Steady progress

Nothing drastic to report on the growth front, steady progress on all the plants so far. Chichen Itza keeps flowering strong and even the Trinidad Scorpion which seemed to be dying has produced two flowers to annoy me and keep its spot on the sunny window still. The plant is still the same size as when I got it so something is still not quite right. First overview picture of the window still looking full, it will hopefully have some more grow space once it gets warm enough to move some of the plants to the balcony.

Yogurt cups

Small update to illustrate the replanting process and the idea behind growing my sprouts in yogurt cups. The sprout was given some water one day before to keep the soil from crumbling away. This particular plant had grown roots going down on all sides which is the reason I wanted something I could cut open instead of having to try and get the plant out of the pot using a fork or a spoon. Compact size is another definite plus of this method.

Changing pots

My second Bolivian Rainbow sprout found its way into a larger pot today. The soil I used this time is more peat based "seed and sprout mix" which should be better for the plant. One of the Bird's Eye Baby sprouts looks to be ready to be moved as soon as I figure out a spot for it on the sunny window still.

Chichen Itza keeps flowering strong with 28 flowers the last time I counted them and both of the Prairie Fire plants have emerged from the soil.

Temptations

One of the Bolivian Rainbow sprouts moved into a proper flower pot after I had fallen into temptation and bought Prairie Fire seeds from the supermarkets fruit&vegetable seeds -stand. "No, I don't have room to grow them" reasoning lasted for about 2 days before the seeds found their way into dirt. Maybe I am a bit addicted but then again I'm only growing 3 variations and the two gifted ones.

Prairie Fire (C. annuum): Small and ornamental pepper that is ideal for window stills or growing on your patio. The plant gives plenty of small peppers that go from yellow to red when fully ripe. Seeds planted March 1st, first sprout visible on the 11th.

Early flowering

I have to say I wasn't expecting this at all. The Chichen Itza I got pregrown in January has just opened its first flower bud. Unlike my sprouts that have been getting some help from my desks study light during the dark hours it has been growing completely with the help of daylight. It's nice to see it do so well when you look at the sorry excuse of a plant growing next to it. With that in mind I've now stopped watering the scorpion to see if there's any change in the droopy look of the plant.

Sprouts

Just a brief update on how the plants are doing. Bolivian Rainbow did really well and all 3 seeds planted have sprouted. First two have their second pair of leaves visible and the third isn't too far behind. Bird's Eye is doing only slightly worse with 2 sprouts so overall I'm happy with the results as the goal I set for myself was to grow two sprouts each.

The reason why I chose to grow them in yogurt cups is that they act as poor mans bluggbox and when it's time to move the plants to a bigger pot I figured I could just cut the cups open instead of causing possible root damage while trying to spoon or fork them out.

Season 2013

Bolivian Rainbow (C. annuum): Ornamental pepper with small pods ranging from purple when raw to yellow, orange and red when fully ripe earning its name "Rainbow".
Seeds planted January 29th, first sprout visible February 7th.

Bird's Eye Baby (C. annuum):  Small, very pretty ornamental chili plant with tiny leaves and pods.
Seeds planted January 30th, first sprout visible February 9th.

Chichen Itza (C. chinense): Strong growing plant with fiery orange habanero -type pods.
Pre-grown sprout that seems to be doing well. It's the one in the white pot.

Trinidad Scorpion (C. chinense):  Tall plant with pods with characteristic shape which sees a two or three inch pendant which tapers to a sharp point, "resembling a scorpions tail".
Pre-grown sprout that is clearly suffering from the dark nordic winter. If you compare the recent shot with the one in the previous post you'll notice it hasn't grown at all.