2019 Chilli Growing thread

A lot of mine had "turtle" heads. I had to pinch the seed off and I killed 3 seedlings by doing this. Will see if they recover. I'm currently standing at 3 in decent shape, 3 in poor shape (i think the leaves are burning from the leds as they are so small) and 4-6 dead that might recover you never know. I have sowed 2 as a backup option just in case.

I only have room for 6 so things are looking like they have worked out perfectly.

The 3 I have overwintered are showing zero signs of coming back to life. The temp has been dropping in the house to 10-14C whilst I'm at work. As low as 5C when it was quite bad here.

So my plan for this year is to make a grow tent/box. I'm thinking wooden outside frame. Insulation. Then reflective sheeting. Shove a tiny heat mat inside and 3 lamps and hope the heat from the 3 x 10W lamps and the 5W heat mat is enough to keep the temps much higher. The lamps would be on a timer probably straight 12 on and 12 off for best results. would need to be light enough to remove to top up the water and feed in the chilligrows every weekend.
 
Only advice I would give Sonny is that unless you want to keep them heated be very careful getting them too used to heat, especially if they are also used to high(ish) humidity

I had some seeds given to me that I really struggled to germinate the other year, I think they were only just mature and then not well dried or stored. I did manage to germinate but I kept them far too long in heated high humidity, when I became comfortable they were fine, I moved them and they died. The following batch I did, as soon as they were germinating I removed the heat and humidity. Those grew fine.
Whilst I agree you need to maintain reasonable levels of heat, i think we can get a little excessive and sometimes its better to bring them up tough.

I have chillies on a drafty(ish) windowsill thats probably down to 10c at night (background is 14c but window sill is clearly colder) and they are fine, even the later germinators coming up 2 weeks after the main ones are doing fine.

Have to remember a lot of chillies are from places that have high temp fluctuations, I think the seedlings are damn hardy, and that the reason the plants need the temps is to stop them thinking winter is coming and trying to force the fruits to ripen so the plant can shut down.
 
I will have to learn how to post images on here but I have 6 seedlings, 3 reapers, 2 Chocolate Habaneros, and 1 scotch bonnet. Two of them lost a leaf while pricking out of the prop as I was a bit to heavy handed but they should be fine. I have also just started to germinate some Pink Tigers in the heated prop that I'm pretty excited to see how they turn out but these are only an F2 so not very stable. I am growing under a Spiderfarmer SF600 LED grow light untill they can go outside.

Seedlings
https://imgur.com/vmbNhiR

My SpiderFarmer SF600 grow light
https://imgur.com/eOjSi9m
 
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I didn't check on my seeds for a few days and one has made an epic break for freedom

YCBUZ9R.jpg


Is it salvagable?
 
I can't see the pic but my 2 back up seeds made a run for it were massive. I potted deep and they were still leggy. One seems do be doing much better after a day the other still looks like it's recovering.

I should now have adequate cover in terms of backup for my 6 pots. A few though haven't really grown much. I just checked it's 3c outside and 12c inside the house. The cold is obviously effecting growth somewhat.

I'm supposed to be giving them nutrients and watering from the bottom starting from this weekend. So will need to check back in 2 weeks time to hopefully see a big improvement in size in terms of the leaves. Some aren't showing any or much growth at all. Is 12C too cold?
 
Tuned R said:
I will have to learn how to post images on here but I have 6 seedlings, 3 reapers, 2 Chocolate Habaneros, and 1 scotch bonnet. Two of them lost a leaf while pricking out of the prop as I was a bit to heavy handed but they should be fine. I have also just started to germinate some Pink Tigers in the heated prop that I'm pretty excited to see how they turn out but these are only an F2 so not very stable. I am growing under a Spiderfarmer SF600 LED grow light untill they can go outside.

Seedlings
https://imgur.com/vmbNhiR

My SpiderFarmer SF600 grow light
https://imgur.com/eOjSi9m
Click to expand...

Loving the look of that light you have @Tuned R
Would love to get something like that rigged up, is it good for the whole lifecycle of the plants or just a starter light?
Sounds like your plants are coming along well, keen to see how the pink tigers progress. Never heard of them before!
 
I have tried the fibre pots too and have also had issue with mould so haven't used them again.
The coir plugs are a good low faff medium for germination and potting on I find :)

Been away for 4 days and all my seedlings have survived :D
Popping the pots in a tray of water seems to have kept them moist but not water logged.
They are all a bit wonky as they have been repeatedly reaching in one direction for the sun but I'm hoping by rotating them this will correct itself.

Growth is still pretty slow, few second sets of leaves appearing and seeding leaves growing in size.
Heating was off while I was away so this I think slowed them down, that and the fact we have got snow where I am and little proper sunlight.

Definitely time for some kind of DIY lighting rig... :cool:
 
Wasn't going to grow anything this year, as I still have a freezer drawer full of habaneros, reapers and ghosts, but ordered the following seeds yesterday: -

Borg 9
Carolina Reaper
Chocolate Douglah
Ghost
Moruga Scorpion Burgundy

Going to make some more hot sauce and some powder with some of my existing stock.
 
Couple of the bonnets and reepers enjoying the sun. All now in 6" pots. One of the weaker ones I've put in an 8" pot and just going to leave it in there now, placed in a downstairs small conservatory to see how well it does. The bonnets can droop a bit but assuming this is fairly normal - seem to be growing well. Some of the leaves are 5cm+ long.

Bonnets.jpg
Reepers.jpg

Some small tomatoes in pots might be next.
 
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Where's the best place for seeds these days? Figured I should probably get on the ball a little earlier this year to give me more chance to actually have a good crop, rather than one chilli at the end of October!
 
DarrenM343 said:
Couple of the bonnets and reepers enjoying the sun. All now in 6" pots. One of the weaker ones I've put in an 8" pot and just going to leave it in there now, placed in a downstairs small conservatory to see how well it does. The bonnets can droop a bit but assuming this is fairly normal - seem to be growing well. Some of the leaves are 5cm+ long.

Bonnets.jpg
Reepers.jpg

Some small tomatoes in pots might be next.
Click to expand...

They're doing really well! When did you start them off?

akaFonzie said:
Where's the best place for seeds these days? Figured I should probably get on the ball a little earlier this year to give me more chance to actually have a good crop, rather than one chilli at the end of October!
Click to expand...

I've always bought mine from Sow Seeds. I usually have a very good germination rate from them and it's usually me or the cats that kills a few of them off.
 
Thanks. Enjoying my first attempt. These were started in Dec, Dec 15th if I remember correctly, with the first two making an appearance on Xmas day (one reeper, one bonnet). I started early not expecting much, using seeds from a couple of chillies given to me. They've done so well I've given a few away and not bothered sowing any of the seeds I bought as now concerned might have too many chillies to use later in the year :).
Surprisingly they didn't get too leggy either, with the tallest one less than half the height of the lanky one someone posted above. I germinated in a window so as soon as they appeared they had some light on them. Not used any lamps and only heat from the room to germinate.
 
Rathian said:
Loving the look of that light you have @Tuned R
Would love to get something like that rigged up, is it good for the whole lifecycle of the plants or just a starter light?
Sounds like your plants are coming along well, keen to see how the pink tigers progress. Never heard of them before!
Click to expand...
It's the smallest light in their range and consumes around 95W, its also passively cooled meaining it is silent as it has no fan which is good as I have it in the living room.

I only have east/west facing windows so needed a light at this time of year, I got it as a starter light as I'm not sure how much light chillies need when fruiting and it may struggle with coverage at that stage (I'm not sure).

I really like it though, it's a quality piece of kit. I'm also goin to try and use it for overwintering.

No news on the pink tigers yet, they have been germinating for 7 days but are a Bhut Jolokia cross so may take a while.

What types are you growing @Rathian ?
 
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so i folled my chilligrows up with 7 litres of water. 40ml of nutrient A and 40ml of nutrient B also.

tbh it looks like nutrient A is epsom salts and nutrient B is tomato feed / chilli focus in it's type.

i'm no expert but they look the same to me. bit of a con if you ask me. if you run out i'd replace with the above.
 
Tuned R said:
What types are you growing @Rathian ?
Click to expand...

@Tuned R Any update on the pink tigers?
I had a look at your light specs and it looks like a great bit of kit. Definitely capable of taking 1 or 2 plants through their full lifecycle I recon!

I’m growing a few different things this year got some hotscotch, orange wonders, Tabasco, Cayennes and birds eyes plus some ransoms from a friend that are wired speciality cross breeds
 
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Psycho Sonny said:
so i folled my chilligrows up with 7 litres of water. 40ml of nutrient A and 40ml of nutrient B also.

tbh it looks like nutrient A is epsom salts and nutrient B is tomato feed / chilli focus in it's type.

i'm no expert but they look the same to me. bit of a con if you ask me. if you run out i'd replace with the above.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info @Psycho Sonny I have been tempted by chilli grows, Quad / Octo grows and auto pots before but always been just out of my budget...

Sounds like the nutrients side at least might be a bit overpriced. How do you find the hardware?
 
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