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By request from another member, here's some pics of my first chile growing season.

I've been making and locally selling fresh salsa for 16 years and hot sauces for 7 years. Recently I've gotten interested in using fresh chiles instead of dried chiles for hot sauces, however, there is a serious shortage of specialty chiles available for quantity purchase.

So I decided to grow my own! Had some friends send over some seeds to get started and off I went!

The initial trays were-
Red Savina habanero
bhut jolokia
(2) trinidad scorpion
7 Pot.

Second set of trays included-
peter pepper
peruvian white habanero
aji amarillo
trinidad douglah
red habanero
fatalii
"mystery" packet

I haven't figured out how to add text between the photos, so they are all in a row. These were first started 21 Feb 2010. Keep in mind there's still 2 feet of snow outside~~~

I set up a germination chamber under the table with a heater and blanket. The next day, we changed to to trashbags instead of the blanket so I could still use the table. The heater kept the soil about 80F.

After about 5 days, sprouts started showing, faster than I was anticipating! So it was time to get the lights set up pronto! I didn't have enough 90's for the PVC when 'Nuts0.5 and I first built it, but replaced the black tape with 90's the next day. MAN, i love them power tools! SawzAll is my favorite. Best way to prune a tree!

We put some more seeds in the germination chamber and put the sprouts under some 6500K fluorescent lights. The timer controls the 2 outlets where the fluorescent lights are plugged into. It is set for 18 hours light, 6 hours dark.

The last two shots of the seedlings are from a few weeks ago. I'll update tomorrow after I take some more pics. Half the seedlings are in small pots and I need to make another light set up.

couple more pictures of the frame with the 90's and adjustable jack chain instead of wire.

recent pictures- 27 March 2010

Half of the seedlings are in small cups with about 2 trays still in the germination trays. There are about 250 starts now, and I figure that will be about it. With all the starts in small cups, we needed more light, so 'Nuts0.5 and I put together another light frame and 2 more 4' fluorescent lights.

Here's what the starts look like now and the whole set-up~

I sure am glad you put the crop name into the thread title. Somebody stumbling across some of these photos might think you had another crop in mind...

Hey Nut's, thanks much........ nice setup... and you do have your crop up and going...

How long will you have to keep them inside where you are.. or are you going to try and finish them inside... fun to do... like growing myself.. need help with some of it.. but, talking to them and making sure they are ok... I can do...

They look really good... thanks for sharing...

I was expecting to see some uniforms and boots kicking down the doors any second.

heeheehee-

I don't have any plants (that I know of) that have serrated leaves. But I did get a "mystery" packet from someone~~~

And I know of people who have had visits from certain government officials because their power bills were too high. (NOT me!)

My old boyfriend did get a call from the utility company many moons ago cuz we had a band and were practicing 3-4 days a week with all the amps and everything.





Hmmmmmm, come to think of it.........I won't need the lights set up after the chiles get put outside.......................








JUST KIDDING!

WG, the plan is to transplant them all into the 16 oz cups until about 6-8" tall and then transplant again into 5 gal pots. We have nice long hot summers in eastern WA so it is an ideal growing area. I'll keep them inside or at least protected until after all danger of frost is gone. Someone had a great idea of putting the plants in the back of a pick up truck so they could drive them out into the sun during the day and back into the garage at night. I'll be using all the time and energy saving tricks like that that I can find.

I don't have a proper garden spot worked up and the peppers will need to be moved into the shade when the temps get over 90F for extended days. Pots seemed like the best way to go.

This is my first year jumping into the growing scene, so it should be fun!

In my search for solar gear on the net I have come across a bunch of solar powered grow lights. I wonder what market they are targeting???

Why, chile peppers of course... new boutique foods... the "ghost pepper" and many others to come... many benefits from eating plants from this "family"...

‘Ghost chili’ burns away stomach ills - Diet and nutrition- msnbc.com

Are you sure they are chili's, sure looks like mint to me.

Comitan- I'm not guaranteeing ANYTHING for most of these chiles!

Only 80 of the seeds were purchased from a seed company, all the rest of over 300 seeds were freebies sent to me by friends and acquaintances so I can't say for sure on anything until they're grown. I always wonder when there's a packet labeled "mystery seeds"........

I kinds messed up on about 100 of the seeds and didn't rinse them properly before planting, so I didn't get a good germination rate on one tray.

BN

BN, every grow is a learning experience.... every one.. but, it always works out just fine..

Just taking pictures and keeping a grow log, will pay off in the long term... have fun with your grows and hope you get an interesting turn out..... that is a lot of fun too, having many different plants showing up ... will be interested in the final "test"..

I see your north a bit... be interested in how they do.. so keep us informed on how the children are doing...

It's time for a chile update!

The little sweeties are growing like weeds! Don't think I have any actual weeds in there, but....

We have 271 seedlings coming along.
42 trinidad scorpions
25 7 pot
22 peter pepper
4 trinidad douglah
19 peruvian white
18 fatalii
21 red savina habanero
12 red habanero
12 aji amarillo
18 mystery peppers
71 bhut jolokia/ghost pepper


Here's some pictures.

Wow; just 3+ weeks later and they're looking GREAT!

Uh, not meaning to rain on your parade but that crop isn't looking like anything customers are going to want to smoke. What kind of cash crop is that???

BN,

We have 271 seedlings coming along.
42 trinidad scorpions
25 7 pot
22 peter pepper
4 trinidad douglah
19 peruvian white
18 fatalii
21 red savina habanero
12 red habanero
12 aji amarillo
18 mystery peppers
71 bhut jolokia/ghost pepper

That is some kind start

Now this is going to be really interesting .. to see all the fruit from these different plants... what a treat... thanks for all your work and choosing such an interesting plant and or fruit, I like them too, plus in growing found one really cool thing so far, bugs don't like them nor fungi or most anything else.... using the T5's should not put a big dent your utility bill .. a room or garage full of HPS or the like would, have used the T5's for "startup's" much as you are doing.. then get them outside, and let mother nature take over.. with assistance, (when needed), as they can't get up and walk to get things for themselves... still say they like music and folks talking to them.. they do get lonely all by themselves.. even if it is a mix congregation

Originally Posted by BajaGringo

Uh, not to meaning to rain on your parade but that crop isn't looking like anything customers are going to want to smoke. What kind of cash crop is that???

OOOPS! are you looking at that TYPO that says 257 pot plants?


Say, BG, how would YOU know what a good cash crop looks like?

Just Kidding~~~!!!



It's actually not a typo. There is a chile pepper called "7 Pot" or "7 Pod", depending on which source the seeds come from. Different stories about the differences in the name. One story is that 1 pod is hot enough for 7 pots of soup. (25) 7 Pot chile plants. I left it a little vague for fun.



I do have a couple people wanting to buy a couple starts. I really don't want to sell any but I gotta try to pay for the dirt and electricity to keep the little darlings warm somehow!

I've been trying to edit my above post to include this, but my browser is being fussy, so I'll just add-


waddaya mean no one wants to "smoke" my crop? Ever heard of a chipotle? The only hard part is keeping them lit.

You know we're just messing with you Nuts. It really is looking good!

Oh yea, I know y'all are joking around. Part of the fun around here. I've been known to instigate a thing or two once in a while~

I'm getting set to re-pot into the larger pots soon. But once I get into the larger pots, it'll be a hassle moving them outside and inside all the time. End of frost date is next month.........I think.............

Thanks everyone, for checking it out.