NorTexChiliJ's 2011 Growlog

[NorTexChiliJs]

Hello fellow Chiliheads. This will be my first attempt at what I would call a fair-sized suburban pepper garden. I planted a garden last year that was about 60ft X 30ft. It has 8 4ft X 8ft X 20ft raised beds and the remainder is open planting. I will be using two of these beds this year for sweet peppers and a third for hot peppers I've never tasted. I will put 24 plants in each bed. I also have 160 3.9 gallon nursery containers (Nursery #5). I will attempt to match those 160 container plants with planting in the ground. I will till and ammend an area close to 100ft by 50ft. I will have a total of 320 mostly superhot plants outside my normal garden which will also have 72 pepper plants. This giving me a grand total of 392 pepper plants. To say the least..... This should be fun!!

I recently started an overwintering project of about 45 plants. They are in 1 gallon containers now after being pulled from the ground and attacked with the pruners. Of the 45 plants I am attempting, 41 look promising. I'm not sure how many I will keep for this season as this was just an experiment. The overwintered list is as follows:

Yellow, purple, orange, Bonnie Green, Autumn Red, and California Wonder Bell
Sweet Banana
Red Ruffle Pimento
Giant Marconi

Joe E. Parker
Poblano
Long Thin Cayenne
Tobasco (Avery Island)

Biker Billy Jalapeno
White Bullet Hab
Jamaican Hot Chocolate
Red and orange Habanero
Big Sun Scotch Bonnet
Caribbean Red Habanero
Red Congo
Black Congo
Fatalii
Yellow 7
Red 7
Bhut Jolokia
Trinidad Scorpion

I will also be starting a few seeds. I have been watching a veteran grower here on the forum and built a very similar germinator. I have two levels that are 2ft tall by 2ft deep by 4feet wide each. This allows for 4 72 cell starter trays in each of the two sections for a total of 576 sites. I will be planting tomatoes and cullinary herbs at the same time so only six flats will be peppers each planting. I will probably do two plantings and pick the best of both plantings. I started sowing seeds on the 7th of January and my seedling list is as follows:

Hot Portugal
Joe's Long Cayenne
Fish Pepper
Jimmy Nardello
Hinkelhatz
Georgia Flame
6 varieties of Bell Pepper
Patio Red Marconi
Sweet Banana
Pasilla Bajio
Jalapeno M
Serrano Tampiqueno
Lemon Drop
Fatalii
Datil
Red Congo
Black Congo
Caribbean Red Habanero
Jamaican Hot Chocolate
Generic Red, Orange, and Chocolate Habanero
White Bullet Habanero
Yellow Scorpion CARDI
Yellow Scorpion SR
Yellow Scorpion (unknown strain)
Trinidad Scorpion Red
7 Pot Douglah
7 Pot Yellow
7 Pot Red
7 Pot "Brain" Strain
7 Pot Primo
Dorset Naga
Bhut Jolokia

I look forward to what this year brings me. Good and Bad!! This will be a crash course learning experience. I hope it will not be a Crash-landing!! I want to thank all the members who helped me get where I am this past year. I hope this year I can pass some of that knowledge along as well as learn a whole lot more. I will post some pics in a day or two.

Thanks!!

I encourage comments and discussion.....

 

[nitwit]

you may wish to also try pubescens (aka rocoto)
here near los angeles we have fresh fruit in the market they call them "manzanos"
last week jan. 6 got a couple for only $5.99 a lb.(and the sign said "product of US")
one was green and seeds looked non fertile
but an orange one seeds looked viable
have grown red and orange ones before
the reds seem to be smaller and easier to get going and produce first spring
but the orange ones
may only flower after overwintering and i have weather here
that usually/frequently allows that
they seem to only "burn once" (mouth and whole face )creeper
and do not seem to knot your belly

 

[Tonly]

That will be an impressive garden. Can't wait to see the pics.

 

[Skydiver]

Impressive list. Can't wait to see a sea of lovely green.

A second year giant marconi? Brilliant! That's my all time favorite stuffing pepper, mainly because you can almost fit an entire cow into one of those things. I'm anxious to see how that turns out for ya.

 

[NorTexChiliJs]

Impressive list. Can't wait to see a sea of lovely green.

A second year giant marconi? Brilliant! That's my all time favorite stuffing pepper, mainly because you can almost fit an entire cow into one of those things. I'm anxious to see how that turns out for ya.

Yep, I really like the Giant Marconi. It is actually one overwintered plant that is looking sad. I will try to take a pic tomorrow. I will be trying the Patio Red Marconi this year. It is "supposed" to be a compact plant while still being a heavy producer. We will see!!


Here are a couple more pictures of the Germinator... I substituted clear plexiglass doors for cheaper wooden ones. I will be replacing it with plexi when the wallet permits. The top chamber holds one 2 bulb 4ft t12 shoplight for light and two 40watt incandescent bulbs for heat. The bottom has the shoplight and two 100watt incandescent bulbs. The verying wattage incandescent bulbs allow the heat from the bottom chamber to rise to the top without the top chamber's temp to rise too high. The top chamber actually holds within less than two degrees farenheit. I am very impressed!!

Here is the atmospheric controller I am using... It is a C.A.P. Air-2. It will control temperature and humidity. I love this thing. My temperature stays within about three degrees farenheit. I keep mine set for 83 and it never goes below 81.5 and hardly ever goes above 85. I don't use the humidity section yet. I don't see the need as the chambers are enclosed.

 

[NorTexChiliJs]

Well it has been over a week since I posted so here goes....

I decided to enclose the bottom shelf on my germbox. Due to the 2x4 frame on the bottom, this section is actually 3 1/2" shorter than the two above it. I also added 3/4" foam with radiant barrier backing between each section and to the back and sides. The top section naturally heats up from the lower sections so I left the top uninsulated. It is working pretty good so far. I will be moving all these seedlings to more light and planting another round on monday.

I am running into a lack of light issue in my germbox. Each section has two 48" T12 6500k bulbs. All the cells in the trays that only have one variety sprout within a few days of eachother. While the trays with multiple varieties are more spaced apart. This pic shows the outer seedlings searching for light. The ones on the edges sprouted about four days before this picture was taken. The seeds in the middle sprouted about two days after it was taken. The seeds in the middle were chinense and the outers were maters and annuums. The annuums seem to be growing waaay faster than the other varieties.
I may decide to add two more T12 bulbs to the top section and use it for the trays that have multiple varieties. Hopefully that would keep the older sprouts from stretching.

This is a Giant Marconi that I have been trying to overwinter. Out of 45, I lost three for sure, and this one is still green, but barely has new growth. If you look close, you can see a sprout trying to pop out two nodes below the tape. I think it can, I think it can, I think it can!!!!

I am noticing my Bhut Jolokia seeds taking a bit longer to sprout than ALL my other varieties. These were the first to be planted this season. I'm wondering if my planting finger was out of practice??? I did nothing different about planting those than from the others. Any ideas???

 

[NorTexChiliJs]

Okay maybe that is three nodes!?!?! Depends on how ya look at it!!!

 

[NorTexChiliJs]

It has been a few days since being able to post soooooo.... I thoughtI would give an update on what is planted and germinated so far. I will give everything until the 2nd of February in the germbox and then I will be moving them under more light and planting 12 more trays. I have staggered planting days on these trays. Some sprouted fast and some slow. I decided I am far too busy to keep track of when each cell sprouted.... and to do that with 864 seeds is a real chore. I wish I had done it tho. It would be cool to look back at it!! Here goes:

Planted 1/8
Hot Portugal 2/2 100% (Two seeds sprouted out of two seeds planted)
Joe's Long Cayenne 2/2 100%
Fish Pepper 2/2 100%
Jimmy Nardello 1/2 50%
Hinkelhatz 2/2 100%
Georgia Flame 0/2 0%
Patio Marconi 12/12 100%
Sweet Chocolate Bell 12/12 100%
Bell Color Mix 4/6 66%
Red 7 Pot 54/72 75%
Yellow 7 Pot 58/72 81%
Trinidad Scorpion 61/72 85%
Bhut Jolokia 64/144 56%

Planted 1/9
Douglah 5/6 83%
Trinidad Congo 3/6 50%
Black Congo 2/6 33%
Brain Strain 1/6 16%
Dorset Naga 6/6 100%
White Bullet Hab 3/6 0% (Turned yellow and then brown 24 hours after sprouting)
Datil 4/6 50%
7 Pot "Primo" 6/6 100%
Yellow Scorp SR 3/6 50%
Yellow Scorp CARDI 6/6 100%
Fatalii 5/6 83%
Lemon Drop 6/6 100%

Planted 1/10
Chocolate Habanero 4/6 66%
Yellow Scorpion (??) 4/6 66%
Red Caribbean Hab 6/6 100%
Jamaican Chocolate 5/6 83%
Serrano 5/6 83%
Jalapeno M 3/6 50%
Wonder Bell 6/6 100%
Orange Habanero A 0/6 0% (Habanero A is Burpee . . . Habanero B is Ferry Morse)
Orange Habanero B 2/6 33%
Red Habanero Generic 11/12 92%
Pasilla Bajio 2/2 100%
Sweet Banana 4/4 100%

Planted 1/15
Jalapeno M 31/36 86%
Wonder Bell 2/36 6%
Orange Habanero C 31/72 43% (Habanero C is Bulk "local" seed from a nursery in Dallas)
Trinidad Congo 52/72 72%


This is the first big seed starting I have done. Alot of my seed is from last year. Some of the habanero varieties like the White Bullets and Orange A&B are two years old. Most are Burpee and Seed Saver Exchange... Some Of the superhots were purchased from THP.com in pod form. I also bought some plants from AJ last year and saved seed from my harvested pods. Seeds came from all over!! I feel like I am doing a decent job. Hopefully this next week will allow some of the remaining seeds to sprout.

I am using a 50/50 mix of Fox Farms Light Warrior and Sunshine All purpose. Light warrior has Mycorrizae and humic acid along with subtle starter nutrients. This keeps my soil "alive". The Light Warrior seems to be a little more coarse than I like so I add the Sunshine to soften it up a bit. It wets easily and doesn't dry out too fast. I think I may have soaked the tops of the soil too much. Some of the seeds that haven't sprouted are buried too deep. I'll try AJ's method of bottom watering to try not to disturb where I stuck the seed with my next round of seeds. I will get some pics up soon!!

 

[Beaglestorm]

Awesome! I am just amazed how many people are growing 100 or 200 or 300+ plants. I want to live in your neighborhood! LOL Thanks for posting that picture of the leggy seedlings. I hope they recover, but at least they have help one person know what to look for. I am still trying to figure out how far to place my light from my seedlings. I have read several warnings about seedlings getting leggy but had never seen a picture. That picture is worth a thousand words.

 

[NorTexChiliJs]

I had some leggy seedlings that did just fine. Once they are out of the germbox, I hit them hard a few times a day with a fan on high for 20-30 minutes. This seems to stiffen them up after about 7-10 days. I keep the light in the germbox kinda high. I'm experimenting with this. You don't need light to germinate seeds. But once they pop, they need a fair amount. I keep mine 6-8 inches above the tray surface in the germbox. I feel like if I go any closer, the seeds on the perimeter of the tray end up leaning towards the light really bad. But I only have 2 bulbs and they are in the center of the trays. Any more and it gets too hot in my (mostly)sealed enviornment. I would like to space them apart so each bulb was in the middle of each half of a tray....If that makes sense...

I am toying with stronger lights for my next phase of growing. I haven't made up my mind. I have two 8 bulb T5 fixtures I want to disassemble and spread over about 6-8 feet. Each bulb is 5000 lumens. So 80,000 lumens and 864 watts with both fixtures on. That is 26.6 sqft with 3000 lumens each or 32 sqft with 2500 lumens each. An 8'x4' table will hold 16 seed trays. I can get better coverage with T5 than with an HID on my rectangle table. If I used HID, I would either need two lights or a light mover. This seems more practical for my situation. And thay are already on hand!!!

 

[NorTexChiliJs]

Some new pics...

The loaded germbox and its guard dog!! That is my 8 year old 95lb American Pitbull Terrier, Bubba!!! He is a lush and would lick raw steak off of a newborn baby. He won't hurt anyone, let alone guard those peppers. That dog has a one track mind......Where's my damn bone?!?!?!

Top

Middle with two fixtures. One is on a switch and the door must stay open for both.

And the bottom. The right front has herbs.


8 of these trays need more light now but will have to wait until next week. I am impatiently waiting on the moon to move these and start another round. I probably have enough for this season, but I am toooo curious about AJ's method of planting seeds and watering them in. Bottom watering, using one tray to firm in the soil, good stuff!! I "borrowed" this germbox design from him and have some similar varieties. But his germination rates set the bar very high. That young man is a natural!!

 

[midwestchilehead]

Young man? Natural I can believe, but young? AJ has the wisdom of years. But yours and his projects are both very impressive. My two flats of struggling seedlings seem paltry compared to yours. Have you thought about lining your chambers with reflective mylar to reflect the available light? I think AJ does that, and it seems to work for him.

As for my tiny project, 5 out of 6 bhut seedlings popped, and so far my Red Savinas and Trinidad Scorpions are beginning to pop, but not much else going on.

 

[NorTexChiliJs]

Yes I am thinking of lining the inside with reflective material. I built this box with ALL scrap wood. I was in the deckbuilding business and have quite a collection of scrap wood. The back and sides of the top two sections is 1/4" MDF, the rest of the outside is made from Solarboard (OSB sheeting with radiant barrier). I had to buy T12 bulbs, one latch and four casters. I had the Shop fixtures, wiring, incandescent bulb sockets, hinges and two latches. All in all, including the $75 used CAP controller, I spent right at $100. However if I had to purchase all this stuff new, I imagine it would have been easily $300. Anyhow, I am thinking next year I will spend the cash on stain-grade plywood and make this thing look like furniture. At that time I will line the inside with reflective material! Yes it is in the garage, but my garage is more like a workshop. Very clean, all battleship gray storage and toolboxes (Snap-on of course), and an old set of upper and lower kitchen cabinets. I'm kinda picky, but I like my stuff to match. I can stain the Germbox the same color as the cabinets. Heck, I may even add some crown moulding!! Yee-haw

Midwestchilihead I hope your grow this year will be exciting. Nice to see your Bhuts are ahead of the other varieties. My Bhuts are only around the 50% germ rate while my 7s and Scorps are above 75%. I wish I had some Savinas this year. I really wanted to see the difference in the Caribbean, Savina, Congo, and "generic" red Habanero (which i think is baccatum if I read the label correctly???? Not Chinense?)?? I have limited knowledge on the differences in Chinense, Annuum, and so on. But I'll figure it out with a little reading!!

 

[capsidadburn]

Looking Good NorTex, Good Luck with your season! Are you going to ZestFest?

Mike

 

[NorTexChiliJs]

Looking Good NorTex, Good Luck with your season! Are you going to ZestFest?

Mike

Yep, I'll be there sometime this weekend. Not sure when. Earlier in the week I was thinking of posting a thread to see who all from Texas would be going out there. It would have been cool to organize a get-together of Texas THP.com members. Maybe next year.....

You heading up here this weekend??

 

[NorTexChiliJs]

Wow.... It has been a terrible few days here in North Texas. We have been having rolling blackouts. Too many people are here for the Superbowl and our electrical consumption is greater than our production. We are connected to a grid in Mexico at the moment. WOW. I have electricity coming to me from a long way away.

Well I had to break down and buy a gasoline generator. I bought a 5000 watt running power from "the depot". It is hard to find selection when there is a blackout, but this is two years in a row we have had blackouts in freezing temperatures, so I had to splurge!! Actually I had 800 pepper plants yelling at me because my house was dipping below 60F. All is good now!!!

I did another round of planting a couple days ago. I planted another 12 trays. I have been working with a lady who owns a small all organic nursery and will be selling her a bunch of plants this year. We may even work out a trade for some fertilizer. If I grow out almost 400 plants this year, I might need a little of that. Not all of these will go to her. I will be keeping the strongest ones for myself.

2/1
Bhut Jolokia.........144
Black Congo..........108
7 Pot Douglah.........90
7 Pot "Brain Strain"..36
Datil..................6
White Bullet...........6
Yellow Scorp Sr........6
Fatalii................6
Chocolate Hab..........6
Yellow Scorpion(???)..60
Yellow 7 Pot..........72
Trinidad Scorpion....144
Trinidad Congo........36
Dorset Naga...........36
Orange Habanero.......36
Red 7 Pot.............72

I sowed these seeds a little differently than the last round. Last round I bottom fed the trays but also misted the tops with a pump sprayer. I think the pump sprayer had too much pressure because it would flood the soil surface. I think I may have buried some seeds too deep using the sprayer. This time I bottom fed and bought a spray bottle to very lightly mist the surface. This seemed to work out nice. The soil surface doesn't look all packed down this time. It seems a little more loose. I keep noticing people who have seed trays where the soil surface looks dry but also looks moist 1'4 inch below that. We will see if these doany better/different than the last round.

I stayed away from planting more annuums this round. They are growing waaaaaay faster than the chinense. Oops, now I know. I may scrap the ones I have because they are already 5 inches tall. And some others grew too leggy because they were in the same tray as some chinense that took their time germinating. I won't do that again. I bet these jalapenos and bells will be 18 inches tall by plantout. I will probably follow the advice of some other members and start annuums closer to march.

I'll try to post some pics soon!!

 

[txskunk]

Hell yea NorTex go big or go home, well go big in your home haha, Nice line up of strains, I'm alittle behind most of yall in the getting started but Ill be there and like you were saying with the annums getting to big, hopefully in my case ill be on time to transplant those outside and keep my slower ones inside for a bit.. I really wish I could afford to t5 fixtures but next year for sure... thanks for sharing and i look forward to learning and watching some amazing plants! Kudos, Im sure ill be buying some plants of AJ since im alittle behinde, If your selling too I might just snag some from you too! stay warm,

txskunk

 

[midwestchilehead]

If you don't need many plants, I can send you some Savinas because mine are germinating like crazy - assuming I don't kill them potting them up. I will know more in 3 or 4 weeks.

I wish I had some Savinas this year. I really wanted to see the difference in the Caribbean, Savina, Congo, and "generic" red Habanero (which i think is baccatum if I read the label correctly???? Not Chinense?)?? I have limited knowledge on the differences in Chinense, Annuum, and so on. But I'll figure it out with a little reading!!

 

[NorTexChiliJs]

Okay, It has been too long since I posted. I have been more busy than I want to be this early in the year. Hopefully I will get everything planted this year. I will share some pics from the 3rd today and then tomorrow I will post some current pics. I don't have the cable to link my camera right now.

Here is a fuzzy look at my new transplant shelves. There are three levels with six 4ft 2bulb t8 fixtures. So 12 bulbs on each shelf. The fixtures were from depot at about $20 each and the bulbs are 6500k. (I waited to post these pics with hopes of taking better ones... The hands were jiggly.. )

This is what has germinated so far....Only the first round is in this picture.

There are a couple spots in those trays that are dry, but I watered shortly after taking these pictures.

I have had quite a few late bloomers sprout up over th past week or so. Some may get a little longer in the starter trays.

Transplanting begins now....... about 550 peppers, 150 cullinary herbs and about 50 tomatos. Wish me luck!!!

 

[AlabamaJack]

good luck for this season....I am a little ahead of you...I already have almost 500 in 3" containers...to keep up with my schedule, I will have to transplant about 100 a day until the end of February...