ThePatentMagicPlants.com peppers any good?

[sniffs]

My wife had a few of these sitting in our cabinet for a few years so when I got the itch to start growing peppers naturally we decided to pull them out and give it a go.

Has anyone tried growing these before? we planted them the same time as my others but these aren't growing at all. They are staying real tiny..

ideas?

[applestar]

Could you post close up of the seedlings? The leaves look off to me but I can't be sure.

These ARE hot peppers, though and some of them tend to be slowpokes until their roots are established, unlike C.anuum species like bells and jalapeños.

The black can may help to heat up the planting mix, which will help, but if they are only planted in vermiculite and nothing else, they need to be fertilized. What did the instructions say?

[sniffs]

gotcha.. below are the closest I could get on my cell without busting out my camera.

Here's the hot chocolate hab

Chocolate habanero

Here's the carribean red.
https://goo.gl/photos/K62nxWZJKwHgkiTR7

Here's the bishop cap red
https://goo.gl/photos/sZmvFAeHs37RVXLf6

If you need more detailed pics let me know and I'll get out my kodak

EDIT: The instructions basically said to keep them warm.. after 6 leaves appear add some calcium or egg shells.. then fertilize them and once big enough, transplant.. but at this stage, should I just toss a tiny amount of fertilizer(I just bought gro power plus) at the top?

EDIT 2: Ahh so I googled vermiculite and apparently I'm growing them wrong. according to wikipedia,

"Seed germination: either used alone or mixed with soil or peat, vermiculite is used to germinate seeds. Very little watering is required. When vermiculite is used alone, seedlings should be fed with a weak fertilizer solution when the first true leaves appear. A tablespoon of soluble fertilizer per one imperial gallon (3.78 : 1) of water is the recommended mix"

[applestar]

The tiny hab seems normal/expected.

The fuzzy on the Caribbean red was throwing me off in the far shot. Don't know if it's supposed to be fuzzy -- rocotos and serranos are supposed to be fuzzy but I didn't think cinensis peppers were fuzzy.

Bishops Cap -- those seed leaves look so narrow...? But then this has an odd shaped fruit....

Yeah fertilizer -- but use 1/2 or even 1/4 of recommended strength on young seedlings.

[sniffs]

The Gro Power Plus is tiny little dark gray granules and says to use 1 tsp per 1 gallon, so since these are so tiny I took out 2 individual granules from the bag and tossed 2 inside each one of these little cans.

We'll see how it goes. I'll report back in a few weeks.

[sniffs]

Ok, so I started using fish fertilizer on these and got some proper 6500K CFL's they are hanging from.. the growth has just exploded.. they are bigger than some of my other pepper plants that I started as seedlings.

I've left all of these hanging from my room fan that has 2 6500K CFL's and 1 2700K CFL.. the peppers that I leave outside, they are super tiny.. I thought the Sun was better but from what I'm seeing, the CFL's appear to be better.

I'll post some pics later today of the differences.

Heres a pic of my Anaheim chilis I leave outside..
https://goo.gl/photos/YUfMqPRNhNqBRdgW8

Heres a pic of my chocolate habs I leave inches from my 6500K CFL.
https://goo.gl/photos/to7s5rjkUXvhLeLq9

[sniffs]

These plants are some of the most frustrating plants I've ever had. The tiny little cans they come in make it nearly impossible to remove them to uppot without disturbing the roots. Imagine growing a pepper out the bottom of a soda can and it has a lip.

So I took all 3 of them and up-potted them. Over a month later they still can't take full sun.. minutes after I put them in full sun they completely wilt. Any ideas/thoughts on what to do to organically make their roots stronger? I don't want to use Miracle Grow..

[applestar]

Are you gradually acclimating them to sun? Full sun at this time of the year in your area must be extra intense. Start with full shade or dappled shade -- shady side of a tree or shrub and move them to increased sun exposure every few days over a course of several weeks. Be sure they are watered/water them before moving them to more sun. If you are in dry humidity area, they will dry out faster too.

Plants in containers can't take much full sun either unless the container is extra large for the plant and/or insulated. Even in NJ, my container plants do better when the containers are in the shade even while the tops of the plants are in full sun.

[sniffs]

Yeah I give them morning sun when its cooler. They seem to be able to take the morning sun perfectly fine.. it's the hotter afternoon sun where they wilt. I'll provide them morning sun and then shade for the rest of the day. I do sometimes toss them in the afternoon sun to see if they've acclimated yet but they appear to not due to the wilt. All 3 are fairly large, about 6-8 inches but I did damage the roots a bit pulling them out of those canisters.

I mean if it's a waiting game I can wait.. just wondering if I should do something to speed the process along or just let them do their thing. The past few days I've been watering with a mix of Fish fertilizer I made, 5-1-1 which is fairly low..

[imafan26]

Your mix is very dry. The wilting may be because of that especially on hot afternoons and it would be accelerated if you also have the pots on a hot reflective surface like concrete. What are the cans made of?
T
If they are indeed 'cans', metal can heat up to the point where it is too hot to handle. Try double potting, water the plants very well and try leaving one out a little longer but keep an eye on it. Peppers should be able to take the sun, but it might be a problem with the pot and the media that is causing the roots to heat up and to dry out too fast. I would pot up to at least a gallon. If it is big enough I would pot up to a 4 gallon container that should be good for about 4 years on the perennial peppers.
I use 60/40 peat lite in summer but you could use coir if you want to be more sustainable. I add a handful of vermicast to my pots when I have it. I have issues adding any other kinds of compost, they hold too much water.

[sniffs]

The cans are aluminum cans, exactly like a little 8oz soda can. They look exactly like an aluminum soda can but the bottom also has a pull tab that tears off. The plant grows out of that. Inside of every one of these is vermiculite mixed with shredded cotton balls and a circle cotton pad at the very bottom to prevent water from just draining out.

The potting soil I use is E.B. Stone's "Edna's Best" potting soil which is actually really good soil. I toss it into a 5 gallon bucket and add in a few cups of vermiculite to make it a little lighter. Then I use E.B. Stone's "Edna's Best" compost and toss in about a 50/50 mix of that and the potting soil. That's what I use for all my plants.

All my peppers are in 12" terra cotta pots which I know do get a little warm and can evaporate water quicker, and its a PITA to get a plant that is root bound out of them, but I already had a bunch of them so I used them.