DAYMAN! FIGHTER OF THE NIGHTMAN! CHAMPION OF THE SUN!

After the tragedy of Pousse's death, I was determined to ensure my remaining peppers stayed alive. It was time to get some light! It was time to be DAYMAN!

TIME TO SAVE SOME PLANTS!

I was also spurred on by the fact that while I was examining the corpse of Pousse, the rest of my pepper plants began to droop and fade. Spicy McPepperson was in real trouble. I became seriously concerned that he was going to be the next to go!

DROOPY!

I went over to Home Depot first to pick up some bio-degradable pots and seeding dirt. I was advised to only expect one pepper plant for every peat pod but since several of my pods had two or three sprouts, I decided to try and separate them. 

After a successful trip to Home Depot, I went to Frank's Magic Crop for some lights! I picked up a 4 foot light, a stand for the light and two dome greenhouse lids. In total, I got the whole kit and kaboodle for $105, including tax, which I feel is a pretty sweet deal. Also the lady who helped me was amazing. She gave me some great tips and suggestions about how to get the best out of my lights and in general was awesome!

While I usually take pictures of everything, I was so excited about the life giving light I had just bought that I totally forgot to take pictures of everything before I ripped it out of the packages and put it all together. I found the assembly was rather simple however snapping the lights into the light holder was a bit difficult. Fortunately, my girlfriend is much handier than I am and she figured it out. In the end, my light was set up and I was ready start transplanting. 

My seedlings under their new light!

The new light! Where no McPepperson has gone before!

I found a pretty cool looking bag of seedling mix when I was at Home Depot. I bought Pro-Mix Seed Starting Mix. While I talked to a Pro-Mix rep when I was there, I legitimately bought a bag because it seemed like a good soil to plant in, and has enough natural fertilizer to feed the seedlings for 90 days. When I opened the bag I looked over the mix and I like the look and texture of the soil. I guess only time will tell if it works or not.

The bag was shiny and pretty!

I separated the bio-degradable pots I had bought and filled them with the potting soil.

Ready for plants!

Looking over the sprouts there were several that had three seedlings in each and deserved to be moved into a new home. After picking out the lucky sprouts that were going to be transplanted I labelled the new plant homes and began separating the sprouts. 

Three peppers!

Only one left now!

In total I transplanted 12 pepper plants, including Spicy McPepperson, into their new pepper mansions. I actually felt this was a pretty risky maneuver on my part as the plants were already looking wilted and disturbing their roots when they're already down is probably not a good idea.

A few of the McPeppersons find a new home! 

I watered them, covered them with the new dome greenhouse lid and put them under the bright lights. The lady at Frank's told me that they should perk up with some light and water. I was a little worried that all these plants would just die, but they have all recovered wonderfully.

Starting to perk up!

After a few hours you can see the sprouts are straighter and they have already gotten a lot of colour back. 

This is a picture of what they looked lat 11:55 pm last night. I was pretty ecstatic about their turnaround.

LOOKING GOOD!

This morning they looked even better. I left the light on all night to give them a nice dose of light. Every plant stopped sagging and straightened up! While my girlfriend thinks I am full of hooey, I think they all look a lot more green. The nodes on them have perked up and I feel that the light is a game changing purchase for my little garden.

Poppy Stands on Guard for thee McPeppersons!
(Don't they look so green!)

They look so healthy!

Overall it was a tough few days for the McPeppersons. We suffered loss and heartbreak over the passing of Pousse, but emerged a stronger healthier pepper clan basking under the glow of a brand new sun. 

Trouble at the Pepper Corral!

The last time I updated everyone about my seedlings was on Wednesday night. From Thursday until today quite a few changes have taken place at the ole pepper homestead, not all of them positive.

Thursday dawned and it seemed like things were going pretty well. The sprouts were sprouting and things seemed to be progressing on schedule.

Not too shabby! 

Looking good McPeppersons!

When I got home from work on Thursday, I began to have a doubts about how well the peppers were growing. It seemed like they had stagnated, and they looked a little pale and white. I checked to see if they had dried out but everything was moist.

My plants look like Casper the Ghost!

I noticed that while my plants were on the window sill, they did not seem to be getting any significant amount of sunlight. In fact, all the sprouts were starting to grow sideways as they were trying to get as much sunlight as possible. I didn't seem to recall having the same problem last year, however, in the state my seedlings were in, I was beginning to get worried. A good friend of mine had told me about a hydroponics store in Burlington called Frank's Magic Crops, located on Guelph Line. I gave them a call and unfortunately they closed at 6:00 pm and I didn't have enough time to get to the store and still make my bee nest box building class. However, they did have lamps in stock that would give my plants enough light, I planned to go and buy one as soon as possible. 

Friday dawned and it seemed like things were ok, but not great. No new sprouts had really come up, but things were not looking that healthy either. The colour of the plants was still very pale and I cracked open the window as much as I could to let the sunlight hit my plants.

This makes me very worried. 

When I got home on Friday afternoon, I checked my plants as soon as I got home and they still looked the same, pasty white. I checked the moisture again and everything was nice and damp. By this time I knew it had to be the sunlight. It was clear that they were not getting enough from the window they were sitting on and I would need to get them an alternate reliable source of light. However, my beloved girlfriend was as sick as a proverbial dog, and, unfortunately for my peppers, her health comes before theirs. The light was pushed off for another day so I could care for her ailing body.

Friday afternoon is looking gloomy.

Had I been awake to see the sunrise on Saturday morning, it would have been a red dawn. Red to signify the spilt McPepperson blood. I checked on my peppers before heading out to grab some lights and transplanting pots to find the first pepper plant fatality of the season.

R.I.P Pousse McPepperson. At the age of 4 days, you passed before your time.

R.I.P. Pousse.

Stayed tuned tomorrow for the coming of light. If only Pousse could have held on for a few more hours, he wouldn't have had to go into the other light.

Meet the McPeppersons! The biggest pepper clan in the Hamilton Area!

Naming peppers gives me great joy for some reason. It makes me feel like I am conducting my own Harry Potter sorting hat ceremony, yet with my peppers. I am highly amused and entertained by this. Now on to the naming.

LET US BEGIN THE PEPPER SORTING CEREMONY!

Yesterday we heralded Spicy McPepperson into the world as the reigning pepper overlord. Today we had to name his little brothers and sisters. Since I had a hard time deciding what to name the first born pepper, as the names were so good, I used the hopeful pepper king nominee names to name the rest of the sprouted pepper plants.

The McPepperson Dynasty!

It is with great honour I give to you, the McPepperson Pepper famliy, as of today.

Heppertitis is an Early Jalapeno. Flavourful with a robust medium burn she is wanted at all the hottest parties. No one can say no to Heppertitis!

Purdy Peppa and Groot are both spicy Long Thing Cayenne! Sweet with heat, this spicy little pepper will but some pep in your step! But always remember when you eat this pepper that IT IS GROOT!

Spencer the Sprout is the most direct descendant of Spicy McPepperson as he is an Aleppo Pepper. Fruity yet tangy, he is a delicious taste sensation!

Johnny Peppercorn is a Chinese Five Colour! Perhaps the most colourful pepper grown this year, and I do mean colourful!

Pousse is a Jimmy Nardello Sweet Pepper! A complex sweet yet apple flavour is what we have to look forward to and to be honest, I can't wait. 

Last but not least we have CTB! rounding out the family as a Matchbox Pepper! Fire and fruit all in one! The Matchbox Pepper is a match (heh) for any pepper she faces on the field of pepper battle!

In general I think that the sprouting has gone very well so far and I have had quite a few plants sprout up. While I am still hopeful for many of my seeds, I am happy with what I have as a start so far and I feel that more will come up. I can see a huge difference in the plants from the morning at 6:30 am to when I get back home around 3:00 pm.

They all look a little sleepy still\at 9:30 am!

A little more awake at 3:00 pm!

You can see how the plants have grown in just a short amount of time. I am impressed by how quickly they have been able to grow with just light and water.

A little closeup action!

Till tomorrow, when we may encounter more pepper surprises!