2021 Season Chilli Growing
- Thread starter pooey
- Start date
Soldato
Associate
@Griffo That's cool you managed to germ some supermarket seeds, they can act as your test plants while you wait for the more exotic ones to arrive 
I have been really interested in 3D printing for a while, what software do you draw the designs in? If yours is an entry level printer how do you rate it?
I'd love to get one but can't warrant buying a super expensive one and have read a lot of people saying the entry level ones aren't up to much.
Impressed with your hydro build it looks brilliant. Can't wait to see how your plants do.
I have just finalised the design for my 6 x self watering pot gravity fed irrigation system I intend to use on the balcony this year.
https://ibb.co/Wk0X7zM
https://ibb.co/fGbYSdV
https://ibb.co/hdcDhx0
https://ibb.co/7rKV8sV
I have been really interested in 3D printing for a while, what software do you draw the designs in? If yours is an entry level printer how do you rate it?
I'd love to get one but can't warrant buying a super expensive one and have read a lot of people saying the entry level ones aren't up to much.
Impressed with your hydro build it looks brilliant. Can't wait to see how your plants do.
I have just finalised the design for my 6 x self watering pot gravity fed irrigation system I intend to use on the balcony this year.
https://ibb.co/Wk0X7zM
https://ibb.co/fGbYSdV
https://ibb.co/hdcDhx0
https://ibb.co/7rKV8sV
Thanks! The net pots are about 100mmx70mm and 100mm ish deep. Entire bucket bin thing is 300x200x400. I'll remember maths and calc volume soon but I expect 10 to 15L maybe.Looking good man!
What's the dimensions? You'll get some monster plants in there
I've got one of those orange plastic Christmas food crackers boxes I'm thinking of converting too. Lots smaller but... it's a box!
@Griffo That's cool you managed to germ some supermarket seeds, they can act as your test plants while you wait for the more exotic ones to arrive
I have been really interested in 3D printing for a while, what software do you draw the designs in? If yours is an entry level printer how do you rate it?
I'd love to get one but can't warrant buying a super expensive one and have read a lot of people saying the entry level ones aren't up to much.
Impressed with your hydro build it looks brilliant. Can't wait to see how your plants do.
I have just finalised the design for my 6 x self watering pot gravity fed irrigation system I intend to use on the balcony this year.
https://ibb.co/Wk0X7zM
https://ibb.co/fGbYSdV
https://ibb.co/hdcDhx0
https://ibb.co/7rKV8sV
Software: I learned to use some proper scary thing when I designed a quadcopter years ago. That is/was overkill for most bits and bobs. I use tinkercad for pretty much everything. Free, easy to use. As I seem to go for several months between printing stuff a shallow learning curve is important otherwise it's like re-learning to code every year.
My printer is an original prusa i3 mk2. Long since deprecated for fancier versions I think. I bought it at least 4 or 5 years ago for around 6-700GBP. When I put the time and effort into properly calibrating it, it can do amazing stuff. But I tend to get it mostly OK and settle these days, as I'm printing functional more than arty stuff, where overhangs and bridging stuff become important. Anyway yeah I'd recommend it, and there's a community, and it's the open source one that started so many copies. I imagine ebay has a few used official ones knocking about by now.
Self watering: looks good! I love planning and designing! Have you got the parts?
Associate
Thanks for the rundown @Griffo
I'll have a bit of a browse in the usual places online and see what is going.
Yup I have all the parts for the watering system.
Manage to get it all from Ikea/eBay for pretty cheap. Way less that the prices I see in the gardening centres near me at least.
I like to keep the costs down when I am prototyping (mucking about
) with these things.
I'll have a bit of a browse in the usual places online and see what is going.
Yup I have all the parts for the watering system.
Manage to get it all from Ikea/eBay for pretty cheap. Way less that the prices I see in the gardening centres near me at least.
I like to keep the costs down when I am prototyping (mucking about
) with these things.
I go through a similar thing but with plastic bottles and tubs. The recycling is vetted in this house for Hydro suitability
Associate
@pooey That's great!
Just had a flick back through the thread and it's cool to see such great plants growing in all these crazy reclaimed containers.
Couldn't believe the price of just basic pots at the gardening centre, I'm going to have to go raid our recycling too.
Just had a flick back through the thread and it's cool to see such great plants growing in all these crazy reclaimed containers.
Couldn't believe the price of just basic pots at the gardening centre, I'm going to have to go raid our recycling too.
@Rathian - Oh for sure, if it holds water and I can stick a net cup in it we're good to go
I use the bottoms of 500ml water bottles for my tiny hydro breeding stock, to prevent algae I pop them in a cooling sleeve for beer can so the light doesn't get in.
I use the bottoms of 500ml water bottles for my tiny hydro breeding stock, to prevent algae I pop them in a cooling sleeve for beer can so the light doesn't get in.
Yeah I got annoyed about the prices and sources for the net pots, which got me thinking on 3D printing. Although I have a feeling - even ignoring the outlay for the printer and ink - that it probably cost me more in electricity! (add in the prototype I spent 6 hours printing before forgetting it can't print in thin air at the top (bottom!))
@Rathian - Oh for sure, if it holds water and I can stick a net cup in it we're good to go
I use the bottoms of 500ml water bottles for my tiny hydro breeding stock, to prevent algae I pop them in a cooling sleeve for beer can so the light doesn't get in.
Ah I was wondering that as I kept back a large plastic drinks bottle for a similar cause. Do they eventually outgrow those 500mls? And I assume 'outgrow' is the roots taking up all the space?
One more question! My sainsburys seedling are about 2 inches tall, 4 leaves each, in compost at the moment. When (or how do you determine) do you think they can be safely transplanted into nets with clay pebbles? They look awfully puny right now!
@Griffo Here's some pictures of a Sugar Rush Peach Stripey @ 130 days old.
They will absolutely fill all space with roots if you give them a chance
Obviously he's not gonna be getting any bigger but he's good for 5 or 6 pods which is all I need to get some crosses.
I will refill them typically one or twice a week which is the only real hassle of having them this small.
With regards to transplanting, I don't have much experience there - I germinate the seeds directly in the medium that will go in the net cup and avoid the need altogether, currently I'm using Root!t sponges. I'd guess that second set of leaves is probably OK to transplant, as long as the roots are long enough to get to the nutrient solution under the net cup you're good to go.
They will absolutely fill all space with roots if you give them a chance
Obviously he's not gonna be getting any bigger but he's good for 5 or 6 pods which is all I need to get some crosses.
I will refill them typically one or twice a week which is the only real hassle of having them this small.
With regards to transplanting, I don't have much experience there - I germinate the seeds directly in the medium that will go in the net cup and avoid the need altogether, currently I'm using Root!t sponges. I'd guess that second set of leaves is probably OK to transplant, as long as the roots are long enough to get to the nutrient solution under the net cup you're good to go.
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Yea I guess they do
There's quite a community online of people rocking chilli bonsai or 'Bonchi'
From what I've read here and there they will start to flower if they feel their roots are restricted which is good for speeding up the generations to get stable phenotypes out of a cross project.
I might experiment with something really small to see if that's the case.
Noticed a bit of new growth in the germination station so I thought I'd share my process since transplanting was on topic
I use these Root!t sponges for the entire lifecycle of the plants. I start 2 seeds per sponge and place the sponges in a tray, contained within a ziplock bag. The tray lives in the cupboard with my combi boiler, temps are a fairly steady 23-25c in there. The tray in the bag gets a bit of water now and then to keep it saturated at 90%+ relative humidity.
So onto this guy, it's our pal Antep Aci Dolma making a brave new foray into the world! Not much action from above but he's good to go into phase 2 of his life.
Here's the materials for transplant. Beer can cooler sleeve, half a plastic bottle, 5cm net cup, small ziplock bag, sponge with our germ, and a label so I know what the hell is going on in my tent. Shout out to the 500ml buxton water bottles, the indentation perfectly holds a 5cm net cup at a nice hight.
Looking at the bottom of the sponge, I can see that both seeds have germinated, at this stage the germs will typically only have 1 root bossing it down looking for sustenance. I'll cull one of them later.
Next I place the sponge directly into the net cup which will be his home for life. The most fiddly part of this whole process is making sure the roots poke through the bottom without destroying them, they aren't all that fragile but I'm fairly clumsy.
Next, the net cup goes into the bottle and I'll fill up to the bottom of the net cup with dilute (about 20% full growth strength) nutrient solution. I don't want the solution touching the sponge since if it stays saturated the plant might suffocate; I'm not aerating the solution so these guys gotta breathe and they'll do that with smaller hairlike roots up the top somewhere
Add the label and pop the bottle in the cooler sleeve to keep the light out of the nutes, I also add some clay pellets to reduce light from above getting at the solution.
I cover with a ziplock bag, open at the bottom. The relative humidity in my grow tent is kept at 50-60%, this is to favour flowering in my older plants, if I was just growing new seedlings I would keep it 80%+. To resolve this disparity I give my young plants a cloche where they can bask in the heady humid conditions until they get a bit bigger.
Lastly, and what is becoming more challenging as time goes on, I find a spot for him in the grow tent where he'll get decent light so he can make the most of his first few days. Good luck to him and may he produce glorious fruit.
I use these Root!t sponges for the entire lifecycle of the plants. I start 2 seeds per sponge and place the sponges in a tray, contained within a ziplock bag. The tray lives in the cupboard with my combi boiler, temps are a fairly steady 23-25c in there. The tray in the bag gets a bit of water now and then to keep it saturated at 90%+ relative humidity.
So onto this guy, it's our pal Antep Aci Dolma making a brave new foray into the world! Not much action from above but he's good to go into phase 2 of his life.
Here's the materials for transplant. Beer can cooler sleeve, half a plastic bottle, 5cm net cup, small ziplock bag, sponge with our germ, and a label so I know what the hell is going on in my tent. Shout out to the 500ml buxton water bottles, the indentation perfectly holds a 5cm net cup at a nice hight.
Looking at the bottom of the sponge, I can see that both seeds have germinated, at this stage the germs will typically only have 1 root bossing it down looking for sustenance. I'll cull one of them later.
Next I place the sponge directly into the net cup which will be his home for life. The most fiddly part of this whole process is making sure the roots poke through the bottom without destroying them, they aren't all that fragile but I'm fairly clumsy.
Next, the net cup goes into the bottle and I'll fill up to the bottom of the net cup with dilute (about 20% full growth strength) nutrient solution. I don't want the solution touching the sponge since if it stays saturated the plant might suffocate; I'm not aerating the solution so these guys gotta breathe and they'll do that with smaller hairlike roots up the top somewhere
Add the label and pop the bottle in the cooler sleeve to keep the light out of the nutes, I also add some clay pellets to reduce light from above getting at the solution.
I cover with a ziplock bag, open at the bottom. The relative humidity in my grow tent is kept at 50-60%, this is to favour flowering in my older plants, if I was just growing new seedlings I would keep it 80%+. To resolve this disparity I give my young plants a cloche where they can bask in the heady humid conditions until they get a bit bigger.
Lastly, and what is becoming more challenging as time goes on, I find a spot for him in the grow tent where he'll get decent light so he can make the most of his first few days. Good luck to him and may he produce glorious fruit.
No worries
Thinking about it, something like a Antep Aci Dolma probably not so suitable for such small conditions, might get one pod off it? We'll see how he gets on and maybe he can be one of the lucky ones that gets a 1.5 litre pot
Thinking about it, something like a Antep Aci Dolma probably not so suitable for such small conditions, might get one pod off it? We'll see how he gets on and maybe he can be one of the lucky ones that gets a 1.5 litre pot
Associate
@pooey thanks for the run down on you growing technique.
I think I am going to give the Kratky method a go with one of my plants this year!
The handful of seedlings I have at this point are unfortunately struggling a bit.
The cotyledons are yellowing for some reason, I think probably because they are overwatered from my very wet germination approach
Hopefully as the media dries out a bit then they will perk up.
On the plus side my overwintered plant is bursting with new growth, having to pinch off a lot of flowers though.
I think I am going to give the Kratky method a go with one of my plants this year!
The handful of seedlings I have at this point are unfortunately struggling a bit.
The cotyledons are yellowing for some reason, I think probably because they are overwatered from my very wet germination approach
Hopefully as the media dries out a bit then they will perk up.
On the plus side my overwintered plant is bursting with new growth, having to pinch off a lot of flowers though.
@Rathian - Yea chilli plants are fairly resilient, I'm sure they'll perk right up if you let them dry out a bit
My grow tent was getting a bit out of hand so I've booted out a bunch of non-chilli plants I had starting in there, they'll be hardening off at my south facing patio doors with some daily stints outside weather permitting.
In time honoured fashion I've just gone and started a bunch more seeds to fill the space rather than give my plants more room
I've been trying to germinate Capsicum Tovarii seeds and on off since November, this time I've decided to soak the seeds in 1% hydrogen peroxide solution for a few hours prior to them heading to the germination station. I read a couple of papers suggesting this can really increase germination chances so I'm hopeful for this batch. From 20 seeds bought I'm now down to 6
My grow tent was getting a bit out of hand so I've booted out a bunch of non-chilli plants I had starting in there, they'll be hardening off at my south facing patio doors with some daily stints outside weather permitting.
In time honoured fashion I've just gone and started a bunch more seeds to fill the space rather than give my plants more room
I've been trying to germinate Capsicum Tovarii seeds and on off since November, this time I've decided to soak the seeds in 1% hydrogen peroxide solution for a few hours prior to them heading to the germination station. I read a couple of papers suggesting this can really increase germination chances so I'm hopeful for this batch. From 20 seeds bought I'm now down to 6
Ok so we've got the most exciting bit first: The box for the microwave, lined in Sainsbury's foil. I didn't use the same brand sellotape but maybe next time
.The platform is two reels of 3D printer filament, possibly helping with de-humidifying them right now, but they will go soon.
Ok the boring stuff:
Lights. I mentioned them up in Feb as some cheapo Amazon ones, and decided to take a punt. I have since put a smoke alarm directly above for peace of smokey mind. Oh an ofcourse a smart socket for timing.
The chillies are indeed the Sainsbury's ones. Chillies4u have said they'll be sending the plugs out by end March/early April.
Today I've updated my basket design to work with the crackers box and am printing the first at the moment. I'll probably then migrate these to that if nobody else wants to grow chillies (in which case they'll stay in soil).
I think that's it! Once the plugs arrive I'll put the big DWC thing in and then we'll hopefully see some fun.