pyro-pod's 2011 Grow Ops

[pyro-pod]

This is the first year I've ever grown peppers from seed and after reading the germination tips thread it seems I've been quite lucky. Too lucky, perhaps? I usually just buy the plants from a nursery and drop 'em in the ground. This year I'm using the seeds from several Caribbean Red pods I grew last season. I'm hoping to maybe get some funky hybrids since they were next to other pepper varieties in the garden, but even just some good ole Caribbean Reds will do just fine.

Starting the last week of March, all I did was buy one of those $7 Jiffy "greenhouses", soaked the seeds overnight in hydrogen peroxide and water, then carelessly clumped too many seeds into some of the pellets. I figured, what the hell.... I probably won't be lucky enough to get any viable germination so I might as well put several seeds in each pellet to increase my chances. Then I placed the thing on the heating register for a week. To my surprise, I've been blessed with many little baby plants!

Now I've got some questions for you experts out there, and I'd very much appreciate your advice.

1) The instructions on the Jiffy greenhouse says to cut back or remove the smaller sprouts in each pellet to let the most healthy one grow. I'd rather loosen up the pellets a little and try to extract the extra sprouts and repot them rather than just kill them. When should I be doing this? Are they big enough yet to handle a transplant, or should I just forget it and do what the instructions say? If I can transplant them, how big of a pot/container should I put them in? I've heard you should avoid putting smaller plants in big pots.

3) How are they doing in terms of growth for my region? Are they behind schedule? Last year I put my store bought plants in the ground at the end of May. They were maybe about a foot tall. These look a bit small right now. Am I going to have a late growing season?

4) What are the chances of cross pollination of certain types? In my garden last year, there were also Cayennes, Hungarian Wax, Orange Habs, Poblanos, Chocolate Bells, and Green Bells. I have no doubt they could've crossed pollinated with the Orange Habs, but what is likeliness of the other types working together? Is it even possible to get a Hab/Bell pepper hybrid?

Any insight would be helpful here. Thanks!

These pictures were taken this morning:

 

[RedtailForester]

Looks like you are off to a great start. May need to start re-potting/thinning out a little bit with all those twins.

 

[gasificada]

Looks like your Jiffy pellets may be a little dry!

Be very careful not to let them get too dry as it becomes a PITA to get them moist again and then maintain that moisture level. Don't get me wrong, I use them myself and always get better germination rates over seed raising mix but they can be an absolute pain at times!

As far as thinning out goes, I wait until they get their first real set of leaves (and in some cases, their second) and I've never had any issues. I guess, the earlier the better but I like to see who is really going to be a winner.

 

[Avon Barksdale]

Those are big enough to separate and transplant, just be gentle.

 

[mmcdermott1_thehothalf]

Looks like you are off to a great start. May need to start re-potting/thinning out a little bit with all those twins.

Twins? He's got triplets and quadruplets!! Way to go pyro-pod. Your plants are large enough to separate. Use caution when separating and you'll be just fine.

Best of luck with the rest of the season!

 

[JoeyK]

wow you got a plantation going on

 

[pyro-pod]

wow you got a plantation going on

Minus the opulent mansion and a team of slaves! Although we do have a big yard and Jenny's two kids. Hmmm.... Nah.... They'd be useless in my pepper fields. I can't even get them to pick up all the little broken branches in the yard and it's about time to get the lawnmower out.

Maybe I should rent some 'Little House on the Prairie' DVD's and prop their eyelids open 'Clockwork Orange' style. "Look how good you have it! You don't even have to get up at 04:00 and milk the cows!!!"

I've been watering the plants every other day with a spray bottle. A few squirts for each puck/pellet (whatever they're called). I guess I'll attempt to transplant them later this week. Should I use little paper Dixie cups or the bigger plastic kinds? Anybody have any soil recommendations? Brands or certain types that work best for you?

Thanks for the suggestions, kind words and wishes for good luck, everyone!

 

[mmcdermott1]

Very nice start, especially since you just started those in late march.
You can pull them apart, just be very gentle not to mess the roots up.
I dont use jiffy but I have heard horror stories about them drying out so watch your moisture.

Not sure on crossing those types. There is a chart out there somewhere that shows what will cross and what wont cross.


Great job!

 

[JoeyK]

Well by the way 2 of my plants are full of pods compared to the others I have to say pro vege mix with Blood & Bone is the clear winner for me.

 

[pyro-pod]

I dont use jiffy but I have heard horror stories about them drying out so watch your moisture.

This morning a few of the sprouts looked a little saggy so I watered them heavily from the bottom up this time. They've perked up nicely and all the pucks seem very moist.

Well by the way 2 of my plants are full of pods compared to the others I have to say pro vege mix with Blood & Bone is the clear winner for me.

I've tried searching "pro vege mix with Blood & Bone" and can't seem to find any solid links that point to a certain product. I've found 'Pro Mix BH' and 'Pro Mix HP'. If you can point me towards exactly what I'm looking for , I'll see if it's available in my area.

Thanks, mang!

 

[Siliman]

Minus the opulent mansion and a team of slaves!

Should I use little paper Dixie cups or the bigger plastic kinds?

Anybody have any soil recommendations? Brands or certain types that work best for you?

Dude--sounds like YOU are the team of slaves!

Dixie cups too small. You could go with coffee cups (10-oz?) might get you all the way to plant out. The 16 or 18-oz beer cups would also work, but might be overkill. Extras can be used for drinking beer, however, unless you drill holes in them.

Most commonly mentioned pot-up "soil" seems to be "Pro Mix BX." It is a great growing medium, but you do have to add your own nutes to it. Good luck....

 

[mascalzone]

Very nice start, great job

 

[pyro-pod]

It's been a long time since I've posted an update so here we go!

Unfortunately I started my seeds way too late and to make matters worse the early spring here was atrocious. Constant rain and temperatures in the upper 50's kept me from getting my babies into the sun and keeping them warm. Next year I'll have to get some grow lights and build a little greenhouse. These were the only ones that were really salvageable but hopefully they might give me a few pods by late September.

They seem to have a little distortion in the leaves but they're doing OK otherwise. Any ideas of what could be causing that?

Here's a shot of the non-pepper garden. Better Boy tomatoes, sweet corn, Alaskan peas and some green beans. I also planted some blackberry and blueberry bushes off to the side of the garden. They all seem to be doing well so far. I know it's crowded but I honestly didn't expect much of it to grow at all because of the crappy spring weather we had. I literally just threw the seeds down in the soil and hoped for the best. I guess I shouldn't underestimate the genes of my ancestors! My grandfather was a farmer too.

More to come in the next post in a few minutes, so hold on to your replies!

 

[pyro-pod]

Since my other plants were so far behind I decided to go to the local nursery and buy a few varieties. 2 Hungarian Wax, 2 Orange Habaneros, and 2 Caribbean Reds! I planted them in pots this year in a mixture of Fafard 3B Pro Mix and organic Miracle Gro (I know, I know but I'm too poor to buy more Fafard...). I also sprinkled in a little bit of organic slow release fert pellets as the Fafard is not enhanced with any fertilizers.

My Hungarian Wax are totally kicking ass. No leaf curl/distortion and producing lots of fruit!

My Caribbean Reds and Orange Habs are another story. Looking nice overall but the new growth looks kind of funky and they've been dropping tons of flowers lately. I only have two Orange Hab pods and one lonely Caribbean Red between the four plants in total.

More to come in a few....

 

[pyro-pod]

This year I bought several Praying Mantis oothecas (egg cases) for the garden and yard. I was hoping to use the nymphs for pest control but they like to wander. My plan is to buy several oothecas each year and build up a natural population in my neighborhood. They're such fascinating creatures.

Here's a few crappy pics I took with my cellphone:

Unfortunately I also had some varmint vandalism a few weeks ago when one of the oothecas hatched on my pepper plants. Something was probably feasting on all the little babies and dug up the soil around the plants thinking they were coming from underground. The plant seems to be doing OK though.

That's all for now. Please feel free to give me some pointers and comments.

Thanks!

 

[patrick]

The leaf curl on the new leaves is being caused by spider mites. You can't see them with the naked eye but sometimes you can see some of the webbing. Most organic bug killers will work on mites but you may have to do several treatments. Be sure to get under the leaves. Good luck killing the bastages.

 

[patrick]

One other thing, be very careful with the mantids. Releasing non-native species into the environment is seriously frowned upon by local, state and federal folks. If they aren't there naturally there's a reason. They may take hold and wipe out several other predator and prey species. Ask the Aussies about cane toads and the Florida folks about Boas and Pythons. Now if the mantids you're releasing are native more power to you.

 

[pyro-pod]

The leaf curl on the new leaves is being caused by spider mites. You can't see them with the naked eye but sometimes you can see some of the webbing. Most organic bug killers will work on mites but you may have to do several treatments. Be sure to get under the leaves. Good luck killing the bastages.

Thanks so much for the diagnosis! I'll go pick up some Neem Oil today or tomorrow and hose 'em down.

One other thing, be very careful with the mantids. Releasing non-native species into the environment is seriously frowned upon by local, state and federal folks. If they aren't there naturally there's a reason. They may take hold and wipe out several other predator and prey species. Ask the Aussies about cane toads and the Florida folks about Boas and Pythons. Now if the mantids you're releasing are native more power to you.

I was wondering about that before I even bought them but I looked into it and they're supposedly good ole' North American Mantids like the ones you can occasionally find around here. Although a natural encounter is quite rare. I'll be surprised if I can actually get a steady population going but we'll see. I'm not sure how they spend their winters here. Burrowing? Or maybe they lay some oothecas and then die off when winter hits? I'll have to look into it.

 

[Avon Barksdale]

Yep that is definitely spider mite damage as Patrick said. They are a major PITA.

 

[pyro-pod]

Yep that is definitely spider mite damage as Patrick said. They are a major PITA.

Yup. It's definitely confirmed. I just looked and saw the tiny little bastards hanging out on the stem. Off to the hardware store to get some Neem oil. Although I did see some little flying bug chewing on one so I let him feast for now.