Growing Chillies

Status
Not open for further replies.
AcidHell2 said:
Your not wrong £99 for blue and going upto
£220 for others.
Click to expand...

You could get some superbright LEDs that match the wavelengths too. Then create an array of standard 5mm LEDs (add a few resistors) and power that. Not as intense light but would still do the job.
You'd need to put them close to the plant.

A guy on the chilli forum has four 130,000mcd blue set in an old espresso bean can to make a solarium for a signal chilli.. that chilli is now really doing well and fruiting once out of the blue (needs some red to trigger flowering/fruiting).
 
NickK said:
A guy on the chilli forum has four 130,000mcd blue set in an old espresso bean can to make a solarium for a signal chilli.. that chilli is now really doing well and fruiting once out of the blue (needs some red to trigger flowering/fruiting).
Click to expand...

Now that looks more up my street.

You know any sites that have the leds with wavelength..

NVm found some places..
Our the red ones meant to be around 650nm?
 
Last edited:
The mcd and lumen scales are a bit subjective. If possible find the light power output in watts.

You'd need quite a few LEDs to provide the light requirements of a full sized plant. What's not clear perhaps is that I think he moved away from the LED for the latter stages of growth to more normal methods once the plant grew too big for the tin.
Quite a few people make a 'box' which consists of a highly reflective (white paint or silver tin foil) lined box and use of lights inside. At that size an LED's output isn't as good although you can place them closer to the leaves as they have very little thermal output.

I've seen people use old christmas decorations but (a) the wavelengths are unknown and (b) the power output isn't known either.

Yup - blue is the ~450 range, ~650 is red.
 
Emlyn_Dewar said:
What variety of chilli would your bog standard, not too hot, supermarket pack be?
Click to expand...

There's a whole spectrum of Chillies and most sites give a relative scale of heat.

http://www.chillisgalore.co.uk/pages/varietys.html

This has an easier heat scale. For supermarket have a look at the mid heat such as the Kenyan, Anaheim or Jalapeño.

For pot ones:
Ring Of Fire - About 9cm long, turning from green to red. Can be grown in pots on a windowsill as the plant will grow to about 90cm high. Plenty of thin tapered chillis developing early in the season.
Click to expand...

You have the added bonus of the name to entertain..
 
Well, had some pasta arabiatta tonight, and had a chilli or two in it, kept the seeds and popped them in some cotton wool in a couple of plastic cups with water. Have no idea whether this will work or not but its worth a shot :)
 
Yes I have even more now :D I have that start just about to start pulling their baby leaves out of the seed case. The one in the photos above has just sprouted it's next leaf.

The important thing is to keep them warm and moist (but not water logged). They may take a while if they've been dried for storage. It can take 6-8 weeks to germinate.

I also have a replacement to the light that blew up.
 
Last edited:
Excellent - the Naga and Bhut will need some careful looking after initially to germinate.

Mine have taken a while to germinate but they're getting there. I've just moved the beer from the FV tonight so it'll be out of the way from the blue light (light+beer is not a good idea).
 
UPDATE!!! :D :D :D
I thought I'd add the post I have done on Chillisgalore forums here..

I'm a novice, and thought I'd grow some Chillis for a laugh.. keeps me out of mischief.
The purpose of this post is to provide some feed back and learnt experiences as a complete novice..

My knowledge about chillis (and plants) was very small - they need light, water and some needed to be kept warm..

Varieties
* Caldero Jalapenos
* Dorset Naga
* Scotch Bonnets (tescos chilli seeds!)

Equipment
1. Sutton Jiffy pellet things
2. Steward Propagator (heated, no thermo, semi damaged stock from B&Q - no handles but works well because they provide a space to allow the air to circulate which is perfect).
3.Enfis 465nm Light Engine - complete mis-use for this but it works!
4. Generic Desktop Halogen light
5.Tin foil with a good shiny side.

Baby Bio food
13cm pots
Levens House Plant compost
Levens Pearlite
Levens Vermiculite
Just today - Eurogrow 400W combo-grow. Metal Halide & High Pressure Sodium.

Back deep in the mists of time.. a Naga germinated. My first chilli.

IMG_0874.JPG


It seems that the way a chilli starts it's growth is to do this 'loop' with the root going down and the leaves still packed tightly in the seed. There's a temptation to help the plant along - from experience - leave it to get itself sorted. It will pull the leaves out itself.
Only if it's been trying and the seed is dried and hardened you may need to get the tweezers out and a magnifying glass out.. but they're easily damaged - managed to kill one by decapitating it.

Then you'll end up with something like this..
IMG_0876.JPG


This is the same seedling under the light engine (hence the blue). They don't need masses of burning hot light at this stage but will need a good amount if they're not to too thin stems. You get a feeling when they don't look 'happy' and a small rotation can help revive them.
You could get away with a couple of desk lights.. but it may be better to run with some LEDs or just admit that you'll really be looking at a grow light later anyway..
I use the light for a good 12 hours a day - but I've noticed they like their dark time.. often they've grown a bit during the night and straightened up. If you can - from experience - get a light so it's coming straight down otherwise they'll grow at angles or slightly bent.

The little leaves are the 'baby' leaves that first come out of the seed case. What is odd and caught me out is that if the germination is just under the soil or on the top, a couple of things to note: a) the seedling may not get enough purchase to free it's leaves, and, b) you may note that once the seedling gets bigger some little bits appear on the stem - these, in my case, turned out to be roots.. so the seedling was expecting to be a bit deeper! I solved this in the repotting..

I watered mine enough to so that the soil in the jiffy is moist but never keep over watering so they're water logged every day.

Mine were a little slim initially - the second light helped but they only really started accelerating growth and standing by themselves when I repotted them. Something caused them to wake up - perhaps the roots were confined? Anyway I've repotted both seedlings with a just a pair of initial leaves - seems to work fine.

When I repotted I took the decision to remove the outter casing of the jiffy. This lead to a few of the roots being broken but they sulked for a day or so then pepped up again and don't seem to be worse for wear.
The soil formula I used was simple to allow for moisture retention but also allows draining (based on the thread which died in the database crash):
1/4 Pearlite
1/4 Vermiculite
1/2 Houseplant Compost
Small sprinkle of moisture retention gel pellets

Once planted I stand the pot in water and also water from the top. This also causes the mixture to expand - so plan that in with your potting! Then from now on I just keep the soil moist to touch but not water logged.

At this point (today) I have seedlings just about touching the top of the propagator :mrgreen: and one Dorset Naga has a mean set of big leaves (which look out of place!) I've noted that some have heads at the based of the leaves - these I assume will become flowers later.

Tonight I shall set up my Chilli den. I don't use the airing cupboard so I'll rig up a chain support for the Eurogrow light. Initial impressions - good light output. The reflector is a little flimsy and the power block that comes with it weighs a ton! I was expecting, as the light is 'combo' that the light would hold two bulbs at the same time but instead the light holds one bulb and you get two bulbs (one Metal Halide and one High Pressure Sodium) and each is 400W.
The MH bulb gives a bluer colder light than the HPS. So initially I'll be using the MH bulb.
...
 
Well it was an easy job :)
These photos are from last night - they've straighten up and will be watching them like a hawk for temp and signs of stress today (working from home!).

The cupboard during 'daylight' is basically self heating thanks to the light as 400W in that space results in a warming effect. I have a thermostat controllable fan/re-circulator.

IMG_0959.jpg


The timer controls the light by using the 10A switch (the grey box on the cables). The black block is the really heavy power supply for the light. The light itself only requires a single socket. You can see the light engine (the thing with the fan) still suspended from it's makeshift holder (duct tape is the mutts nuts!).

IMG_0965.jpg


The 400W Metal Halide bulb in action.. this picture does not do the light justice. Think UK bright sunlight during our really brightest hottest summer day!

IMG_0966.jpg


The ones on the left have hit the roof this morning.. may need to make a draught guard (cardboard box with open top and bottom that the light came in!) and take the propagator lid off.

IMG_0967.jpg


IMG_0969.jpg


IMG_0970.jpg


A little temp drop initially but that increased later. I'm using the prop heating during the night although I think I'll need to come up with a different solution tonight as the plants are hitting the top of the prop..

The plants are still slightly bent this morning but are straightening (I don't expect them to straighten completely now).
 
Last edited:
I've started growing some bits and bobs now :)

- Tomato's
- Oregano
- Basil
- Chilli
- Sweet Onions

Oregano has started to sprout though after about 4-5days, and the tomato shoot has come out 2-3cm :D

Nothing from the chilli's yet but theres still time yet :)

Just using a propergator and sunlight, and some are in ordinary plant pots :)
 
My place doesn't really have a good sunny location unfortunately. Mixed with the chilli's requirement for a good amount of sunlight means some lighting is a must for me.
My basil plant and corriander plants on the kitchen window have basically died.. Mixing basil with chilli plants in the same location is good - the basil wards off some of the problem bugs etc supposedly.

You know chilli are just like tomatoes to grow - the only difference is the temperature requirement. ;)
 
Last edited:
Update - after a couple of days under the MH lamp (3rd March these photos were taken..).

I've raised the lamp slightly (about 1/2 foot) as the plants were showing signs of stress from too much light (slight scorching). In addition I've set the heater to ensure it keeps them warm (ideal temp seems 27-30 degC).
At night I have the old light cardboard box that provides a protective cocoon over the propagator base. I've giving them a good 7-8 hours kip and that seems to suit them.

They seem to be growing like rockets - this is their current state (3 days on).

IMG_0988.jpg


This weekend's tasks are to repot the seedlings still in their jiffy pellets and put a larger mat down. They still seem too young for taking out the prop as they start drooping a little if the temps drop to 25 or below but at some point they'll need to jump from the heated prop during the night to being standalone with just the air heater to keep them warm.
 
After getting the MH light on the 3rd, today I thought would be a good day to show the current state of the plants.

After the initial scorching the plants have recovered - the scorched leaves have neither yellowed, curled or dropped but do show a little 'battle scars' by have continued to grow without a problem. The light is about a foot above where it was initially when installed which gives a good four to five feet between the plant tops and the bulb.

I took these photos this morning after removing the cardboard box and the light has just been switched on (steps up power and slowly builds in brightness). This weekend will see a few more bits bought including a larger tray for the big plants to have some room.

IMG_1022.jpg


The Jalapenos (the taller) are all showing signs of developing flowers. Here you can see in the centre (slightly blurred even with macro - blame the user ;)):
IMG_1013.jpg


So going well so far - fingers crossed.

I'd thought I'd also comment on the growing conditions. It seems that the plants like 22degC during the night and 25-27degC during the day. They will cope with 32degC but do wilt slightly. Light is provided ~7am thought to ~11pm which is about their limit they seem happy with (they start looking like they need a rest). They like a good 8 hours darkness and then they seem to be completely refreshed in the morning.
Liquid wise these have been watered every day, although I'm about to step that back and simulate some dry periods. The soil is moist (perhaps a little too moist) so a dry period will help to reduce the soil moisture.
If there's a draught of <20degC they show quickly by drooping leaves and general posture change.

Today I'm going to recirculate the air through the plants themselves (without heating) and see what happens.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom