it away. Of course as soon as I had free time I got right to work on the seeds. Soaked each, put them in a nicely cut down filter, spayed them, and used a ruler to slide them into these nice little labeled baggies.
Here's them in my setup:
I placed the other types on top of these. I have lots of sprouts, but I don't know what to do with them. I'm going to keep them for a bit I guess for backups in case something happens to the planted ones until they inevitably go bad. I don't like doing this, but I simply don't have space for hundreds of plants. I have ten varieties. My goal is to grow six of each (for 60/72 cells). I'll fill the extras with jalapenos and Bishop's Crowns probably because they'd be easier to find homes for since they're significantly milder.
My sparse dresser-top setup now actually has some substance to it. It smells like soil (which I love). There's green, there's heat, there's light - things are growing. I cut up my leggy succulent tonight hoping to propagate it. I need to let the cuts heal for a few days before I continue. I took in my mom's venus fly trap plants (despite what she tells me, I don't think they're going to survive in a non-draining mug. She had them outside, periodically submerged from the rain and It's freezing at night here to boot. I stuck them on the pad under the grow light, removed the dirt and crap some of the heads were trying to snack on, amputated the dead parts, drained the mug one, and watered the other. They seem to be perking up.
I checked on the seeds tonight to add moisture where it was needed. The seeds from rkempston have been germinating since Saturday (it was Tuesday when I started typing this, it's Wednesday now - damn I'm a slow typist). I didn't open them all up, but I held them up to the light and I don't see anything yet. If anything's started yet I'll just give it another couple days to do its thing before I check again. I did discover that after ten days two of my bhut seeds sprouted, so into the soil they went. One went bad and I'm going to let the other five keep at it and we'll see what happens when I check back in a couple days.
This whole thing started with the one plant I'd managed to keep alive through the summer. I didn't provide it with nearly enough sunlight until too late in the season. By the time it was producing peppers it was already going into the fall. There was one orange pepper, so I cut everything but that branch down, stuck it in a pot and brought it in. Months later I realize the pepper is going bad, so I make a thread:
http://thehotpepper.com/topic/58444-controlled-growth-vs-dormancy-in-the-winter/
Even though the pepper is bad and using its seeds is questionable, I pull 8 decent looking seeds and put them aside.
I toy with the idea of trying to grow them. It's so cold, barren, and depressing here in the winter growing something green would be a welcome change. I mention the idea to my family and I end up with a small LED grow bulb and a small seedling heat mat for Christmas. A couple days later I've given a couple of seed packets from the hardware store. I've got a heat bulb somewhere a thermometer someone purchased for making homemade yogurt. I could feasible start this now. And I do:
Version 1 is a plastic container that held pinwheel sandwiches stabbed with a yogurt thermometer, propped up on a couple books and a slab of insulation beneath a heat bulb screwed into a desk lamp with the shade removed. Despite being pretty energy inefficient it's keeping the contents at a constant 85F. Inside the contraption is the 8 (possibly diseased) Bhut Jolokia seeds from my plant and probably half of the contents of each of those hardware store seed packets ("Pepper Cayenne Long Slim" and "Pepper Carribean Red"). Each type gets folded into a moistened and cut down coffee filter and placed in its own labeled sandwich bag.
I realize the light is really irritating when I try to sleep and I already knew it was an inefficient design. I had planned on using the heat mat I had received, but I didn't like how hot it got. I had already ordered a thermostat for it and it was on its way, but I had to start with the heat lamp because I was impatient and excited.
I only had the heat lamp setup a couple of days before the thermostat arrived. I swapped the heat bulb out for the thermostat and the seedling heat mat. A drastic improvement. No more light, no more waste, just the right amount of heat. I have it set to 82F. A cycle (from the lowest temp of around 79F up to around 85F and back down again) takes about 20 minutes. The heat mat is on for about 5 of those. At 18W on 1/4th of the time vs a constant 50W from the heat bulb, this setup is a hell of a lot more energy efficient. Now the slab of insulation beneath it really shines.
I don't know what I'm doing, but it seems to be working. The cayenne pepper seeds have germinated in half the time suggested on the bag and they're growing (I have the grow light on a few hours a day for a tiny, leggy succulent I placed adjacent to my "germinator". I guess they popped out, saw the light, and just ran with it.
I bought one of those seedling trays with the cells and the dome. I got the all natural one because it looked sturdy and it held 36 cells (no way I'd need that many, right?). Bad idea, the thing leaks, so I opt not to use it for this project. I should've just got the basic plastic one from the start. I bought a bag of soil from my local nursery. I don't know what happened, but a couple days go by and after many trips to Home Depot (between this and two additional projects) I finally have a decent seedling tray thing (it's got hexagonal cells - fancy), the soil, a bag of Miracle Gro perlite, red habs that are sprouting, and cayenne peppers that are basically plants already crammed inside the sandwich bag. Of course the Miracle Gro perlite has unnecessarily added fertilizer, so I have to scoop some out and rinse it hoping to wash away some of that. I mix it in with the soil in a 2:1 ratio ( 66% soil, 33% perlite), toss some in the cells, and transplant the six most developed seeds from each variety. On one of those Home Depot trips I picked up a packet of your run of the mill jalapeno seeds. I don't remember the timeline exactly, but those too were germinated and planted, either at the same time as the others or a day or two after.
Now I think I took this picture the following day, but basically the cayenne peppers were already plants when the went into the dirt. One of the six shed its seed casing while in the filter. The other ones I decided to gently slip off after planting. I knew that was risky, but I rolled the dice and it turned out well. I used two precision tweezers I'd normally use for circuit board components. I used one to gently grip the stem and I tightly pinched the far side of the seed casing with the other and slipped it off. I wasn't sure if it would come off having never been in soil and I opted to remove them while they were still wet, rather than risk having them dry out and prevent the cotyledon from getting out. Having observed some of the others grow, I don't think this was necessary. Many of the plants propel the seeds up into the air like little spiraling rockets if I don't secure them beneath the soil (in which case they do the "U" thing like a battering ram. At this point the other variety seeds are in the soil mix, but they're not doing anything note worthy.
Now this is where it gets fun. About the time I started with the heat lamp I began talking with [mention]rkempston[/mention]. I didn't have any seeds to trade, but he was super awesome and offered to send me some anyway. He told me to choose a few from his impressive list. I handpicked a couple, and expressed interest in trying another superhot (though not picky as to which) and asked him to choose the others based on what he think I might like, what he had the most of, or just completely at random. A day or two later he let me know he sent them out and let me know what he sent. Now I'm pumped. My setup seems to be working beautifully and I can't wait to provided a nice cozy home for six pepper types I've never tried before. Having them come from a forum member rather than a vendor makes them extra special.
A few days pass and it arrives - a handwritten envelope from IL containing the following goodies. Drum-roll please:
So in addition to the cayenne, red habs, and jalapenos I'll (hopefully) be growing the following thanks to rkempston:
Trinidad Moruga Scorpion, Reaper (Carolina?), Chocolate Scotch Bonnet, Yellow Fatalii, Jigsaw (Fatalli Gourmet?), and Bishops Crown
The Choc. SB, and Y. Fatalli are the two I told him I was interested in.
I took about 12 of each and gave them the same treatment as the others, only I had purchased smaller bags and coffee filters ahead of time. Something I forgot to mention earlier, with the others I'd experimented with using hydrogen perioxide to soften the seeds before germination. For the Bhut seeds I stuck them in 3% HP for 5 minutes, then let them soak in 1 part HP, 9 parts water for like three days (I jumped the gun and had nothing setup, so they just sat in there - less than ideal). For the cayenne and red habs I did the same, but only left them in overnight. For the jalapenos and these six I just left them in the 3% HP for 5-10 minutes and then dunked them in water to wash it away. Of course as soon as I had free time I got right to work on the seeds. Soaked each, put them in a nicely cut down filter, spayed them, and used a ruler to slide them into these nice little labeled baggies.
Here's them in my setup:
I placed the other types on top of these. I have lots of sprouts, but I don't know what to do with them. I'm going to keep them for a bit I guess for backups in case something happens to the planted ones until they inevitably go bad. I don't like doing this, but I simply don't have space for hundreds of plants. I have ten varieties. My goal is to grow six of each (for 60/72 cells). I'll fill the extras with jalapenos and Bishop's Crowns probably because they'd be easier to find homes for since they're significantly milder.
My sparse dresser-top setup now actually has some substance to it. It smells like soil (which I love). There's green, there's heat, there's light - things are growing. I cut up my leggy succulent tonight hoping to propagate it. I need to let the cuts heal for a few days before I continue. I took in my mom's venus fly trap plants (despite what she tells me, I don't think they're going to survive in a non-draining mug. She had them outside, periodically submerged from the rain and It's freezing at night here to boot. I stuck them on the pad under the grow light, removed the dirt and crap some of the heads were trying to snack on, amputated the dead parts, drained the mug one, and watered the other. They seem to be perking up.
I checked on the seeds tonight to add moisture where it was needed. The seeds from rkempston have been germinating since Saturday (it was Tuesday when I started typing this, it's Wednesday now - damn I'm a slow typist). I didn't open them all up, but I held them up to the light and I don't see anything yet. If anything's started yet I'll just give it another couple days to do its thing before I check again. I did discover that after ten days two of my bhut seeds sprouted, so into the soil they went. One went bad and I'm going to let the other five keep at it and we'll see what happens when I check back in a couple days.
