(Part 3) Top products from r/HotPeppers

Okay, the light might be enough for a few seedlings if 32 watt is the actual true wattage but it's probably not enough Wattage/M^2 considering how many plants you have in there and it's definitely not enough light if you want to do the whole grow with it.

From the pictures it looks like you are doing some kind of diy kratky? Can you have a look at the roots? It could be root rot causing those symptoms. It's especially important that you keep the temperature low in the nutrient solution if you are doing kratky I believe, so yes dont warm it from underneath.

Are you letting the roots have some distance from the water? This is essential for kratky since you do not have airstones providing oxygen to the roots(assuming you are doing kratky).

When doing hydro its pretty much essential that you can read and control the ph. Pepper plants wants a ph of 5.5-6.5. My tapwater have a very high ph (around 8.0) which would cause a lot of nutrient deficiencies if I didn't monitor and adjust accordingly.
> WHY IS pH IMPORTANT?
When the pH is not at the proper level the plant will lose its ability to absorb some of the essential elements required for healthy growth. For all plants there is a particular pH level that will produce optimum results (see chart 1 below). This pH level will vary from plant to plant, but in general most plants prefer a slightly acid growing environment (between 5.5-6.0), although most plants can still survive in an environment with a pH of between 5.0 and 7.5.

http://www.simplyhydro.com/ph.htm

I would recommend you get a proper growlight, ph-meter and ph-down. With this you will come a long way and could produce fruits on your plants using only the growlight considering its winter in your country.

> it is scary how attached I have gotten to these little plants

I know the feeling :)

Also here is my Carolina reaper plant using the Mars Hydro 300 and an Oxypot 19 liters

Step one, you’re using terrible pots, switch to smart pots: Smart Pots 3-Gallon Smart Pot Soft-Sided Container, Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002JUY9I8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Ciy0Db905Y6GB

These allow the roots to breath AND air prune instead of death spiral, they let the soil dry more quickly, they drain easily and evenly. Your roots are suffocating right now, get them out of that asphyxiation death trap.

Step two, you need to eradicate with a foliage spray and root drench, Green Cleaner is your best bet for initial eradication every time: Green Cleaner CCGC1002 2oz Mite and Egg Killer https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01B55SKAK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_9ly0Db7SF4Y80

Follow instructions for making a foliage spray and a root drench and do both immediately, then follow up again in 10 days, then again if necessary. Make it a regular part of your integrated pest management plan.

Step three, you probably need a lighter, better draining soil. When you repot into the smart pots you need to heavily amend the soil with perlite, especially the bottom layer: xGarden 8 Quarts Horticultural Grade Premium Perlite - Coarse and Chunky https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LZDOLRI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Fry0DbTX67DB0

Step four, get a proper plant food routine going. Nectar For The Gods is a great nutrient line and you can get an amazing free sample kit if you pay postage, really an amazing deal: https://www.oregonsonly.com/samples/

I have used these nutrients on many chili grows with amazing success. Another great one is Emerald Harvest but expect to shell out a lot of money for it.

Step five, get an oscillating fan in there for airflow and increase your lighting.

Let me know if you have any questions, be sure to posy pictures of your unbelievable improvements.

As far as soil. I love Fox Farm Ocean Forrest. A little bit more pricey but the plants love it.

My lighting setup is:

Jump Start 2' T5 Grow Light System (Stand, Fixture & Tube)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0006856EQ

The light setup linked above has the stand and a decent light combined into one. It's a nice easy light setup and it worked for me last year.

This is what I've been using to alter PH levels, and it is working great for me. Just add in a cheap PH meter instead of the strips they come with and you've got a super easy and fast way to check and alter nutrient solution PH levels.

I bought a couple boxes of fresh peppers from that site several years ago and they were great. Then I found out the place was just over 1 hour from me (driving) in New Jersey and I bought plants from their nursery in person the last two seasons. Great plants, variety and quality. Also, Janie Lamson (of the couple that runs the place) co-wrote this guide to peppers which I found pretty useful in selecting new types to try. The peppers I didn't use from that first purchase a couple years ago went into vacuum bags / the freezer and were fine a year later for making hot sauce.

Edit: I didn't try planting seeds from the first pepper boxes I bought, but I'm just planting seeds now from the plants I had last year (plus I'm currently overwintering a few of them to see how that compares to restarting).

Depending on the literature I've read, anywhere from 1.5 - 5 miles, lol... that's not very practical, but you can certainly use organza bags like others have mentioned over your flowers.

Also, just to make sure you understand how crossing works ( I didn't when I first got started and for quite a while until somebody explained it to me ) -- if a cross happens, it only changes the seed, not the fruit. so if I planted a habanero seed next to a ghost peppers seed, both grew up and flowered at the same time, and both cross pollinated each other, come fall, I would still have a plant full of habaneros and a plant full of ghost peppers. If I saved those seeds (assuming they were 100% crossed) then I would have a batch of Ghobaeros and a batch of Haost pepper seeds.
Hopefully I explained that well, and you probably already knew all of that anyway, it's just that most hobby growers don't get overly worried about pure isolated seeds unless they're paying for them. When I actually pay for seeds I want them to be pure, but for trading, or personal saving, it's just not that important (for me). It's also my experience, that peppers prefer to self pollinate, not that crosses don't happen, they certainly do, it's just not super common, at least in my garden.

So by fermenting the sauce, you encourage lactic acid bacteria like Lactobacillus to give the sauce a distinctive sour taste. It's the same process that takes place with sauerkraut and kimchi. The bacteria that do the work are halophilic, which means they are salt tolerant. Lots of molds and bad bacteria can't tolerate salt. So by salting the raw sauce, you encourage the good microorganisms, and discourage the bad ones.

If you look at the nutrition labels of fermented chile sauces, most won't include vinegar. (They might add citric acid as a preservative.) So the lowdown is you don't need to add vinegar. Just like sourdough, it's going to get sour on its own. Actually, starting with vinegar will slightly inhibit the fermentation process.

This fermentation process is used in countless forms around the world to preserve vegetable products. So, provided the mixture is salted, it won't go bad if you keep fermenting it for longer than a week. People store fermented sauce in jars in a cool place all winter long, and it just keeps getting sourer and sourer. You can ferment your sauces until they achieve a piquancy you find acceptable, then boil and bottle. You should get some pH test strips at a pharmacy or department store; you need to have a pH of 4.6 or lower to prevent risk of botulism.

As far as exotic sauces, well, you can do a Caribbean style sauce with carrots onions, garlic and habaneros/scotch bonnets. Or you might make a sriracha style sauce, but add smoked onions and/or garlic. I recommend a stovetop smoker.

Your current clay pots are a good size for the re-potting phase.

I’ve started (seeding) mine in something similar to this: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00004RA48/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_9YMXBbN1SNX0J

Then re-pot into larger ones (when plants are 3-4 inches in height) and finally plant outside.
I start growing late January- early February and plant outside in late May. Depending on what peppers your growing, these plants get quite tall and bulky.

Slightly educated opinion. Stay away from that kind of crap. My wife it the crew lead on a 20 acre organic farm and I have a pepper hobby at home. All organic fertilizer, we don’t grow peppers at home to support Monsanto and dump a bunch of chemical on our hard work. You need fish emulsion ( which is exactly what it sound like) and Epsom salts. That’s it, alternate weeks of application and enjoy. Pepper Joe has a blog post that is spot on. https://pepperjoe.com/pages/gardening-tips-faq. If two random internet strangers agree it must be true.



Edit: Here is a Amazon.de link. It is pricey but it is a lot of it , a small bottle lasts me most of the season. https://www.amazon.de/gp/aw/d/B000IS780Y/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?__mk_de_DE=ÅMÅZÕÑ&qid=1522097048&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=fish+emulsion&dpPl=1&dpID=41pJJM10dRL&ref=plSrch

Epsom salts are Epsom salts, Aldi or Lidl should have them I assume. I am in the US so that’s a big guess.

Amazon has a seed starter with mat on sale today here

https://www.amazon.com/Avery-Print-High-Visibility-Round-Labels/dp/B00007M5L9

Look at the other Avery labels on Amazon right now. Many others are also half off right now.

> https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07TS82HWB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

With this amazing device https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00237Y5D6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Oof. I got rid of them with this before: https://www.amazon.com/Mother-Earth-Monterey-Horticultural-Oil/dp/B001RPVUCY/ref=sr_1_8?keywords=horticultural+oil&qid=1572615018&sr=8-8

Think this will hurt the ladybugs? From what I understand they don't eat the leaves.

I thought sport peppers are tabascos that are picked green and pickled, but your post prompted me to read up and I guess that's not quite the case!

EDIT - Found these, but can't speak to their reputability: http://www.amazon.com/Sport-Pepper-30-Seeds-Chicago/dp/B001P6EMC0

All the usual spots I look for seeds are currently out of stock.

EDIT #2 - Here you go, OP: http://www.tomatogrowers.com/SPORT/productinfo/9044/

Lots of reviews of this supplier: http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/97/

Here.

Kozy Coats?

I use them to get an early start on tomatoes, but I suppose you could try leaving them on the entire season.

Spontaneously, I use the recipes from this book. I'm a novice, really. Ive only fermented peppers once.

Here is the link to the product that the pepper grew out of. It's labeled as a Ghost Pepper and below it says India's Bhut jolokia. Not sure if that's the official name.

Ghost Pepper in a can

I feel you, my area went from dark and wet for a month, to insanely hot every day. Daily watering though will actually reduce the stress factor you’re after since they hate getting their feet wet, and can cause root rot. But the direct sun and heat definitely sucks. You could try shade netting! You can explore options like this on Amazon to reduce the amount of sun they get while still getting adequate air flow!