Day 95
UPDATE#22
Grower update
Update #22
Actions taken
FinishedEnded the plant after it outgrew the Harvest.
Ended this tonight. I was going to transplant it, but there was no way that was going to happen:
GrowLog
FailedJamaican Bird Pepper in a Modified AeroGarden Harvest
Grow log by ERR0R1755 · Original thread
22 visual updates27 photos56 replies
View recapCrop🌶️Pepper
VarietyJamaican Bird Pepper
MethodAerogarden
EquipmentAeroGarden Harvest, 10-gallon Whisper air pump, air stone, PPM meter
Plants1
AudienceAdvanced
What you can learnDetailed failure analysis covering nutrient mixing, PPM management, severe defoliation, condensation, light-height limits, and equipment modification.
Actions:5 Pruning4 Nutrients2 Equipment1 Planting1 Transplant1 Finished
Useful practices
- replacing the drip pump with an air pump and air stone
- tracking PPM
- rinse-and-refill after nutrient lockout
- removing damaged foliage
- raising the light
- pruning dense growth
- checking mature plant height before choosing a garden
Problems encountered
- slow germination
- nutrient lockout and precipitated nutrient clumps
- leaf damage
- dense foliage and condensation
- plant outgrew the Harvest and flowers were burned by the light
- no fruit harvest
*The days were calculated automatically and approximately.
Conversation
E
Plant Grown: Jamaican Bird PepperGrow Method: AeroGarden HarvestTime to Germinate: 17 daysTime to First Harvest: N/ATime to Last Harvest: N/A (ended after 112 days)Plant Spacing: 1 per Harvest (17% usage)Final Height: 16 inchesWould I grow these again? Unlikely. If I did grow this again, it would be outdoors or in a very large DWC setup.Lessons Learned: Check the height. Check the height.
S
Error, please be sure to post the link in the Pepper Review thread. If you have any others with reviews post their links as well and I will add to the list
Day 87
UPDATE#21
Grower update
Update #21
I never thought I'd see the day that this plant got flowers! They were a bit hard to get pictures of, though.
Conversation
S
I see them
E
I think this plant is too tall for a Harvest. It is continuing to grow upwards, and now flowers and leaves are being cooked by the lights. Pollinated flowers are falling off the plant, with signs of being burnt.I'm not sure what to do. I might end up terminating this plant or throwing it outdoors..
S
ERR0R1755 , Khang Starr just chops the top of the pepper off when that happens, which forces the pepper to grow more horizontal branches. He also cuts off branches that grow too far out of the light. You could try that, unless the plant is just too big to be worth it.
E
I've thought about doing that again, but I'm not sure it would be worth it. I've looked more into this type of pepper and spoken with other people who have grown them, and it's normally a 3'-5' bush.
S
Yikes, ERR0R1755! I would probably write that one off as an interesting experiment. Too bad you can't pot it and put it outdoors. But 3-5 feet is huge!
Day 74
UPDATE#20
Grower update
Update #20
Actions taken
NutrientsAdded 1.5 ml of CALiMAGic.
I'm glad I didn't terminate it, since I think I'm seeing the first signs of flowers!Gave it 1.5ml of CALiMAGic tonight.if these are not flowers, I might terminate it out of spite
Conversation
S
YAY~ Some peppers take a LOT of time.
Day 70
UPDATE#19
Grower update
Update #19
87 days since I started the seeds, 70 days since germination. I've thought about terminating this project quite a few times and I'm still on the fence about it.
Day 61
UPDATE#18
Grower update
Update #18
Actions taken
PruningPruned the plant back modestly.
Pruned it back a bit
Conversation
S
A bit?
S
It's cold, put a sweater on it LOL
Day 60
UPDATE#17
Grower update
Update #17
This one plant is drinking more water than my four Orange Hat Tomatoes... I'll take back my earlier statement and give it a trim soon.
Conversation
N
I've had to deal with this on some on peppers. Best thing I've found is just to keep the leaves thinned out. Remove the older wrinkled leaves and let some air get in there.
Day 54
UPDATE#16
Grower update
Update #16
I've more or less given up on pruning anything aside from dead/dying/damaged leaves.
Conversation
A
What a gorgeous plant!
Day 49
UPDATE#15
Grower update
Update #15
Actions taken
NutrientsAdded 2 ml of nutrients.
Added 2ml of nutes. This one doesn't seem to be consuming much at the moment.
Conversation
S
They really look so healthy
E
The stem of the plant has almost filled in the hole in the AeroGarden pod label
S
Are those peppers very hot, Error? I wish I could find a small pepper like that with just a little heat. You get so many more small peppers on a plant than larger ones.
S
I have had many a pepper plants do that. I needed to saw them off at the cage to get them out LOL
S
Sher, what size (in length ie 1", .5", 1.5") are you looking for? I know of a few sweets and milds like that. PM me and I can give you a few names.
E
They're definitely on the hotter side - somewhere around a habanero or a scotch bonnet. A lot of people grow this type of pepper outdoors just as an ornamental plant.I don't know much about peppers, but there's a YouTuber called Khang Starr that does - he has been doing a "What's That Pepper" series with 102 videos so far. You could take a look at the thumbnails to find a pepper that looks interesting to you, and then check the video or look up how hot it is:www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLPq8JWQbWhBkBqnJU9IhCzunZ2hlk48R
S
I have been following Khang Starr for years. He is a genuine plant whisperer!
Day 46
UPDATE#14
Grower update
Update #14
pep pep
Day 43
UPDATE#13
Grower update
Update #13
Actions taken
NutrientsAdded 1 ml of nutrients.
Peppers are definitely hardy plants. Added 1ml of nutes.
Day 40
UPDATE#12
Grower update
Update #12
Actions taken
PruningPruned leaves after advice to reduce condensation.
I asked Khang Starr about the condensation build-up during a video premiere, and he recommended pruning back the leaves, so here we go:
Day 40
UPDATE#11
Grower update
Update #11
Actions taken
EquipmentRaised the grow light by one notch.
Raised the light up another notch today, and I've been shaking the plant a bit each day. Doesn't seem to make a difference with the condensation, but it helps me sleep at night.
Day 34
UPDATE#10
Grower update
Update #10
I'm really happy with how this is growing.
Conversation
A
Just look at those leaves! They look downright tropical!
S
It is a beautiful plant!
E
Has anyone had any issues with condensation forming on "trapped" leaves (leaves underneath other leaves) before? I've never seen this happen on any other plant I've grown, and I want to make sure it isn't an issue in terms of things like mold.
S
Yes, I have had mildew grow on lettuce leaves that were packed too tightly together without enough air circulation. My temporary fix was to spray them with 1/3 peroxide and 2/3 water to kill the existing mildew. Then I thinned out the lettuce. I have also had water dripping off pepper leaves when they were growing too thickly. I did a severe leaf pruning, and it took care of the problem.
S
Yes I get the condensation. I thin some leaves out after shaking the plant gently to loosen them. They may need some air circulation or a daily shake.
Day 30
UPDATE#9
Grower update
Update #9
Actions taken
PruningRemoved front leaves to improve access to the reservoir port.
I've been carefully monitoring the nutrients/PPM and the water level. I removed some of the front leaves so I could get access to the water port more easily, but this is the most growth I've seen in a three day period:The leaves are building up some condensation due to how many leaves the bush is getting, so hopefully that won't be an issue in the long run.
Day 27
UPDATE#8
Grower update
Update #8
Seems like it has recovered nicely and is enjoying the increased PPM!
Conversation
S
It is looking good.
Day 24
UPDATE#7
Grower update
Update #7
Actions taken
PruningContinued removing old damaged leaves as damage became visible.
The nutrient lockout or whatever was in my AeroGarden definitely caused some damage, I should have done the R&R sooner...I've been removing the old damaged leaves as they start to become more noticeable, but the new growth is looking good:
Conversation
S
At least you caught it before it did a lot of damage.
E
Yes, it could have been worse. I almost wish I went with different nutrients instead of the AeroGarden, since it's hard to tell the difference between early root rot and stains from the nutrients >_>
S
I know a lot of people use other nutes but I get so nervous about the mixing and what to use when so I have always used the AG ones. One of our members wrote a Flora Series 101 "tutorial" for lack of a better word (int he Nutrient and Supplement section) however my brain still gets confused. I should take another look someday.
E
If you pick up a cheap PPM meter ($10-$20), then you just add a small amount of nutrients to a gallon of water, mix, and repeat until you have the PPM you want. (this chart has the most common ones)It's a bit different since you refill using your pre-mixed nutrient solution, instead of adding water to the AG as needed and then adding nutrients every two weeks. You won't have to worry about how much nutrients your plant uses, since the water you'd refill it with has your nutrients in it (and even if you don't want to deal with other nutrients or a PPM meter, that chart is still useful because it gives you an idea of how much nutrients you should give each plant, to prevent things like lettuce getting nutrient burn.)
Day 21
UPDATE#6
Grower update
Update #6
Actions taken
PruningRemoved every large leaf, leaving about a dozen small leaves.
I decided to try something - I removed every single large leaf on the plant, leaving about a dozen small ones.From what I've seen with other gardeners, the plant should easily recover from this, but I wanted to snip the bad leaves off (and maybe get a bushier growth as a bonus)
Day 20
UPDATE#5
Grower update
Update #5
It's growing well!The leaves are starting to look a bit discolored and there's some dead edges. I looked in the tank and there's a bunch of white fuzzy (underwater) clumps, which I think is my fault from not mixing the nutrients well enough last time. I'll do a rinse and refill today.
Conversation
S
keep us posted
E
Definitely nutrient lock out. After the R&R, the PPM is now 1780.I removed some of the dead leaves, removed some of the roots that had brown clumps in them (chunks of nutrient?), and topped the plant.
Day 15
UPDATE#4
Grower update
Update #4
Actions taken
NutrientsAdded one teaspoon of CALiMAGic and two caps of AeroGarden nutrients.
So far so good! I added one teaspoon of CALiMAGic and two caps of the AG nutrients, and I'm hoping that's not too much and that they don't cause a nutrient lockout, since you're normally supposed to use the cal-mag before you add nutrients.The PPM is currently around 1300, which is on the low side for hot peppers according to what I can find online, but it's definitely the highest I've had in my Aerogarden yet...
Conversation
A
This is all new to me! When you say your PPM is 1300, I assume you mean parts per million...but parts per million of what? Do you usually measure exact nutrient levels with peppers? Do you find that this gives you a better end result?Fascinating!
E
I normally don't measure PPM much, but I figured it would be a good idea to do it this time so I don't over or under dose my pepper with nutrients.The PPM is indeed parts per million, but with a PPM tester, it just says "this much other stuff is in the water". I'm not sure what most chlorinated water comes to, but at least with reverse osmosis or distilled water, it's normally less than 20. You can use PPM as a rough guideline of "how much nutrients do I have to use for optimal growth".If you're curious and want to get a rough idea of how it works, here's the chart I use with vegetables and requirements.www.homehydrosystems.com/ph_tds_ppm/ph_vegetables_page.html(you can ignore cF and EC, they're just different ways of measuring dissolved solids like PPM does)
Day 11
UPDATE#3
Grower update
Update #3
And here comes the second set of true leaves!The plant's growth is accelerating at a nice rate (especially after waiting a month for the seed to germinate...) and I'll probably add some General Hydroponics CALiMAGic (calcium and magnesium) soon.I'm pretty sure most of the problems I've had with other plants are due to the lack of those two components, since I have to use distilled/RO water which is as pure as you can get, and I don't believe the Aerogarden nutrients contain those two things.
Day 8
UPDATE#2
Grower update
Update #2
The first true leaves are coming through!
Day 1
UPDATE#1
Grower update
Update #1
Actions taken
PlantingStarted Jamaican Bird Pepper seeds on April 24.
TransplantMoved the sprouted seedling into an AeroGarden Harvest.
EquipmentRemoved the drip pump and installed a Whisper air pump with a small air stone.
After starting the seeds on April 24th, I finally got a Jamaican Bird Pepper seed to sprout.I moved it into a Harvest today as the only plant:I decided to try hacking my Harvest a bit - so I removed the drip pump, and instead I hooked up a 10-gallon Whisper air pump with a small air stone. I'm interested to see how it does!I don't have any prior experience with these peppers, so unfortunately I don't have anything to compare it to, but I'm hoping for positive results.The seeds in question came from peppergrower2013 on eBay. They were quite pricey ($2.40 for 14 seeds) so I'm definitely hoping to get some seeds from this in the long run.
Conversation
S
Following
E
Nothing notable in terms of growth so far, but something interesting I noticed - the vibrations from the air pump are causing the seedling to shake a little bit.I'm curious to see if this will be equivalent to mimicking wind, and therefore result in a stronger stem.