Could you attach some pictures of the solo cup experiment. Tomt226 I would love to see the root difference.

TS,

OK, it's not an experiment, per se, but just an observation. Different peppers grow at different rates in my GH. The Lemon Drops, Tepins, Pequins, and Thai Hots, are growing faster than the Fatali's, Bhuts, Red Habs, and Numex Suaves. The first pic was taken yesterday of a 1/18 seeding, showing the growth differential. I repotted these as they grew enough to warrant transfer into solo cups. The second pic is one of the larger plants removed from the propagator and set out on a hanging shelf in the GH. As you can see on the digital thermometer, the temp high and low, and the humidity will fluctuate. Those are mostly Pequins, Thai's, and Lemon Drops.

Notice the root growth:

My Datil Chili just sprouted

And I found out I have to turn my camera sideways for the orientation to be right on this forum

Ohh. I forgot to mention something about using CLEAR plastic to warm soil.

Since the soil warms to temps so high(sometimes over 130F) it's likely that you will kill off the microbes in the soil.

For more info, research "solarization soil"

Kevin

New "problem" the leaves on a few plants are bubbly and curl under the also feel dry. It is on 4 of my extra serrano plants. I have never seen this before. Even though they are extra plants I tossed them in with my younger seedlings to give away. Does anyone have any idea what this could be?

TS, to my experience some varieties show that bumpy/ bubbly look. Sometimes excess water can cause that. It is called leaf edema.
On the other hand I think that , your seedlings (like in the picture) are ready to go into a pot with potting soil.

Seysonn

Here a typical picture of Leaf Edema

I know they are ready. I have been swamped the last few weeks. I usually over dry before watering. Could it be calcium I have never watched it in early stages.

This is like a pepper sorbet based on the size of all your pictures. Look at mine and you will feel great about yours

Ones that are ready to plant next week:

The slow pokes:

3 overwintered potted Bhuts will go into the ground too. Will plant three more to use next year the same way:

The tree hab planted. I just wanna see how big this'un will get. Last year I had one get to 8'. This one will have more growing space and more sun. I'll feed it on the same schedule as the tomatoes:

Good seedlings, Tom. The first batch is excellent. If the weather is right , they can all be planted out.

OOO! Those tree plants ! How old is the last one ? :And I like the planter too. Did you make it yourself ?

Ok. Zone 8 is fine. Pretty soon zone 7er are going to get into action >>> then zone 6er.
Let the season start !

Seysonn

Seysonn,

The tree hab and the 3 bhuts are one year old. Produced well in smaller pots.

Yep, I make three different kinds for here and for sale. If you have a table saw I can shoot you the dims and procedure. It's an open bottom like all the ones I make. Plastic isolates The ACQ chemicals from the soil. Those are four years old...

Thanks Tom,

I do have a table saw and I am a woodworker.
Just tell me the lumber width you have used and the tilt angle . I see you have used 12 pieces.
I have some cedar lumber. that I think they are about the same width and thickness in yours . The thickness is not crucial.
For the bottom you can use galvanized wire cloth, as one option.

About pot size: I am using 4 gallon nursery pots. Of course I am growing them as annuals. And my grow season is about 5 months.

Seysonn

Looks like 16 degrees on my template. The pieces are 14" long. Easiest way to assemble is to use some PL construction adhesive and a band clamp. Let it sit up, or pin it with a brad nailer. The banding is just 3/4" galvanized plumbers strapping. Doesn't need a bottom as I want the roots to grow into the ground. That material is 2X6 ACQ. Inside is lined with regular old 4 mil black plastic stapled on.

Thanks for the instructions, Tom
I am going to make one. I have 2 pieces of 2x6. That is enough for one planter.

Seysonn

I've made some out of cedar, and it's better to work with than the ACQ, because the treated wood will shrink a bunch cross grain, as you can tell by the previous pic. I would definitely water-seal it with Thompsons or similar to slow down the termites. Here's one before spending summers in the sun:

Actually, there's eleven pieces. Never hurts to have one left for a temp...

Pretty basic geometry. Every shape is 360*. Say, for example, you wanted an octagonal planter. You would take 360* divided by 8 (the # of corners/angles) and get 45* for each "corner." Since it takes 2 boards to make each corner, you would divide that 45* in half, giving you a 22.5* angle for your beveled cut on the table saw. Keep in mind, the dimensions (width) of the lumber you use will determine the final size (circumference/diameter) of the finished planter. For example, an octagonal planter made of 2x6's isn't going to be very big! The more sides, the better I'd think. At least in a situation like this. Just trying to show a basic formula for "DIYers" who might not have the best carpentry skills. FWIW

Nice planter, by the way, Tom.

Mike

Thanks Tom,. With cedar you shouldn't get any termite (?). Most of my tomato stakes are made from cedar lumber they wont rot. But a few from regular pine rotted.
@Mike: Yes it is simple geometry. (saw tilt =360/2n)
Diameter of the circumscribing circle depends on (1) number of the pieces and (2) width of the lumber used.

PS:
I will take some pictures later and pots.
Right now I am hardening off my tomatoes. After planting them out, I will start working on my pepper plants. They are tooo big right now. some of them (chenzo, NuMex Twighlit, Shishito) have pods.

Seysonn

Thanks Mike. I drew it up on AutoCad and transferred it to a temp on 1/2" CDX that I use for a jig.

Season,

Down here, termites will eat any cedar, including western red, but shy away from local stuff, called "ashe juniper" as long as it has sap in it. Once it's dried, it's gone. Replaced many a 12" foundation post for houses after twenty years or so....

Got 12 new Bolivian rainbow sprouts. A couple of them just sprouted today and a few are partially sprouted (you can see them about to pop up)

Andrew, ... that is quite a number for just one variety. I am growing no more than a couple of each variety. I do not have the Bolivian, but have Chinese 5 color. Pods are similar but the plant is not.

@ Tome. That is interesting. Never heard of Ash Juniper. I know one wood that won't rot. It is called Crab apple in MO. I forgot the other name.
Today I checked my cedar boards. They are 2x4 not 6". So I will have to make out of 16 segments instead of 12. The tilt angle will be 11.5 degrees. .

Seysonn

I know I'm "splitting hairs" here, but (Seysonn) your angle should be 11.25*. 360* divided by 16 (# of sides/angles) = 22.5* per angle. Now, cut that 22.5* in HALF (2 boards to make up 1 angle/corner) and each board should have an 11.25* bevel cut down each side. I understand that we're only talking about a 1/4* (which can be tough to hone in on a table saw), but the math SHOULD add back up to 360*. 11.25* x 2 (boards to make up 1 COMPLETE angle) x 16 (# of TOTAL angles) = 360*. Again, I don't mean to nitpick, it's just an easy formula for beginner DIYers to use who might lack some basic carpentry skills.

Mike

Seysonn, I only plan on keeping a couple for myself. I have a lot of family and friends that begged me to grow them one.

The plants I have left over I'm going to use for a bonsai project during the winter season

Seysonn,

Another wood, if available in your area that resists rot is Black Locust.

Here's a few from this year.

exgw..
Thanks for recommendation. i'll look for it. But In our PNW, cedar is plenty and not very expensive.

Ok guys. Thanks for posting.
Remember, spring , if has not arrived there yet. it is just around corner.
One way to keep this planet warm is by planting HOT peppers :_)

Seysonn

Pic from February as the seedlings were just starting to take off. About 600 plants total across about 8 varieties. Up here in Canada, can't get these into the ground for another couple of weeks:

Be interested to know what varieties ya'll plant up there.

BTW, is that double wall polycarbonate I see in the pic? If it is, I'd be interested in knowing how well that stuff holds up.

Thanks,

Tom

Hey Tom, yeah, over the past 2-3 years I've cut down on the total varieties and just work with what does well. I have for the sweets, red bell, Purple Star, and an Italian Carmen called "Sweet Tooth". For hots, I only do Jalapeno, Serrano, Cayenne, and Habanero.

The greenhouse is 8mil polycarbonate. Its virtually indestructable. Expensive, but so worth it. Built it last summer:

Here's a shot during our "severe" Victoria winter:

Nice! I like the cedar. Last cedar one I built, the termites ate it.

ironmike_usmc zone 6A CT I
know I'm "splitting hairs" here, but (Seysonn) your angle should be
11.25*. 360* divided by 16 (# of sides/angles) = 22.5* per angle. Now,
cut that 22.5* in HALF (2 boards to make up 1 angle/corner) and each
board should have...
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Yes Mike , you are not splitting hair. That is exactly what it is, ( as I have already mentioned it in my post, last Sunday ) the cut (saw tilt angle) is 360/2n ;;; "n" being the number of piece. You can have slightly bigger angle for ease of fit.
The one that Tom showed in his picture had 12 pieces that is why the angle was different. Tom said his template is about 16, but exact angle should be 15 degrees.

Back to topic:
Mike how is the weather up there in CT , my former state ? I have lived 12 years in Southern Fairfield County. I visit my friend up there every year.
Have you been germinating yet ?

I'm gonna have to split hairs. The planter pictured has 11, I repeat 11, pieces, providing 22 angles of 16*21'49".

I've got 40 years of surveying to fall back on...

It looks light there might be a light at the end of the tunnel here in CT. We're coming out of a BRUTALLY cold winter. Record lows several times in February. They've been calling it the coldest winter on record in 110 years. Lately, daytime temps have been in the mid-40's, and nighttime temps hovering around 32*, so we're not out of the woods yet. Last year, I was hoping to plant out around Mother's Day, but it ended up being Memorial Day.

This year, I think I started too early. Sowed all of my seeds January 25 (26th?). I think it was mostly out of boredom! I've got Douglahs, 7 Pot Madballz, Red Brain Strain, and Reapers, all seeds from Jason (judo_and_peppers, anyone heard from him lately?). All seeds had very good germination rates, especially the Reapers (100%, 9 out of 9), which popped up in 4-5 days. I was shocked! All sown directly into a seedling tray (no paper towel method) in MG Seed Starting Mix. Potted up into 0.75 gallon pots in 5-1-1 a few weeks ago. Under four 48" T12 lights on a timer from 6pm-10am (coldest hours of the day here). I'll be growing in 5 gallon buckets this year.

I also ordered a few seedlings from CCN, that should arrive the 3rd week in May. Biker Billy Jalapeño, Yellow Scotch Bonnet, Chocolate Scotch Bonnet, Carribean Red Habañero, White Bhut, and "Jay's Peach Ghost Scorpion."

Yeah Mark. It seems that warmer air is pushing up from the south. The warm trend has already reached Maryland and even further north. Harsh winter, does not mean mean that your summer be be late or cold. You never know might end up the best growing season. I would say, stick to your schedule and stay optimistic. .
Though here in PNW we had very mild Feb and Mar., now April is back to average, and cooler than March.
I see a lot of warm weather is developing in mid US, from south TX all the way up to Canadian border. Eventually, little by little the warm weather should blend in. Or that is how I would like it to happen.:-)

Seysonn.

Thanks Tom. Its actually fir, if you can believe it! I painstakingly stained each piece of wood before building it. All the studs, rafters, everything. Here's a shot of the east corner at the end of summer:

Here's the Jalapeno beds being filled with compost and mulch in October:

And here are the beds in January after the fall rye cover crop is just about ready to be mulched:

My pepper and tomato operation is going to be WAY different this season with an actual proper place to start everything!

Very neat and well organized. I like the black stain with the base color.

Very nice greenhouse with a beautiful design to detail.

Good Job, TRTF. As Tom said, very neat and well organized.

Seysonn

Thanks guys, much appreciated! Now I just hope to get all these veggie starts out of the way so I can start planting the best hots in the beds. The greenhouse is literally wall-to-wall starter plants right now. Its chaos!

Wow theripefarm. I know the feeling.
I have broken down mine into individual containers (there is still a few straglers that are too small yet to transfer) and some moved into 1 gallon containers. I had to use Costco boxes since I ran out of containers to hold them all. All in all maybe 280 total. I lost some due to sun stroke, bugs (damn slug had his way with a few and a few aphid related) some to transfer shock, maybe some to overwater, some to the cold nights, and some weaklings just couldnt handle it. Even at 280, it is
probally still too much. Anyway, I have moved some to 1
gallons (mostly annums), some of which are growing so fast, I had to pinch buds and chop the tops. Then of course there are the overwinters. This picture is just 1 side. 1 more batch like this on the right- not shown.

Nice Ronny!! That's a ton of plants! All for your consumption or some for trade/sale? What varieties? Looks great.

Started hardening off my plants yesterday. I was getting impatient and don't want them in my house any more. Next transplant I want to do is outside into ground...and not another pot inside. Thanks to everyone about the seed starting process. It's been a long road for me but I'm finally making it. These germinated during the first week of March. My tomatoes and zucchini are also making a debut. The peppers that I have are: Yellow Devils Tongue, Thai Red, Scotch Bonnet, Chocolate ghost, 7 pot brainstrain, Shishito, Lemon drop, Yellow fatali, Trinidad moruga

Here they are!!!

Also hardening off some over wintered peppers. My carribean red hab already has new growth. In the pic I have mustard habs, carribean red, and some bells (which I personally don't care if they do survive...I wasn't a fan and just wanted to see if they could overwinter). I don't know if all of them are alive until it gets a little warmer.

ripetomfarm

what are the dimensions of your GH? nice handiwork. Also, the raised beds are what: 2x4s and 2x8s? nice. takes a lot of mix to fill those up, i bet.

ripetotomatofarm,
Those would be for personal consumption. I may sell some plants on craigslist or garage sale as things progress. Went overboard a bit but had so many varities of seeds, I had to try. Maybe 75 varities in all.
I use ALOT of chilis for personal use. Even when I eat out, I have to eat chilis- homemade powder. That mild stuff they give you is too weak for me.

The list is huge. Its on this thread. lists

The hard work is paying off. I now have most of the seedlings planted out. There are a few I am hardening off. I have 4 more in the closet I am going to let them get bigger before I harden them off. I had to toss a bunch that the aphids just would not relent on. I will be decontaminating my closet, and starting a few more that I hope to turn into fall plants.

I had some that I wanted to get some ripe pods off of, and instead of going through a full on winter prep of defoliating, and root washing I just brought them in. So it caused an aphid outbreak in my seedlings. Lesson learned the hard way.

Here is one of the better looking seedlings planted out last week.

Yellow Devil's Tongue on the left. A sickly Red Scotch Bonnet on the right.

bragu_DSM 5, the greenhouse itself is 20 x 20. The beds on the north side (2) are 6x18"x2 and the beds on the south side (3) are 4x2x2. It took a TON of compost, but I also had a the whole winter. So I grew multiple cover crops (fall rye and alfalfa), plus I had wet leaves galore. Add in fish water every week and the beds filled up quite quickly. I'm anxious to pot the Jalaps and Habs this week or next....as soon as I can move the last of the speedling trays out!

ronnyb123, that's awesome man. A true pepper lover no doubt! Especially if you bring your own powder! Ha ha!

My scorpions and ghosts are coming along nicely, I think. But I'm concerned about this splotchy discoloration along the leafs edges. Powdery Mildew, maybe?

These are about five weeks since planting, but I spent two of those weeks without a heat mat. As soon as I warmed the spoil they began sprouting.

Loaded a bunch of seedlings into 1 gallon containers and now they are
getting big. Have alot still in the Green House but I cant believe I ran
out of buckets (ok I can believe it) Used 108 1 gallon containers. I will eventually move
those into 5 gallon when they fill the 1 gallon pots. I noticed some of the seedlings are root bound (I dont plan on using those- those will be for sale later) so I will put those in 12oz cups and I snipped the tops to slow down growth hopefully.

My goodness, Ronny,
You have so many plants. Is there an end for it ? LOL
I think that I started about 2 weeks too early this year. About half a dozen of my plants have buds. I keep harvesting green golden Cayennes. When I am done with my maters ( withing a weeks) I will get on with my peppers. By then the temperature should be fine.

Seysonn

There better be an end. I just spent 30.00 MG soil and a few bags of filler soils to thin out our clay soil.

Seysonn, Snips the buds and trim the tops. That should help. I did not start mine until mid feb. Last yearI started in Jan and it was too early. The first that popped seedlings are now the ones that are the biggest- most are annums. Chinese are taking longer to get big (except a few reapers which are good size.)

You should be harvesting Chenzos here shortly. Make sure to taste a piece.