synclinorium's Grow Log 2011

synclinorium · Apr 3, 2011

Aji Amarillos:

Aji Cristals/Tabasco- I forgot to mark these (No idea why their leaves are crinkled like that. They're growing in the same potting mix as most of the peppers):

The other half of the mystery peppers (I'll switch the tags as needed):

Cayenne in the back left, with bell peppers in the foreground:

Thai:

Red Rocotos:

And finally the Datil monstrosities that just arrived in the mail:

RedtailForester · Apr 3, 2011

Those are some beauties there! Very nice set up.

robbyjoe01 · Apr 3, 2011

Really great start. Love the purple pics

logchief · Apr 3, 2011

Looking nice Sync. My Jalmundos got crinkled up leaves but they were root bound in the beer cups and after potting them up to #1 pots, they straightened right out.

wayright · Apr 3, 2011

Your Amarillos look like they are doing wonderful!
And those are some monster Datil starts! Where'd you get those from?
Great work!

Kevin

Alphaeon · Apr 3, 2011

Looking good! :dance:

mmcdermott1 · Apr 3, 2011

Very nice plants sir. The curled leaves could mean root bound. The bumps are probably in need of calcium. Very good start. By the way, I have bought Reimer seeds before and they seemed fine to me and they have a very informative website.

synclinorium · Apr 3, 2011

wayright said:
Your Amarillos look like they are doing wonderful!
And those are some monster Datil starts! Where'd you get those from?
Great work!

Kevin

They were from an ebay seller... brutus611, I think. To his credit, the plants arrived in excellent condition, save a couple leaves that fell off in transit. Time will tell if they are true Datils.

mmcdermott1 said:
Very nice plants sir. The curled leaves could mean root bound. The bumps are probably in need of calcium. Very good start. By the way, I have bought Reimer seeds before and they seemed fine to me and they have a very informative website.

Well, since I started them in peat pellets, it wouldn't surprise me at all if they were a bit nutrient deprived. I only transplanted them a couple days ago.

I agree about Reimer seeds. Most of the complaints seemed to be about poor germination rates, but I had no problems whatsoever. Almost all of their seeds sprouted within a few days using a heat mat.

synclinorium · Apr 3, 2011

Picked up a bunch of 5-gallon buckets at Walmart today; apparently the bakery has an excess of them. They said it was policy to charge a dollar for each bucket, but they let me walk out with seven for free. Sure, they have a nauseatingly strong frosting smell to them, but free is free, right?

JoeyK · Apr 3, 2011

Hey looking good, How are you finding LED's for growing?

synclinorium · Apr 3, 2011

JoeyK said:
Hey looking good, How are you finding LED's for growing?

The plants are looking healthy. They might be growing a bit slower than I'd expect, but then again the node spacing is very small so it's not like they're stretching for light. I'm using 14 watt panels, the weakest they offer. I suspect the higher powered models (45 watt/90 watt) would perform even better, but the price tag is a bit much for me.

I did have a minor problem with one of the panels early into using it, but the company honored the warranty and had it repaired and back to me within a week. Unfortunately, the long term energy savings on the panels are offset by the fact that they have a tendency to spontaneously fail. I'll probably go back to using CFLs if I can't get a few years out of these.

JoeyK · Apr 3, 2011

Hmm interesting feedback, I have been pondering a purchase for a few months now.

synclinorium · Apr 8, 2011

Had a productive day in spite of my housemate accidentally breaking my coffee pot this morning. She mowed the lawn in pentinence, I went ahead and prepared most of the vegetable beds for planting. The only one that has anything in it at the moment is the tomato bed, where I'll be trying a Florida-weave type setup:

I'll be sticking my extra peppers wherever there's room. Most will go into buckets when they're hardened off and a little bigger, so for now they're hanging out in my makeshift miniature hoop house:

I went ahead and stuck the Datils into their final home using one of the potting mixes suggested in this forum. It's surprisingly lightweight even when saturated, which I suppose is a good thing.

Siliman · Apr 8, 2011

Good job, dood! Your peppers should have an extra sweet icing flavor.... :cool:

I did a weave of Maters similar to that once, just to rotate locations mostly. It worked out really well, but for me it was blind luck like most of my growing habits. I think it maximized the sun angle for me that time. I hope yours don't get sucker-punched by a cold snap. Here in Idaho, the cold weather has been relentless even though I'm supposedly zone 6A/B.

I just constructed my first raised beds and plan to put a mini-hoop set up like that on at least one of them. Nice.

So what potting mix did you select? Did you mix your own or get a commercial product? Plants look great in there!

synclinorium · Apr 8, 2011

Haha, yeah. When I first picked up the buckets the icing smell was so strong it was almost nauseating, even after being rinsed.

I figure an x-shaped Florida weave is my best chance of the tomatoes withstanding the high winds that plow through the area, particularly come fall. It's my first time doing anything like this, so I have no idea how it will turn out. If memory serves, my indeterminates always grew to be 6-10 feet tall, so, I doubt this will support their weight towards the end of the season.

We'll get at least one freak cold spell, I'm sure. I'm 6a too, and our last frost date here is technically the 15th. Right now the forecast is looking good until then (60s-80s, with a low of 50). If anything, I'll have to watch out for hail. If necessary I still have material left over from making the hoop-house.

The potting mix is just a basic peat moss/vermiculite/compost mix (a combination of mushroom compost and composted manure), though I think I added some organic potting mix because I had some left. Definitely more economical than buying bags of premixed stuff (which are mostly peat moss anyway, from what I can tell). I might need to add something to raise the pH... didn't think about that. Guess I'll just need to watch for nutrient deficiencies. I gave it a good dousing of diluted fish and seaweed fertilizer before planting, so it should be good for a little while.

synclinorium · Apr 10, 2011

I just spent most of the weekend clearing about 120 feet of space for the rest of the garden. My landlord didn't want me tearing up the lawn, so this was the compromise. I've planted all of the peppers that were big enough to go into buckets, most of the rest (Rocoto, Aji Cristal, Tabasco, Thai, etc.) are still too small. I'll post pictures later.

synclinorium · Apr 11, 2011

Speaking of cold spells...

So, temperatures are dropping again this week. I'm not too concerned, but they are forecasting a couple nights of low 40s... debating about whether or not I should cover my peppers. The tomatoes will be okay, but the peppers haven't been exposed to cold yet.

Anyway, this is about where I'm at now, garden in place:

I stuck a couple Jalapenos and Bells in the fenced area, as my experience has been that wildlife has no problem with the sweeter peppers.

Rest of my potted peppers, at least for now. I need to locate some more buckets, or at least one for my last Aji Amarillo, as they are getting slightly rootbound. Hopefully they'll take off now that they have room:

I think the one in the foreground is a Cayenne, it's kind of leggy and I don't know how it'll do in the long term, but I stuck it in a spare pot for now. In the back are the Datils, happily chugging along and enjoying the rain:

wayright · Apr 11, 2011

Those Datils have really taken off!
Rainwater is always the best medicine!
Looking great man!

Kevin

mmcdermott1 · Apr 11, 2011

Wife and I use florida weave for tomatoes, works extremely well. Where did you get your LED lights?