# Phormic28's Hot Pepper Grow Log (2018-2019)



## antinous (Oct 17, 2018)

Wanted to keep track of the plants that I'll be growing and figured some people may be interested. I'll be growing mainly hot peppers, however, I might be growing some tomatoes as well.

10/16/18 - Started 4 different varieties of peppers via the plastic baggie method: Bohemian Beast Peach, Nagabon x Yellow Primo, Butch x Jonah Yellow and Cumari do Para. All seeds are kept at 80-85 F while germinating and they should germinate in about a week or two.

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## AnObeseHippo (Oct 17, 2018)

Getting a bit of a headstart on next season, aren’t ya?

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## antinous (Oct 17, 2018)

AnObeseHippo said:


> Getting a bit of a headstart on next season, aren’t ya?


More like getting a bit impatient haha

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## AnObeseHippo (Oct 17, 2018)

Phormic28 said:


> More like getting a bit impatient haha


I feel ya. I started some a month ago. Who knows, maybe we get an indoor batch of peppers in


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## antinous (Oct 17, 2018)

AnObeseHippo said:


> I feel ya. I started some a month ago. Who knows, maybe we get an indoor batch of peppers in


Hopefully haha. What kind of grow lights are you using?


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## pannaking22 (Oct 17, 2018)

I need to start grabbing seeds and getting mine going. I have the benefit of being able to just stick them outside in February  I'm planning on cutting back all my plants once it gets cold enough to try to get them to come back again next year. We'll see how that goes. I'm hoping with some of my quick ones that I can get peppers before it gets stupidly hot here and all growth/production stops. It was so frustrating to watch the plants struggle to produce flowers only to have them fall off, occasionally producing a pepper that would fall off. I managed to get one gypsy pepper over the summer, but now all my plants look like they're going to break because they have so many peppers starting to grow on them.

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## antinous (Oct 17, 2018)

pannaking22 said:


> I need to start grabbing seeds and getting mine going. I have the benefit of being able to just stick them outside in February  I'm planning on cutting back all my plants once it gets cold enough to try to get them to come back again next year. We'll see how that goes. I'm hoping with some of my quick ones that I can get peppers before it gets stupidly hot here and all growth/production stops. It was so frustrating to watch the plants struggle to produce flowers only to have them fall off, occasionally producing a pepper that would fall off. I managed to get one gypsy pepper over the summer, but now all my plants look like they're going to break because they have so many peppers starting to grow on them.


I hate you lol. Start a Glog too, I'd love to see how others grow their peppers and it'd be cool to see how germinating and growing indoors compares to starting them indoors. Also if you need any seed vendor recs, PM me, I have a bunch of good vendors saved in a document haha.

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## pannaking22 (Oct 18, 2018)

Phormic28 said:


> I hate you lol. Start a Glog too, I'd love to see how others grow their peppers and it'd be cool to see how germinating and growing indoors compares to starting them indoors. Also if you need any seed vendor recs, PM me, I have a bunch of good vendors saved in a document haha.


One of the very few perks of getting away from Chambana lol. Talking to my botanist coworker he says that most people grow their plants here during the fall/winter because it's too hot during the summer. Definitely something for me to keep in mind for the future.


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## antinous (Oct 18, 2018)

pannaking22 said:


> One of the very few perks of getting away from Chambana lol. Talking to my botanist coworker he says that most people grow their plants here during the fall/winter because it's too hot during the summer. Definitely something for me to keep in mind for the future.


How hot does it get if I may ask? A lot of the super hots grow in climates that are pretty arid and hot (deserts of India, Trinidad, etc.) and they usually fair well so I don’t see why they wouldn’t grow in the summer. Super Hot seeds optimal germination temps are 80-90 degrees so I feel like you’re at the best place haha.Worse comes to worse you can always plant them in a planter and move them around a bit. Best thing is that you can actually ‘stress’ the plant and that would make the pods spicier from what I was told.


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## pannaking22 (Oct 18, 2018)

Phormic28 said:


> How hot does it get if I may ask? A lot of the super hots grow in climates that are pretty arid and hot (deserts of India, Trinidad, etc.) and they usually fair well so I don’t see why they wouldn’t grow in the summer. Super Hot seeds optimal germination temps are 80-90 degrees so I feel like you’re at the best place haha.Worse comes to worse you can always plant them in a planter and move them around a bit. Best thing is that you can actually ‘stress’ the plant and that would make the pods spicier from what I was told.


From like May-early September it's 105+ every day, 110+ in June-August. I don't have any super hots though, so I wonder if they'd take it better than any of my other peppers. I was thinking about elevating my current plants so they'd be up off the concrete. Not sure if it would necessarily help, but probably worth a shot. They'd get sun until about 11 and then be shaded for the rest of the day.

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## antinous (Oct 20, 2018)

Decided to do bit of an experiment with germinating the seeds:

1) Used the ziplock bag method and put a couple bags in the sling incubator. Stays around 80-85 degrees.

2) Used the condiment container method. Put three containing 5 seeds each on top of my cable box. Stays in the low 90s.


3) used the condiment container method again. Put four containing five seeds each on top of my modem. Stays from 92-105.

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## antinous (Oct 21, 2018)

Some have already germinated surprisingly, I’ll be setting up the double cups and lights tomorrow. Pretty excited to see how this will all turn out!

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## The Snark (Oct 21, 2018)

Meanwhile, the only thing I am able to grow reliably is mold in the bathtub.

But I am enjoying seeing things develop here. Thnx for the updates.

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## antinous (Oct 21, 2018)

The Snark said:


> Meanwhile, the only thing I am able to grow reliably is mold in the bathtub.
> 
> But I am enjoying seeing things develop here. Thnx for the updates.


I’m sure you’ll be able to grow them as well if you tried! Who knows, I may fail horribly. I’ll post photos along with details on what I did and what exactly I used if anybody wants to critique or do what I did if it ends up working.


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## The Snark (Oct 22, 2018)

Phormic28 said:


> I’m sure you’ll be able to grow them as well if you tried!


I believe I have a degree, magna cum laude, in botanical biocide. My father was a gardener. I've attempted to grow things from radishes to Sequoia sempervirens and everything in between. My 'managed to live' track record is a tree outside my window here that pulled through in spite of all my efforts to nurture it and I planted it in the perfectly wrong place.

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## pannaking22 (Oct 22, 2018)

Phormic28 said:


> Some have already germinated surprisingly, I’ll be setting up the double cups and lights tomorrow. Pretty excited to see how this will all turn out!


Which ones germinated first? Sling incubator or modem?


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## antinous (Oct 22, 2018)

pannaking22 said:


> Which ones germinated first? Sling incubator or modem?


Well I started the ones in the sling incubator two days prior, but today when I checked the other ones a few are germinating as well. So I’d say both were good options. Only thing with the condiment containers on top of the modem  is that you have to check on them twice a day and moisten them as the water collects on the lids and the sides of the cup.


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## pannaking22 (Oct 22, 2018)

Phormic28 said:


> Well I started the ones in the sling incubator two days prior, but today when I checked the other ones a few are germinating as well. So I’d say both were good options. Only thing with the condiment containers on top of the modem  is that you have to check on them twice a day and moisten them as the water collects on the lids and the sides of the cup.


Good to know! I was thinking of setting mine up near my bearded dragon's lights since those stay consistently warm, but I haven't poked around or temp checked anything yet. I could definitely set them up on the modem since that stays plenty warm. I'm almost tempted to put them under the light in my Smeringurus enclosure, but I know the little monster would take offense at that and probably try to set up shop around/under the cups...


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## antinous (Oct 22, 2018)

So here's the write up:

Here are my materials:

Germination:
-Plastic ziplock bags w/ moist (but not wet) paper towels folded in half with the seeds in them.
-Condiment containers with round circles of paper towel cut and placed inside with the seeds on top of them

Containers for potting:
-As of now, just solo cups with two DIFFERENT bottoms (eg. circle and square)

Lights:
-2x 48" 32W Daylight T8 Linear Fluorescent Light Bulb (6500k) [https://www.menards.com/…/sylvania-reg-48-40w-daylight-t12-…]
-Ballast [https://www.menards.com/…/p-1444423574948-c-1472133557086.h…]

Medium & Nutrients:
-Pro-Mix® All-Purpose Professional Grower's Mix
-Perlite
-Was either debating on Burpee® Natural & Organic™ Water Soluble Tomato & Vegetable Plant Food (6-2-3) or Schultz® Tomato Water Soluble Fast Acting Plant Food (17-18-28)

What I did so far (photos at the end)-
Some of the seeds germinated, primarily _Bohemian Beast Peach F3_ &_ Butch x Jonah Yellow_. I took the solo cups with the 'circular' bottom and cut them on four sides to allow for roots to grow through. The second cup will be used for putting water and nutrients in when the roots start sprouting from the bottom. I filled the solo cup with Pro-Mix and a heaping spoonful of perlite to allow for better drainage. I then made three small indentations (on in the center and two on the sides) and put one germinated seed in each indentation. Covered them up and moistened the soil (if soil is moist already, do not overdo the watering). This is to ensure at least one sprouts, if all three do the other two will be placed in other cups. Placed plastic wrap on them and put them in a warm area.

Non-circular bottom cup:


Circular cup with 4 slits cut:


After potting them and putting them in a warm but not hot area:





pannaking22 said:


> Which ones germinated first? Sling incubator or modem?



Also forgot to mention, I haven't tried starting the same seeds via both methods, so whatever I reported isn't quite accurate. Each variety is different, especially with mild vs. hot vs. super hot as well as the way they were collected. I have some_ Cumari do para_ that were put in the ziplock bag method on the 16th and they're just barely starting to germinate. 

Starting the ziplock bag method in the incubator for these varieties:
-_Peach Naga
-Peach Naga Cross (White)_
-_Goronong
-7 Pot Bubblegum (BBG7) Yellow Large - No calyx_

According to some users on a Hot Pepper group on FB, they said to put it straight under a light instead of keeping them on a windowsill once they sprout it because the light can ‘burn’ them. Anyways here my basic set up is for now:



I’ll make a home made reflector this weekend to reduce the amount of light wasted.

Reactions: Informative 1


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## antinous (Oct 25, 2018)

Got a bit bored yesterday so made a reflective panel out of a cardboard box and aluminum foil. This will help direct light towards the plant and reduce the amount of light wasted:



And one updated on the BBP plant:

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## pannaking22 (Oct 25, 2018)

New piece of peppery knowledge: if you drop a really hot pepper (470,000 SHU) on the floor and accidently step on it, the bottom of your foot will still burn like hell. The tougher skin doesn't seem to matter, or if it does, it doesn't help a lot. Same with if a fresh seed falls off the counter and lands between your toes. I'm wearing socks from now on when I process hot peppers lol.

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## antinous (Oct 26, 2018)

Figured I’ll update how the plants look every week on Friday:


Five have come up with leaves while a total of 12 of them are breaking the surface


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## antinous (Oct 30, 2018)

I knew I said I wouldn’t update this till Friday, but I’m excited at how my plants are growing!

Here’s the first group I planted that consists of:
6 Bahamian Beast Peach
3 Butch T x Jonah Yellow
You can tell that the first true leaves are starting to form!



Second group consists of:
Peach Naga
Peach Naga Cross White
Peachgum Tiger MAMP

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## pannaking22 (Oct 31, 2018)

I need to get my seeds in the ground since I got a few packets this week. Figure if I start growing them now I can have them outdoors in a couple months and hopefully start getting peppers in March or April lol


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## antinous (Oct 31, 2018)

pannaking22 said:


> I need to get my seeds in the ground since I got a few packets this week. Figure if I start growing them now I can have them outdoors in a couple months and hopefully start getting peppers in March or April lol


Depending on the pepper, you could have them in a shorter amount of time! Some peppers produce after 80 days while others 100+.


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## pannaking22 (Oct 31, 2018)

Phormic28 said:


> Depending on the pepper, you could have them in a shorter amount of time! Some peppers produce after 80 days while others 100+.


Yep, hypothetically I should have some sooner since I purposely picked a couple short ones to try to beat the summer heat. One of the bells(?), Oda, is supposed to only take 70 days, so super fast! Now I just need a bigger balcony...I think I'll try to figure out a tiered system so I can squeeze more in. I don't think I can fit them in on my windowsills and hope that they still get enough light. My carnivorous plants have the best lit windowsill and I don't want to take that from them.


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## antinous (Nov 1, 2018)

Must have accidentally knocked over two of the cups yesterday because I woke up to two of my _Peach Naga _plants dried up and pretty much dead...oh well, I guess I'll just be down two plants.

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## 8LeggedLair (Nov 1, 2018)

Yea I’m jealous I lived in Texas all my life till 2008, went in the army now i live in Germany... only way to grow jalapeños is inside in pots etc until summer then they
Can be moved outside... but I found ordering hot sauce from the Heatonist 
Is the way to go for me, since Germans don’t really know what hot is


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## antinous (Nov 1, 2018)

8LeggedLair said:


> Yea I’m jealous I lived in Texas all my life till 2008, went in the army now i live in Germany... only way to grow jalapeños is inside in pots etc until summer then they
> Can be moved outside...


Now you know how us Midwesterners feel!

Plants are growing well so far, here’s a _Bahamian_ _Beach_ _Peach_, planning to separate them once the true leaves grow a bit more in a week or two.

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## 8LeggedLair (Nov 2, 2018)

Now I’m hungry... I want some chips and hot sauce, with a jalapeño to bite into 

Watcha think bout that? ( M.Balfouri ) 
Hiss...


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## antinous (Nov 2, 2018)

8LeggedLair said:


> Now I’m hungry... I want some chips and hot sauce, with a jalapeño to bite into
> 
> Watcha think bout that? ( M.Balfouri )
> Hiss...


I'm confused.


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## 8LeggedLair (Nov 2, 2018)

Phormic28 said:


> I'm confused.


Your pepper made me hungry
My Balfouri is as well


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## antinous (Nov 3, 2018)

Had to separate some of the plants, note to whoever is growing peppers, once their true leaves start to show, separate them.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## antinous (Nov 9, 2018)

Some updates:

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## Nonnack (Dec 23, 2018)

You started early I am going to seed mine at end of January, but I don't have any lamps. I think I will try with super hots too this season.


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## pannaking22 (Dec 24, 2018)

Ugh I need to figure out planting mine at some point soon too. Though I just need to get them germinated and then I can stick them outside


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## antinous (Dec 24, 2018)

Well, all of mine ended up dying, I was out of town for a few days and my parents forgot to turn on the light which killed them...I’ll probably start again in January

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## pannaking22 (Mar 7, 2019)

Super freaking late, but I'm finally getting my seeds started. I couldn't figure out an easy way to get them started and then I got distracted with a bunch of other work/life stuff. I saw a few plants for sale at the store and that really kicked me into gear lol.


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## Nonnack (Mar 9, 2019)

Good luck. This year I have 60 new plants + 3 I kept from last year. My pepper room, lol :

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## 8leggedRN (Mar 10, 2019)

My husband currently has baby Carolina reapers, Trinidad scorpions, Moruga scorpions, Butch Ts, scotch bonnets, chocolate habaneros, too many chocolate 7 pots, a few atomic starfish, some basic cayenne, and some black jalapenos. I bought him this today as a surprise

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## pannaking22 (Apr 12, 2019)

How are everyone's plants doing?

I recently bought a mixed box of unlabeled sweet to superhot peppers and I've already found a mild variety I'll be saving seeds from to plant next year, aji dulce orange. Great flavor and just a little pop of heat. I've had a few other very hot ones and most have been delicious so far. It's been fun to try tracking down pepper IDs as well as I go through them. Not looking them up beforehand, tasting first then IDing lol.

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## Nonnack (Apr 13, 2019)

Mine are doing fine so far. This year I have:
Habanero orange
Fish pepper
Scotch bonnet
Jamaica hot yellow
Bhut jolokia peach (ghost pepper)
Bhut jolokia white
Super hot beast
And I saved some seeds from my favorite ones from last season:
Habanero congo trynidad
Fatali white
Lemon drop
Also kept 3 plants over winter, not without problems, but its still alive

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## pannaking22 (Apr 15, 2019)

Nonnack said:


> Mine are doing fine so far. This year I have:
> Habanero orange
> Fish pepper
> Scotch bonnet
> ...


Fantastic! I'd been curious about the fish peppers before, you'll have to let us know how they are!

One of my gypsy plants has started to grow up more than out, so I'm trying to get that controlled so I get more robust foliage. I'll be doing a bunch of transplanting over the next couple days though since about half of the ones I started as seeds are ready for their buckets.

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