Arthe's Chili Garden

I've been wanting to do this for so long but only now I have the time and chance!
So yeah in the beginning of last Summer I got an Apache plant from my now-ex's mom as a birthday present.
And since then I've been busy studying horticulture and growing different chili strains in different methods.

The setup I have looks kinda ridiculous but it'll be corrected as soon as I get to move on my own.
I have a 250watt Metal halide practically lighting up and heating up my entire room, which is actually pretty useful for saving in electricity bills.

The medium is a mix of potting soil, perlite and vermiculite for most of the newer plants. Big ones didn't have the chance of getting a mixed soil. The passive hydro sprout is in a perlite-vermicule mixture.

Without further introductions, I'll show some snapshots I've taken tonight mostly.

#1: Overview on the entire grow
#2: A closeup of some small Annuum sprouts, one is my first attempt at passive-hydro
#3: Apache family, showing some major phenotype differences (Apache is an F1 hybrid, thus owns unstable seedling genetics)
#4: Two of Big Momma Apache's oldest children, planted in the summer from seeds in her yield, again showing major phenotype differences.
#5: This one shocked me, it actually produces Bell Peppers with Apache's heat. So cool! She's really lanky and wobbly in structure.
#6: The other child, she shows really strong structure, was a lot bushier before the cat attacked
#7: Big Momma Apache, she was pretty much like that when I got her, only a lot bushier!
#8: Young Lemon Drop (also known as Hot Lemon in some seedbanks)

Edited by Arthemesic, 26 March 2012 - 12:46 AM.

right on, im hopfully going to be rockin a chili garden here soon, im still in the process of collecting all my seeds tho, going to be doing a bunch of the super hots

Gotta add some more shots! Also, don't mind the picture titles.

#1: Closeup on the fruit on the bell pepper-Apache
#2: Closeup on the other child of Momma's, my girlfriend calls this one Viagra because pods point upwards
#3: Momma's current yield
#4: Lemon Drop (planted on the same day as the Bell & Viagra Apaches), she's got a bit of a story behind that magnificent pose
#5: Closeup on Lemon Drop's yield
#6: My big brother's Eucalyptus
#7: The nutrients I own and use [GHE's FloraTrio, BioSevia, Diamond Nectar, pH-down & BioBizz Algae extract]


Yeah about that Lemon Drop, her roots were under heavy stress due to Sciaridae's larvae so she was about to collapse. The main stem was purple and flaccid, until I somehow got the fuckers to leave and she got better. But the main stem was so thin and weak, I thought I'd go LST on her ass and later experiment her into a Bonsai chili, aka. Bonchi.


PS. If you see some leaves with holes/shreds, they're result of not keeping an eye on one of our cats. He seems to like the taste of especially Lemon Drop leaves.

Edited by Arthemesic, 26 March 2012 - 12:20 AM.

right on, im hopfully going to be rockin a chili garden here soon, im still in the process of collecting all my seeds tho, going to be doing a bunch of the super hots

Join the club man, it's really nice n' flaming in here!

If you want super, infernal hot chili I'd point you to the Finnish seedbank of Fatalii Seeds, which surprisingly might even be the world's largest chili seedbank! They've also got a huge selection of different exotic and rare strains among the beginner-friendly ones. And they have growing guides, Bonsai guides etc.

oh sick ill check that out that site

as soon as i get some more money im going to be ordering the Naga Morich, 7 Pot Pepper, Trinidad Scorpion and Bhut Jolokia, plus a couple different types of Habanero's, and im germinating a bunch of pumpkin habanero's right now

im pretty much going to be proccesing all my peppers into hot sauce, so ill iv a bunch haha i fuckin looove hot sauce

Edited by sundance, 26 March 2012 - 04:56 PM.

Sounds like some really tight sauce is on its way there When I get enough material dried up, I'll probably go for a hot powder. What kinda stuff is needed for a hot sauce, do you know?

pretty much you can do whatever you want in your hot sauce but a pretty basic list of stuff to put in it is:
hot chili's
tomato
onions
garlic
salt
pepper
vinegar
depending on what type of sauce you like you can put other stuff in there too, some people put lime juice, or carrots for some sweetness, you pretty much just chop everything up, put it in a pan simmer it for awhile, blend it up and your good haha
in the past iv looked at the list of ingredients on the back of a store bought hot sauce i like and try to make it haha

Right on! i just planted a Bhut Jolokia and Red Savina Habanero... i also got chocolate (congo black) habs, orange, red and yellow habs.


by just planted. i mean i literally just stuck the seeds in dirt and came on here.

quick question.... i got the lights set to 24hrs for them.... do they flower like cannabis? if i flip to 12/12 do they start shootin out peppers?

quick question.... i got the lights set to 24hrs for them.... do they flower like cannabis? if i flip to 12/12 do they start shootin out peppers?

I believe they have effect on it but you don't need to worry about light periods. The average need for light per day in Capsicum plants is around 8 to 12 hours, so that's all you need to pay attention to. The more the better, though. I don't even have a timer and my plants are just fine.

Right on! i just planted a Bhut Jolokia and Red Savina Habanero... i also got chocolate (congo black) habs, orange, red and yellow habs.


by just planted. i mean i literally just stuck the seeds in dirt and came on here.

Sounds like a very nice selection Habaneros aren't exactly friends of being germinated by planting directly into soil, so I'd strongly recommend you get a plastic box, pour some water in it (2 inches is ok), place a block of styrofoam wrapped in paper towels on the water. Place seeds on the wet paper and seal the lid. Make sure to punch a hole or two into the lid.

The seeds will grow a root into the paper towel and begin sprout. I like to plant the sprouts into small paper cups when they're about three centimetres long.

lol too late. i got about 4-5 seeds of each in two little 1" x 1" dirt cubes. got a heat mat under it and its got a dome on it. i figure one of 5 seeds should take off.... but now i think i might of screwed myself. what if all 5 seeds go? christ i'll have a christmas tree.... oh well i can plant it outside.

lol too late. i got about 4-5 seeds of each in two little 1" x 1" dirt cubes. got a heat mat under it and its got a dome on it. i figure one of 5 seeds should take off.... but now i think i might of screwed myself. what if all 5 seeds go? christ i'll have a christmas tree.... oh well i can plant it outside.

It shouldn't be a problem.. unless you're impatient I'd say all of them have a chance to sprout, but I've experienced the 'raft' to be a very ensuring way to germinate seeds of many kinds. What kind of soil & nutes are you using, may I ask?

i got like seventy five percent germ rate on my habaneros, and i just stuck em in soil on the heat mat with some seran wrap over the top.

those bhut jolokia's tho, im interested to see what happens with those, iv always heard they are way hard to germ, new mexico chili research said they observed some germing after 80 days in the soil

80 days? oh well. guess ima have to be patient.....

I am using Miracle Gro tomato 18-18-21, or will be. i just want something cheap don't wanna use my Advanced Nutes line on em

they might germ faster tho, my habaneros where suposed to take between seven and fourteen days to germ and most were above the soil in four days haha

80 days? oh well. guess ima have to be patient.....

I am using Miracle Gro tomato 18-18-21, or will be. i just want something cheap don't wanna use my Advanced Nutes line on em

You might wanna invest on GHE's FloraTrio, Diamond Nectar, pH-down and the Algae extract by BioBizz. Not very expensive, especially if you live in the US.

A joyfully sour update!!

My first lemon seed sprouted just two days ago and she's looking really good! On top of that, my Lemon Drop is starting to ripen up her first set of pods.

Just woke up and found out the smaller one is just about ready for picking.



EDIT: Apparently I can't upload the shot of my newly-sprouted lemon tree, since I used it in my thread Planting Lemons?.
Go check it out y'all!

Edited by Arthemesic, 06 April 2012 - 12:29 PM.

Cool man, any others ready to pick soon?

Cool man, any others ready to pick soon?

Yeah most of that bell pepper-style Apache stuff is drying up. Left one in the plant for some bitterness to join the flavor. Three Lemon Drop pods are left to fully ripen as well.

Got my garden arranged into a far more suitable & compact setting, too!

The Finnish Chili Association sent me a letter almost 6 months after I became a member.
I'm very excited about these new strains, all of them are more or less extreme in their capsaicin levels. Especially Habanero Sudden Death, its concentration of capsaicin has been measured around 100,000 - 300,000 Scoville heat units!

EDIT: 666th post!