My "Big Jim" hatch chile plant isn't looking very big yet. The Guizeppi Milds and California Wonders are doing a bit better. This was the first day I took them all outside for a few hours to start the hardening off process. I've had them inside with a fan and grow lights up until now.
I expected some flowering at this point, but it's been stupidly cold and rainy here since I planted back in late March (I'm in 6a/6b), so maybe I'm expecting too much too soon? Next week is the first week it will in theory be above 55 degrees F overnight.
I've also been battling gnats (sticky traps and mosquito dunks for the win), which is weird to me because with the fan, the top layer of soil dries out pretty quickly, but I think I have them managed now.
They look decent enough, but if there was one thing I see that could be improved, perhaps, it's that people very often don't bother adding aeration to their soil. Like a third of perlite, even half depending on the plant. Just keeps the soil so much better draining so watering doesn't compact it and the plant has an easier time making roots.
I've just noticed it's the most limiting factor usually, and soils nowadays are all pretty shit. Even the supposed "cactus soil" I got was muddy as hell, definitely not good for cacti, I barely used it to plant my cannabis. It's for the mother plant, so it being a bit slow growing is fine.
But I have noticed the quality and aeriness of the soil impacts the early phases of growth quite a lot. After there's a proper root ball, less so.
I've been using Miracle-Gro Potting mix and then adding Espoma Garden-Tone. It seems pretty light, but after a few waterings, it does look like it's getting bogged down in the pots a bit. The roots have looked pretty decent so far that I've noticed when transplanting them to larger containers, but next year I'll get some perlite for sure. There was a bit in the seed starter mix I used for the seedlings, but maybe I should have mixed that with the potting mix a bit more in the earlier stages.
Huh.
I remembered vaguely that maybe Jorge Cervantes talked about miracle gro. But I don't remember what he said. It was almost two decades ago tho.
Anyway, perlite is more expensive so even if miracles gro used to be good, they may have shrinkflated a little, replacing the more expensive parts with cheaper shit and lowering the quality.
I aways add like at least a third of the mix of perlite. Usually half, sometimes even more in my active hydro systems. But even just for soil, I'd aim for at least 20-30% of the soil being perlite or other airy additive.
It's just when they're establishing roots, even if the mix isn't horrible and it's nice and airy when it comes out, usually the first watering muddies and packs it. So if you don't add as much aery additives, maybe keep it loose and add something like clay balls as a layer on top, then gently water when you do, and that should avoid the material packing too much.
Idk it's personal preference and depends on a lot on how you garden otherwise, just sharing thoughts.