pics My first grow , need some tips , pics inside ...

[Redrum801]

Ok so this will be my first grow of anything ever , I'll post some pictures of what I got and what I've been doing and maybe you can lend me a couple of helpful words along the way first I'll post my grow list ...


PEPPER PLANTS 2013

Bhut jolokia - Ghost Chile Plant
Jay's Peach Ghost Scorpion Chile Plant
Jay's Red Ghost Scorpion Chile Plant
Trinidad Moruga Scorpion Chile Plant
Trinidad 7 Pot Primo Chile Plant
Purple Jalapeño Chile Plant 
Butch T Scorpion/7 pot Jonah hybrid Chile Plant
Carolina Reaper Chile Plant
Chocolate 7 pot/ 7 pot Douglah Chile Plant
Chocolate Trinidad Scorpion Chile Plant
7 pot Brain Strain Red Chile Plant
Bell Pepper or Jalapeno Plant ??

Last plant is a plant my son received at a pepper feast we went to in Brooklyn last year , they had a little area were kids could transfer there own seedlings , he kept alive all winter so I planted it in a 5 gallon pot for him if you know what it is please let me know because I have no clue lol .... Here's a pic of it

Out of that list I have three transferred into 5 gallon nursery pots , all have been topped off somewhat or pruned just a bit , I was scared honestly to do any of that but I went ahead and did it anyway , if you see if I did it wrong please do tell me !!!

the first is a chocolate scorpion which I think I overwatered when I first received it in its 3.5" pot , leaves curled up on me , but the plant is still growing and it hasn't gotten worse once I stopped babysitting it hers it's pic

The second is a 7pot Douglah

And the third is my Carolina reaper which has been the prettiest of the bunch so far , I actually transferred this one first about a week and a half ago and it's grown quit a bit since the transfer , the other 2 superhots were only transferred a couple of days ago .... Here's a pic of the Carolina reaper ...

I've been foliar spraying with cal-mag plus every night and watering maybe once a week with some cal mag also , all the plants were planted in miracle grow for potted plants as that is all I could find locally and I didn't really have time with work and all to go looking for anything better . I just received a bottle of neptunes harvest 2-3-1 fish and seaweed fert but wasn't sure if I should use it yet as miracle grow soil has its own fert in it .

Should I wait awhile before using it ( the neptunes harvest ) or should I start using it right away ? Should I water it in or foliar feed it like I do the cal-mag plus ? Also I didn't use Verlite In the soil because the miracle grow soil said it had it mixed in but it was very little , now I'm Afraid of messing with the plants and trying to add it . I'm afraid of hurting the roots of the plants ...

I should be receiving the rest of my plants this week and transplanting them into there 5 gallon plants this weekend , I'll harden them off. For a couple of days and see what happens from there ...

So how do you guys think I'm doing so far ?? Did I top them and prune them right ? Am I going overkill with the nightly cal-mag sprays ? I've been stalking the site for about a year so I'm hoping I'm doing something right , lol :p . Thanks in advance for any tips , advice or replys !!! Looking forward to hearing what you guys think !!!! , Carlos , Bronx , NY

 

[georgej]

i dont understand you reasoning for spraying down with calmag every night.. that cant be a good idea, or a waste of money at best i would have thought

 

[Gotrox]

Just water, till the MG ferts are used up.
Spray with just water---filtered if yours is hard.
Cal-mag is a cure, not a preventative, and it is easier to add for defiencies than cure fert burn or an overload of 1 or more elements, or PH imbalance.
 
Peppers that are not "exercised" (stressed) don't perform well. Water when the leaves begin to droop---except for mid-day sun droop which is normal.
 
Though I am no expert, your trim looks fine.
Your Reaper is sweet!
 
After a couple of good growing years, they will be practically root bound in 5 gal pots, then fert schedule becomes a bit more ----scientific,and/or radical surgury for overwintering (giving them a bit of a rest).
 
Good video here somewhere on that procedure.
 
Just my dos pesos.

 

[Redrum801]

i dont understand you reasoning for spraying down with calmag every night.. that cant be a good idea, or a waste of money at best i would have thought

Im using a 1/4 teaspoon in a liter spray bottle , I spray them down every night , the bottle lasts me about a week . Recomended dose is 1 teaspoon per gallon . The Carolina reaper has really responded to it , I just set the other 2 plants out this past weekend . Just got the fish fert today not sure if I'll foliar spray or water with it ??? Considering the soil has fert should I wait a couple weeks , plants haven't needed a lot of water had a lot of rain lately, pulled them in couple of times cause of it .

Just water, till the MG ferts are used up.
Spray with just water---filtered if yours is hard.
Cal-mag is a cure, not a preventative, and it is easier to add for defiencies than cure fert burn or an overload of 1 or more elements, or PH imbalance.
 
Peppers that are not "exercised" (stressed) don't perform well. Water when the leaves begin to droop---except for mid-day sun droop which is normal.
 
Though I am no expert, your trim looks fine.
Your Reaper is sweet!
 
After a couple of good growing years, they will be practically root bound in 5 gal pots, then fert schedule becomes a bit more ----scientific,and/or radical surgury for overwintering (giving them a bit of a rest).
 
Good video here somewhere on that procedure.
 
Just my dos pesos.

I think I'll cut back on the cal-mag spray to every other week , I've tried my best not to over water . Forcing myself to just leave them alone , watering when soil is dry , no more than once a week if I can get away with it . I'll also wait another couple of weeks before I add any ferts , thanks guys

 

[Gotrox]

If that MG was the one that says "3 months of ferts" on the package, I would wait till the plants say they need more.
Maybe the reaper just likes the humidity---not the cal-mag at all? A week or so of plain water will tell the tale.
 
The most difficult part of growing peppers is------leaving them alone.
 
I have a chair in my patch I sit in and drink my morning coffee, and resist (mostly sucessfully) the urge to tweak them a bit every day.
 
I prepped my spot last fall with all the organics and minerals, fluff (vermiculite) and sand tilled in.
Tilled again in the spring just prior to planting.
It is an enormous effort to resist "fortifying" with ferts and ammendments.
I am attempting a season (in dirt---did use hydro nutes when rootbound in 3.5" pots inside since Jan 31st starting date) with nothing added but water, and lady bugs for pest control.

 

[PepperDaddler]

Last year was my first year and  I went overkill trying to learn everything I can about the formulas of fertilizer, watering schedules, soil mixes, sunlight, containers or in the ground?,  and everything else the new grower is curious about. I think I tried too hard.
 
Halfway through the year I kind of got overwhelmed by all that and just sit back and watered when needed. And thats all I really needed to do to tell you the truth. I was fortunate not to have to worry about deficiencies and pests too much, so it worked out.
 
My advice is to take it easy if you can. I know it is hard, but this being the first year is really time to focus on the very basics of growing.
 
Not to discourage you from learning everything that you can, this site is great for that, but I found the best thing sometimes is to forget about them totally for a few days, then you can really see the progress when you return.
 
I understand they may need watering during that time but I am in florida and a few days didnt really do too much harm to mine, so in NY you should be more than alright leaving them to do their thang for a little while.
 
Far from the best grower but I hope I helped a little.

 

[PepperWhisperer]

Spraying the leaves every evening is asking for fungal and/or bacterial infection. for NPK ferts I wait until the fresh growth starts looking one or two shades lighter green. I grow mostly in-ground and have not had a lot of luck in containers, so take that for what it's worth.

 

[Redrum801]

Last year was my first year and  I went overkill trying to learn everything I can about the formulas of fertilizer, watering schedules, soil mixes, sunlight, containers or in the ground?,  and everything else the new grower is curious about. I think I tried too hard.
 
Halfway through the year I kind of got overwhelmed by all that and just sit back and watered when needed. And thats all I really needed to do to tell you the truth. I was fortunate not to have to worry about deficiencies and pests too much, so it worked out.
 
My advice is to take it easy if you can. I know it is hard, but this being the first year is really time to focus on the very basics of growing.
 
Not to discourage you from learning everything that you can, this site is great for that, but I found the best thing sometimes is to forget about them totally for a few days, then you can really see the progress when you return.
 
I understand they may need watering during that time but I am in florida and a few days didnt really do too much harm to mine, so in NY you should be more than alright leaving them to do their thang for a little while.
 
Far from the best grower but I hope I helped a little.

It a actually helped a lot , even when I started smoking foods I'd always peek even though I knew I shouldn't , sometimes the best thing to do is to do nothing at all , lol just gotta keep reminding myself of that

Spraying the leaves every evening is asking for fungal and/or bacterial infection. for NPK ferts I wait until the fresh growth starts looking one or two shades lighter green. I grow mostly in-ground and have not had a lot of luck in containers, so take that for what it's worth.

Yeah I'm cuttin back to every other week and not every night also , I think I'll just leave them alone for the most part from now on ( easier said then done lol ) and go from there .

 

[Redrum801]

Just got a couple of sprouts pop up today in some 3" pots , 1 butch T , and 1 Scorpion Sunrise . Is it to late in the year for that , I live in NYC ??? Hopefully not would love to add them to my list

 

[PepperDaddler]

Just getting some of my sprouts too.

 

[Redrum801]

Got my plants today from Jim Duffy at refiningfirechiles.com . There was a hitchhiker in the box I'm guessing a catapiller , it was completely green , he was fat from eating plants that's for sure lol , didn't take a pic of it wish I would've before I gave him the boot , any way . Plants also had some aphids which I scraped off for the most part . I pruned some of the bad leaves the bugs made damage to then sprayed them with a lil soap water . Heres some pics of them ....

7pot Jonah / Butch T Hybrid

7pot Primo

Jays Red Ghost scorpion

Jays Peach Ghost Scorpion

Purple Jalapeño

Moruga Scorpion

BhutJolokia

Butch-T and sunrise scorpion sprout's

Just received this one today thanks Cycadjungle !!! 7pot Brain Strain Red

I'll be transplanting them this weekend hopefully and then start hardening them off .