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maxcaps 2014 grow: avoiding the freeze!

Hello All,
 
New here, but feeling right at home. I figured I'd go ahead and get my glog started, though I may wait a few weeks yet before starting anything.
 
I'm pretty new, not totally new. I had a small grow last year, mostly in containers, bringing up plants that I hoped would make cool overwinter bonsai's (bonchi's). I ordered a handful of different varieties from http://fataliiseeds.net, all  95% of which sprouted nicely, though something must have gone wrong because many never grew true leaves. I think my house was too cold... I've moved now and now have an excellent heating system. I also kept the seeds by a window that I think got too drafty. 
 
I did have a handful of chinenses survive, including a wonderful Red Habanero from fataliiseeds, and some chiero roxa plants that produced a handful of tasty purple pods. I purchased some local Scotch Bonnett starts from a small scale nursery, and grew jalapeños and serrano starts from a local nursery. It's safe to say I am now addicted, as all these fire worked its way into my family's weekly diet. I have a 12'X8' plot begging for plants, and I may do some extra in containers...
 
Enough background. Here's the plan. As jalapeños (salsa, roasted, and canned) are not a staple, I want to grow a handful of varieties. The chinenses have amazing flavors, so I'm going to branch out with two or three new varieties (though sadly I did not save any scotch bonnet seeds from the last season... what is wrong with me?). Last year I tried some super hot varieties... none lived. I am going to try again! I actually ordered most of these seeds before stumbling upon this wonderful community. In any event, here is the lineup:
 
Chinenses:
 
Red Habanero (seeds kept and OW bonchi (thanks fatalii)
Chiero Roxa (seeds kept, may use OW bonchi, haven't decided)
Scotch Bonnett (forgot to keep seeds, but I can replant OW bonchi)
White Habanero (seeds from Pepper Joe, should arrive soon...)
Chocolate Habanero (seeds from Pepper Joe, should also arrive soon)
Fatali (from pepperlover.com)
Big Sun Habernero (from pepperlover)
 
Superhot Chinenses:
 
Carolina Reaper (seeds from PuckerButt)
Naga Morich (seeds from PuckerButt)
Bhut Jolokia (seeds from PuckerButt)
Dorset Naga (seeds from PuckerButt)
7 pod (from pepperlover.com)
 
Other Superhot:
 
Tiepin (seeds from PuckerButt)
 
Annuums:
 
Poblanos (from Pepper Joe... growing to Acho's to use as powder base)
Giant Jalapeño (from Pepper Joe)
Early Jalapeño (from Pepper Joe)
Black Jalapeño (from Pepper Joe)
Purple Jalapeño (from Pepper Joe)
Fresno Pepper (from Pepper Joe)
 
Wish I had found you guys sooner, I'd have added some douglah's to the list. I am also on the fence about adding a couple more chinense varieties. 
 
Also growing some companions. Planning on putting in a couple tomato plants, garlic, cilantro, and carrots (had a lot of luck with tasty fat purple carrots... atomic purple I think they were called)
 
Will post some picks of my OW bonchi's tomorrow, and start going into techniques. On the fence about coffee-filter germination versus sowing in a tray.
 
Great looking plots Adam!  I've been hugely slacking on Glogs with soooo many good ones to keep up with.  Loving all the pictures and keep up the good work buddy!
 
Long time no see! Moving, applying for jobs, and ramping up my work schedule put a huge hit on my gardening time. Especially in my posting about gardening time. Also I rescued a cat. I am sorry I dropped out of the community a bit... there just wasn't time to stay caught up and maintain my plants. Life happens, and it's great. But I miss you guys. I am am going to make an effort to check in more often.
 
Where to start?
 
I actually maintained the plot until the end. Last week was my last grow week. After pulling dozens of pounds of peppers of my plants (especially that crazy yellow bhut!), I finally threw in the towel. I ran out of time so I started letting folks from the surrounding community take what they could use. JA Habs were probably the most popular cooking pepper. I always made time for the reapers, bubblegums, and goat's weeds. Those are all in my top 10. I kept things as nice as I could, but with the first freeze coming I decided to shut the plots down. 
 
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Yours truly and my buddy prepare for the uprooting...
 
Here are the plots at the beginning of demolition:
 
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Actually tomatoes are already down..
 
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Can you spot the helper?
 
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Still everything had to go.
 
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My buddy pulled the Funky Reaper. Still a good 100 pods on this guy, though some of them were a little sickly in the end. They're on the dehydrator now...
 
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I was going to do some OW's, but I couldn't stop pruning! Ended up turning my OW's into bonchis. More space efficient anyway...
 
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The grow shelves come back to life. Much of the bonchis will probably move to the windowsills...
 
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Recognize these guys from last winter?
 
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But every end has new beginnings...
 
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Tons of closing thoughts. My favorites were definitely the red supers, with BB7 at the top of the list. Hottest pepper I grew was the Chocolate Moruga... youch. Bhuts, Jals, and Habs were probably the most useful. Jals had a big flush and then tapered off pretty quick late into summer.
 
Here's where I'm at:
 
4 Bonchis from 2013 (chiero, 2 red hab)
7 Bonchis from 2014 (chiero, brainstrain, choc moruga, carolina reaper, yellow 7 pot (scotch bonnet), chintexle, bubblegum). Planning on replanting some of these next year.
 
That's all for now. Going to stop by once a week or so and look for updates. Thanks for everything THP and I look forward to getting ready for 2015's (slightly scaled back) grow!
 
Adam,
 
You had an excellent grow this year! I can't believe how well those raised beds produced.
 
I look forward to your 2015 grow!
 
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