reverser's first grow (2014)

This will be my first real attempt at growing from seed (last year, I tried planting some pepper seedlings from Lowe's, directly into the ground, and they just died a pathetic death).
 
I have 3 cubic yards of Gro-Pro Potting Soil being delivered next Monday, and I'm going to fill 2 5x5 foot raised beds with it: 

 
Will I be able to cram all these plants into those 2 beds?  I figure that I can get 16 plants into a 5x5 bed if I leave one foot spacing between the plants and the walls / each other.
 
I'm currently sprouting the seeds under 2 4-bulb T8 fixtures, with 3 of each type -- one will go into the raised bed, one will go into a Walmart bag and one will be a spare.  With a few exceptions, germination rates with a heating mat / thermostat have been quite high, I've been surprised.
 
I still don't know what I'm going to actually do with all of these peppers -- I can only eat so many of them myself, but I'm sure I'll figure something out.  (Maybe I'll make pounds of powder?)
 
Here's the list, as it currently stands:
 
Peppers:

C. Annuum:

• +Aji Cacho de Cabra (Peru)
• Aji Cerezo 1 (Peru)
• *+Aji Cerezo 2 (Peru)
• Aji Paprika (Peru)
• *+Banana (PepperJoe)
• *+California Wonder bell (eBay)
• +Charleston (PepperJoe)
• +Chilhuaca Negro (smokemaster)
• +Chiltepin (illWill)
• *+Chipotle (PepperJoe)
• *+Choc Bell Pepper (PepperJoe)
• +Hinkle Hatz (smokemaster)
• *+Hot Cherry (PepperJoe)
• +Jalapeño (PepperJoe)
• *+Pasilla Bajio (PepperJoe)
• +Prik Chi Faa (PepperJoe)
• *+Red Peter (PepperJoe)

C. Baccatum:

• Aji Amarillo (Peru)
• ?Aji Fantasy (illWill) (18-gallon tote)
• ?Aji Limo (Peru) (18-gallon tote)
• Aji Verde (Peru)
• ?Rain Forest (smokemaster) (18-gallon tote)

C. Chinense:

• + Aji Dulce (Peru)
• *+Aji Limon (smokemaster)
• Aji Mochero (Peru)
• Aji Panca (Peru)
• +Billy Goat (smokemaster)
• *+Brown Moruga (Sick625)
• *+CGN 21500 (inolan22)
• *+Choc Habanero (PepperJoe)
• *+Choc Hab x Black Congo (illWill)
• *+Condors Beak Hab (illWill)
• +Habanero (PepperJoe)
• *+Orange 7 Pot (illWill)
• *+Peach Bhut Jolokia (Sick625)
• +Peruvian Serlano (smokemaster)
• *+Trinidad Scorpion Chocolate (Hathron)
• !!Trinidad Scorpion Mustard (illWill)

C. Frutescens:

• *+Aji Charapita (Peru)
• Aji Araucho 1 (Peru)
• Aji Araucho 2 (Peru)
• Aji Pip de Mono (Peru)

C. Pubescens:

• ?Manzano (smokemaster) (18-gallon tote)
• ?Aji Rocoto (Peru) (5-gallon bucket)

Tomatoes:

• *+Black Zebra Cherry (PepperJoe)
• *+Burbank Slicing (PepperJoe)
• *+Evergreen (PepperJoe)
• *+Mr. Stripey (PepperJoe)
• *+Roma (PepperJoe)
• *!!Sungold (eBay)
• *+Taps (PepperJoe)
• *+Tiny Tim (eBay)

Other:

• +Catnip (Lowe's)
• *+Italian Parsley (PepperJoe)
• Onions (PepperJoe)
• *+Pak Choi (eBay)
• *+Spinach (eBay)
• *+Sweet Basil (PepperJoe)
• *+Thyme (Lowe's)

Legend:

• * -- plant will be grown in a raised bed
• + -- plant will be grown in a Walmart bag or 5 gallon fabric pot
• ? -- plant will be grown in another type of container
• !! -- side-by-side comparison in 2 Walmart bags using free sample from BuildASoil vs my other soil

 

[Essegi]

Great list, especially considering that this is fisrt attempt! Good luck!
 
For upload images i suggest you 3 good external services, in my order preference:
 
http://minus.com/
http://someimage.com/
http://imgur.com/
 
first 2 doesn't compress images, wich is good. I list the third too because features a nice list of links when done (useful with many images, besides image compression should not be a big issue here).

 

[JJJessee]

Welcome to the PepperGrowlandia
 
5x5 is a nice big bed, but I'd do a little research and try to keep my big plant varieties and little plant varieties in separate beds. The Big Ones I'd go 9 per bed. You might squeeze 16 small peppers (18-24" hgt) in a 5x5. 
 
That's just peppers.
Those tomatoes alone will more than fill up a 5x5 bed.
 
I know. Tough decisions. We all do it every year.

 

[PIC 1]

Likewise welcome to the growers side, an addiction that you'll really dig!

How deep are your beds and whats under them...dirt, grass ? 3 cu yd's seems a bit shy for 2- 5 x 5' beds.

The pepper plants can be squeezed together, they will compete for light and grow taller rather than bushier...it can be done. Normally I'd suggest planting the shorter varieties in the 1st row that gets the most sun exposure, but since the beds are square and the varieties that you chose seem to grow around the same height all should be fine. What may help in pod production is to pinch off the 1st wave of flowers, especially the annuums (Banna's, Bells and Jalapenos). In doing so your plants will grow taller, wider, sturdier and produce two-fold amounts of peppers in the long run.
You may want to checkout other glogs to see inaddition what nutrients shold be added to your soil at plant out.

The tomato bed may be rather tight...options are caging each plant and pruning the suckers off to focus on having only 2 main branches (indeterminate varieties only). Your plants can be contained and trained upwards in a cylindical shape.
The other less maintaiance way to grow is to let the plants sprawl around and even over the edges of the bed. Having burlap, plastic mulch or another type of barrier between the fruit/branches and soil will help prevent rot or baterial issues.

Best of luck and make it a fun grow.......start planning on what to do with your harvest(s)!

 

[reverser]

Great list, especially considering that this is fisrt attempt! Good luck!
 
For upload images i suggest you 3 good external services, in my order preference:

Ah, okay. I thought the forum hosted its own images (because of the My Media button in the editor). I uploaded the image to imgur and updated the original post. Thanks! 
 

5x5 is a nice big bed, but I'd do a little research and try to keep my big plant varieties and little plant varieties in separate beds. The Big Ones I'd go 9 per bed. You might squeeze 16 small peppers (18-24" hgt) in a 5x5. 
 
That's just peppers.
Those tomatoes alone will more than fill up a 5x5 bed.
 
I know. Tough decisions. We all do it every year.

If necessary, I can "borrow" 2 more raised beds (3x6) from the wife. The tomatoes are for her, anyway (she doesn't like spicy food!). 
 

How deep are your beds and whats under them...dirt, grass ? 3 cu yd's seems a bit shy for 2- 5 x 5' beds.

Really? The raised beds are only 14 inches tall (see photo added to original post) -- I could add another board to each to make them 21 inches tall. Assuming a depth of 10 inches (maybe this is too shallow?), I calculated 0.77 cu yd per 5x5 bed. I also need soil to fill two 3x6 beds (0.56 cu yd per bed), so I calculated 2.6 cu yd total soil necessary (and I'll use the leftovers for my containers). Do I need to call the company and tell them to bring more?

It's soil underneath the beds -- full of rocks and clay. I know that ideally I would double-dig down into the soil, but it's really tough to dig through. I was hoping to avoid digging by using the raised beds, is that silly?

(And thanks for the rest of the advice!)

 

[Jeff H]

The beds look good. 16 plants in a 5x5 will be okay for the smaller plants, but those chinense and the monzano can get really big. You might want to pot them up separate in 7 gallon pots and keep the raised beds for the annuums.
 
 
Looking at your list I have to wonder what Pepper Joe is selling you when you buy a chipotle pepper from him. Chipotle is a smoke dried red jalapeno and I'm sure PJ knows this so what is he selling? I'll have to head over to his site and investigate.

 

[reverser]

The beds look good. 16 plants in a 5x5 will be okay for the smaller plants, but those chinense and the monzano can get really big. You might want to pot them up separate in 7 gallon pots and keep the raised beds for the annuums.
 
 
Looking at your list I have to wonder what Pepper Joe is selling you when you buy a chipotle pepper from him. Chipotle is a smoke dried red jalapeno and I'm sure PJ knows this so what is he selling? I'll have to head over to his site and investigate.

Yeah, I know, that's why I put 'chipotle' in quotes. He advertises a "CHIPOTLE JALAPENO" and my wife said she wanted to try it, so I threw it in to the order. I also got some (non-chipotle?) jalapeno seeds from him, so it will be interesting to see if there's any difference once they grow out.

 

[reverser]

Okay, I doubled the soil delivery order to 6 cubic yards its coming tomorrow. Ive taken the day off work to move the soil, but even with my wife helping, itll probably take more than one day. (Ive never had soil delivered before am I in for a treat, or what?)

I added another board to each raised bed, bringing the total depth to 21 inches. I now have 2 5x5x21 beds and 2 3x6x21 beds Im planning to use for my peppers, tomatoes, and herbs.

I was planning on putting the peppers in the 5x5 beds, but they are wedged between the north side of my house and the fence, and dont get as much sun as I had hoped:




My other option is to put the peppers and tomatoes in the slightly-smaller beds on the south side of the house:




The tomatoes wont be happy on the north side, either, so I might plant them on the south side, along with half of the peppers and well see how the other half of the peppers (and the herbs) deal with partial shade.

 

[Noah Yates]

Herb garden raised beds are awesome.... and they love some partial shade.

How did you get that sunlight analysis btw?

 

[JJJessee]

I'm liking the deep beds. Manzano don't mind a shadier plot I hear. 

 

[reverser]

Herb garden raised beds are awesome.... and they love some partial shade.
How did you get that sunlight analysis btw?

It's a "PlantSmart" (Amazon link) -- you can see it in the first photo, it's the plastic flower-looking thing planted inside the bed. You push it into the ground and then leave it there for at least 24 hours, then pull it up and connect it to your computer to get the data. It logs sunlight, soil moisture and temperature over time and makes pretty graphs.

It's a shame they discontinued it (though for the time being, it works just fine) in favor of a newer design. The newer one uses Bluetooth (so you don't have to pull it up to read the data, you can just a smartphone app) -- and is three times the price! I still might get one if this stops working -- I have to pull the thing up anyway to move it to different spots of the garden to compare.

 

[Noah Yates]

nifty

 

[reverser]

Soil came, an hour early! 

 

[Noah Yates]

The place you bought that from has redwood compost

 

[reverser]

The place you bought that from has redwood compost

Wait, is that good or bad?

I've updated the first post with the latest list -- I'm running out of room! I was already planning on growing one of each in a Walmart bag, but some plants will only get a Walmart bag and no spot in the bed.

Here's how I'm currently planning on planting them:



"Peppers 1" and "Tomatoes" are the 2 beds that get the most sunlight.

 

[stc3248]

Welcome and good luck!!! A couple FYI's since I grow right down the road from you. That Manzano will likely grow to 5+ feet tall and about 7' wide and will quickly take over almost everything else in that bed...that is with the exception of the Aji Fantasy. I read up on Fatalii.net's site about the plant, but he does not mention plant height. If it grows like most other Aji Varieties (judging from the photos on his site it does) it could get REALLY big. When I say REALLY big I am talking well over 10' tall over the course of one season for example...

Birgits Locoto, same family and Aji growth habit. My son is 5'11" for reference. This plant was planted back in February and it is now 12' tall.
 
You have got some great advice above...Greg (Pic1) is legendary for his grow outs of insane amounts of plants in a limited amount of space. He grows mainly in containers and has been featured in Better Homes and Gardens. JJJessee has no space issues, but his soil and bed prep along with irrigation systems are works of art. Don't know Noah too well, but have seen him around the threads...
 
I also grow a few container plants from time to time...I would suggest thinking about buying a couple cheap round 18 gallon totes drilling some holes in them and putting the Manzano and Aji in those, along with a couple others (Tomatoes) to free up some room for success of the rest of the plants in there.
 
All that aside those raised beds look freaking amazing! They are going to be really stunning mid summer full of large plants and colorful pods!!!! Best of luck my socal brotha! Will be clicking the follow button right after the post button!
Shane

 

[reverser]

I also grow a few container plants from time to time...I would suggest thinking about buying a couple cheap round 18 gallon totes drilling some holes in them and putting the Manzano and Aji in those, along with a couple others (Tomatoes) to free up some room for success of the rest of the plants in there.

Wow, okay, thanks for the warning. I'll buy a couple of 18 gallon totes and put the Manzano and the Aji Fantasy in there instead of in the bed, which will let me move 2 of the other peppers back to the beds.

Do you think I should move 2 tomatoes into the totes and then put the other 2 peppers in with the tomatoes, or keep on dedicating one whole bed to tomatoes and leave the 2 extra peppers in containers (be they Walmart bags, 18-gallon totes, or something else)?

 

[stc3248]

That one bed for tomatoes may be alright...The bed will look like a giant shub. You may consider doing a "florida weave" with both rows of peppers and keeping them pruned as Greg mentioned. That might work??? I buy those 18 gallon totes for about $4 and drill about fifteen 3/4" holes in the bottom. Some of the smaller peppers could fit three to one container. The Manzano as I mentioned can grow very wide and would do well in the tote and would overshadow almost everything in a 5x5 container so I think the tote would be a better place for it...they like broken/partial sun in our climate and the tote will allow you to move it around when it gets real hot.
 
Bottom line is it's your garden and you look to be doing everything real pro with those beautiful beds. would hate to see your downfall be overcrowding. As Greg mentioned you can stuff many types into a small space and they'll do fine but the two I mentioned can be monsters. As a rule for the rest of your chart, I would put the Chinenses (habs, bhuts etc) on the corners and the Annuums (Bells, Jals, Bananas etc) in between. The Chinenses will grow larger with much more sprawl while the Annuums will grow more compact so that will help maximize your space as well. 
 
If you feel like I am being a little overbearing let me know! You are certain to have a freaking fantastic season with all the work you're putting into your beds. Even if you just decide to cram everything in those beds...the plants will figure it out in an amazing survival of the fittest contest that will be amazing to watch! 
Best of luck to you and I will be along for the ride. 

 

[filmost]

Looking awesome! The only thing I would say is make sure you can reach the plants in the middle of your 5x5. An extra foot on top of the standard 4x4 makes a big difference. You don't wanna have to climb in and compact all that wonderful soil come harvest time.

 

[reverser]

That one bed for tomatoes may be alright...The bed will look like a giant shub. You may consider doing a "florida weave" with both rows of peppers and keeping them pruned as Greg mentioned. That might work???

Just one last question -- did you mean I should do the weave with the peppers, or the tomatoes? I'll sort the plants by size and move the bigger ones to the corners. Sounds like I need to go buy some more dirt!