DWC Bucket Chili Pepper

Heres some pictures of my Bhut Jolokia chili pepper plant in a 5 gal DWC bucket. I've got a 2' 110w HO T5 light from HTG and I'm using General Hydroponics Flora series nutes. The plant is from seed that was started almost a month ago, seems like its growing slow (maybe just in comparison to cannabis). You can see there are only 3 roots sticking out of the net pot and the bottom 1-2mm of the roots is turned brown, is this normal, bad?. I just noticed that on the first set of leaves one of them is getting a brown tip. Other than that, its not looking too bad i guess, for a first time hydro grow.

Im not familiar with that strain never mind chilies in general but that seems like slow growth for anything. And brown roots are universally a sign of poor health in my experience..

Maybe too much nutrients for such an early age? I know calcium and potassium in excess can stunt seedlings. Do you have a way of testing salinity as well?

I'm giving it nutes for "Mild Growth" according to GenHydro's feed schedule, which is 5ml Gro, 2.5 micro, 2.5 bloom, used less for the first few weeks.

Twistyman, relish sounds good...I've never eaten a bhut jolokia before and i'm kind of scared of it. Should have grown some chocolate habaneros. I usually just use peppers in random things that i cook but im a huge fan of chicken wings so im foreseeing either some kind of nuclear buffalo wing sauce or some really kickin jerk marinade. mmm.

Nuclear buffalo sauce is a possibility with the hottest pepper u can find LOL.
..I have a caribbean red pepper just outside..
i couldnt find seeds in time of planting or id have those also...

So its about a week since I last posted pictures. I wanted to post today but my camera is retarded and will eat a fresh pair of batteries in like 2 minutes so im chargin up my batteries now.

Anyway heres the textual update. The pepper plant has exploded with growth. Im seeing new growth on the daily now. Only problem is a little bit of yellowing on the leaves. Roots are poppin out everywhere on the netpot. I think its growth was stunted early in its days because I moved the seedling into the DWC system as soon as I saw roots pokin through the rockwool, I should have waited until it had more roots developed. The leaves are starting to get nice and fat too.

I'll post pictures soon.

it amazes me how much it has grown in one week. sorry the photo quality suuuckks.

I saw a pepper plant that someone had planted in an old fashion stove pot and it was the cutest thing ever. I'm thinking of growing one outside like that next year.

I'll be watching this one, I think peppers are so pretty on the plant.

Good luck to you.

any clue as to why new top leaves are yellow and brittle around the edges. im kind of thinking from high ph that i notice and corrected. thinking about topping the plant anyway that will get rid of that poor top growth.

sorry 2 hear bout the yellowing .. but i think you have the right thought about it... as long as theres no nutrient burn it might be ph problem..

I would love to be able to help you but i've never grown a pepper plant and would not want to give you bad advice. Have you done an internet search in it yet? There are a lot of great gardening sites out there.

I usually read several sites to make sure everyone is saying the same thing, don't want to get misinformed.

I didnt really search the net. it usually just aggravates me more cause everyone has their own opinions, anyway on an up note it seemed like my bhut was bouncing back since the pH adjustment. I just trimmed off some of the bottom nodes, seemed like it was getting too crowded under there and I gonna make a botched attempt at cloning them, just for the hell of it. I'm due for a reservoir change this weekend and I'm going to stick with the "Mild Growth" stage according to GH feed schedule. I've read that peppers arent fans of strong nutes and I dont want to burn it. I'll probably post some updated pictures next week.

I've never tried to grow anything in hydro before. I'm a soil kind of girl. Always have been even as a little squirt.

Its been a little over a month since I opened this thread, and my pepper plant is just now starting to bud. Since the last photos I topped the plant and let it grow out four main branches. I just did a res change and switched the GH Flora nutes to 'transition' (5ml/g of micro, bloom, and grow). One of the flouro bulbs took a crap, gonna see if i cant get HTG to replace it as it should still be under warranty...hopefully the one bulb will be good enough to get off to a good start in flowering. I need some new air stones too, any suggestions? those blue ones are pieces of crap.



can kinda see the little buds developing

holy roots!

you can kinda see my avocado plant in the hempy bucket in the back.

wow thats just over a month of growth? very nice... i really need to switch to hydro! haha. i've been keeping my chillies short though, they just live in 8 inch pots. took mine at least 2 months to start showing flowers.

i've actually been having problems with flower pods turning brown and falling off before even having a chance to open and pollinate... i don't suppose you have any experience with this problem??

taytheday said:

wow thats just over a month of growth? very nice... i really need to switch to hydro! haha. i've been keeping my chillies short though, they just live in 8 inch pots. took mine at least 2 months to start showing flowers.

i've actually been having problems with flower pods turning brown and falling off before even having a chance to open and pollinate... i don't suppose you have any experience with this problem??

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sorry i don't. off the top of my head though, im thinking temperature problems dont know the specifics and dont hold me to it.

heres a couple forums i look at sometimes that may be able to help...
Chillis Galore
The Hot Pepper - Hot Sauce Forum - BBQ Forum - Spicy Food Forum - Hot Pepper Forum

new pics, new camera. this plant is showing buds all over, but most of them are dropping off. i think its time for a res change and to lower the N. heres the pics from my new canon sd1100 is, nice camera so far still learning it.





this plant is kinda getting out of control. i already chopped 1 of the 4 main branches, im thinking about cutting the one that is falling down to the right as well and the one that is in the front, and just leaving the one that is growing straight up and strong, this branch alone has tons of buds already and is getting the best light coverage. that do you think?

It looks pretty big in the picture. I can't wait to see the peppers as they get bigger. Nice grow, glad you shared.

misshestermoffitt said:

It looks pretty big in the picture. I can't wait to see the peppers as they get bigger. Nice grow, glad you shared.

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thanks. from the top of the bucket the plant measures 2FT. These plants can get massive, i should have trained/pruned mine a little better i think. check out this pic of the same pepper from the chilli pepper institute at new mexico state university.

What size pump and airstone do you have and whats the maintenance like, looks very nice