Rookie mistake leads to DISASTER!!!

[Tom_in_TN]

Did a few waves germinating several varieties just to be certain I knew what to expect before doing the Izmir Ozbas and Xanthi Yaka.

Everything was cruising along just fine so I decided to start the Orientals on 04/01. By 04/06 I have 12 seed trays filled with beautiful seedlings. On 04/09 they were in shaded light on the covered porch and looking very perky, but there were reports of a cold front moving in later that night. The wind was picking up and the first sign of trouble appeared about noon. My lips began to feel dry. No worries I thought, the soil was still very moist and I had given everything a fine misting about 10 am but just to be safe I did it again, it was noon. By 2 pm I checked all the seeds trays again. The soil appeared to be drying out a bit too fast. The wind was about 7 or 10 mph and felt cool and dry. I put up an additional wind break and misted every tray again. All the seedlings were looking just fine. Those with a 1st or 2nd set of Tue leaves were just perky as could be. The Pennsylvania Red looked great and so did the others that got into the seed trays about the same time as the Izmir Ozbas and Xanthi Yaka.

The problem was the Izmir Ozbas and Xanthi Yaka were not looking so good. In fact a few had their cotyledon leaves looking a bit curled. So, sad fact is I have lost all but about a dozen or so of the Izmir Ozbas and Xanthi Yaka seedlings. I used all the seed I had and I am very distraught.

Everything else is still looking fine and growing well but I am asking for any help on getting some replacement Izmir Ozbas and Xanthi Yaka seed. Send me a PM if you can help and I will get a SASE out to you right away. Thanks for any help.

Tom TN

 

[deluxestogie]

Tom,

1. I'll send out the seed for both on Monday morning.
2. Water seedlings from the bottom.

Bob

 

[Tom_in_TN]

Thanks, Bob. Your answer is very welcome news and very generous of you. I have learned a very hard lesson and from now on I will walk the straight and narrow path on these Oriental seedlings.

 

[CoralReefs]

Thanks, Bob. Your answer is very welcome news and very generous of you. I have learned a very hard lesson and from now on I will walk the straight and narrow path on these Oriental seedlings.

I think we have all been there- it happens. I have been growing plants almost my entire life and made that same mistake with a rare Portuguese plant only months ago. Out of 10 seeds I sowed, one germinated and I forgot to water it one day... came home to a stick!

Luckily I had some seeds left. I started over and now have two seedlings going Look like they might be in it for the long haul too!

Best of luck with your new seeds. I look forward to hearing about your successes.

 

[Tom_in_TN]

Hey, thanks for the support on this CoralReefs. Hope we have both learned our lessons. Wish you all the best with your work.

Tom TN

 

[BarG]

Don't feel like the lone ranger Tom_in_Tn, I had a couple setbacks this yr. my self. I sprayed some seed trays with a weak solution of liquid fert. and killed them all so I restarted from scratch. next don't keep any seed trays low enough so your dog can knock them over. finally got everything going back on track and hoping to beat the heat this yr. Right now and the near future my ground is perfect for planting. We'll see in another month or so.

 

[CoralReefs]

Don't feel like the lone ranger Tom_in_Tn, I had a couple setbacks this yr. my self. I sprayed some seed trays with a weak solution of liquid fert. and killed them all so I restarted from scratch. next don't keep any seed trays low enough so your dog can knock them over. finally got everything going back on track and hoping to beat the heat this yr. Right now and the near future my ground is perfect for planting. We'll see in another month or so.

Oh man, animals can be horrible (This is turning into a really fun thread)! This is not about seedlings (although I have many stories about nuking seedlings...) but I got some bare root plants in the mail about a month ago and potted them up and stuck them outside in their spot. As I was walking into my house (it was like 10:00pm at this time) I see my cat jump over my tote of peat moss, heard a loud crash and saw my cat run off into the darkness. Sure enough, she jumped right onto the flat of newly potted plants (keep in mind, most of these plants were very small- around the size of a penny). I flipped the light on and grabbed a flashlight- soil everywhere! I had to scoop it up little by little and throw it into some water hoping the plants would float to the top (I don't think I have ever said so many curse words about my cat before). Luckily I found all of them. I felt kind of stupid for that- should have known better. I moved the flat inside until the plants were better established and rearranged all of my flats outside so the cats could get around more easily without knocking things over.

Another good one, started a bunch of rare chili pepper seeds recently in peat moss- did not realized peppers hate peat moss! Lost all of them except one! By that time I realized that peat moss was bad for peppers so I decided to repot the seedling into some regular soil (a risky move with seedlings but I figured it was a gonner anyway if I did not). Pulled the seedling and soil out of the pot, dunked it in a bowl of water to get the soil off, then stuck the seedling in a shot glass of water while I prepared the new pot (standard operating procedure). Pot ready, everything is good to go. Had hair brained moment and noticed a rouge shotglass full of water siting on the counter. I thought, what is that doing there? Dumped the water out into the sink to clear some space for the transplant and set the shot glass aside. Immediately it hit me! I had just poured my last pepper seedling down the drain! Ususally with such transplants I used a bowl of water, not a shotglass. I tricked myself and paid the price!

Oh the life of plant people...

 

[SmokesAhoy]

Hey what rare peppers coral? That is my other growing hobby, I used to grow down in FL, but man are they hard to do up here. My favorite to date has been fatali's, what a flavor! Unfortunately I never get a good yield since the second and third year is the best.

 

[CoralReefs]

Hey what rare peppers coral? That is my other growing hobby, I used to grow down in FL, but man are they hard to do up here. My favorite to date has been fatali's, what a flavor! Unfortunately I never get a good yield since the second and third year is the best.

Currently, I have a single Bhut Jolokia seedling left (Which looks like its going to make it- whew....), thats why I never sow all of my seeds at once Just in case I pull a stunt like that.

I am also trying to get a Trinidad Scorpion going. I was given one seed from a familiy member who has reportedly successfully gotten 3 of them to germinate. I think the seed I was given is now dead. Got hit by fungus somehow. I tried treating it but I think it was too far gone. Not a huge deal, I plan to hit them up for one of their successfully growing seedlings (I actually bought this person the seeds as a birthday present but told them if I had extras come up, I wanted one). I have some Thai chili seeds in my fridge that I need to sow, the others I have are all more common (Cayenne and Jalepeno). I tried getting a Habanero chocolate going too but it has not germinated yet... That was a few weeks ago. We will see what happens.

I am actually not a big pepper grower, but I thought it would be fun to grow some of the world's hottest. I can certainly see the appeal. I might get some more down the road. I know a few people here locally that are into pepper growing.

 

[Chicken]

am i the only one with a high percentage rate of sucess at growing baccy?????

 

[CoralReefs]

am i the only one with a high percentage rate of sucess at growing baccy?????

What leads you to suspect that?

 

[CoralReefs]

Hey what rare peppers coral? That is my other growing hobby, I used to grow down in FL, but man are they hard to do up here. My favorite to date has been fatali's, what a flavor! Unfortunately I never get a good yield since the second and third year is the best.

I meant to ask, what kind of peppers do you have besides the fatali's?

 

[Tom_in_TN]

am i the only one with a high percentage rate of sucess at growing baccy?????

Well you are doing something right, you have the biggest, robust seedlings of anyone of the forum!!! And, you've got them in the dirt and NO CHANCE of frost.

 

[Tom_in_TN]

Don't feel like the lone ranger Tom_in_Tn, I had a couple setbacks this yr. my self. I sprayed some seed trays with a weak solution of liquid fert. and killed them all so I restarted from scratch. next don't keep any seed trays low enough so your dog can knock them over. finally got everything going back on track and hoping to beat the heat this yr. Right now and the near future my ground is perfect for planting. We'll see in another month or so.

Well I did have a chicken (no offense to the real Chicken around here) walk through the Monte Calm Yellow and a few other seedling trays, but it only killed a few of 'em...every year is a learning exprerience. Thanks everyone for all the kind support and humorous stories. Whoa, time is short, gotta get some sleep because there is a lot more work to do in the morning!

 

[SmokesAhoy]

I have tons. I got really into it down in fl. I also saved seed from varieties that were unnamed. It's been several years now so germ rates should be down and I never paid attention to early or late strains.

Typically now I just use nursery starts to save me a couple months. Or more likely buy specialty cultivars when I see them at the store. I hear jalapenos do ok here but they aren't very interesting and I am never motivated to grow them

 

[Tom_in_TN]

Talk about a shift in growing seasons going from FL to VT, Smokes that is quite a leap.

I will grow out the jalapeños, pablano and cayenne I have started and should start some more. Our climate is really good for growing a strong plant through the summer heat and when the temps moderate in September they flower very well. Then it is a race to get the fruit to maturity before the 1st frost. If I can get them covered with some protection this year, we will have until the 1st hard freeze to harvest the fall crop. If covered with some really good protection from the freeze it could extend into December. Smokes, do you need some help keeping those varieties going that you like the best?