2013 Super Hot pepper grow

[pigture perfect]

I have search the Benton/Bryant area for some of the hotter plants. Last year I had Serrano and Habanero. This year all I'm finding is jalpeno's and Cayenne. Am I looking too early or has someone beat me to them?

[jacobp]

I've never had much luck finding hot pepper plants locally. EVERY now and then you could find a serrano or habanero.
If you're looking for SUPER HOTS and want to purchase seedlings, I've done business with this guy before. He has a pretty impressive operation.
http://www.bakerspeppers.com/

[Boll Hawg]

I have search the Benton/Bryant area for some of the hotter plants. Last year I had Serrano and Habanero. This year all I'm finding is jalpeno's and Cayenne. Am I looking too early or has someone beat me to them?

I'm also in the Benton/Bryant area.  I think it's still a little early to find the actual plants in stores.  I found some real cheap bhut jolokia and mammoth jalapeno seeds on eBay and started them about a month ago.  I've had about an 80% germination rate and they're looking good! 

[DeltaBoy]

Bring on the Fire.

[Boll Hawg]

My bhut jolokia & mammoth jalapeno plants are doing extremely well in their jiffy peat pellets.  I've given them minimal maintenance (water 1x weekly), and sit them in the window sill.  I got them to germinate by putting them on top of my refrigerator in the domed housing they came with.  I've got about 20 plants of each.  I plan on only keeping about 10.  They're about 1-2 inches tall and working on their second set of leaves.  Anyone in the Benton/Bryant area want some free plants?     

[jacobp]

My bhut jolokia & mammoth jalapeno plants are doing extremely well in their jiffy peat pellets.  I've given them minimal maintenance (water 1x weekly), and sit them in the window sill.  I got them to germinate by putting them on top of my refrigerator in the domed housing they came with.  I've got about 20 plants of each.  I plan on only keeping about 10.  They're about 1-2 inches tall and working on their second set of leaves.  Anyone in the Benton/Bryant area want some free plants?     

Only thing I'd suggest is getting the fan and some grow lights on them when they get a little taller, say 4" or so after the 2nd set of leaves. Bhuts are notorious slow growers, so if you want to get a harvest out of them by August I suggest giving them some help with the grow lights...
speaking from experiences. two years ago I started my seeds at the start of march and my bhuts didn't ripen until almost September.

[Boll Hawg]

Only thing I'd suggest is getting the fan and some grow lights on them when they get a little taller, say 4" or so after the 2nd set of leaves. Bhuts are notorious slow growers, so if you want to get a harvest out of them by August I suggest giving them some help with the grow lights...
speaking from experiences. two years ago I started my seeds at the start of march and my bhuts didn't ripen until almost September.

Starting this weekend, I'm hoping that I can start leaving them outside all the time.  I'm just unsure how big I should let them get before I need to transfer them to my 5 gallon buckets.  Those peat pellets don't allow much growing room.  I've been trying to grow bhuts for years with no success, but I've got a feeling that this is going to be a good year!   

[jacobp]

Starting this weekend, I'm hoping that I can start leaving them outside all the time.  I'm just unsure how big I should let them get before I need to transfer them to my 5 gallon buckets.  Those peat pellets don't allow much growing room.  I've been trying to grow bhuts for years with no success, but I've got a feeling that this is going to be a good year!   

here's what I did, and it may not be necessary. I let them get 2-4 sets of leaves and transplanted from the peat pellets into solo cups. I drilled a couple drain holes in the cups and set them inside another cup with no holes. This allowed for bottom watering. I left them in there until they got about 8 inches high or so then went into buckets. You can definitely skip that step and go directly into your buckets. Just put them somewhere where they'll get lots of full sun, especially in the spring.
When it started to get crazy hot in the summer I put them all under a 40% shade cloth.

[capehog]

Yesterday 65 degrees first time in the sunshine. They need several more days of outside to get ready for the dirt. This wkd will be in the 70s so hopefully the cold weather is done for the year and I can go in the ground soon.

[capehog]

here's what I did, and it may not be necessary. I let them get 2-4 sets of leaves and transplanted from the peat pellets into solo cups. I drilled a couple drain holes in the cups and set them inside another cup with no holes. This allowed for bottom watering. I left them in there until they got about 8 inches high or so then went into buckets. You can definitely skip that step and go directly into your buckets. Just put them somewhere where they'll get lots of full sun, especially in the spring.
When it started to get crazy hot in the summer I put them all under a 40% shade cloth.

This was my first year on a semi massive scale and I'm not liking the red solo cups. If I had it to over and I do for next year I am going to buy the 4.5 square pots and the trays. The solo cups tip over easily and the square seems to be so much easier to bottom water. I've been shopping online for the amount I am looking to buy they are .15 each but as usual the shipping is what kills you. I'm going to try some of the nurseries here in town but they are always high on everything so it will be a search mission.

[jacobp]

This was my first year on a semi massive scale and I'm not liking the red solo cups. If I had it to over and I do for next year I am going to buy the 4.5 square pots and the trays. The solo cups tip over easily and the square seems to be so much easier to bottom water. I've been shopping online for the amount I am looking to buy they are .15 each but as usual the shipping is what kills you. I'm going to try some of the nurseries here in town but they are always high on everything so it will be a search mission.

I could see that. I just happened to have about 500 solo cups in my garage and nothing to do with them. But I had them indoors in my large grow box so tipping over wasn't much of an issue. If I had them handy I'd definitely use the squares. I ran about 250 plants then and it was ok for that.

I was preparing to ramp up to 1000+ plants and was in the process of rethinking my set up, but I got a job offer in NWA and got the hell out of Louisiana as fast as I could.  Thinking about getting back into superhots next year.

[DeltaBoy]

Looking Good guys.

[capehog]

Into the ground we go:

Ended up with 121 plants in ground and in bags/planters. WalMart bags make great planters as the roots are air pruned as they reach the sides of the fabric. Another experiment to see how well this works.



Today we got the storms Oklahoma West Arkansas got last night so I experimented with golf umbrellas I cant sell in my business cutting the handles off and driving in the ground to protect the plants from the high wind. We didnt get any hail and the storms didnt amount to much but it was worth the effort.

[DeltaBoy]

Smart move.