Wesker95 - 2nd Grow Season 2014 - Container Garden

Last year I grew a bhut and an orange habenero plant.  This year I expanded to 15 plants and I probably should have posted this months ago.  Regardless, I wanted to share some pics with you guys, which were taken this morning.
 
It's been a bummer.  I've had a wicked aphid and spider mite infestation across multiple plants that I did not have to deal with last year.  Think they were brought in with some brussel sprout seedlings I picked up from Lowe's.  
 
It's my first time combating pests since picking up the hobby and they're driving me nuts.  Some of the plants have been damaged pretty badly.  I've tried to prune and top the hell out of the damaged growth and now I am onto insecticidal soap.  I'm going to continue growing until either the plants die or the insects die.  I plan on it being the latter and not the former.
 
Grow list:
 
7 Pod Brain Strain (transplant bought from CCN)
Bhut Jolokia  (grown from seed)
Red Savina (transplant bought from CCN)
Chocolate Scotch Bonnet (transplant bought from CCN)
Orange Habenero (grown from seed)
Chiltepin (transplant bought from CCN)
Datil (transplant bought from CCN)
Thai (grown from seed)
Takanotsume (transplant bought from CCN)
Korean Hot (transplant bought from CCN)
Cayenne (grown from seed)
Australian Lantern (transplant bought from CCN)
Mystery Chinense 1 (grown from seed)
Mystery Chinense 2 (grown from seed)
Poblano
 
Anyhow, here are some of my babies:
 

 
Australian Lantern (Cross Country Nurseries) - Probably the best looking plant in the bunch.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed nothing happens to it.  
 

 
Orange Hab (the offspring of last year's plant) - This guy was one of the worst hit by the aphids and spidermites.  The plant used to be much bigger and better looking, but I pruned and topped most of the damaged growth away after it became infested.  As you can see the leaves are still looking a bit haggard.  
 
 
 
 

 
Cayenne (grown from seed)  - I topped and pruned this plant to experiment with the techniques.  Eventually it too got hit by the pests and the leaves don't look well to me.
 
 
 
 

 
Poblano (grown from seed)  - This was also badly infested.  Had to prune and top the damaged growth away, but the leaves still don't look well to me.
 

 
7 Pod Brain Strain (Cross Country Nurseries) - This guy is one of my favorites and is doing well so far.  Can't wait for it to produce.
 

 
Datil (Cross Country Nurseries) - I was looking forward to trying the Datil pods, as I've heard they have the perfect mixture of heat and taste.  Unfortunately, this has been topped and pruned to extreme degrees to clear out damaged foliage.
 

 
Red Savina (Cross Country Nurseries)
 
 
 
 

 
Chiltepin (Cross Country Nurseries)
 

 
Chocolate Scotch Bonnet (Cross Country Nurseries)
 
 
I was looking forward to good yields this year, which is what I had last year, and I was really looking forward to the chiltepin, brain strain, datil, and chocolate bonnet - I'm hoping the plants that need to will recover and that the others won't get infected.  Damn addictive habit; ask my fiance and she'll tell you how obsessed I am - but then again, you already know.

 

[meinchoh]

They all look good to me!!!

 

[Runescape]

Yea, they look pretty decent, esp. that red savina.

 

[Wesker95]

Thanks guys. Like I said, I've been obsessive. Lots of time and $ invested for me relative to last year. I'll post more pics as I monitor their progress.

 

[Chewi]

You have some really REALLY good varieties going there. I don't know if I could have picked better choices myself. Keep updating! Should be a good year!

 

[Wesker95]

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Chewi.  Here is a view of the entire container garden as of this afternoon:
 

 
Thought I'd provide an update.  I gave a few more sprays of Safer insecticidal soap after the aphids came back again.  Plants have been growing better, but the leaves on some are looking awfully mottled still, and I have a ton of aphids on the leaves of my morning glory plant, which you can see in the top right of the pic.
 
We had almost a week straight of rain here in the northeast, and I'm concerned the aphids will migrate from the morning glory over to the peppers.
 
For instance, check out the curled and mottled leaves on top of the chocolate scotch bonnet.
 

 
And the brain strain
 

 
And cayenne isn't looking too hot either
 

 
As for the good, the savina that was complimented earlier is growing nicely
 

 
And so is the bhut, although it's getting some leaf curl on the top new foliage
 

 
Since I don't have a pH test kit, and I'm not sure if the curl on the plants is due to a calcium deficiency, or a pest problem, or a combo of both, I hit the plants with a dose of cal mag this morning.
We'll see what happens...

 

[Swartmamba]

hoping you do not have a broad mite problem, they are hard to see and are absolutely devastating. I would look into it

 

[Wesker95]

I hope not either.  Still a newb, but last year on my first attempt I had absolutely no problems.  Disheartening, but live and learn I guess.  Will insecticidal soap help against broad mites?
 
Here is the datil I posted two weeks ago:
 

 
And the Australian Lantern.  This one seems to have the same problem and the leaves have started bubbling.
 

 
 
 
At least the Thai guy seems to be thriving
 

 

[Wesker95]

Happy pre-manic Monday,
 
I continue to battle an aphid infestation.  Note to self for my 3rd grow - take care of infestation immediately.
 
Well many of the plants seem to doing okay despite the infestation
 
I hit the plants with some cal-mag last sunday.  Then on Wednesday I applied some Epsom in foliar spray.  Yesterday, I watered with fish emulsion.  With fifteen containers in a relatively small place, it stinks to high heaven.  
 
Here is my bhut.  I topped her yesterday afternoon.
 

 
This one's an unknown Chinense.  My fiance bought the seeds for me from Amazon last summer under the auspices that they were either a Butch T or Reaper.  The seller is SeedsDirect, and I've heard most of their stuff is bogus.  Well, at least it will be interesting to see what it turns out to be.   
 
 

 
Here's my chocolate Scotch Bonnet.  I've found aphids all along the undersides of the leaves, but it seems to have bounced back well from last week.
 
 

 
My Takanotsume.  I topped this one two or three weeks ago and it's growing nice and bushy now.  Can't wait to turn this into powder. 
 
 

 
And my orange hab.  Believe it or not, this thing has actually bounced back well from two weeks ago.  It's been topped and pruned ad nauseum because of the pest problems I've had. Now's it's getting bushy and starting to get some height.
 

 

[Runescape]

Plants are looking neat... gonna be interesting to see what the mystery plant is...

 

[Wesker95]

Well, there are actually two mystery plants.  Like I said, she bought me two packs of seeds - one supposedly a Butch T, and the other a Reaper.  Based on SeedsDirect's reputation it is doubtful either will be anywhere near those two on the scoville scale.
 
Here is the other mystery plant:
 

 
Not sure if any of you know, but does this even look like a Chinense?  

 

[Wesker95]

First off, things are really starting to heat up in the Northeast, which is a blessing after the winter we had.  The plants are absolutely loving it and are beginning to shoot up.  Friday evening I gave them a kelp foliar feeding using GSPlant Foods Organic Liquid Kelp.  I've chosen to give up on fighting the aphids, mites, or whatever they are and will just allow nature to take its course.
 
Here's an update on some of the plants.
 
Orange Habanero
 
I'm proud of how well this plant has recovered, because I thought she was a goner.  It is important that the plant makes it as it is the offspring of the first pepper plant I ever grew.  I plan on growing the offspring every year and was hoping to cross it with one of the other varieties I'm growing this year.  The dwarfism seems to be subsiding and she is starting to grow taller, greener, and bushier with less warped leaves.
 

 
 
 
Thai Pepper
 
The Thai continues to grow like a monster.  I estimate it's already 2 1/2 feet tall.  It has required no intervention on my part and is flowering profusely.  It won't be long until it starts creating pods.  I picked the pods up last year at a Whole Foods and they packed nice heat, so these should be good to throw in a stir fry.
 

 
Mystery Chinense #2
 
The second of two seed packs purchased from Amazon is starting to bush out after having been topped earlier in the season.  For the experts on here, this was supposedly a Butch T or a Reaper.  If it isn't too early to tell, does anyone think this plant resembles either one?  I fully expect a second batch of Orange Habs from this one. =)
 

 
Brain Strain
 
This has had one of the roughest goings.  I continue to prune and prune the damaged growth away and it finally seems to be responding better.  Maybe all the extra stress is going to produce hotter pods, but from what I hear, that will not be necessary.  
 

 
Takanotsume
 
This is one of my favorite plants I have going.  It is shooting up faster and faster with each day.  Topping makes a huge difference and you can see the bushiness that has resulted from the topping.  Although you can't see it, it is shooting out many flowers.  Since I've never tasted Takanotsume before, I don't know what to expect from the pods in terms of flavor, but apparently it is one of the most savory and popular peppers in Japan. 
 

 
Without a doubt, my plants respond really well to foliar feeding.  Hitting them with Epsom and Kelp every few weeks has been key and I'm starting to get a sense of how unnecessary it is to supply pepper plants with excess nitrogen.  Micronutrients applied directly to the leaves seems to be much more effective.

 

[Runescape]

Whoa, that Thai is a beast lol...

 

[Wesker95]

Thanks, Runescape.  It's exceeding expectations since I bought the pods in a supermarket, but it's Whole Foods, so for the price I paid for the pods I guess I'm getting what I paid for, lol.
 
Here's a pic of the bhut I topped last week.  Should be a fine producer if it's anything like the parent I grew last summer
 

 
My Red Saviina is thriving too
 

 
The chiltepin's shooting off buds now too.  First time I've grown something with upright pods.  I've been wanting to try them for a while now.  Heard the little pods pack a lot of heat.
 

 

[chilicheesebeard]

You've got some handsome ladies there, Wesker. It's great to see them recover from the infestation so well. May the season be with you!

 

[Wesker95]

Thank you, sir.  Will post more pics tomorrow.  The plants are really looking good after some calmag, along with this great heat and humidity.

 

[Wesker95]

After a couple of days of thunderstorms, a nice feeding of cal mag, and a beautiful, sun-soaked weekend, here are the plants.  
 
Australian Lantern
 

 
Red Savina
 

 
 
Bhut Jolokia
 

 
Poblano
 

 
Mystery Chinense #1
 

 
Korean Hot
 

 
All-in-all, I'm happy with how well everything is doing.  I think my plants have outgrown any damage the pests will be able to cause at this point.  Now that everything has begun flowering, we'll see if pods will set, or if the flowers will drop.

 

[Runescape]

Cant wait for pod pics, dude... Plants are looking good.

 

[Wesker95]

Thanks, bud.  Here are some of the others:
 
Chocolate Scotch Bonnet
 

 
Orange Habanero
 

 
Chiltepin
 

 
And here is a pic of the thai with a view of multiple plants
 

 

[chilicheesebeard]

That thai is monstrous! Sleep with one eye open haha. I have a few orange hab seedlings so I'm going to be keeping an eye on yours. Happy growing!