Try Turbo-1's Habanero Sauce - Hot Stuff!

[turbo]

I asked my new part-time neighbor from Mass if she would like to get some ghosts started for us. She has already ordered a heat mat and a grow light, so she was pretty excited about getting started. She's going to pick up a bag of Pro-Mix today and stop in for the seeds that Rhody sent me, and the seeds that I gleaned from the fresh peppers Rhody sent up.

I gave her quite a few Savina (Habanero) plants last year, and she was thrilled. Another chili-head! She's going to do her best to pay me back this year. I also gave her Mariana (Roma variant) tomato plants last year and she was so happy about the marinara sauce that she made out of them. She still keeps mentioning it.

Nice to have a gardener/cook/chili-head to share with.

 

[rhody]

I asked my new part-time neighbor from Mass if she would like to get some ghosts started for us. She has already ordered a heat mat and a grow light, so she was pretty excited about getting started. She's going to pick up a bag of Pro-Mix today and stop in for the seeds that Rhody sent me, and the seeds that I gleaned from the fresh peppers Rhody sent up.

I gave her quite a few Savina (Habanero) plants last year, and she was thrilled. Another chili-head! She's going to do her best to pay me back this year. I also gave her Mariana (Roma variant) tomato plants last year and she was so happy about the marinara sauce that she made out of them. She still keeps mentioning it.

Nice to have a gardener/cook/chili-head to share with.

Good news Turbo, another chili-head to test recipes and to get input from on the best pepper flavor, show her my list and see if she has ever heard or had any of the following, and if so which ones does she prefer and why.

* Orange Habanero
* Chocolate Habanero
* Red Savina (Orange Habanero on steroids)
* Red Scotch Bonnet
* Fatalii
* Datil
* Pequin
* Tepin (Bird's Eye)
* Bhut Jolokia Assam (strawberry aroma and sweet fruity taste)
* Jalapeno
* Thai Dragon
* Wiri-Wiri
* Wild Brazil
* Chiltepin

Rhody...

 

[turbo]

I'll have to see how things go, Rhody. She is quite a dedicated gardener, as far as I know, so we'll see. She LOVED the Savina plants that I gave her, so she's probably on-deck for the ghosts, too. She asked me today if the ghosts were hot, and I told her that they were not noticeably hotter than the Savinas, but had a nice sweet taste. That got her on-board immediately. I hope her attempt at getting seedlings going will go well.

 

[rhody]

I'll have to see how things go, Rhody. She is quite a dedicated gardener, as far as I know, so we'll see. She LOVED the Savina plants that I gave her, so she's probably on-deck for the ghosts, too. She asked me today if the ghosts were hot, and I told her that they were not noticeably hotter than the Savinas, but had a nice sweet taste. That got her on-board immediately. I hope her attempt at getting seedlings going will go well.

Turbo, you didn't warn her that to some, these peppers if grown with full heat in mind will be way way hotter than anything she has ever experienced ? You should tell her, or better yet if you have any frozen samples lying around let her try some. Tell her to try them from the bottom of the pepper first, with just a bit of placenta. I had chicken wings for dinner at a restaurant tonight that were supposedly hot, OMG what a joke. I fear what my four trinidad scorpions will bring with regards to heat, 1.4 million scoville, and I plan to heat and water stress them. Black light UV rays will produce more capsaicin too, a little trick I picked up on the THP forum. I am growing white bhuts and am waiting to get purple bhut seeds from Australia, they are gorgeous. I also have picked up the following seeds from THP members:

• Yellow 7 pot
• Red 7 pot
• Brain Strain
• Red Jolokia
• Choc Scorpion
• Black Naga
• Naga Morich

Rhody...

 

[turbo]

She's a big girl, rhody - not "big" but slim and curvy, but still 40+. She loves hot stuff, and we'll adapt. I hope that she and I can get those ghosts producing chilies that are much hotter than the Savinas that we already enjoy. If she gets those seeds in the "ground" this week, we should get a chance to get a leg-up on the season.

Thanks again for the seeds, and for the ripe chilies. I hope to be able to establish a line of stable chilies from them and avoid spending $$ on seeds. If Amy has a good season this spring and we end up with a good crop of hot stuff, we'll at least try to establish a stable, reliable base for our chili production.

 

[rhody]

She's a big girl, rhody - not "big" but slim and curvy, but still 40+. She loves hot stuff, and we'll adapt. I hope that she and I can get those ghosts producing chilies that are much hotter than the Savinas that we already enjoy. If she gets those seeds in the "ground" this week, we should get a chance to get a leg-up on the season.

Thanks again for the seeds, and for the ripe chilies. I hope to be able to establish a line of stable chilies from them and avoid spending $$ on seeds. If Amy has a good season this spring and we end up with a good crop of hot stuff, we'll at least try to establish a stable, reliable base for our chili production.

A tip for starting seeds soak them in water and chamomile (if she can find it, keeps fungus from forming when they sprout) and keep soil in starter cups moist on top only (spritz, morning and night lightly). Advanced growers on THP say not to plant the seeds more than 3 millimeters, very shallow for best results, I haven't tried it but it makes sense, make sure there is a bit of soil covering the seed after spritzing with water. I use tupperware containers cheap ones with holes drilled in top and covered, so the temps stay around 80F inside. Sometimes seeds will dry and you think they won't sprout, keep spritzing them just in case, I have had some sprout in over 2.5 weeks. One more thing, after they have come up and are in bigger containers, put aluminum foil under the lights, use the double cup method and water from the bottom. When the cups get light and or the plants wilt time to water, let them (cups that is) dry thoroughly keeps fungus down as well. The room if you can where they grow should not be bone dry, I use a mist humidifier and keep the humidity around 50% or so. Good luck.

Rhody...

 

[Ms Music]

Just checking in after being absent for a while... I have 3 varieties on the heat mat (12 jiffys), but I only have two sprouts so far. One ghost (yay!) and one unidentified seed. No luck with my chiltepins yet. *grumblegrumble* I was so looking forward to that one!

Do you leave your lights on full time? Or turn them off at night?

 

[rhody]

Just checking in after being absent for a while... I have 3 varieties on the heat mat (12 jiffys), but I only have two sprouts so far. One ghost (yay!) and one unidentified seed. No luck with my chiltepins yet. *grumblegrumble* I was so looking forward to that one!

Do you leave your lights on full time? Or turn them off at night?

Hey, welcome back from well, wherever you were, no need to turn the lights on at night, I assume it or they (the lights) are not close enough to the seeds to heat the soil from the top, so it makes little difference, just sprintz them lightly with water in the evening and or morning if you prefer, don't let them get bone dry, if you don't get perfect results, don't blame yourself. I have had some 90% successes and 50% which to me, are failures, I didn't to anything different either time. Make sure the media (soil) is light and fluffy. Nice to see you have a ghost, I have 4 trinidad scorpions this season.

There is a young guy on the THP forum, and I just sent him a PM to ask if I can copy and post his grow list for this year, about 200 different kinds of peppers, he has been at it for seven years and is now 15 years old. Amazing. I hope he gives me the OK, so you can see his list, quite impressive.

Rhody...

 

[rhody]

Here is the grow list of a guy on THP, 8 years of experience and he has over 200 varieties of peppers, of all different types, way to go Alex, and to think he is still in high school, quite impressive. I wonder who gets to name the new crossed peppers, there are literally hundreds and hundreds of them. I have been searching in vain for a cataloged database of peppers of all types with scientific detail, and haven't found one yet, I will report back if I discover one. Another project perhaps, hmm...

Rhody...

Alex's grow list from THP

7 Pod
7 Pod Barrackpore
7 Pod Brain Strain
7 Pod Burgundy
7 Pod Chiguanas
7 Pod Douglah
7 Pod Infinity
7 Pod Jonah
7 Pod Long
7 Pod Yellow
Antlies Fire
Bhut Jolokia
Bhut Jolokia Assam
Bhut Jolokia Carbon
Bhut Jolokia Chocolate
Bhut Jolokia Orange
Bhut Jolokia Peach
Bhut Jolokia Purple
Bhut Jolokia White
Bhut Jolokia Yellow/Lemon
Dorset Naga
Habalokia Red
Habalokia Yellow
Habalokia White
Impact (bhut Jolokia x C Galapagoense)
Kaval ( 7 Pod Yellow x Paternero)
Naga Morrich
Scorpanero Neon Yellow
Scorpanero Peach
Scorpanero Red
Trinidad Scorpion
Trinidad Scorpion Cardi
Trinidad Scorpion FG
Trinidad Scorpion FG Mustard
Trinidad Scorpion Mouruga Orange
Trinidad Scorpion Mouruga Red
Trinidad Scorpion Mouruga Yellow
Trinidad Scorpion Orange
Trinidad Scorpion Yellow

 

[Astronuc]

Not a good year for peppers - too cool and dry, then too cool and wet.

I had probably 6 times the volume of green jalapenos and habaneros as the season ended and rains set in.

 

[turbo]

I think I am on my last half-pint of habanero relish from several years back when the heat was good. My wife made buffalo-burger sliders on mini-buns for supper tonight, and the heat was wonderful. Even better, the buffalo meat stood up well to the pungent relish and shone through.

I hope for a good chili season this summer. The last few years were terrible. I salvaged as much as I could, but this year with Rhody's ghost seeds, I hope that my neighbor and I can manage to get a decent crop so I can make good relishes. I'll have to get my neighbor down here and teach her how to make very simple and satisfying relishes (including canning them). Anybody that likes heat needs to learn to can their produce, because you can't buy this stuff in a store.

 

[rhody]

Fresh pepper alert, from Bakers Peppers in Florida. Dale Baker and his Dad run a two man operation. It is on an industrial scale, his Dad started it 58 years ago according to his website. I don't need a whole pound of peppers for my sauce experiments but am willing to go 3 or 4 ways on some. If anyone is interested let me know, we can use PayPal, or a check through the mail, it doesn't matter to me. I would like to do this in the next month or so. Have a look at what Dale is offering and let me know what you are interested in. Thanks.

Rhody...

P.S. One more thing, if you order from Dale, tell him Ghosty sent you from THP he will know who it is and will appreciate it. Thanks.

 

[rhody]

Progress report, I just started some purple ghosts, 7 pot douglah op, and brain strain.
Here is a look at most of my plants in the window, badly needing re-potting.
My seed collection now stands as follows, the * means I have the plants started and or growing. I am having to pull the flower buds off some plants, and keeping the temps in the low 60's s so they don't grow too fast, Fertilize with weak miracle grow solution every two weeks and water when wilting. I plan to to transplant some to 3 gallon, 6 gallon, and possibly 10 - 12 gallons pots to see how big they will grow. I am old by others in 20 - 30 gallon pots that they grow up to 4 feet in a season, time will tell. Bakers in Florida is leaving his in pots until harvest. He must know what he is doing he is a third generation grower (wholesale) passed from his grand father, to his father and now him. He worked an eleven hour day yesterday too. I am going to use 40% pine bark nuggets in the bottom of the pots and a decent potting soil on top. Baker's claims a 7.2 ph is what he is shooting for. I need to get a decent PH tester. I believe he has or will have 10,000 plants at harvest, many to be sold wholesale. If anyone wishes to chat on google+ I have a pepper circle there, PM me and will set you up. I need to find a reasonable pot supplier for my pots, I want to water from the bottom, but don't want the same number of pot pedestals to supply water, maybe a forced drip system, it will give me good practice for next year when I do this for real as a business. That's it for now...

* bhut jolokia
* bhut jolokia chocolate
* trinidad scorpion
trinidad scorpion chocolate
* white ghost
* purple ghost
* 7 pot douglah op
* brain strain
red jolokia
red 7 pot
yellow 7 pot
black naga
naga morich

http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/5309/peppers0322012.jpg

Rhody...

 

[turbo]

Lots of potential, Rhody! Good luck!

 

[dlgoff]

They look VERY healthy rhody.

 

[turbo]

My periodic neighbor has her tomato plants started and is ready to devote her heat-mat and grow-lights to starting ghosts. She and her husband love hot foods, and they are ready to jump in. When they head back to Mass on Sunday night, the ghost seeds will hit the dirt. I told her that if we did a good job with the ghosts, they could possibly be hotter than our best Savinas, and she said "I hope!"

 

[rhody]

My periodic neighbor has her tomato plants started and is ready to devote her heat-mat and grow-lights to starting ghosts. She and her husband love hot foods, and they are ready to jump in. When they head back to Mass on Sunday night, the ghost seeds will hit the dirt. I told her that if we did a good job with the ghosts, they could possibly be hotter than our best Savina, and she said "I hope!"

If you had a http://www.ask.com/questions-about/Red-Savina-Habanero, you are still 50% less hot than a ghost, and I have 5 trinidad scorpions that I will be heat and water stressing this year, there is so much heat (about 1.4 million scoville), it is almost as sick as the hp the rear wheel of my beast bike produces, used judiciously, eaten in small doses it can be a treat, but I warn you, anyone not used to the heat can be humbled and in a hurry. I have seen it at least a half dozen times, young, old, it doesn't matter, the pepper demands respect, and doesn't care who you are or where you come from. I am waiting to get a mixed bag of fresh ones from Bakers in Florida, I will send you a couple to sample with the "periodic neighbor's". I would love to be a fly on the wall when you do.

Samples of Red Savina have been measured as high as 577,000 Scoville units, many chili enthusiasts growing the Red Savina have been unable to reach this level of heat, even with certified Red Savina seed.

Rhody...

 

[turbo]

Like I said earlier, she is a big girl. She and her husband love hot foods and they want to grow ghosts. We'll see how well we can do this year. If this is a nice season for chilies, we'll get to test them against past crops of Savinas. I didn't find the ghosts to be all that snarly. In fact, they were sweet and rich-tasting. I hope she gets a nice crop of the "babies" so we can split them and plant them in our gardens. I hope to use container-planting on my back deck to jack up the heat as much as possible, and we talked about that today, too.

 

[rhody]

Like I said earlier, she is a big girl. She and her husband love hot foods and they want to grow ghosts. We'll see how well we can do this year. If this is a nice season for chilies, we'll get to test them against past crops of Savinas. I didn't find the ghosts to be all that snarly. In fact, they were sweet and rich-tasting. I hope she gets a nice crop of the "babies" so we can split them and plant them in our gardens. I hope to use container-planting on my back deck to jack up the heat as much as possible, and we talked about that today, too.

If you deck is made of composite, the absorbed heat may be "too much for them" that's what happened to me last year, the roots were being cooked by the heat given off by the desk. You could stand them on top of a small shelf and they would be fine. Just a bit of advice, especially if you are away for more than a day without watering them.

Now on to transplant day.

The first two shots are before transplant. I decided to try Baker's (on the hot pepper forum) suggestion and bought a bag of pine bark mulch and added 30 - 40% to the bottom of each transplant pot (not blended btw), except one to see if there was any difference. I also took my healthiest trinidad scorpion and put it in the biggest pot to see if I would get more growth out of it. I transplanted trinidad scorpions, chocolate bhut jolokia's and regular bhuts. You will notice some plants are well alone, over three months, while some about a month and some just started. I want to see if I can get peppers from all of them and in what time frame. If we have a hot spring, and above average summer as far as heat I imagine they will produce early. I have been taking flower buds off of them regularly. After transplant, I hit them with a weak solution of miracle grow. All of the pots have bark mulch in the bottom, only the cups are potting soil.

The last four shots are after transplant you can see the size width difference of all of the large grey pots ( all trinidad scorpions, BTW ), the others in the smaller pots in the plastic container are bhut, chocolate bhut and trinidad scorpions. The tiny little cups are the same with the exception being that I have a pair of white bhuts (I hope), and I tried pairing some of them together to see how they grow, to see if slower or about the same as a single plant. Only time will tell, that's it for now, they will stay in those pots until harvest. I may up-size pots and soil on some if they appear they are still growing. No bugs, fungus, aphids or insects on anyone of them thanks to malathion (which I hate btw) but it works. Let's see what happens with these in a couple of months. I fluffed the soil as much as possible before planting and plan to water from the bottom for best root penetration and to keep insects down. They like the damp top soil I guess. A couple of my scorpions in red cups went into shock, none of the others did, I have them under a light, and have not a clue as why only two did and not the others, they came out of clear cups to the larger red ones, that was the only difference I could see. Very odd to say the least. Lastly, what should I be shooting for as far as PH goes ? I plan to buy a meter soon, what is a decent brand and price ?

http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/627/transplant1.jpg

http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/9083/transplant2.jpg

http://img837.imageshack.us/img837/2622/transplant3.jpg

http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/2562/transplant4.jpg

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/8045/transplant5.jpg

http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/5318/transplant6.jpg

Rhody...

 

[Evo]

Good looking crop Rhody!

 

[Evo]

Here's a great link from seed starters to fancy greenhouses. Quite a collection.

http://www.greenhousemegastore.com/category/hobby-greenhouses?gclid=COmD75iViq8CFcHJKgodXGvZ_Q

 

[rhody]

Here's a great link from seed starters to fancy greenhouses. Quite a collection.

http://www.greenhousemegastore.com/category/hobby-greenhouses?gclid=COmD75iViq8CFcHJKgodXGvZ_Q

Cool products, although a little pricey, my goal in 5 years is 10,000 plants, so I will have to consider alternative ways of getting them started, or move to a warm climate, New Mexico, Scarizona, places like that, or southern states, North or South Carolina.

Rhody...

 

[rhody]

I started 2 each of the following 7 days ago, purple bhut jolokia, 7 pot red trinidad scorpion op, and brain strain, all but one purple has germinated, I am pleased. I came up with a solution to watering the huge pots (impossible from the bottom anymore). I bought a Home Depot 1 gallon pressurized sprayer, put the nozzle on medium spray, pumped the sucker up, and pushed the head into the dirt about 7 or 8 inches, pulled the trigger for about 45 seconds for each plant. This way the roots get watered and the dirt on top stays bone dry, which keeps fungus, bacteria, and insect larvae hatch down. I hope this keeps all bugs at bay. It is a PITA to do, but will be worth the effort if it works.

Rhody...

 

[turbo]

I started 2 each of the following 7 days ago, purple bhut jolokia, 7 pot red trinidad scorpion op, and brain strain, all but one purple has germinated, I am pleased. I came up with a solution to watering the huge pots (impossible from the bottom anymore). I bought a Home Depot 1 gallon pressurized sprayer, put the nozzle on medium spray, pumped the sucker up, and pushed the head into the dirt about 7 or 8 inches, pulled the trigger for about 45 seconds for each plant. This way the roots get watered and the dirt on top stays bone dry, which keeps fungus, bacteria, and insect larvae hatch down. I hope this keeps all bugs at bay. It is a PITA to do, but will be worth the effort if it works.

Rhody...

Good luck with bug-suppression this year, rhody. Winter was so mild that probably most of the pest larvae survived and they will be out in force. The very warm spring has brought out a bumper-crop of ladybugs that overwintered in crevices in our log house, so I'm hoping for a large population of them to keep the aphids under control. Both the adults and their larvae are voracious predators. If you don't already have reliable yearly populations of ladybugs, it would be a good time to consider buying some. I have lost last year's catalog, but there is a place where I bought mantis egg-cases, and they sell ladybugs, too. Google on "beneficial insects" and you'll find some vendors.

 

[rhody]

Good luck with bug-suppression this year, rhody. Winter was so mild that probably most of the pest larvae survived and they will be out in force. The very warm spring has brought out a bumper-crop of ladybugs that overwintered in crevices in our log house, so I'm hoping for a large population of them to keep the aphids under control. Both the adults and their larvae are voracious predators. If you don't already have reliable yearly populations of ladybugs, it would be a good time to consider buying some. I have lost last year's catalog, but there is a place where I bought mantis egg-cases, and they sell ladybugs, too. Google on "beneficial insects" and you'll find some vendors.

I love lady bugs in their natural environment, OUTDOORS ! The idea of small swarms of them flying around my house landing on the end of my nose while eating ice cream is not something I look forward to. I will try to keep the topsoil dry, if that fails I will attack without mercy using malathion.

My two scorpion plants in the red cups bounced back nicely, I have no clue why they wilted and the others didn't. I will take the cover off my seedlings when I get home today, I am hoping the other purple bhut will poke its head up. I tried to plant them all at the same depth. No one is perfect. That may be why I haven't seen it yet.

Rhody...

 

[turbo]

I was poking around and found this place:

http://gardeningzone.com/

WAY less expensive than the last place I bought from. I might try ladybugs, lacewings, and mantises this summer. There'll be plenty of bug pests for them to eat. I hope that the common yellow-throats and phoebes do well this summer, too. They eat tons of bugs.

 

[turbo]

My periodic neighbor just called (on an unrelated matter) and told me that the ghost seeds are in the potting soil (have been for a few days). I hope we get a nice crop. She loves gardening and hot stuff as much as I do, and we're looking forward to getting these chilies in the ground. She's in Mass, and probably will get a jump-start on the season, but if we get a hot summer, it will probably be a wash. They have a garden in Mass and one a few hundred yards from here in ME, so we'll be able to compare and contrast.

 

[rhody]

WAY less expensive than the last place I bought from. I might try ladybugs, lacewings, and mantises this summer. There'll be plenty of bug pests for them to eat. I hope that the common yellow-throats and phoebes do well this summer, too. They eat tons of bugs.[/QUOTE]

Ha, I love preying mantis, I would buy one or two just to keep as pets, they are the coolest insects on the planet. Last year on the walking trail I saw a few, on one occasion it was on a bush and two people were admiring it, I picked it up for them and they used their cell phone to get a close up picture of him. He even turned his head and smiled. Very cool.

Rhody...

 

[rhody]

Just a note this is about the 8th or 9th time I have had Turbo's relish. It is holding up over time, with no sign of going bad so far. Cheers, Turbo... to a successful growing canning season.

Rhody...

 

[turbo]

It won't go bad, rhody. The acidity is sufficient so that if you keep it refrigerated, you'll be fine. I generally have two jars on the 'fridge door at all times. Jalapeno/garlic for my wife and habanero for me.

 

[rhody]

A word of warning, do not put super hot pepper plants outside until the temperature reaches at least 60 F. I thought it was such a nice day, full sun, little wind, temps in the low 50's that it would be good to give the plants some light, and exposure to the outside environment. BAD IDEA... In less than two hours, to my horror, I found the leaves drooping. I ran this by my pepper growing friends who said that at first, don't put plants out in mid day sun and at temperatures less than 60 degrees fahrenheit. They recovered once I brought them back inside. I tell if they need water by leaf droop or by lifting the pot to see how light it is. If I had left them and gone away all afternoon, I don't know what would have happened. Keep a wary eye on them the first time you put them out, even under idea conditions. The watering with the pressure sprayer seems to be working, no bugs so far. Crazy, huh ?

Rhody...

 

[rhody]

I decided to conduct an experiment, I want to see if some claiming high end growth media is really any good or not. I am using Vital Earth's organic, Manna Mix, ingredients: coconut pith, sphagnum peat moss, perlite, peatmoss, Mega worm@earth worm castings, Vital Earth Organic Compost OMRI, Vital Earth Rose and Flower Mix, Vital Earth Powdered glacial rock dust. I am going to use it on new seedlings, small, and large plants to see if it makes a difference in any of the growth cycles of the plants I have, which are all doing, well, bug free as well.

I just realized from reading my last post that I never told you about the pressure sprayer and watering technique, well, I will now, lol.
I also purchased a one gallon pressure sprayer (cheap) from Home Depot. I use it to water my large plants down near the roots and the soil on top stays dry, hopefully, fungus, bug, and larvae hatch free. It is working well so far, the real test will come when the inside temperature approaches 80 degrees Fahrenheit, that us when lots of these things like to express themselves, hatch and cause problems, just in time to take advantage of the plant when it is flowering and fruiting. Mother nature is devious isn't she, natural selection being brutally efficient and all. I will post before and after pictures if there are significant results in growth. Stay tuned.

http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/8220/manamix.jpg

Rhody...

 

[Ms Music]

Well my jalapeno at the office appears to be successful! I have had flowers for several weeks, but vibration wasn't getting the job done, so I reverted back to my old trick of tickling the flowers with a small piece of torn paper towel for pollination (since I don't have a paint brush here). I now have bitty peppers! The plant is not as healthy as I would wish due to a broken blind, but nothing hazardous to the health of the plant.

And on the home front, I never did get more than two plants (out of the dozen jiffys planted) to sprout. Not sure if it is too hot, or too cold, but they just don't want to sprout. Did anyone that had good sprouting rates scarify or anything to the seed before planting? My hectic life is about to calm back down to normal, so I probably will be attempting more seed here soon so I would appreciate any tips for increasing the sprouting rate.

Just a little background of what I did, I don't have a soil thermometer. I used a meat/candy thermometer, and it said high 70s in the center of the pellet, while my laser thermometer said low 80s on the top surface of the jiffy pellet, and closer to 90 at the bottom of the pellet. I have only used bottled water for watering, so there shouldn't be any chlorine etc. If it was too hot, they may sprout better when I lower the temperature for other seeds. If it wasn't hot enough, I don't know how I can raise the temperature any higher. And it is hard to know what the true soil temperature is when both thermometers show such different temperatures.

 

[rhody]

... I never did get more than two plants (out of the dozen jiffys planted) to sprout. Not sure if it is too hot, or too cold, but they just don't want to sprout.

Ms Music, and to all having a tough time starting supers:

See the two pics below, the holes in the top of the tupper ware like container, the seed tray goes inside, with light fluffy soil mix, then at about a 3 mm level (the size of the lead on a tip of a pencil), push the seeds in and lightly cover and flatten the soil, put water in the bottom of the container, not too much, then spritz the top of the soil just a bit, cover it, then onto the heat mat, about 80 degrees Fahrenheit. I did not soak my seeds before starting them, you can up to three days, and put chamomile in the water if you want (keeps fungus down). You should see drops on the top of the tupper ware container. Five of my six seeds sprouted in 7 days this way, I spritzed lightly on top every way, not soaking just damp, and put water in the bottom of the container after 3 or 4 days.

See the third pic below. I thought I did all the seeds the same depth, the same amount of water, but can't be sure, I didn't give up on the one that didn't sprout, I kept misting it. Low and behold in another 7 days it sprouted too, so 100% germination using this method, I never have had less than 90%, so I am pretty confident it works, used tap water too, nothing special. Funny thing about the purple bhut straggler, (see bottom pic, left rear) it has almost caught up with the others, you can barely tell the difference. I believe if the soil around the seed stays too dry it won't sprout. I proved it this time by not giving up on it, it may have been too deep as well hard to say for sure. Try for consistency, getting the same amount of water to the seed at the same depth. I hope it works for you, for many on the THP forum all of most of my ghost seeds sprouted, except for Don and Ms Music, so I have to believe it is technique. If anyone wants to buy super hot peppers by the pound you can try BakersPeppers, he will have close to 10000 plants to harvest from in the coming months, some early ones are ready now. Dale is a nice hard working guy, 3rd generation Nursery wholesaler out of Tampa, Florida. If you buy from him tell him ghosty sent you, he will get a laugh out of it and appreciate the business. He should have peppers year round, that is his goal.

http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/2433/starter1.jpg

http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/9200/starter2i.jpg

http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/627/transplant1.jpg

Rhody...

 

[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: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000KL76S8/?tag=pfamazon01-20 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.

http://img807.imageshack.us/img807/4043/starter3.jpg

http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/7907/starter4r.jpg

Rhody...

 

[Ms Music]

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 ?

Oh boy, I got to 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]

Oh boy, I got to 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...)

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.

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=74652&page=190

 

[rhody]

I moved the pech tree fungus posts to gardening.

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=74652&page=190

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

Rhody...

 

[Evo]

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

Rhody...

Lol. Fixed.

 

[rhody]

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

http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/4043/starter3.jpg

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.

http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/2028/growlabtent.jpg

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/3306/lightsy.jpg

http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/1556/lighthood.jpg

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]

http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/2028/growlabtent.jpg

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

 

[rhody]

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

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.

http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/9807/tentcomplete.jpg

[PLAIN]http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/3071/pepperplants.jpg

[PLAIN]http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/3071/pepperplants.jpg

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/8721/bhutafterpruning.jpg

Rhody...

 

[Evo]

Plants look great rhody!