Stefan_W's 2013 Pods A-Ripenin'! Glog

I am going to start the new glog for my upcoming growing season on a bit of a personal note. One year ago tomorrow (January 3rd) is the one year anniversary of the day that my daughter was diagnosed with a tumour that is lodged in the middle of her brain. The past year has involved treatments and hospital stays, and there were at least three different points when we were pretty sure she was not going to make it. But she is a fighter, and nothing could keep her down for long.

Sofia has personally planted every pepper and tomato seed that I have started in the past three growing seasons. She beat the odds last year to help me, and once again she is defying what medicine has to say to help me out this year.

We started a jalapeno plant about a week ago just for the sake of watching it grow, because we both love it so much. One of the jalapenos grew to the point that it had its firt couple of leaves, so we transplanted him into a bigger pot. While we were at it I decided to put in some aji lemondrops, partly because they take a long time to fruit up and I wanted to give them a huge head start.

This is the jalapeno plant. I pulled the second one out because we did not need it, and discovered that the roots had grown all of the way down to the bottom of the cell.

My daughter personally doing the transplant.

Her aim is better than mine, and so it turned out perfectly.

Next up was taking out the lemondrop seeds from peppermania.

I need a few extras of this type, so I asked Sofia to plant two seeds in each of the four cells. Two plants will be for us, and whatever else grows will be given away to good friends.

Two of the three tiers in my lighting stand are currently being used as toy shelves, which is cool for now. The lights are adjustable, and moved down to get close to the seedling.

The heating pad works extremely well, and once the cells are covered the top clouds up in no time.

A happy early jalapeno seedling in his new home. I thought I heard "feeeeeed meeeeee" coming from that direction, but I'm not sure.

That's it for today, folks! Welcome to my new glog

 

[DocNrock]

Sorry to hear about the enter key thing. I'm curious, what operating system are you running? The site works fine for me at home, but I have limited functionality on my work computer, which I believe is running XP (or something even older).

Regarding the Red Habs, I'm not sure if these are the same as the Caribbean Reds, but I can say that the Caribbean Reds taste very different from Orange Habs. I know space is limited for you, but if there is some way to grow it in a planter, maybe it will be worth it. There are other "Habs" that taste nothing like Orange Habs, also. Chocolate and Mustard come to mind.

 

[GA Growhead]

Yes! Plain red habs are SO much better the orange habs!

 

[Stefan_W]

Sorry to hear about the enter key thing. I'm curious, what operating system are you running? The site works fine for me at home, but I have limited functionality on my work computer, which I believe is running XP (or something even older).

Regarding the Red Habs, I'm not sure if these are the same as the Caribbean Reds, but I can say that the Caribbean Reds taste very different from Orange Habs. I know space is limited for you, but if there is some way to grow it in a planter, maybe it will be worth it. There are other "Habs" that taste nothing like Orange Habs, also. Chocolate and Mustard come to mind.

I'm running Windows 7. This site had always worked with this computer and my usual browser up until a week or so ago. Very frustrating.

I have a few carribean reds, some reds, chocolate, and big sun habs. My problem is that I can either grow more of what I know I like and axe the habs, or give the habs a try. In reality I always have more peppers than I could possibly use, so either way will end up fine.

Thanks for stopping in!

I am now on Google Chrome, which is working great for me here. I don't have time to read glogs or post and update at the moment because I'm completing an app package for a tenure track criminology position. I should have some free time this weekend to catch up with everything I've been missing

Yes! Plain red habs are SO much better the orange habs!

Maybe I should grow either the red trinidad habs I have or else the plain red habs. That is a compromise solution, because it would allow me to grow an extra yellow scorp or something like that.

 

[Sawyer]

Good luck with the application.

 

[DocNrock]

Yes, good luck with the position! If those applications are anything like what we docs have to complete just to get on staff at a hospital, they're as thick as a mortgage packet!

 

[Stefan_W]

My total application package will run close to 100 pages, but that is mostly because it includes writing samples and past course evaluations. Thank you both for the well-wishes!

I watered the plants this evening, and figured it was as good a time as any to post a quick update.

These are some of the ones that I planted early, that normally sit by the back window. There are a tabasco, 2 yellow 7 gigantics, a red 7 gigantic, a moruga scorpion. They are clearly ready for an up-potting on the weekend.

Assorted pepper plants, mostly habs on the floor while I am running the fan. The fan works great, but it is only tall enough to effectively hit the bottom two shelves of my grow stand. So every night when I am letting it run I pull the plants off of the top shelf.

The rest of the grow shelf during the fanning.

Mako akokasrade

Butch T

Madame Jeanette (still looking great!)

I am now up to 5 pods on my giant jalapeno plant

Gratuitous tomato shot, because some people asked for these

Yellow moruga scorp and yellow 7 gigantic back by the window. Did I mention it is time to up pot?

Thanks for having a look. I will try to get caught up on everyone else's posts during the four day weekend!

 

[stickman]

Nice pics Stefan, glad to see you're keeping 'em green buddy! Has the snow been melting for you? The 20cm of snow we got a week and a half ago is mostly gone... just a few patches in the yards and more on the hilltops and in the woods. The shallow ponds here, and the ones that are stream-fed are mostly ice-free now, so it should be getting that way soon up your way. The Geese are heading your way in large numbers and I've been seeing the Red-Winged Blackbirds in the marshy areas. Cheers!

 

[Stefan_W]

Nice pics Stefan, glad to see you're keeping 'em green buddy! Has the snow been melting for you? The 20cm of snow we got a week and a half ago is mostly gone... just a few patches in the yards and more on the hilltops and in the woods. The shallow ponds here, and the ones that are stream-fed are mostly ice-free now, so it should be getting that way soon up your way. The Geese are heading your way in large numbers and I've been seeing the Red-Winged Blackbirds in the marshy areas. Cheers!

Thanks man! The snow seems to be hanging on forever here, and it is easily the longest winter since we moved to Ottawa. Not complaining though, because I came from Winnipeg and it is still -19 Celcius there every night.

The ducks are geese are already here, but the water is only starting to open up. There is still snow absolutely everywhere, because it is just barely inching above freezing every day.

 

[WalkGood]

wow such beauty, love these last shots and I agree with the others, great luck success with your app ...

 

[Stefan_W]

wow such beauty, love these last shots and I agree with the others, great luck success with your app ...

Thank you very much! I am planning on working on the app through the long weekend, and then forgetting about it until I hear back in early May.

 

[PeriPeri]

Hey Stefan. It has been a while since checking in on everyone. Things been sooo busy here a choppin dem chillies lol But WOW... your plants are looking great! They have rocketed since I last saw them! Well done man... this is fantastic!

 

[Stefan_W]

Hey Stefan. It has been a while since checking in on everyone. Things been sooo busy here a choppin dem chillies lol But WOW... your plants are looking great! They have rocketed since I last saw them! Well done man... this is fantastic!

Yup, they sure are popping up like weeds right now. Thanks for stopping by!

 

[DocNrock]

Very glad to see the Tabscos up. I know how much they mean to you. Sorry to hear the Rooters weren't the ticket for you that they were with me. Anyway, it seems like you have your germ setup down. Everything is looking really good. It won't be long until Giant Jal nachos!

 

[PeriPeri]

Tabasco's - woohoo - didn't spot that one Stefan... great news. All good things come to those who wait! Have a great Easter weekend!

 

[Stefan_W]

Very glad to see the Tabscos up. I know how much they mean to you. Sorry to hear the Rooters weren't the ticket for you that they were with me. Anyway, it seems like you have your germ setup down. Everything is looking really good. It won't be long until Giant Jal nachos!

I never mind trying out new things, and I'm sure the rooters work well for a lot of people. And yes, I am getting really close to nachos!

Tabasco's - woohoo - didn't spot that one Stefan... great news. All good things come to those who wait! Have a great Easter weekend!

Thanks, you too! I am putting in 4 new tabasco plants to go with the one overwinter I already have, and they are all doing great so far. I really do love tabascos.

So I got an unexpected surprise this weekend. I started the aji lemondrops really early because I heard they have a very long growing season. I was shocked to discover that one of my plants is getting set to flower in the next few days!

This is a shot of the aji lemondrop sitting in its place by the window. Even with great grow lights I think the natural sunlight does wonders for plants. This shot was taken at 8 AM, so it is backlit by the morning sun.

This is a shot from above that shows off the buds starting to form.

I suspect the lemondrops are one of those annoying plants that pod up like crazy but take forever to ripen. I'll keep whatever pods form around until transplanting outside in about 5 weeks time just to get a quick taste, but my experience is that these early pods are bitter and taste nothing like they do once they have the chance to fully ripen.

Thanks for having a look!

 

[stickman]

Hi Stefan, what a coincidence... my Ajis that I planted back in January are flowering too. The Omnicolors are at about the same stage as your Aji Limon, but the Criolla Sellas have a half a dozen open blooms and more on the way. Even the Chinense varieties all have flower buds on them. I can't wait to get them in the ground... looks like we're off to a flying start! Once it warms up enough outside they should load up quick.

 

[Stefan_W]

Hi Stefan, what a coincidence... my Ajis that I planted back in January are flowering too. The Omnicolors are at about the same stage as your Aji Limon, but the Criolla Sellas have a half a dozen open blooms and more on the way. Even the Chinense varieties all have flower buds on them. I can't wait to get them in the ground... looks like we're off to a flying start! Once it warms up enough outside they should load up quick.

Yeah, I am definitely looking forward to getting them outside! I love picking out seeds and watching them germ, but at this stage they are a lot of work. Once they get outside and start really podding up it gets exciting again. But yeah, we are both off to awesome starts!

So I am in new territory with peppers this year. I have always shied away from growing very long season varieties, but last year I had success with bhuts and tabascos. The tabascos were the worst, and only half of the pods ripened on the vine, but it gave me confidence that I can grow even the longest season varieties here if I plan properly.

The new territory I was talking about is up potting peppers before taking them out in the spring. I have always preferred to let them get a bit root bound rather than giving them an extra hit of transplant shock, but this year I started so early a few of the plants were clearly becoming too root bound. So I went out to a Lowe's (just opened a couple of weeks ago, first ever in Ottawa), and picked up a 12 inch pot for the jalapeno and 5 X 8 inch pots for other plants that needed to move up.

This is the root system on the jalapeno. Keep in mind he started off in a 6 inch pot (rather than the 3.5 or 4s that I usually use), so this is actually quite impressive.

And this is him in his new, happy home.

The other tray that was by the window was my next target. All of these needed a boost.

When I first put the seedlings onto these trays I was able to fit 12 pots. When they moved by the window it was 6. Now with the 8 inch pots it is down to a crowded 3 per tray. This tray has a yellow moruga scorpion, red moruga scorpion, and a yellow 7 gigantic. You can see some tabasco plants in the background that I did not have the chance to up pot tonight.

The second tray (on left) has another yellow 7 gigantic, the aji lemondrop that is getting set to pod up, and a tabasco in the tall pot. I selected the biggest of the tabascos to up pot as a part of the experiment I plan to run this summer, where I grow the overwinter tabasco, one tabasco plant in a large pot by itself, and three together in a large pot to see what setup gives me the best yield.

At the end of up potting I had an extra 6 inch pot that used to house the jalapeno. I decided to stick my Butch T in it, because he was the next biggest of the supers.

Thanks for having a look, and Happy Easter to one and all!

 

[stickman]

Most Excellent Stefan! I think it's an "in-the-long-run" kind of thing, but eventually I think your plants will be bigger and healthier for the larger shoes. At least that's what I think I'm seeing when I compare the growth of the plants in solo cups to the ones in the much larger air pruning pots.

 

[DocNrock]

All is looking great, Stefan. I agree with Rick, I think they'll be bigger when you put them out and have an even more developed root system. Come on Spring!

 

[Stefan_W]

Most Excellent Stefan! I think it's an "in-the-long-run" kind of thing, but eventually I think your plants will be bigger and healthier for the larger shoes. At least that's what I think I'm seeing when I compare the growth of the plants in solo cups to the ones in the much larger air pruning pots.

All is looking great, Stefan. I agree with Rick, I think they'll be bigger when you put them out and have an even more developed root system. Come on Spring!

I agree with both of you! I still don't plan to up pot the sweet pepper due to lack of room inside of the house, but I definitely think this is the way to go. I can't imagine what would happen to the root systems with another 5 weeks of being compressed in those smaller pots.