Please evaluate over winter setup for Peppers thanks!

16 years ago

1st time over wintering peppers and wet behind the ears.(Very wet!)I see a lots of you guys (and Gals) have years of experince! I was hoping

you would help me out thank you!!!

/// The setup ////

Growing: 1 Red Savina and 1 Bhut kolokia

55 Gallon - 48" x 12.5" x 20 Aquarium

Light setup : Four 3 foot fluorescent fixtures on chain system.

Total Watts 120 Total Lumens 9200

Lguit Blubs:

Two T12 Sylvania Cool white 30 watt's Initial Lumens at 25C: 2250

Two T12 Eco lux technology professional 30 watt's Initial Lumens at 25C: 2350

Soil:Miracle-Gro moisture control.

Planters: 6 quart planters low profile

Running Digital temp/humidity thermometer

Top is semi sealed with a 5 inch fan that

can be set via a thermostat

////////////////////////////////////////////////

Questions,

What would you recommend for temp and humidity ranges for these plants during seeding and normal growth?

As far as I am seeing, I have read they do not like high humidity.

Would using a drip feed help to keep the humidity down?

The planters are plastic is this an issue? (hard time finding low profile)

Any other comments welcome thanks!

- JR

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Comments (6)

shelbyguy
16 years ago
What is the aquarium for? Seems pretty small for growing big plants like Red Savina and Bhut Jolokia. I guess that means you're really pruning them way way back...

I just use a 1000w high pressure sodium lamp hanging from the low ceiling in the basement. I don't bother measuring humidity, and I only keep an eye on the temps if I'm germinating seed. As long as your temps are above 45f, the plant wont stall.

The plant already knows how to grow. K.I.S.S.
jigalow
Original Author
16 years ago
Shelbyguy,

Thank you for the response. As far as the Aquarium,
I guess I was anal about controlling the environment.

The Aquarium is in a nice size closet so I will just use
the closet.

Is the light setup I have sufficient?
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MeyerMike - Feel free to email me if you'd like. My email address should be linked to this account. Mike D - I live in central VA. There is some interested in farming near me but that is usually fruits and vegetables. There are some gardening groups that meet in Northern Virginia. I went to a plant swap last year and meet some Native plant only people that were a little annoying(sorry to say). They gave me a hard time about out of zone gardening and called my Yucca Rostrata seedlings that I was sharing invasive. I would love for this species to invade my gardens but unfortunately that will not happen. Maybe I will try again soon. Brad - You should try to include other bears in some of your plant pics. It would be cool to see their different get ups. Regarding your Carnosa, Nikki... I think it is a large enough size to bloom for you. An observation that I made with my Carnosa this year was that when they climbed I was rewarded with penducles galore. I have one that was growing next to a trellis that never bloomed. This summer a few vines grabbed hold and climbed to the top and each of those vines had 3 penducles where there were none before. I also grew 2 other carnosa in close proximity of each other. They spent this summer tangling up with each other and attempting to climb into the tree that they were hanging from. Both these carnosas now have penducles and have bloomed. My only carnosa that haven't bloomed are the hanging varieties such as Compacta, Compacta Variegata, and 'Chelsea'. My next project, I will be building something to hang my hoyas on that is topped with a trellis that they can grab onto and climb up. I think they will enjoy this and I will be able to dress it up so it looks very nice inside and outside. Good luck growing everyone. -David
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I had two groups too. The first group of 10 were pruned radically, both tops and roots and put in fresh Pro Mix in the garage. Later I radically pruned some others ( but not the roots)that were inside and they stayed inside. CAP 503 and Rocoto,Giant Red Peru On December 1 it got below freezing in the garage so I brought the garage plants inside and since it stayed very cold decided to just leave them in the back bedroom--temps in the lower 60's but under lights. On December 12th I took these pictures: Rocoto, Giant Red Peru-pruned but had stayed inside -the one in picture above Rocoto,Giant Red Peru 2--from the garage At this point, all of the plants that were pruned but stayed inside are doing well. Of the ten that were in the garage until December six are showing good regrowth, one has just begun, two look like they will eventually produce leaves , and one looks dead ( Trinidad Scorpion-FG) Here is a picture taken today of the Rocoto,Giant Red Peru that above has only the tiniest leaf And CGN 19198 which just put forth a tiny leaf So don't give up on those in the attic don't look so hot.
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I live in a igloo with polar bears lol way up in northern Manitoba Canada. I won't see spring until May. On record, this has been the coldest winter yet. Tempature has been -45 -50 for the last two months. Brrrrr! I stopped watering the peppers for a week and all the leaves pointed strait down and curled up. I watered them last night and by morning they perked back to life! Ill try out the pollination and keep you posted;) Greatly appreciated! Ghostjuice.
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Oops, guess I haven't read this thread for a few days... northener - My lights are on 16 hrs per day (on a timer) from 7 am to 11 pm. Haha, I can tell you are from Ontario because when I lived there we always called electricity "hydro". Now that I'm in Alberta, it's called "power". Amusing east-west distinction aside, I've never calculated the power cost... but 4 bulbs x 32 watts = 128 watts. x 16 hrs/day = 2048 watts per day, or about 2 kilowatts. I think we are paying 13 cents per kW now, so that's 26 cents per day. (Usually power is more like 10 cents/kW, so it would be 20 cents per day). I don't know how that works for you with prices determined by smart meters and cycle demand. luisito8m - 5 or more years ago I was a member of the ICPS (International Carnivorous Plant Society) and belonged to it for several years. Along with my $40 annual membership I got access to 12 free packs of carnivorous plant seeds from their seed list (or maybe it was $1 per pack?... or $1 per pack after my free dozen?... don't recall exactly). Anyway, that's where I got my carnivorous plant seeds from, and I had the best success with the various Drosera species. Last spring I was cleaning up my gardening space in the basement and I came across a partial pack of old D.capensis seeds. The seeds are as tiny as dust so I held out little hope for them to still be viable, but planted them all, and almost a year later they've grown into what you see in the photo. So I recommend ICPS as a good source, but it does involve a $40 annual fee to join. Next in line I'd probably try ebay, paying careful attention to the feedback from the sellers customers. I tried various seed companies long ago for numerous carnivorous plants, but was almost always disappointed with the results. Stick with the little guy who grows the plants themselves.
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shelbyguy
16 years ago
I would use the fluorescents as side lighting and scare up an HID lamp for above the plants. I'm a huge fan of HID (metal halide, high pressure sodium) for cranking out the lumens per square foot. A 120 watt halide will put out about twice the lumens as 120 watts of fluorescent tubes.

That having been said, you can put the fluoros right on top of the plants without worrying about burning them. They also don't have the surge from the draw when the lamp turns on, and don't need a ballast the size of a shoe box and the weight of a bowling ball.

I'm not at all saying it can't be done. Give it a try with what you have. See what works for you and what doesn't work for you. What works for one person in one situation doesn't necessarily work for another person in another situation.

And people who do more with less are cool! :)

The worst that would happen is the plants get stretchy/leggy. They'll still grow...
potawie
16 years ago
I think it all depends if you are overwintering or winter growing. If overwintering you won't need much light.
ardnek710
16 years ago
if you are just trying to keep them alive, then you won't need much light, we use cheapo shop lights with cheapo generic light bulbs

if you are trying to get actual growth, production etc, then you need much much much more light and intensity. i.e. the metal halide lights or something similar mentioned above.

Remeber if you have pots in soil you will have bugs especially aphids that will have to be controlled (no natural predators inside). Ladybugs will be your best bet inside.

I don't worry about humidity either just keep the temps comfortable and the plant will be fine. The fan is a good idea, the air circulation will help keep disease from spreading and keep temps regulated in that space.

kendra
jigalow
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks for the feedback. Looking into HID's now.
The setup is to grow over winter then transfer back out doors in the summer (I live in Colorado) Hab's and Jal's do awesome
in the summer out here. I really wished I would of over wintered my Orange Hab... So with the over winter set I hoped
to keep the new plants for a few years (you get kinda attached to them)

Now we are just waiting for the Red and Bhut to germinate.
got the seeds from reimer so wish me luck on this....

Please evaluate over winter setup for Peppers thanks!

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Please evaluate over winter setup for Peppers thanks!

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