So, first of all, I had to move the shelves higher up, and put an extended piece of wood in, to bring the front out...

Then pack the loft above with plenty of insulation, it gets cold in this room in the winter...

Then pack out the space between my original shelf and the board I installed with more insulation. This will be the ceiling of my chilli room.

After hours of fitting and packing, realised my piece of wood wouldn't come out enough to fit my light in! So, out with the old...

And in with the new...

Plenty more insulation...

I then sealed it up nice and neat...

I then built a box underneath that will fit my light...

Sealed all the corners, so no creepy crawlies or draughts can get in...

Water proof the floor...

Next I put some grow room reflective sheeting in...

Made some doors out of green house ribbed plastic. I also put reflective sheeting on the inside. These will stick on with strong velcro...

Here's the exciting part! Hang my 8tube, 4ft T5... It's connected to two pulleys that sit on top of the ceiling, easy to adjust the height...

I already had my seeds ready...

Yes, I know! It's a bit early to be planting seeds, but I couldn't resist. Put them on a couple of heatpads, and covered with cling film.

And then put them to bed! Will keep you updated.

Cheers, Rich.

Looks like a nice setup!

I'd check the temperature. Tight as that's closed up, the lights can get pretty hot. The pulleys will serve you well, but you have only a foot of headroom? Those seeds sprout now they'll run out of headroom just in time for winter...

Oh, you're in zone 8. There's a Zone 8 in UK ??

Hi guys, thanks tsheets. Hi dforcier, thanks for your advice. The light was on 4tubes for an hour and the temp. went up to 31 c. I will open it up a bit when they come on. There is actually 2 1/2 ft from top to bottom and the light is 3-4inches thick. I know they might get cramped, but I just had to plant summat! I've never had success with hot peppers from seed before, but I've never done it properly before.

And I thought zone 8 was a bit high myself - I looked on a world map of climate zones, and it said north west uk was 8? I would have thought 5 or something, but it said 8?

Thanks for your input & advice... ;-)

North west UK .. as in .. Scottish Highlands ?? Now I know someone is cracked.

Please let us know what happens in your new grow room.

Hi DM, no its nw England, by Manchester & Liverpool. Sort of... Anyway, will keep you updated.

Thanks, Rich.

I also wondered about air movement and headroom. The heat I wasn't so worried about since you were concerned about the temps being too cool.

Something I did not realize until recently, the zone you are in is determined by the low temperatures, not the highs. So, if you are in an area that doesn't get really cold, but, doesn't get that hot either, you could be in a higher zone than you think.

Great job Richie! I am quite jealous. I may try to get a situation like that up and running right after christmas so I can get a head start.
I love the pulley system, such a good idea. Will you keep the plants in the grow room till next spring? Is that enough light to support full sized plants?

Here is a link that might be useful: PEPPERMEISTER! Hot pepper gardening, tips, and recipes

Very impressive Richie! You are quickly turning into a professional. I can't imagine you won't be much more successful this time around. Good luck!

Tim

Thanks guys, I'm determined to get some nuclear red chillies next year. Now I'm concerned that I didn't make it high enough, and I didn't want to fork out for a hps or mh, or pay the extra electric. I only want to get them to a good size until they can go in the greenhouse.

The insulation works though, I'm about to go to work, it's 5am here and it's cold for the time of year - 5 degrees c. Just looked in on them and its 21 degrees with a heat pad and no light on.

Took some cuttings last night to put in the grow room. I read on this forum the best way is to take cuttings from the bottom of the plant, cut at an angle and scrape the base of the stem. Then remove most of the leaves, only leaving (ha, "leaving", sorry) a couple of small leaves. Soak in rooting gel for 10 minutes, place in pot and cover with cling film. Then give some bottom heat and not too much bright light.

We'll see what happens.

Oh, my cuttings were naga morich, dorset naga, bhut jolokia, chocolate jolokia, cheyenne and apache.

Cheers, Rich.

well, my first thought when i saw your first picture was you need to quit washing bottles, throw them away, and get some
5 gallon soda canisters to keg up that beer in. It is soooo much easier....now onto the room
it looks great and i wish i had something like that too, but larger because it sounds like you live like where i am weather wise and maybe you can put plants out in a greenhouse earlier than me...but for me, at least june first if not later.....if so, that means your babys are going to grown up at 9 or 10 months old. Also, you are going to need some air movement for sure. i know you will keep us posted on how it grows....good luck to ya and don't forget the barley, malt and yeast

Thanks t-bob! I do have four 45pint kegs, and I also use 2litre fizzy pop bottles. I use glass bottles for the good stuff for myself! I've started my seeds a bit early, but I was so excited I just had to put something in there.

I am gonna invest in a small fan too, to move the air about. Reckon I can put them in the greenhouse April or May.

Thanks, Rich.

HA HA..I agree. I moved up to kegs so I could fit more plants in my brew/grow room! Great minds truly think alike....We should have one big chili/beer B Q one day!

Ha ha, yes. If there is ever a nuclear war, I'm sorted now- lock myself in my room and live off chillies and beer. I've got a radio in there already, what more d,ya need? ;-)

I had no idea that there were this many homebrewers here! I used to, but, haven't in years.

A Chillies and Beer festival sounds like a winner in my book!