Patrick's 2011 Grow Log

Here we are again. I can't believe how fast the time goes by anymore. My pops always said the older you get the faster it passes us by.

I am especially excited about this year, I'm going to try and cross a couple of peppers, on purpose! Haven't made the final decisions yet though.

Anyway, here's a few that I overwintered. The one on the left came from a 7 Pod Barrackpore cutting. It struggled for a bit but the roots are starting to grow so I'm hopeful. Center front is a "large" 7 Pod, center rear was a very robust Dorset Naga and the one on the right is a 7 Pod Primo. The latter three I removed from 5-7 gal pots, trimmed the roots and cut them down to just the stem. They sat in my foyer where they got some limited sunlight through a window. I'm very happy with them.

This is the first tray of seeds I stuck in coco coir last night. I've had success before with this medium as a seed starting mix so see no reason to change. It is nutrient poor so I start using fertilizer at an early stage in the plants life, at a very reduced rate.

Here is what I've started so far:

7 Pod, Brain Strain PRF…………………………..………........ 5
7 Pod, Brown Judy………………………………..………............ 6
Bhut Jolokia, Yellow…………………………………..………........ 5
Pimenta Tiger, AISPES004...................... 5
Trinidad Scorpion, Butch T Judy…………….………...... 8
Trinidad Scorpion, Chocolate AISPES108…....……. 5
Trinidad Scorpion, Morouga HSC……………….……....... 5
Trinidad Scorpion, Yellow AISPES109..……....... 5
Trinidad Scorpion, Yellow 2 SS………………….………..... 5
Trinidad Scorpion, Yellow Morouga AISPES107...…3

Not all of them are in the photo.

They are on a cookie sheet which is on a heat pad. Current temp in the coco coir varies from 75F - 80F. I would like it warmer and may mess with the heating pad settings. I plan on picking up a couple of heat mats tomorrow for more trays.

I have several other varieties to get started and would like to keep my total at under 90 plants.

Here we go!

 

[Beaglestorm]

we'll have to get together again, I don't think I had my bhut extract last time

Patrick??? LOL

 

[queequeg152]

have you ever considered using coco as your main growing medium?

also do you have any tarantula threads we can look at?

 

[patrick]

Oh man that's just too funny. Bhut extract. It isn't mine believe me. DDCat likes to play with his peppers and make all kinds of diabolical sauces and things. I know two years ago he was playing with fire, er uh extracts, but didn't have much to work with. I never heard how last season's grow went. Sounds like he's done a little better. I do know I won't be tasting any bhut extract without the ice cream sitting in front of me. Guys crazy.

queequeg152, thought about using coco full time but decided against it for a couple of reasons; when you have 70+ 5-15 gallon pots to fill it would get expensive, it is absolutely nutrient empty and the plants would require a consistent source of all nutrients. With the stuff I use now I only need to supplement a few nutes, and finally if it did happen to dry out it's a pain in the butt to get it all hydrated again--the water tends to sit on top or run off of the sides.

Why yes I do have a place you can check out some of our tarantulas. http://atshq.org/boards/viewforum.php?f=24 this is a link to the photo gallery of tarantulas on the American Tarantula Society's web site. Feel free to look at any and all pics. Here's a direct link to some of my favorites: http://atshq.org/boards/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=26085 If you have any questions about them send me a PM, be happy to talk tarantula with you.

 

[Beaglestorm]

You are probably posting the answer to this question as I type.... but, just wondering if your other AISPES seeds have germinated

 

[patrick]

Hey Mikey, I was going to ask you the same thing. First though some pics!

It's amazing what has happened over the last nine days. I now have 49 little seedlings growing.

Still waiting on 52 more.

Here's the latest edition to the plant grow machinery.

This holds one gallon and I picked it up at Lowe's for under $10. It got to be a pain in the rear to water all of the seedlings any other way. I love this baby and definitely recommend it. Just a few pumps and that's it. Going to work wonderful for foliar feeding this season.

I've added the following seeds:

Bhut Jolokia, Yellow...AsiaGardens....4
Fatalii...............HSC.............5
Habalokia, Chocolate......Chris.......5
Trinidad Scorpion...HSC/AJ............8

I've lost a couple to the seed caps not coming off.

Michael, The Pimenta Tigers all came up within 8 days or so followed by the T.S. Yellow Morouga seeds. All three of them came up. So far no sign of the T.S.Chocolate or the T.S. Yellow. How are yours doing?

 

[Beaglestorm]

Michael, The Pimenta Tigers all came up within 8 days or so followed by the T.S. Yellow Morouga seeds. All three of them came up. So far no sign of the T.S.Chocolate or the T.S. Yellow. How are yours doing?

I think I am done. Everything that is going to pop has popped. I got 0% germination on my TS Sunrise, 7 Chocolate, and 7 Evergreen. I am at 88% germination if you remove the varieties that I got 0% on. (Bad Seed? The Chocolate and Evergreen 7 I thought might give me problems because they were green and potentially immature, the TS sunrise was a big surprise to get 0%.)

My AISPES seeds did great:

AISPES Pimenta Tiger - 5 of 5
AISPES Trinidad Scorpion Chocolate var.1 - 5 of 5
AISPES Trinidad Scorpion Chocolate var.2 - 4 of 5
AISPES Trinidad Scorpion Morouga Yellow - 5 of 5

Now... lets see if I can keep them alive another 3 months till plant out. LOL

 

[patrick]

Good to hear your AISPES chocolate seeds germinated. Hopefully mine will eventually.

I forgot to add Bih Jolokia, orange to my pepper list. I planted five seeds around the 21st and I believe all of them are already up. Quick grower.

 

[logchief]

Why yes I do have a place you can check out some of our tarantulas. http://atshq.org/boa...wforum.php?f=24 this is a link to the photo gallery of tarantulas on the American Tarantula Society's web site. Feel free to look at any and all pics. Here's a direct link to some of my favorites: http://atshq.org/boa...hp?f=24&t=26085 If you have any questions about them send me a PM, be happy to talk tarantula with you.

Holy Mackrel Patrick, I never imagined there were so many colorful trantulas. Only ones I'd ever seen were the black ones in the desert southwest

 

[queequeg152]

Holy Mackrel Patrick, I never imagined there were so many colorful trantulas. Only ones I'd ever seen were the black ones in the desert southwest

i know right? whats the deal with the blue one? Poecilotheria metallic; is that guy under a uv bulb or something? lol

 

[patrick]

i know right? whats the deal with the blue one? Poecilotheria metallic; is that guy under a uv bulb or something? lol

Ahh the gem of the hobby, Poecilotheria metallica. Those pics are not edited trust me. On the rare side and they are losing their natural habitat at a very rapid rate. Come from India and they are on the endangered list. Not the easiest to breed but people are getting better at it. Babies under an inch long currently sell for $185. Sometimes you can find them for $150. Adult females are insane cost wise. I have seen a guy offered $600 for one but he said nope, it would take $1000 to get it from him. I sold one of my females last October for $600 even. Paid for new brakes on my Tahoe. I'm currently searching for a mature male to mate with my two females. They have 50 to 100 babies at a time. Yeah, $185 x 100. Twice. Make a guys day.

Back to the pepper talk.

 

[Sandgroper]

Ahh the gem of the hobby, Poecilotheria metallica. Those pics are not edited trust me. On the rare side and they are losing their natural habitat at a very rapid rate. Come from India and they are on the endangered list. Not the easiest to breed but people are getting better at it. Babies under an inch long currently sell for $185. Sometimes you can find them for $150. Adult females are insane cost wise. I have seen a guy offered $600 for one but he said nope, it would take $1000 to get it from him. I sold one of my females last October for $600 even. Paid for new brakes on my Tahoe. I'm currently searching for a mature male to mate with my two females. They have 50 to 100 babies at a time. Yeah, $185 x 100. Twice. Make a guys day.

Back to the pepper talk.

I had no idea that there were so many different types. Geez

 

[patrick]

Thought I would move the tarantula talk to a better place. http://www.thehotpepper.com/topic/19912-tarantula-talk/

 

[patrick]

Update time. Not real happy with my seed germination rate. Totally confused about it too. I'll have seeds germinating right next to some that aren't. Conditions are pretty much identical.

I also didn't fertilize them for a few days. I wanted to see if straight coco fiber could help a seedling in any manner. Take it from me it won't do anything that you can see. After I applied a 5-10-5 fertilizer at quarter strength it didn't take long for the true leaves to start growing.

Here's the final list of C. chinense I've started. I've included the number of seeds planted and number of seeds that have germinated.

7 Pod Brain Strain 5/4
7 Pod Brown 6/4
7 Pod Jonah 5/2
7 Pod Madball Z 5/4
7 Pod Perfect 5/3
Bhut Jolokia Chocolate 6/2
Bhut Jolokia Yellow 5/3
Bhut Jolokia Yellow AsiaG 4/1
Bhut Jolokia 5/5
Bih Orange 3/3
Fatalii 5/0
Habalokia 5/5
Pemento Tiger AISPES 5/5
Red Savina 4/4
Trini Scorp Butch 8/4
Trini Scorp Chocolate AISPES 5/1
Trini Scorp Morouga 5/3
Trini Scorp Morouga Yellow AISPES 6/6
Trini Scorp Yelloow AISPES109 5/0
Trini Scorp Yellow SS 3/3

Two of the Butch T. Trini Scorps that had germinated didn't make it. Both had seed caps that wouldn't come off.

Thanks everyone.

 

[Tonly]

I see that your fatali are 0 for 5. I had some going with several other varieties that germinated in 6 to 12 days. The fatali seeds took over 3 weeks then most sprouted. Had similar results last year. I thought at first it might be the particular seed batch but have had the same results with several different batches in 2 different seasons. Yours may finally decide to grow eventually.

 

[patrick]

The Fatalii's got a late start, I believe they were planted around the 19th of January so I don't plan on tossing them too soon. Thanks for the advice Tonly.

 

[WGB]

good looking start Patrick,I hope you don't mind but, I'm steeling your idea of using a card table as a stand
and pvc pipe for the light frame. I have a question about the frame< is it totally glued together? I am thinking about disassembling
it during non seed starting times.

 

[mascalzone]

Good cultivation Patrick

 

[patrick]

Thanks guys. Nice to see you here mascalzone.

WGB, steal away! No I don't glue any part of the PVC pipe together. I tear it down each spring when the plants get outside. Then I struggle to build the same thing next January and usually end up with something new. Seems to work just fine each time. Best of luck to you.

 

[lazienfat]

So how many plants are you up too?

 

[AlabamaJack]

Hey Brother Patrick...may I suggest something that will make your year a whole lot easier?....

get some 1 gph drippers and install a drip irrigation system for your plants...I bet you can put one in for less than $100...for 90 plants, make two sections...

then get one of these....

http://www.ezfloinjection.com/pdfs/2005HBspec.pdf

and one of these

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100305280/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

Sure will make life a lot easier on ya...and IMO better for the plants too because you can give them exact amounts of food and water based on how much time you run each station and can vary it according to what the weather is going to do...plus...you can go away for 4-5 days at a time and not worry about the plants...