2023 Hananero Habanada

[tompepper7]

Yesterday I harvested the more than two dozen of the last red peppers from the Santa Fe Grande plant.

A few were the larger size, most were half size, and a few were smaller than that.

There were a few small yellow or orange peppers still growing.

Today I removed the Santa Fe Grande plant and got the Bounty Basic cleaned up and planted Habanero Habanada seeds.

Still using the "Urban Leaf" grow pods. They have been working fine.

I planted two pods with two seeds each. The plan is for one plant growing in the Bounty.

Some more info here

[katyag247]

I'm looking forward to hearing about your experience growing the Habanada in a Bounty.  Do you have any idea how large it will get and will you prune it?  I just started growing peppers in Aerogardens a couple of months ago (AG Jalapeno in Bounty Elite and Red Fire Pepper in Bounty) and am still learning the "art of pruning".     Pruning isn't something I worry too much about when growing peppers outdoors.

After you posted that the Urban Leaf sponges were working well for you, I decided to give them a try.  They are working well for me -- soaking them in warm water helps.  I was disappointed that several sponges in one bag were defective and couldn't be used because the hole for the seed was on the side, but that can happen with other sponges too.

Good luck growing Habanada!

[tompepper7]

At 2 weeks I have one pepper plant just above the level of the label on the pod and one just visible above the sponge.

I will be trying Fox Farm nutrients for this pepper.

I have the 3 basic mixes:

Big Bloom

Grow Big

Tiger Bloom

and their Cal/Mg

as well as the supplemental:

Open Sesame

Beastie Bloomz

Cha Ching

I will be using their hydroponic schedule as a guide.

Is kinda weird because some weeks are considered cycles and are to be repeated as needed.

We'll see how that goes.

katyag247 - I only topped the habanero plant I have growing once and it is a huge monster just over 3 feet tall (I am using an extension for the light) with branches reaching out in three directions around a yard wide. At this point it only has 10 nice sized peppers growing plus one recent new pepper. (172 days) The info on the Habanero Habanada linked in my OP suggests a height under two feet but a width of two to three feet. I do not really know any "art of pruning". 

EDIT: RE the Urban Leaf sponges. I have had one so far that had a misplaced hole. Although I discarded that one I believe it would be simple to use a knife to cut the side of the sponge and insert the seeds. I'll try that if I get another imperfect sponge.

[katyag247]

Thanks for all of the info tompepper7 .  Are you happy with the extension for the Bounty?  I purchased one after reading one of your posts, but I haven't needed it yet.  So far my peppers haven't exceeded the height of the Bounty.  That's a good idea to try to use a knife to fix the Urban Leaf sponge.  Sometimes I give up too easy, so it's good to hear other people's ideas and tips on making imperfect things work.  

[tompepper7]

Feb 14, 2023 14:48:44 GMT -5 katyag247 said:

...Are you happy with the extension for the Bounty?...

Yes. The extension works fine.

The Red Habanero plant wanted to grow just a bit more than the original light height on the Bounty. It is nice to just add the extra height as needed.

[tompepper7]

Today (4 weeks) siphon old water, add new water with Fox Farm nutrients.

It is interesting that the plant that was below the level of the pod label (on one pod) at week two is now the taller and fuller plant, while the one that was above the pod label (on another pod) at week two is smaller. On both I clipped a second plant that was smaller.

I'll leave both pods growing for now but at some point I need to choose one.

For the first two weeks I used a Fish & Seaweed (3-3-2) fertilizer. For the second two weeks I used Fox Farm for Seedlings & Cuttings (on their hydroponic schedule) level. Today I used Fox Farm at the week 1 level. I do not have the nutrients highlighted in orange but I have the others.

I had linked the Fox Farm hydroponic schedule in a previous post but it does not work now. Since I do not know if it is because Fox Farm does not like hot links I will not add it again at this time.

[tompepper7]

Today (6 weeks) I siphoned out the old water and added new water with the Fox Farm week 2 hydroponic nutrients.

The week 2 schedule has me using the Big Bloom and Grow Big Hydro I used in the previous week but adding cal/mg.

So far the Fox Farm weekly schedule has seemed appropriate for a two week Aerogarden schedule. (So incrementing the Fox Farm week by one when changing the Aerogarden water every two weeks.)

I removed the smaller plant so there is now one Habanero Habanada growing in the Bounty Basic.

[tompepper7]

Today (8 weeks) I am adding the Fox Farm week 3 nutrients.

Before week 3 the Fox Farm chart says to do a Sledgehammer (one of their products) flush.

First I siphoned out the old water then I added fresh water only.

While checking how much Sledgehammer to use per gallon I also saw the note to "cycle the system for 1 hour then change the water".

There is a video about this:

[lynnee]

I always love the Aerogarden Experiments videos! I did know about regulating the pump cycle on the Farms and Elites, and I often set the pumps to "always on" after the germination period. Right now I can't remember why, but I know that my plants like it.

[tompepper7]

10 weeks (tomorrow) I added Fox Farm nutrients.

The whole bit now is

    Siphon old water (90 something percent)

    Fill with H2O only and run pump for 1 hour.

    Siphon H2O and then fill with the Fox Farm SledgeHammer Flush and run the pump for 1 hour.

    Siphon SledgeHammer and then fill with H2o and run the pump for 1 hour.

    Siphon H2O and then fill with Fox Farm week 4 nutrients.

Week 4 has me adding the "Open Sesame" nutrient.

The plant is now about 7 inches tall but very full and it looks like some blossoms forming.

[Shawn]

I see them

[tompepper7]

It's official...

[tompepper7]

Mar 19, 2023 22:59:27 GMT -5 lynnee said:

I always love the Aerogarden Experiments videos! I did know about regulating the pump cycle on the Farms and Elites, and I often set the pumps to "always on" after the germination period. Right now I can't remember why, but I know that my plants like it.

Currently I am using 10 minutes on, 20 minutes off, for the Habanero Habanada.

[tompepper7]

This weekend it seemed appropriate to increment the nutrients at 1 week.

After a water flush I added the Fox Farm week 5 nutrients.

Week 5 has me using the 3rd basic nutrient (Tiger Bloom) while cutting back a little on another (Grow Big Hydro).

The plant is about 8.5 inches, half dozen flowers started to fully open, and a good number of buds.

I plan to be quite impressed if peppers start growing before the plant is a foot tall.

[tompepper7]

Again incrementing at one week to week 6 (which is the exact same mix as week 5)

The plant is now 10.5 inches tall an extending just a bit past the width of the Bounty.

I went ahead and changed the feeding schedule in the Bounty to 7 days (rather than the default 14).

So I guess there is a question. I was doing an Aerogarden schedule of adding nutrients every two weeks (I.E. incrementing the Fox Farm one week schedule every two weeks) until recently. Would the pepper plant really be where it is now a month ago if I had totally followed the Fox Farm schedule?

[lynnee]

Apr 15, 2023 21:39:44 GMT -5 tompepper7 said:

So I guess there is a question. I was doing an Aerogarden schedule of adding nutrients every two weeks (I.E. incrementing the Fox Farm one week schedule every two weeks) until recently. Would the pepper plant really be where it is now a month ago if I had totally followed the Fox Farm schedule?

Could be. For example, when I was growing AG strawberries, I found that the water and nutrients had to be changed weekly. On a 2-week schedule, the pH went too high, even when I tested regularly and added pH Down to correct the problem. Getting good production from your AGs is always a matter of finding the right balance of all the factors (room temperature, nutes, feeding, etc.).

You seem to have hit on the right schedule and nutes for your particular peppers.

[tompepper7]

This week I am using the Fox Farm week 7 nutrients.

This has me switching from the "Open Sesame" (vegetative to mid flowering) to the "Beastie Bloomz" (mid to late flowering) addition.

EDIT: Almost forgot to mention, the plant is 13 inches tall.

The Aerogarden says day 89 and I found this:

 

[tompepper7]

Week 8 Fox Farm nutrients added. Same as week 7.

This is the pepper above today:

Not noticing any others starting yet.

[tompepper7]

Added Fox Farm week 9 nutrients. This has me increasing one of the basic nutrients and switching to the late blooming addition.

The first pepper is still growing and a second has started.

[tompepper7]

Adding Fox Farm week 10 today.

Almost the same as week 9 except it has me cutting back on the Cal/Mag addition.

There are three peppers that have started a bit apart and today I found at least four more just starting.

Here are the second (bottom) and third (top) plus two starting (one pretty visible and one hard to see below the second pepper).