Congrats on the first sprout .

As long as the seeds are kept moist, they should sprout. The thing is that it happens faster when the temperature is on the warmer side (80 - 85F).

Yeah I'm sure the rest will be up in the next couple days. They're all sitting on a heat map with soil temp around 85. So far it's been 10 days I believe.

That set up looks great. Nothing better than making something on the cheaper side to go as far as spendy equipment. As long as you have a small breeze a few hours a day once sprouted to build strength, stability, and to keep fungi from developing, also if the temps drop a little more at night then what the temp it is during the day, I can imagine you will have some great peppers on the way!! Good Luck man

Thanks MorugaMan. I'm pretty happy with how the pvc stand turned out. I stole the design from a youtube video I saw at one point. I made the stand 2' taller than what that guy had so I would have the capability to put taller plants under light if I needed to down the road. The fixture and bulbs (4 T-5's) are probably overkill as 2 cheap shoplights could've accomplished the same thing... the stand only cost about $37 for the 1.5" pvc, fittings, and eyebolts and it's sturdier than one I could buy for twice that.

I have a normal oscillating stand fan going in there just for some airflow and the night temps drop about 10deg to around 60F.

Ok, so I noticed after the OP that the ones that were starting to come up disappeared... no expert, but I know that shouldn't happen. I dissected a couple cups and I think the top half of the cups are drying out too quickly. The seeds that did germinate look like they dried out. I don't know if it's because I didn't get the mix wet enough to begin with or if it's because the humidity dome wouldn't fit snugly over the flat because of the round cups... probably a combination of both.

Sucks I wasted almost 2 weeks and have to start over but hey it's a learning experience. I think I'm going to just get some real seed starting mix and some square cell inserts today and re-sow this evening.

I start mine in paper towel. Once I see signs of germination then I transfer them to a 2.5 ' pot, HALF full with starting mix. As they grow I fill the pot until there is about one inch is left unfilled. From there on they will be fine because the roots are way down and there is very little chance to dry out UNLESS I just neglect them. Right now I have about 15 seedlings of various sizes growing under light.

Maybe try these small plastic cups from Walmart, they're about 2 dollars for 50. I put them on the heat mat to germinate, and they are small enough to retain all the moisture. It has worked very well for me at least. After germination I just drop the whole amount of soil within them (w the seedling) into 16oz plastic cups for the grow box.

...be sure if you do to keep a watchful eye on them, as once they pop up they don't have much room till they reach the top where the lid is :)

Just keep a close look on them and make sure the soil stays moist while seedlings. They need it

Just keep a close look on them and make sure the soil stays moist while seedlings. They need it

Thanks for the germination tips guys. I ended up just getting some square cell flats. I made sure I got the mix nice and moist to start off and because they're not round, the dome fits nicely so I'm positive now they'll stay moist.

juts, in the future I think I will use those condiment cups with paper towels. I like the paper towel method and those small containers would be perfect if you're just trying to do a couple of each variety.

So after starting over, this time they stayed too moist lol. One extreme to the next... This time I think they'll be ok though. I didn't open any of the vents on that humidity dome and from lack of air flow, a layer of white fungus started to grow. I took the dome off and let it air out for a few days. The fungus didn't go away. After a little research, yesterday I sprayed some 3% hydrogen peroxide diluted with water. Just enough to wet the top layer of soil. So far so good. 99% of the fungus is gone and this morning I have a few sprouts pushing through.

I knew it would take a little trial and error the first time around but at least now I know what I need to do to keep it moist but not too moist... domes are nice if you can't check on them constantly but either open the vents if your dome has them or take the dome off for a few hours a day.

In over 25 years of starting peppers I never used a dome.I got 90% germination last year just watering the surface of the soil when needed. You ca tell by the color of the mix when it starts to dry.I noticed water droplets on your new sprout not a good sign , Your roots need water the rest of your plant likes it a little dryer in fact fungus loves wet. Roots need oxygen and your seedling needs airflow. Try the paper towel method if you dont have to monitor your soil and supply good air flow when your plant comes up. Plants can choke on oxygen buildup just as we would from CO2 if we were sealed in. You dont need a strong wind , just enough to move fresh air in around the leaves to replace the oxygen plants breath out . I dont like domes and dont use them.

That poor jalapeño seedling pictured above didn't make it unfortunately. It was wet in that pic because I had just misted the soil surface. In my initial attempt, I was using 50/50 peat/perlite just because I had it on hand for 511 mix but I think I didn't get it wet enough to begin with and it was drying out super fast.

As I mentioned above, I started over, and now about half my cells have sprouted and are under lights now so they're doing pretty good. I do have a standard cheap oscillating stand fan in there so they're getting some air flow.

So everything has been going pretty good. No more fungal issues since some have come up and I've gotten them under lights. I noticed when I got home last night, however, that a couple of seedlings were dried up. The soil is moist but I noticed my thermometer said it was almost 90F under the lights. I had the light as close as possible, maybe an inch away. It seems these fluoros run a little hot? It's a 4' 4xT5 fixture. I thought it was ok to have them that close and that I didn't have to worry about burn as long as they weren't touching?

I just thought of this... I did have to take my little oscillating stand fan out of the room for the day. Possible this had something to do with it?

Here's the flat. You can see the soil is moist compared to the top right 2 cells that are dry.

2 of my 3 Datil's dried up :(

Jalapeno

Any ideas?

This post was edited by ka0ttic on Wed, Feb 5, 14 at 8:54

I think the one in the second picture will pull through...

I like to spray a little on the top every once in a while, but I don't know if that makes any difference. Your seedlings are at the stage that the root is at least 3 times longer than the stem itself. So as long as the soil is moist below the surface at all, you should be fine. Maybe this was light burn.

This post was edited by kclost on Wed, Feb 5, 14 at 9:25

kaOttic, seems that your seedlings are coming along well.

I usually would fill those cells just about half full. Later on, as they grow taller i fill it up to about 80% full. This way the roots will stay moist longer and wont dry out as quickly. AND I do the same when potting into 3" pots and fill it about 70- 80% and fill the top with small pine barks. Another thing: I bottom water. This way the top is always dry and so no fungal activity.

They are doing pretty good. I'm still having a little issue with some burn on some of them though unfortunately. For example, 5 of my 6 datil's have burnt up. It must be from the lights because they are/were moist. I raised the lights a little further from them and even switched to 14 on/10 off instead of 16 on/8 off so we'll see what happens.

kaOttic,

I notice some of them had burn. What is/are the wattage of the tubs? I have T8 and get 2x32w . Never have experienced any burn. B'c I always allow about 1' distance.

I have switched to 12/12. They are doing fine.

Its a 4' 4xT5 fixture. I believe the bulbs are 54w 6400k.

Slowly getting there...

kaOttic, greetings,
Now you are talking . Those are very nice seedlings, as I can tell from the picture. The cells are big enough till plant out, ie, in FL zone 9. Your season must be starting already. My plant out is about 5 weeks away.

I dont use domes. When you remove it your plants can just dry up plus you have fungal problems.I do like the paper towel method though and have no problems with my plants without a dome. Reepers, 7 Pod [ Lg, Primos,Douglah] B Taylors,Peach Butts, Black Naga,Congos , and Chocolate Moruga Scorpions. Round 2 will be (Red, Yellow and Brown Trinidad Scorpions , [ Red and Brown Butts. Round 1 is all seed I got from other members , Round 2 will be seed I saved

Most of the jalapeno's and hot hungarian wax were potted up yesterday:

All the hotter varieties still pretty small and bushy (there's basil and a few tomatos in there as well), getting some fresh air outside. They're not looking the greatest. I've had a hard time regulating moisture and keeping good air flow but I think they'll be alright once I get them potted up as well.

This post was edited by ka0ttic on Sun, Mar 23, 14 at 10:17

Nice looking plants. I would assume your weather is good enough to keep them outside permanently. Keep us updated with pics. I'm still a little over a week away from plant out.

Tim

Yeah for the most part. I had to bring them in for the last couple days just because of 15-20mph winds and it did drop down to high 30s last night. Thinking I should be able to put them back out tomorrow hopefully.

kOttic, glad your babies are doing fine, after that first problem.
Down to 30s in Florida, in March ?
I am hardening off mine right now. Our lows are around 41F. But I have them under the hoop over night though. I will train them for couple of weeks before planting them in big permanent pots.

Seysonn, yeah just that one rogue night anyways. The wind finally died down enough for me to put them back outside this morning. They're doing pretty good for only using organic fert. All the ones I've potted up in 1gallons (top picture) are already flowering.

Everything, potted up. Most of the c. chinese are quite a bit smaller than I really wanted them to be before moving outside permanently, but I needed the light space for other seeds...

You can see the smallest one, which is a 7pot brain strain yellow. Took >30days for that little guy to emerge!

One of the Datil's had ants all up in the roots. I also noticed before that I was having an ant problem with one of the Datil's I overwintered. Coincidence?

For potting mix, I used "Just Natural" brand potting mix from Lowes (about $2/cu ft) consisting of composted pine bark, composted forest materials, sphagnum peat moss, and lime, that I mixed with coarse perlite (5 parts potting mix to 1 part perlite) and a 3-4-4 organic granular fert.

kaOttic, I am sure in zone 9b, FL, you have no LF problem.

Tim, It is about time, to plant out for me here. Have you done it yet ? I believe we have LF behind us but some nights can get a bit chilly down to 38F. But mostly it stays above 40F. So I am ready to do it any day now.

Bottom left: Scorpion Butch-T, Bottom middle: Carolina Reaper, Bottom right: Datil, Top left: Choc. Scotch Bonnet, Top middle: Datil, Top right: Trinidad Douglah

Something has definitely been munching on a few of these, mainly the bottom right Datil, but so far not enough to worry about.

Outside left: Trinidad Congo, Inside rubbermaid: Bottom left: 7pot Brain Strain (Yellow), Bottom middle: store bought sweet pepper, Bottom right: Billy Goat, Top left: Indian Carbon Bhut, Top middle: Fatalli, Top Right: Naga Morich

Jalapenos.

Hot Hungarian Wax

One or two of the superhots are just now starting to flower. The jalapeno's have a few pods each, and the HHW's are already loaded. I'm late on potting up the latter two. They are still in 1gal's. I'm waiting to get some 5 gal fabric pots in the mail for those guys, and the superhots will be going into 7gal fabric pots in the next few weeks. So far, I've been able to do these organically with no major issues.

It's been a minute since I've posted any updates. Everything is doing quite well. Here's a few pictures after potting up into 7gal fabric pots (and a couple 7-10gal plastic)...

From 5/14:

From 5/30:

First real harvest from 6/1. Most of this came from small plants that I hadn't gotten around to potting up yet. Jalapeno's, HHW, and banana peppers:

Harvest from 7/12, includes some reapers, douglah's, choc. scotch bonnet, billy goat, banana pepper, giant marconi:

I just did another harvest today and got a similar pile to the one above. I'll try and get recent pics of the plants themselves tomorrow. My fatalli has yet to set its first pod. My Datil's are just now setting pods (a BUNCH). Everything else has seemed to be doing 4-5 pods at a time, steady since early June.

This post was edited by ka0ttic on Sun, Jul 27, 14 at 22:31

What is that lone red one on the bottom of the last picture?
Randal

That would be a billy goat pepper.

What about the three red ones in the middle left?

I'm a little fuzzy since that was a couple weeks ago but I want to say those are Trinidad Congo's.