2021 Season Chilli Growing

Soldato
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Cheers guys, I'll try this neem oil. I am not confident enough to use soap. They're still in the pots and soil that came from the lady who sold me them. I think I need to start looking at how to get them in the best shape and then maintain them properly.
 
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@Cadder don’t be intimidated by mixing up some dish soap and water and giving the plants a spray. I’m with the others on killing off whatever pest might be setting up shop on your plants. You’re unlikely to kill your plant with soap spray but pests will make short work of them for sure. Half a tablespoon of liquid soap to a litre of water should do the trick.

Also don’t worry about transplanting they into bigger posts with extra compost. Once you do it they might look a bit down for a day or two but will soon perk up! Just fill the new pot, make a hole for the plant approx the same size as it’s current pot. Turn the plant upside down & slide the stem between a couple of fingers then massage the pot and give it a firm tap on the base and it will come right out. Then just drop it into it’s new home.
 
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I have a plant that keep going droopy at the end of each day and then is fine again the next morning.

Is that normal guys? Seems to have plenty of water and temps are reasonable, maybe a bit high...

None of the others are doing it so maybe it is a variety thing?
 
Soldato
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@Cadder don’t be intimidated by mixing up some dish soap and water and giving the plants a spray. I’m with the others on killing off whatever pest might be setting up shop on your plants. You’re unlikely to kill your plant with soap spray but pests will make short work of them for sure. Half a tablespoon of liquid soap to a litre of water should do the trick.

Also don’t worry about transplanting they into bigger posts with extra compost. Once you do it they might look a bit down for a day or two but will soon perk up! Just fill the new pot, make a hole for the plant approx the same size as it’s current pot. Turn the plant upside down & slide the stem between a couple of fingers then massage the pot and give it a firm tap on the base and it will come right out. Then just drop it into it’s new home.

Thanks for that @Rathian that's really helpful, much appreciated. Is there an ideal setup for the new pots? I am thinking pots on saucers to water from the bottom, and sand or perlite (as oer @rotters setup) on top of the soil.

I do have neem oil on the way, but now it looks like I have two options. I have picked off what I saw on the leaves, only one was a full grown, moving bug. I assume the rest were eggs as they were hard and didn't move about.
 
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@Cadder Even better if you have some neem oil in the way, loads of people swear by it and you’ll probably end up using it later in the season anyway. It’s pretty hard to get through one with no pest issues at all it kinda come with the territory.

In the new pots there are lots of different setups you could go for but I would just keep it simple. Saucers for bottom watering is fine just make sure your pots have plenty of holes in the bottom for uptake and that you soil mix has good absorbent properties (bit of vermiculite can help). When you flood the saucer once it is no longer being absorber by the pot the pour away any excess.

Another small tip is if you have any plants that have got too tall aka leggy then just snip off the lowest pair of leaves and plant it nice and deep covering the excess stem in soil. This will add stability and it will actually grow roots from the buried stem too.

Oh an also get a feel for the weight of your pots with soil and plant before you water, then water them and feel the weight again. It helps you benchmark how much water is in the pot and if you need to water or not :)
 
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@Rathian - Looking good, very healthy looking chaps indeed :D

@Griffo You're very welcome mate, hope you get some awesome pods out of them eventually :cool:


Here's how things are looking, got a sturdy shelf in there, still waiting for the second light then I'll decide whether to grow some actual large plants or cram a shedload of new littluns on the top tier. Neglected the chaps a bit this week, didn't have the time so properly care for them and they're needy when they're in such small containers, some ended up looking super ropey but they're pretty resilient and I think they'll be fine :D

 
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@pooey Thanks mate, I'm enjoying the grow much more now I'm through the germination and fragile seedling stage!
Just got to try not to over care for the plants now :p

The shelf looks like it has slotted in perfectly and the space can be pretty much fully utilised.
I vote for shedload of little plants with a tonne of variety and some more of your crossing projects :D
I'm sure the plant that have had to fend for themselves will bounce back no problem!
 
Soldato
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No worries at all mate.
Sharing the little bits and piece I know is the leat I can do after all I have learned from other here!
Get a few pic of your plant up if you have the time, it would be great to see how they are doing :)

Thanks bud. Mine look like they're well behind @pooey, which is probably to be expected considering I only bought them less than two weeks ago ha! Progress pics below, first from 02.04.2021 and second from today (14.04.2021):

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y4m0ABN8cYBY0e409O-59XcndCaqMbjoX8XW45p0VlRwZXbPJE-1ZKmYk5qmJEdSozk0gh2icZE-bfGuyzIPk_8jtlm_UzGBrSEa5vgp34-Mepgg2WfFLrPX4CpSI-ry_xN019q0o59zDHY6JuTJt4I_t7aTKQFbPv1Y415QM52SwXaCAOrvXaPX_aRgdMgUPw2
 
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@Cadder they are looking good mate, some solid growth and looking healthy.
Not quite time to pot up yet IMO, but check the bottoms of the pot to see if the roots are poking through.
Or even gently lift one out to inspect the roots and see if they have filled the sides and bottom of the pot.

I wouldn't worry about comparing plants to anyone else as we all have different grow setups and age of plants.

Keep up the good work and you'll be sharing pics of chilli pods before you know it!
 
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This post is a bit of an aside to the recent updates theme but I thought would be appreciated.
For me growing chillis and other things is a hobby that I am passionate about but with a young family also one that has to be done on a budget.
I have found that with a bit of shopping around you can find some real bargains to keep your wallet, plants (and partner lol) happy. I though I would share a few below:

Doff liquid fertiliser range (£1 a bottle from poundland)
They do a 1:1:1 @ 3.5% percent that is great at half strength for seedlings and full strength for young plants.
Also a tomato feed that is great for when you plants start to flower and fruit. There are other pellet options too for amending soil all of which are far cheaper than anything I have seen in a brand name garden centres or DIY shops.

Wilson & Gregory compressed coir
Again just £1 from poundland although not all of them carry it.
Makes 10 litres and it good for starting seeds in and mixing with compost to add lightness, also better for the environment too than peat moss.
Also I love that it is compressed and so takes no space to store.

Poundland is also you friend for cheap plastic pots, spray bottles, twine, plant labels, wire etc and if you want to do hydro they have glass jars with thin metal lids that can be easily cut to fit a net cup and line from an air pump if doing DWC. If like me you like building weird and wonderful self watering pots then IKEA does a great range of containers in all sorts of shape and size that are cheap as chips.

Budget LED grow lights
Over the years I have tried a lot of budget LED lights and have probably spent the equivalent of a better quality brand name one.
In my experience it is best to avoid the bulb style ones and strips and to go for a panel array style. Anything with a fan nowadays is a pretty dated design and passively cooled is the way forward. There are a few options out there though that both work and are cheap:

For something small and suitable for a handful seedlings and young plants this works and I have it in my little lightbox:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/BOSYTRO®-Spectrum-Hydroponic-Greenhouse-Equivalent/dp/B08CTG8SMX/ref=sr_1_114?dchild=1&keywords=led+grow+light&qid=1618393448&sr=8-114

For something more industrial there are budget led quantum boards on Aliexpress, these are not the same quality as the offerings from spiderfarmer and marshydro but at the much lower price point I can accept the reduction in quality:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/100...earchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_

I do advocate supporting independent gardening shops so when I have some cash to splash I will often spend my money there on longer term things like tools.

I think that is just about my whole setup and where I source things from and if in doubt there is always amazon & ebay both of which are huge marketplace that mean competitive prices especially if you can get free shipping which keep costs down further.

As ever it a about a balance between price, quality and convenience but I hope the above can help those starting out, on a budget or are a bargain hunter at heart :p
 
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