Turbo-1's HOT STUFF

Ms Music

Rhody, if you stick a thermometer inside one of those cells, what does it read? I truly think that is my issue. If I use my meat thermometer, it is usually about 76. After I posted last, I did get a few minutes and put the two seedlings into a bigger cup, but they still are not growing, and new seeds haven't had time to sprout yet. I was talking to my brother this morning, and he has a heating pad that you can adjust the temperature on, I think I will steal that for peppers, then use mine for regular vegetables. This is all that I have: http://www.amazon.com/Jiffy-5035-Pro.../dp/B000KL76S8 which claims it heats the soil about 10 degrees above room temperature. Not enough!

Also, since you are talking about expanding your selection, if you ever try tepins (or chiltepins) I read last week that in the wild they sprout after a freeze followed by hot weather. So I stuck them in the fridge. Might not have been cold enough in there, but I won't give up on them yet! I will keep going from the fridge to a (hopefully hotter) heating pad until I get my tepins!

Ms Music

additional thought...

What is the age of the seedlings in that last picture? That is what my ghost looks like, (STILL!!) although there are actually 3 sets of teeny tiny leaves. The mysterious pepper still only has one full set of leaves. I think if I can increase the soil heat they will grow faster.

Also should let you know, I have a t5 light, so that doesn't add any heat to the grow house. I think if I were to do this again, I would get a hotter heating pad, and hotter lights. But this setup should work fine for starting normal seeds this weekend.

rhody

Ms Music,

I think I use T5's but can't be sure, here is a spread of the kinds of bulbs you can purchase. You are correct in stating that unless you have both air and soil temps of 80F or more that supers grow agonizingly slow. See my latest pictures below, the seedlings have just started to take off, temps in the high 70's low 80's account for the growth. The window I believe to grow supers is 80 - 94 F above 95 and no pods will form, below 80 and the flowers will not set to form pods, lots of fun, eh ?

Seriously, if you want the fastest growth for supers and other plants get some kind of grow enclosure, control the temps during the day to the low 80's, get a constant circulation of air moving in it and keep the moisture below 50% above 30%. Mist the seedling roots lightly at the end of every day, and as you see in my pics with low intensity florescent bulbs keep them 3 to 5 inches away from the leaves. Your biggest enemy is aphids, gnat flies, and God forbid if you keep the roots too dry you can get a fungus that turns the leaves yellow brown. Damned if to wet, and slightly damned if too dry. Are you beginning to appreciate why growers of supers get so much for them ?! They are a big challenge to grow just right and avoid all the pitfalls along the way. I pinched off the damaged leaves and the plant is sprouting new growth with no ill effects, but the wounds leave it open to virus attack, so far, so good. They are just like kids, huh ?

I just checked the dates between the last picture of the seedlings and now and it has been a week. That being said I have seen supers on the pepper forum grow about 1/3rd more in the same time frame so you do the math, more expense for grow tent, fan, heat mat, lights or 1/3rd slower growth with temps below 70F. Take your pick. I will spring for a great setup maybe later this season, and consult the experts on the pepper forum for the best products at the lowest cost. I will report back when I do.





Rhody...

Ms Music

Oh boy, I gotta figure out how on earth I am going to get air temps that high! I figured it would work as long as the soil temp was right.

Did you over winter any of last years plants? If so, how big are they now? (that will help me figure out how big to make a hot house...)

rhody

Three plants survived the winter I cut them all back like 60%, and unfortunately all three were infested with aphids. Two also developed a fungal infection, I have one left, and it too is looking pretty bad, I put it outside lest it infect my good plants inside. If your plants are not bug infested, I would say that they will be about two feet high and one and a half feet in diameter per plant.

You can make a small grow tent or buy one fairly reasonably, considering the trouble I had last winter, the only way I would try to winter a plant is if it was bug free and remained bug free once taken indoors. Make sure the heat mat, and lights are all UL listed, wouldn't want you burning your place down with cheap junk. They will tolerate temps as low as 60F without dropping leaves so that should be your set point.

The main issue for you is, how many plants, and of how many types do you want ? mediums, supers, etc... I am discovering there are so many hybrid varieties that I want to try some of them, for their color, taste and heat, and of course growing characteristics.

Fatalli's and Datil's seem to be favorites on the chili forum, I don't have any of those started but plan to next season. Post some pics of what you come up with.

Rhody...

Ms Music

I am tickled! I had looked at the 3 jiffys that didn't sprout, and only one had a seed in it. After my last post I made 4 new pellets with new seed, and one sprouted within a few days, before I even got them on the hotter heating pad (I took a few days trying to get the temperature right before I put seeds and plants on it). Well, this last weekend I finally got the seeds and plants on the hotter pad. Yesterday morning I found one seed sprouted. Last night the other two were also sprouted! 100% germination rate this time! And so quickly. So I am now the proud mom of 5 ghosts. And my first born is finally looking nice, the leaves are getting big. Still don't compare to your pictures, but such an improvement those 10 degrees made!

Now if only I could get those tepins to sprout. Haven't figured them out, but it sounds like they like hot and dry, freezing cold, and hot and moist before they will sprout. Another possibility is some kind of scarification to mimic birds digestive system. So I guess I haven't abused them enough. I have heard it can take a couple of months. I will keep you posted, I think I remember seeing tepins on your wish list? If I can figure out the sprouting and make sure this seed is viable, I can send you some.

rhody

Ms Music,

Satisfying isn't it, when you tinker and try different approaches and then find what works for you. Glad you had 100% germination with the ghost seeds. Tepin's and Fatalli's are two more types I would like to try in the future, I will ask if there is a trick to started Tepin's on the pepper forum and get back to you. I am in the process of taking a portable shelf system, 5 racks, 15 inches high 36' wide 24' deep and getting a lighting system going to 3 tiers, I have an old light for the top, and I will leave the bottom empty for now. I may put it indoors, or if in the garage, build some kind of inner reflective tent system around it, not quite sure yet, but the lights are the first thing, going to see about those today, and do a little on line price comparing as well. Will post pictures when the lights are installed. With this system, I should easily be able to start hundreds of seedlings. Once that happens, there will be endless amounts of work and expense to get them to produce pods. Take it one step at a time and everything will work out in the end, fingers crossed. Thanks for the tepin seed offer, hope you get them to germinate and grow pods.

Rhody...

Evo

I moved the peach tree fungus posts to gardening.

http://www.physicsforums.com/showthr...74652&page=190

rhody

What is a pech tree, haven't heard of those before, lol.

Rhody...

Evo

Lol. Fixed.

rhody

Here are some recent pics of my 6 starter plants, not much growth since April 10th, right ?



I want to be able to start these things and get to the point of transplant in at the most 60 days, starting them in March versus December, the only way to do that is some serious hardware. My answer, grow tent, High Pressure Sodium (HPS) 1000 watt bulb and selectable output, see ballast pic, 500, 750, 1000, and super. This bulb should keep the reflector tent at least 80 - 85 F. I am thinking of getting a data gathering temp, and humidity setup, and maybe a controller too so I can regulate it to what I find really works.

Four months of TLC is too much, this is my third year doing this now and I know how to grow them with weak fluorescent bulbs. Some folks on the Pepper forum think I could have used a 500 watt bulb and been fine, time will tell, notice the hood and the tent have vent outlets for cooling, which I think I am going to need. I can always trade the bulb for a weaker one and smaller ballast if needed. I will probably need to wear sunscreen if in the tent for any amount of time. I am not kidding either. The hood lowers on a two line ratchet setup so height is adjustable.







Rhody... sunburned...

P.S. Ms Music, I asked about tepin germination, I am told they are native to Texas, and you start them just like the bhuts, you may just have bad seed, they should start in the same amount of time. I am told from sprout to green pod takes 120 days and 200 to ripen to maturity, so plan accordingly.

Borek

Judging from the proportions of the tent it is designed with a specific plant on mind.

rhody

In versus "on" mind I agree, but I am only growing PEPPERS, got it, open for inspection 24/7 anytime. Hey I am a poet. I am using what works best.

Rhody...

rhody

Does anyone have an idea how I would gauge how close to keep my plants in a reflectorized grow tent being bathed in either 500, 750, or 1000 watt HPS Light ?

I want to maximize growth using as little light as possible, I can safely put mature plants (top branches) about 2 feet away in the 500 watt setting, but at 750, I am getting leaf burn. I realize each plant has unique needs. It appears the tropical hot peppers, the trinidad scorpions are less tolerant of light that the jolokia varieties, so they need to be placed lower in the tent. The plants are on shelves offset by 15 inch height settings.

I need to establish safe limits of exposure to the light (in a pimpled reflective grow tent) without resorting to trial and error. If there are tables or formula that can be brought to bear to assist with this problem, I am all ears.

Rhody...

rhody

Since my last post I put some full grown and half grown pepper plants in my tent, at 500 and 750 watts at different heights and for different intervals all with the same result, leaf burn. About 10% damage I would say. I since have bought a light intensity meter, and have 40% shade cloth and grommets to suspend it below the light (on order haven't gotten it yet)

Below the grow tent picture is the plants after all the burnt leaves have been removed, they seem to be recovering nicely. The plan is to get a decent yield from them, and then put them in the grow tent over late fall and winter to see if I can get more flowers/pods from them. People will go nuts for them from late November through March. They sell for 30% more than in prime season.

The second piece of news is that by chance I met up with an old friend who lives close by and has been keeping bees and selling organic raw honey for about 10 years, he has over one thousand hives and eight thousand pounds of fresh honey. He rescues local bees, puts them in his homemade hives on farms all over town, and then periodically harvests and spin centrifuges the honey. It is awesome, good for folks with local allergies too because of the plants the bees collect the nectar and pollen from. He and I are going to experiment with making varying degrees of hot honey. I have fresh powders now, and will have fresh pods soon from Florida from another collaborator who has ten thousand of the hottest pepper varieties in the entire world, and in huge quantities. My beekeeper friend can build and wire anything and has indoor grow space as well, and access to land and greenhouses (naturally, he is a beekeeper, and former plumber and contractor, cool guy, we have known each other for over thirty years so there is level of trust there as well. I have been videoing bee rescues as well, and only got stung once. Get this, he is allergic to bees, and carries EPI pens where ever he goes for protection, crazy huh.

I have a number of rare pepper types started white buts, (Evo you have one of those),
black naga, yellow 7 pot, trinidad cherry, sweet trinidad, brain strain, purple bhuts, 7 pot douglah op. There are so many strains, emerging strains and crosses (not stable), is is hard to track them all. I can safely say there are well over two hundred and growing all the time.

Has anyone ever had a Fatalli pepper ? People rave about their flavor and medium heat level, however, outside of the chili heads in the know they are unheard of. If you can get your hands on some, try them and report back please. That's it for now. As you have read, I have been quite busy and for the most part happy with the way things are unfolding. One step at a time. Later all.









Rhody...

Evo

Plants look great rhody!

turbo

My ghost plants are tiny, and just starting to get their first true leaves.