Plant Out 3/5

[caroltlw]

I can hardly wait to taste my first lemon drop (seed 1/2/09). I have 6 of them still in 4" pots - 3 are about the same size, 2 smaller and 1 runt. They were getting some severe leaf roll up when they were in full sun so I moved them to where they have mid day shade now. Looking much happier.

Here's one of the largest with my favorite measuring stick. The roots are starting to poke out from the hole where the sun don't shine.

But what's really amazing to me is the wingspan on this baby. It's wider than it is tall. Can anyone tell me for sure that this is a baccatum and not a 'lemon hab' just from the leaves? I'm dying here wating for it to flower.

And finally, an aerial view of one of the Superchilis I put in the ground last week. [edit, I mean on 3/5] Short but bushy as hell.

c.

 

[caroltlw]

But I have to know Am I correct? I scrolled through real quick and didnt see anyone point him out. YAY!

Ding, ding, ding, ding! You got it. He's kinda small - I saw a huge one today but he wouldn't pose for me. Must have encountered my cat already.

 

[caroltlw]

The lower part of the garden isn't ready yet so today I only put 1 lemon and 1 tabasco down there with what good dirt I could pile up one end. I also put the 2 other large lemons and another tab in 1 gal containers. Then put my 4 carib reds and 2 smaller tabs into the 4" pots. I think I'm calling it a day for now.

We really really really need a good long soaking rain soon.


And into the ground she goes... this will be my reference pic for future updates.

 

[PeterPepperPicker]

Carol,

Beautiful plants and I like the way you have them arranged!

 

[caroltlw]

Carol,

Beautiful plants and I like the way you have them arranged!

Thanks 3P. The lay of the land and the position of the sun determined where the garden was going. Then I knew I'd pack way too many plants in a small area so I made it U-shaped. The path down the middle is ground level (no plants in that soil) it's raised to the right and built-up to level on the left and in front.

And now for some current pics...


Tiny baby super chilis. Nothing else besides the wax and one jal have set fruit. Warmer night temps are coming.

First flower on one of my purple jalapenos. Not purple all over like the database pic but pretty. This could be a cross.

The anoles are eating everything in sight including worms. He did swallow the whole thing eventually.

And here's the small cluster of ladybug eggs [updated: now with larva!] I found the other day. They may hatch as soon as 4-10 days at which point I will bring them aphids.

Next up, some new seedling varieities...

 

[caroltlw]

Some of my last batch of seedlings. These are the oldest and fastest growing ones. I have several more types still barely into their true leaves.


Aji Limon and Thai (unspecified) are doing well.

My lonely single Choc Hab looks good so far. Could be greener.

Black scorpion tongue. Two of them came up purple leaved and one is pure green. Not sure what's up with that. This is the oldest purplish one.

c.

 

[FiveStar]

Beautiful plants and a great garden space! I'm jealous of your Florida weather. Gotta wait till at least the end of April to plant out here.

 

[bigt]

Great pictures Carol! I feel like I'm on the Discovery Channel.

 

[patrick]

Wonderful thread Carol, thanks. You've got it all; Good bugs, bad bugs, lizards, before and after shots, beautiful plants and even pods. Great thread.

 

[lee]

Like we all think a like. Just love those pics with the lizard, eggs. Never seen ladybug eggs before
That purple jalapeno flower looks nice too.

 

[caroltlw]

Thanks everyone!

Time for another comparison. I'm very happy so far with the soil quality - no added ferts except some epsom and egg shells when I planted these examples. All else is leaf and goat compost on a sandy base.

This is the cayenne from earlier in this thread and same plant taken this morning. I had to tie him up to the pole already when it got windy the other day.

Elapsed time: 23 days

Then we have a VERY sad Chile de Arbol that was horribly abused and frost bitten before he went in the ground. I had to trim a lot of leaves back as they half-died. The only size reference here would be the little white marker barely visible on the left and part of the green pole.

Elapsed time: ~ 6 weeks

c.

 

[Hotpeppa]

nice stuff...

looking real good..

ever thought about pinching so it can grow bigger ?

 

[caroltlw]

ever thought about pinching so it can grow bigger ?

Neither one of those has set fruit yet - probably because of the still chilly night temps. I just let the flowers drop if they want to. I did pinch a couple of the wax to see how they do compared to the ones I let grow pods.

 

[Hotpeppa]

Neither one of those has set fruit yet - probably because of the still chilly night temps. I just let the flowers drop if they want to. I did pinch a couple of the wax to see how they do compared to the ones I let grow pods.

Can you please let me know how that turns out for you as i am pinching all my peppers wonder if it really does help...

it makes sense that it would, but just to get a comparison from you would be great.

thanks

 

[caroltlw]

Yeah, no difference so far but I think it's supposed to have an effect in eventual plant size and yield. :shrug: Probably won't know for sure for another few weeks. Umm, I mean months.

 

[caroltlw]

Looks like some of my eggs are getting ready to hatch. You can see the black hairy things through the egg casings. This is from the first batch I found on a potted Superchili. There are already several larva crawling around on this plant and there's more eggs and larva on a potted Greek (updated prev post).
That's an aphid next to them about to be served up for lunch. I'm still trying to get the resident lizard on the cart of plants to Go. Away.

c.

 

[mrmulcher]

that purplish color is from the bright light usally nothing to worry about

 

[caroltlw]

that purplish color is from the bright light usally nothing to worry about

Yeah, the light brings out some purple in the species I have that bear purple fruit. It was strange that one of them didn't have any purple to it. I have a long time to wait to see if they are indeed the same plant.

 

[caroltlw]

last pictures?

Well, the river has taken a turn for the worse this year. Long story short: we've had about 13" of rain here over the last week AND also a large amount fell upstream on all 3 rivers that effect us. They're predicting a crest about 10' higher than our planned escape level, so even if they're wrong it will still be too high to stay.
We also had 2 tornado warnings in the last 3 nights, but that's over with at least. And no hail - just some minor rain damage to the outdoors plants.

There's nothing in the ground that I don't have a duplicate of in a container so I'm not digging anything up. We'll be busy enough getting everything else packed up and ready to go. Maybe go to our temporary emergency site at a high and dry neighbor or we may make a more permanent move out west like we've been planning for a while.

So I'm posting some final pictures of the garden before we pull out of here tomorrow. These 2 are panoramic if you put them together:

And this little beauty is one of the ones going with me to wherever. Not quite as big as it looks with the perspective in the pic.
Caribbean Red, starting to bud in 1 gal pot.

Yes, those probably are whiteflies. Got the ladybug shipment in the mail yesterday for all the good it does me now. Guess I won't be building a nesting area for them after all.

I'll check in when I can.
c.

 

[Pepper Ridge Farm]

Geeez Carol that really sucks, but at least you know it's coming and can get the hell out of the way. Take care of yourself, pepper plants can be replaced. Really hope all your work you have done this year is not just washed down some river. Good luck!