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Patio Peppers Growing in Edison, NJ

Here are some better pics of the actual invaders. There's even an as of yet unnamed species to be named later.

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millworkman said:
They must like that parsley.
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apparently so. :rolleyes: it's hard to see it in the pics, but the thing is also covered in caterpillar poop. damn parasites. :(

in more positive news, i spotted a 3rd tomato. that little plant is doing well and has a ton of flowers. i wish the peppers would catch up. i'm determined to have fruits this time. :onfire:
 
Just picked up from Amazon a Nesco American Harvest FD-61 Snackmaster Encore Dehydrator and Jerky Maker. It had decent reviews. I'll use it to dry any peppers i grow from this little garden. Would i cut open the peppers or leave them whole? I think the dried herbs would be awesome.

Hmmm...dried caterpillars anyone?
 
Cut your pods open or in half and they will dry quicker, and you may also find the odd nasties inside some peppers
 
fineexampl said:
Thanks mate. It's kind of slow going it seems, but mostly just because i want some fresh peppers. It's coming along though.
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They are further ahead then mine. I got a really late start and, but it's getting there. Fresh pepper are good too!!
 
rabbit said:
They are further ahead then mine. I got a really late start and, but it's getting there. Fresh pepper are good too!!
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I'm glad others are further behind or as far behind as i am. I see people getting fruits and i get insanely jealous. :lol:

I'm on a new mission right now. I'm not watering my peppers until i see them start to wilt. Than i'm gonna blast them with some yummy fish emulsion, seaweed and epsom salts. Yummy plant goodness!
 
My parsley plant is a goner. I'm so glad these suckers don't eat peppers or i'd be pissed. It's kind of wild to see how they went from yellow in color to the green of the parsley. They've tripled their body weight too.
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millworkman said:
Have any of them cocooned yet?
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No. These guys are butterflies. They turn into a chrysalis. A couple seem to have departed, but the ones you see in the picture are getting pretty fat. I'll post pics if they do. :(
 
They've eaten your plants. at least make some good out of it. put the larvae inside a nethouse or something and breed them! :D
 
The caterpillars have eaten every last leaf of parsley. They left only stalks. I should be mad, but i'm really not. I'm going to keep watering the thing and see if it grows more. I expect it might. If it does i'll have to get a screen to put over it.

In pepper related news. I've epsom salted the peppers and i'm just letting them dry out a bit. The rains have been heavy lately. I was concerned for a while that there was no air circulation at the bases of the plants. I've trimmed back a a portion of the leaves closest to the soil. I figured it might help with pest control and allow the plants to dry out properly.

In doing this i noticed that i'm overrun with little fast crawling spider looking things in my mulch. Is this spider mites or some other bug? They don't appear to be munching my leaves, at least not since my heavy neeming. I laid my hand on the mulch and a bunch crawled on my hand. It kinda grossed me out so i squished them up good immediately. Should i do anything? I don't know what these guys are. My plants are vibrant green and seem to have more than a few buds, but nothing has begun producing fruit. I'm wondering if this could be the cause.

Any ideas? I'm at a loss.
 
Things are looking very good here. No peppers, but alot of buds and tons of new flowers. I just get this feeling that if/when they fruit that it'll be an explosion of peppers all over the place. The damaged leaves from what i guess was spider mites, seems to be getting much better. I can't tell because i look at them every day and the change is slow. I have not watered them in a week. I have a feeling i was overwatering them. Wouldn't be the first time.
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and the rest...including my STEVIA ON STEROIDS!!!

tomatoes and stevia
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oregano thyme marjoram
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chamomile
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miniature roses
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stevia, spicy globe basil, thai basil, genovese basil
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and my parsley that apparently wasn't killed by the caterpillars. i kept feeding it and it's growing back. pretty cool, huh?
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fineexampl said:
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So i wanted to point out, and i'll take a better pic later, the plant in between the peppers and the tomato plant, that's my other stevia plant. The stevia in the windowbox with the basils is about 1 1/2ft tall, but the one i transplanted into the planter by itself has grown to freakish size. It's now over 3ft tall and when i moved it, it was the same height as it's twin. I'm expecting a ton of stevia extract in the fall. I'm probably going to go the "steep it in vodka" route and make the extract that way. Maybe i can get some medicine dropper bottles and sell a few bottles.

Tonight i will be picking up (assuming it's still available) the black pearl pepper plant. Does anyone have any suggestions for keeping this little plant nice and vibrant and black?? I'd like to make use of them. Can they be eaten or are they purely ornamental?? Either way i'll save seeds. forget it. it wasn't available. the guy working there was kind of a ass too. :(

Which brings up my other question...when do i collect seeds? When is a pepper ripe enough to take the seeds? I've never collected seeds before.
 
Will annuum cross with chinense?? i'm wondering if i could get an F1 out of black pearl and either the habs or bhuts.
Just curious.
 
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