ronniedeb's 2013 season

ronniedeb · Jul 15, 2013

Yeah. This is my second year with hydro. I had 5 plants per ebb container last year, and had promised myself to cut it down to 3. I compromised with 4. Last year, 1 or 2 plants took over each container to the detriment of the others. There was also a lot of pruning involved. I'm not to bothered with huge harvests, just variety, so I dont mind if the plants dont reach their full potential. Thats a nice looking plant you have there.

ronniedeb · Aug 1, 2013

Greenhouse. Ladder is there for pruning through the roof.

NFT catching up after late start:

Naga setting a few pods at last:

Large Red Rocoto pods set.

Harvest:

Blondie Pods

Canna brasiliensis

Solanum Crispum "Glasnevin"

Hoverfly Larvae

Big Female Garden Orb Spider

ronniedeb · Aug 29, 2013

Aji Benito. Good flavour. Doesnt knock CAP267 or HOT LEMON off their top spots though.

My Hot Lemons/Lemon Drops are a much yellower colour this year, compared to à more translucent pod last year. Seeds came from the same source though.

This year

Last year.

Dessert with CAP267

stickman · Aug 29, 2013

Wow, you've got some very lush-looking plants in your greenhouse Ronan... Very nice job! How long can you coax your growing season along past the first frost with the greenhouse?

ronniedeb · Aug 29, 2013

Hey Stickman. Thanks. Yeah, I like to pack my plants in. Last year I cut down my plants in late October. I put a 600w HPS light in there for the last few weeks to provide extra light and heat. Frosts can come any time after September really. I don't know if I can get the light in there this year. Plants are much more spread out. I have to go in on my knees to harvest some pods. Others, I need to remove the glass to get access. :rolleyes:

I may remove some plants in mid October to make room for the light.

Harvest:

Aji Limo. This runty plant, which split into 3 at the Cotelydons has put out several pods. Not a bad size either. Look forward to tasting them.

Apricot Habanero is putting out some more pods after the initial few ripened. This variety is completely heat free. It has a burst of nice sweet habanero flavour for about 3 seconds and then disappears to nothing. Not sure about it to be honest. I will see if there is anything better in the next batch of pods.

This is the Pieto de Moca in Passive Hydro that lost all its leaves after a Pyrethrin spray at the start of the season. Regrowth is confined to the tips of the branches, but it has a few dozen small pods.

CGN24333 took ages and dustpan loads of dropped flowers and leaves to finally set a pod.

Leycesteria formosa

Brugmansia Flower

The Bees love Bupthalmum

ronniedeb · Sep 13, 2013

Gotten very cold the last week. Heater is on.
Harvest

Peito de Moca, CAP220, Aji Benito
Bonda Ma Jacques, Naga, Superchilli, Hot Lemon, Aji Escabeche
CAP267, Aji Cito, Omnicolor, Yellow Bedder??

Aji Escabeche

Naga Morich

Hot Lemon

CAP220

Strange little Annuum from the Fatalii.net Mystery Bag

stickman · Sep 13, 2013

Nice harvest for cold weather! What part of the island are you living in Ronan? I would expect Connacht to be the coldest part about now with the wind coming off the North Sea, but don't really know anything about growing where you are.

ronniedeb · Sep 19, 2013

stickman said:
Nice harvest for cold weather! What part of the island are you living in Ronan? I would expect Connacht to be the coldest part about now with the wind coming off the North Sea, but don't really know anything about growing where you are.

Sorry I didnt get back to you sooner Stickman. I'm in Connacht. Galway City. Its been cold and rainy, and grey, but looks like temps will rise again next week, for a few days at least. Might set off some more ripening.
Generally we have greyer, wetter, cooler summers, than the rest of Northern Europe, but have milder Winters as well. Not much good for growing chillis though, temperatures still drop below freezing by several degrees in winter. Give me a Sunny Summer and a Frozen winter any day. Mustn't complain though, what with the extreme weather many parts of the US have been having recently.
I have a heater in the greenhouse set to turn on if temperature goes below 10 Celsius. Just put a grow light in there tonight as well, to extend the evening sun by 2 hours each day.

stickman · Sep 21, 2013

It's good you know your local climate well enough to have things pretty well dialed in... I like the eclectic mix of flowers and chiles you have going in your greenhouse. Continued success to you!

ronniedeb · Sep 22, 2013

Latest Harvest

Tomatoes, Fatalii Mystery, Physalis
Chimayo, CGN24333, Hot Lemon, CAP267
Yellow Bedder??, Aji Escabeche, Unripe Omnicolor, Peito de Moca,
Aji Limo, Omnicolor, CAP220, Aji Benito

Chimayo

Aji Limo

Low-Medium heat. Not great flavour. Pretty seedy. I'll try another few pods though before making my mind up.

CGN24333

My experience of Wild Peppers before this were the not so tasty Rhomboideum and Lanceolatum. This is very different. A clear chinense taste and nice pop of heat as well.

Fatalii.net Mystery Plant

Medium Heat, Flavour not bad, but pod texture is kind of leathery.

Got a Dehydrator for my Birthday. Very handy machine.

ronniedeb · Sep 28, 2013

This weeks harvest:

Hot Lemons, Aji Escabeche, CAP220
Naga, Apricot Habanero, Aji Limo
Morouga Scorpion
Aji Cito, Aji Benito, Chocolate Habanero, Turtle Claw, Peito de Moca, Aji Omnicolour

Nagas:

Fresh Hot Lemons:

Pickled Hot Lemons:

Nagas starting to ripen:

Morouga Scorpions starting to ripen too:

Peach Hot Sauce:

Sawyer · Sep 28, 2013

Nice pulls, plants, pods, and sauces. Nice dehydrator, too. Mine has two settings, plugged in or not. It does a good job on peppers, though.

ronniedeb · Sep 28, 2013

Sawyer said:
Nice pulls, plants, pods, and sauces. Nice dehydrator, too. Mine has two settings, plugged in or not. It does a good job on peppers, though.

Thanks Sawyer. As long as it does the job! Sometimes the simpler, the better.

ronniedeb · Oct 2, 2013

This week's harvest

Chenzo, Bonda Ma J., Naga Morich
Fatalii Red, CARDI Yellow, Aji Escabeche
Aji Limo, CAP 220, Aji Dulce, Apricot Habanero, Aji Omnicolor
Aji Limon, Carolina Reaper, Aji Benito, Morouga Scorpion

Aji Escabeche

Morouga Scorpion

Carolina Reaper

Apricot Habanero

Bonda Ma Jacques

CARDI Yellow

Aji Dulce

stickman · Oct 2, 2013

Hi Ronan, It looks like your plants are picking up the pace and really producing large pods now... good on ya! The new dehydrator, sauce and pickled peppers look great too. Cheers guy!

Jamison · Oct 2, 2013

Awesome grow and love how you preserved your harvests!

ronniedeb · Oct 2, 2013

stickman said:
Hi Ronan, It looks like your plants are picking up the pace and really producing large pods now... good on ya! The new dehydrator, sauce and pickled peppers look great too. Cheers guy!

Jamison said:
Awesome grow and love how you preserved your harvests!

Thanks guys!

ronniedeb · Oct 9, 2013

Well a week of decent weather for this time of year with mild temperatures has sped up ripening a bit. Cold forecast for next week though.
This week's harvest is much better than the previous weeks.

Morouga Scorpion

CARDI Yellow

Bonda Ma Jacques

A few Madre Vieja.

Fatalii Red

Omnicolor

Aji Benito

Turtle Claw

Tomatillos

stickman · Oct 9, 2013

Wow!!! What a nice harvest for this time of year Ronan! How do you plan to put them up for the winter? Nice pull of Tomatillos too... are you going to freeze some chile verde?

ronniedeb · Oct 9, 2013

stickman said:
Wow!!! What a nice harvest for this time of year Ronan! How do you plan to put them up for the winter? Nice pull of Tomatillos too... are you going to freeze some chile verde?

Thanks Stickman. By put them up, I presume you mean preserve them, right? I'm drying, pickling, making sauce and relish. I'll freeze a few little bags as well. Yeah, I'll probably make some chile verde. I need to teach myself some new recipes though.