tlowery04,

What type of Tepin are you trying to grow (sorry I did a quick cursory scan of you previous posts and didn't see anything specific).

Please don't take this wrong but it's not rocket science, you don't need to invest in fancy mediums, fertilizers, chemicals or crystal pyramids to start any pepper.

If you got seed from Smokemaster, moisture and the right temp should be enough to get sprouts. In my experience, "peppers" are some of the most adaptive and forgiving plants you can grow. Sure, under less than optimum conditions you'll get low yields but you'll get some peppers.

If you have some cash to spare, I'd suggest you forget about complicated mixes and spells. Invest in a $20 seed heat mat and a $25 mat thermostat from Amazon.

Just my humble opinion,

Bill

I personally didn't like fox farms stuff-ocean forest(whatever it's called) or the warrior stuff.I think there is a third one I can't remember the name.

It seemed pretty good at first but degraded VERY fast.
I think all the bat Guano,worm casings etc. in it broke down way too fast.
It was also one of the more expensive soils too.

It just wasn't worth the money in my opinion.

There is a local? brand here that according to the ingrediant list was a carbon copy of the fox farm stuff.

But,at least the bag I got,was more uniform ingrediants-perlite wasn't different sizes from pea sized to bb sized like a lot of other mixes.
I think it was called Garden Bloom.
It was $5.00-$7.00 cheeper in a little bigger bag.

Fox farms stuff seemed to be a lot of big pieces and everything in between.
A lot of times ingrediant uniformity in size means a lot as far as drainage goes,different sizes means they can eventually form a solid mass from being watered and make a drain free soil.
Thats probably why bottom watering makes more sence when using different soil mixes.
Some mixes would pack down too much if top watered.

I mixed the garden Bloom with more fine vermiculite (only because I had it,I don't like vermiculite,it turns to mush too fast once it gets wet)and added pearlite and a little dolomite lime and time release ferts(osmacote,14-14-14).
So far it seems ok,for sprouting seeds.

I usually use a cactus mix but you usually have to add a little peat to it too along with the nutes and dolomite lime.
Depending on the brand some cactus mix use too much sand in it and compacts down into cement.

I don't like mixes with a lot of worm casing in it.

It seems the worm casings work their way down to the bottom of the pot and form a sludge that drowns out the pot by not letting it drain properly.

If I used worm casings I'd use them as a topping after the plant is potted up.
Same with bat guanno,seaweed etc. thats added to these high priced soil mixes.
They are high in nitrogen for early plant growth...

Worm casings are heavy-you can't use regular garden soil in a pot because of drainage problems and worm casings are just processed dirt in general.

A lot of the stuff they put in their mix is good stuff but in my opinion shouldn't be used as part of the soil mix.

In order for a plant to use them they have to break down.
Once broken down you have a plant sitting on top of the soil in a 3/4 filled pot.
Sludge in the bottom with all the roots in the top 2 inches of soil.Sludge in the bottom quarter of the pot that inhibits drainage.

For me my plants looked great for maybe 6 weeks then they weren't looking so happy anymore.
I was constantly adding soil to top off the pots and I think if I hadn't fertilised like I do,they would have been stunted.
I fertilise with 1/8th to 1/4 strength fish emultion and seaweed extract everytime I water.
From seed to harvest.
At plant maturity-budding time I use 1/3rd fish,1/3rd seaweed extract and 1/3rd Alaska morebloon.

I use a lot of calcium from seed to harvest compared to most people.
I make Witch's brew.
Fill a quart container with 5% or higher White vinegar(not wine or other vinegars-doesn't work well)and throw in about a cup or so of powdered dolomite lime.
I use a yougert container with plastic wrap on top.
Gas is released so if you capped a bottle of the stuff it might make a bottle bomb...
STIR the stuff every time you use it.
It'll settle down and form a clay in the bottom of the container.
Whenever I use some I add more vinegar.
By the way,Dolomite Lime has magnesium in it and I think it gets mixed in as part of the calcium acetate you are making.

Chinense especially like calcium from the start.

Also I get almost instant blooming and little bud drop when using witches brew on mature plants.
I get buds on starter plants too but they drop because the plant won't support them.

I hardly ever go by what I hear at a nursey or shop.
They are always pushing something new as gods gift to the gardener.
Next year it's something else,especially with the organic grower shops.
I use the nursery for info on plants in general as a place to get an idea about where to start researching whatever it is I need to know about.
For instance I read nothing but good about coco coir.

I tried it and think the stuff is pure crap.

Doesn't keep a moisture level consistantly,needs messing with all the time.Packs down and was pure touture to my sprouts.
Way nasty stuff when trying to keep a nutriant level plants like.
I'll never use anything with it even in it again.
Even the nastiest peat based stuff is way better than that crap in my opinion.

SOOO,in general I don't know what the EXTRA stuff is but don't waste your $ on expensive crap when you can mix up something better using 99cent store soil with a little peat or pearlite or whatever and get as good or better results.

My starts in 99cent store soil(tulip mix-mostly forestry by products) I added I added about 1/4 more peat and perlite to along with dolomite lime and osmacote 14-14-14.

I have these left that are ready to go outside,Heidi and I put out some plants today From 4 1/2 inch pots to #15 pots(7 1/2 gal.)

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Also don't mess with treating your seeds for what I sent you.
A waste of time.
I think I tried them all-seed treatments.

Just plant them a little shallower for the small seeds and treat the rest as you would regular seeds.

The only thing I've noticed is they sprout better if you let the surface of the soil get a little dry after keeping it moist at first.
I just put my wild seeds on top of the soil and sprinkle about 1/8 or so inch of soil on top of them.

They sprout the same as regular pepper seeds.

It doesn't make sence to me that a WILD pepper would be harder to germinate.

THEY ARE WILD and should be more hardy as far as conditions for growing are concerned.

I think the people who have trouble are using high heat temps than in nature(75+) and the seed won't germinate because it's geared to grow in springtime temps in nature.

75+ soil temps make it like summer temps to the seed and it won't sprout because it thinks it's summer and if it sprouted it would get cooked by the sun...

Put them in a place that has a constant room temp and don't overwater and they will most likely come up within 2 wks.
I think most people love their plants to death in general.
I know some stuff I decided was history ended up being great plants once I gave up on them as being history and let them do whatever they wanted to do.

Besides if they don't germinate you know where to get more seeds. LOL

Otawapepper,

I sent about 10 or 15 different wild birds,Pequins,Tepins from Texas,Florida,Mexico and a few other places...
You have no E mail on your page or I'd send you a list that I won't/don't want to post publically...

to the bulk goods vendor!

thank you both for your advice, I have a plastic trash barrel i can mix soil in,

out of curiosity, as long as i am amending the soil to make it suitable, could i use garden soil/compost as my base? I have a mountain of the stuff and it would sure go a long way.

Smokemaster's comments on soil particle size, drainage, calcium, worm castings, and other nutrition are dead on!
Heed what he writes! ;-)

Josh

printing + hi-lation

Hey, Smokemaster, I've been meaning to ask you about those LED's. Are they homegrown?

My LEDs are homemade.
In my opinion any commercial ones I've seen were junk,overpriced or both.
1 watt star LEDs go for about $1.00 ea. if baught in large quantities (300-500).
I use mostly stars now.
The 5mm LEDs were just to play with...

I've posted several times about my thaughts on LEDs.

If you are interested in playing with them E mail me for my observations.
I don't hang out at the lighting forum much and this isn't the place the powers that be want me to be posting a thread about my experiances with LEDs-Stars,10mm and 5mm.
I'll be happy to give you any info I have or share info you might have about them.
A lot of the stuff online is pure bs,half truths or stuff parroted by people who don't have a clue.
Mostly stuff by someone who sells a specific product or people who baught their snake oil and got burned.
LEDs are a whole different animal as far as a light source for growing plants.

is there a reason people use bark?

I wonder if there is a strong preference on size or type of wood.

I have pecan hulls, cypress mulch, and pine bark in varying quantities that my dad said have been sitting for a pretty long time.

also I have available to me a trash bag of wood chipper chippings(?) and a pile of various branches that need to go through the grinder.

I liek the idea of trying things out, i know of a dump site a few miles away i can get some tree pots (like the 1-3 gal size) and mix up some combos and test them out like you suggested.

A big bag of perlite is 17.99 locally, med/lg size i think, looking at a few other places before i buy it, maybe they will have some finer available.

Should I stay away from peat with the acid levels?

Conifer bark is the best, with Pine bark having a slight edge over Fir bark.

Bark contains suberin, which has been referred to as "nature's preservative."
As such, bark is quite durable and slow to decompose or compact in a container environment.
Thus, it makes an excellent filler. Like peat moss, it has a low pH and holds moisture; however,
it won't compact like peat moss, and it will maintain open aeration in a mix.

When selecting bark, you don't want sapwood - the yellow inner wood, because it decomposes
much more rapidly.

Josh

thank you josh, it sounds like the pine bark is the winner then.

have you heard anything about cotton seed mulch? My stepmother brought home two 40lb bags of it today I have no idea what to do with it.

Bark mixes suck up the nitrogen as they decompose at first.
Use a time release fert when mixing it up and water with something like fish emultion in low doses.
After a while the bark sucked up all the nitrogen it can and starts letting it back out into the soil.

Something very important to know for starter plants in fresh mixed bark based soils.

I like using bark based mixes.
Once you know the nitrogen thing they outperform peat stuff by far.
Last longer too.About 3 years + with just topping off the pots each year or so.
Especially with Manzanos/Rocotos.
Massive airation,drainage and root growth in the bark based mixes.
Try and keep ingrediant size as even as you can.
Some people screan their bark and perlite.
I don't.
You'll get a feel for how you need to make your soil mix according to the ingrediants you have at the time.

i'm thinking of trying a 60-20-20 compost-bark-perlite to start, maybe a few similer. The only thing I worry about withthe larger amounts or bark and perlite is lack of nutrients? bark from what you have told me will slowly release more N into the soil which is good.

I guess when it comes to starters and container soils I probably am not grasping all the straws yet. I think If I can find my wallet I'll go buy some dirt rock and wood today and see about picking up those containers

As Smoke noted, initially there can some "nitrogen immobilization" by the bark,
but this is easily remedied with regular fertilization. I, personally, use a high nitrogen fertilizer -
Foliage Pro 9-3-6, which satisfies all nutritional needs.

Nitrogen immobilization is more pronounced with sapwood, sawdust, et cetera. The dark, outer bark
of the tree doesn't break down as fast, which reduces the nitrogen-binding effect.

Josh