The 2011 Chilli growing thread - it's scorching!

First time trying this, just ordered some Jalapeno, scotch bonnet and ring of fire chilils seeds.

Was pretty gutted missed last time.

Going to need to read up some more on chilli growing and get down to B&Q at some point.
 
AcidHell2 said:
looking around it does appear some people use t5 strip lighting, but can only see bulbs at 30w although could easily make a 6 or even 8 bulb system.
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http://www.3ch.co.uk/lights/fluorescent-grow-lights/4-tube-t5-light-wave/prod_843.html as far as i can find out this is FOUR FEET LONG

for £95 you can get a4 tube system using 54watt bulbs it comes with reflector and just needs pluging in.

theres a smaller version aimed at propagation it comes with 2x 24watt tubes and costs £52.50
it is probably powerful enough for a few chilli plants because acording to what i can find out they dont need a massive amount of lumens anyway.
http://www.3ch.co.uk/lights/fluorescent-grow-lights/t-5-2-way-propagtion-light/prod_101.html


alternatively you could get a single tube solution like this http://www.growell.co.uk/p/5065/T5HO-Sunblaster-Propagation-Lights.html which is a single 24watt tube that costs £22 but they can be daisy chained together.

wilkos sell some similar ones but i never bothered to inspect them to see how many watts the bulb was
 
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Unlike these growbox gurus, I've decided to use good old fashioned sunlight :D

Theyre loving it this morning! Tina and Timmy Tabasco are a week old today.

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They grow up so fast! :D

Question: did you plant the seeds in those pots originally, or have you re-potted them? Some of mine are around that size now, and I'm wondering if it's time to re-pot. Currently I have three seedlings to one three inch pot.
 
Absomalutely said:
Unlike these growbox gurus, I've decided to use good old fashioned sunlight :D

Theyre loving it this morning! Tina and Timmy Tabasco are a week old today.
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nothing wrong with good old fashioned sunlight we just dont really get enough at this time of the year.

if you grow undrer lights you get much more compact plants and a lot less stem
 
Jadds said:
They grow up so fast! :D

Question: did you plant the seeds in those pots originally, or have you re-potted them? Some of mine are around that size now, and I'm wondering if it's time to re-pot. Currently I have three seedlings to one three inch pot.
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They sprouted on some kitchen paper in a tub that held an 8A(singapore style chow mein) from the local chinese. As soon as they sprouted, I popped them in individual pots. When they get 2-3 pairs of leaves, ill pot them on.

[Edit: If it was me, I'd seperate them sooner rather than later before the roots get too entangled with each other and before they start competing for space]
 
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Absomalutely said:
They sprouted on some kitchen paper in a tub that held an 8A(singapore style chow mein) from the local chinese. As soon as they sprouted, I popped them in individual pots. When they get 2-3 pairs of leaves, ill pot them on.

[Edit: If it was me, I'd seperate them sooner rather than later before the roots get too entangled with each other and before they start competing for space]
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How do you set up the tub? I like the idea of being able to see if anything happens. At the moment I'm intently staring at mud :D
 
NickK said:
I used a window sill all last year with overwintered plans - big harvest too!

I'm doing the same this year too.
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as i said nothing wrong with it you just end up with larger plants that wont be ready to harvest for awhile longer.

you would be amazed how much faster plants grow with 16hours a day of artificial light though
 
ive heard you can use chillifocus , you would probably need seaweed extract for the trace nutrients.

it will be a lot harder to manage nutrient burn and i bet a lot of trial and error until you get it right.

i dont know if its really worth it for chilli plants
 
Hydroponics is expensive to get into.

You need pots, pumps etc and the nutrient solution. Basically it's soilless and the nutrient solution is pumped over the roots every 15 minutes or so.

I looked into this with the HPS stuff. It's probably better to use just the bulb and normal potted plants. You have the option of putting them outside/window sills once they get too big.. hydro plants can be repotted but getting the roots sorted is an experience!
 
pcoltrane said:
Could anyone spare a few seeds? Particularly Jalapeños? Email in trust - happy to cover postage costs etc via paypal :)
Thanks
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I have some Cayenne seeds you can have if you're interested. They're hotter than Jalapenos, but not too hot. Great for using in chilli.
 
I really think mine are not doing well at all. There about a month old and half a centimetre out the soil lol.

oh well
 
NickK said:
Hydroponics is expensive to get into.

You need pots, pumps etc and the nutrient solution. Basically it's soilless and the nutrient solution is pumped over the roots every 15 minutes or so.

I looked into this with the HPS stuff. It's probably better to use just the bulb and normal potted plants. You have the option of putting them outside/window sills once they get too big.. hydro plants can be repotted but getting the roots sorted is an experience!
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depends what system you want there are many different ways of doing hydroponics.

the most simple is a bucket with a hole in the top which in pops a net pot full of clayballs this is where the plant will live (the seedling is started inside a rockwool cube or similar this sits inside the pebbles)

inside the bucket you have water and an airpump from a fish tank preferably one which pumps around 300litres of air and hour, this is what allows the roots to breath.

it is called a "bubble bucket" in DIY form, or it is called an "oxy pot" if you wanty the proper retail version but when they are so simple to make DIY is surely the best option.

all the hydroponic methods are explained here http://www.jasons-indoor-guide-to-o...ardening.com/hydroponics-growing-systems.html


i was tempted to get a small NFT setup to play with as its only 40quid but never bothered
 
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I was looking at a dog flood and drainage system on a timer, with a fish tank airator. As you say they are easy and cheap to build, but by your comments maybe not worth it. Not planning on moving plants to a window sill, house orientation is wrong and only get limited light.
 
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