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Pulpiteer's grow log 2012

I thought I'd do a grow log this year, since I've enjoyed reading the ones that other folks do. I'm up in Michigan and last year was able to get the plants in the garden in mid-May, but that isn't a sure thing. I'm starting a bit early, but I want the plants to be a good size when I do get them in, so that I don't have to wait until later in the Fall to harvest. If we would've had an early frost last year, I would've been in trouble. The grow log puts a bit of pressure on. If this is a tremendous failure, then it'll be public. I've been gardening for awhile, and had great luck with my peppers last year, but I'm taking a giant step up this year, so we'll see.

Here is my grow list:
1. Douglah x4 Ajijoe
2. Scotch Bonnet (Y) x4 Pepperjoe.com
3. Cherry Bomb x4 Farmers market
4. Bhut Jolokia ® x4 Dshlogg
5. Trinidad Scorpion (Red)x6 Ajijoe
6. Trinidad Scropion (Peach) x6 Ajijoe
7. Chocolate Congo Habanero x6 Ajijoe
8. Caribbean Red Habanero x6 Ajijoe
9. Aji Pineapple x4 Ajijoe
10. Peach Bhut Jolokia x6 Ajijoe
11. Naga Morich x4 Dshlogg
12. Scotch Bonnet (Y)x8 Refining Fire
13. Jamaican Red Mushroom x8 Refining Fire
14. Jamaican Chocolate Habanero x8 Refining Fire
15. Thai Dragon x4 Dshlogg
16. 7 Pot (Yellow) x4 Masschilehead
17. Avery Island Tobasco x4 Masschilehead
18. Aji Limon x4 Dshlogg
19. Devil's Tongue x4 Dshlogg
20. Fatali x6 Totally Tomato
21. Red Rocoto x6 Totally Tomato
22. Scotch Bonnet (Red)x4 Hotstuff
23. Jalapeno x4 Dshlogg
24. Bell (various) x20 (I'll buy the plants in the spring)

This website has been tremendously helpful. After some contact with MJDiamond83, I ordered some CFL bulbs. They are 100 watt bulbs that put out the equivalent of 400 watts of light, 6500 on the light temperature, I believe. I get a shelving unit on sale last year from Lowes, some pvc this year from Menards and ordered some mylar emergency blankets off of Amazon (10 for $8) and put up a cheap frame that gives me two levels, with the CFL on top and some florescent strip lights on the bottom. With the lights on, it gets to about 84, and with them off its in the mid 70's. I hope that's enough to get the seeds to pop.

Here's a shot where you can see the three lights and the mylar around the three sides. For the front cover I just have a mylar sheet that drapes down and it's all basically enclosed.
growroom1.jpg


Here's a shot of everything planted. For the most part I have at least two seeds in each cell, sometimes a few more than that. I figure I can cut down if I have too many that germinate.
growroom2.jpg
 
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Alright, a quick update with some pictures...
I continue the work of putting plants into the greenhouse, even though it continues to get chilly outside at night. But, I need to get them out, and here is a reason why. This is a tobasco, grown from a seed sent by masschilehead. I've never grown these or seen them, not sure if they usually get this tall. Here is where it would behoove me to know the species and the traits of the species. Oh well, you'll have to settle for me using the word "behoove" and be happy with that. Oh, and that fancy pot is an old mayonnaise container. Free, you just have to eat all your mayo in one sitting.

tobasco.jpg


Here is a shot from just outside the greenhouse. Again, it's a 4' by 7' purchased off ebay for just over $100. Great investment. I think I have like 75 peppers in there now.

greenhouse.jpg


Next up - I begin my gushing over "Happy Frog potting soil." Awesome stuff so far. This plant (I think it's a bishops crown, pepperlover, I think) was moved from a 2x2 to a 3x3 just about 2 weeks prior to this shot. That's how much and how quickly the roots grew out. Again, soil is so critical.

roots.jpg


Here is exhibit "b". Last night in moving things around, I took a shot of these roots coming out the bottom of the cup from a chocolate cherry sweet pepper (aji joe). Those grew in quick as well. Really cool.

rootcup.jpg


And once again, my favorite douglah. Here are the roots from the 6 inch pot. That plant has gotten huge, so I decided to move it up to the gallon pot for the last few weeks prior to going into the ground. Here are the roots:

dougroots.jpg


and here it is in its new home.

dougpot.jpg



In other news... last night I grilled some burgers, a few with some ghost peppers I had frozen from Dshlogg last fall. They turned out amazing. I'm not always a fan of the ghost pepper taste, but with red meat, wow, it turns out wonderfully. I also grilled a few fresh orange manzano halves topped with bleu and feta cheese and oregano I just dehydrated earlier in the week. Manzanos are pretty good peppers. I'm a fan now.

And Friday is the big pepper plant draft at the pulpiteer's pad - I've got three folks from church that are either beginning their gardens or expanding their garden and including my leftover pepper plants. I've got about 80 to give away. And I figured the best way to do it is via draft. We'll be drawing for draft order, 2 minutes on the clock maximum per pick, trades will be allowed, and I hope some interviews and name calling if all goes well. And food. Should be good times, and hopefully good harvests this summer.

Thanks for reading,

Andy
 
Awesome Andy. I love the draft idea! that should make it alot of fun! Your roots do look very impressive! If it was available here i would have been sold on it :) The pic of your Douglah in its new home is really funny! That thing is so big his new home looks small!
 
Wow look at the "raining" flowers on that douglah........ripe pods before the 4th of July

Andy I agree with you on the Happy Frog......I've gone through a Few bags this season

With any medium, always "lighty" pack down into the pots. Roots will roam pretty fast if theres air and open space.

Your greenhouse is exploding with growth....should be just a matter of time (weather permitting) to plant in the ground.

"Me Can't Wait!"

Greg
 
I am using Happy Frog in my 1 and 2 gallon pots. Seems to be good. I noticed it is really chunky. I don't think I would start seeds in it but good for older plants. Like the draft idea Andy. I isually just bring them to work and give them away. Nobody likes it too hot at work so some of the plants I label incorrectly. "Yes, when they turn red cut them up and put them in a salad." Enjoy yourself tonight and have a good weekend.
 
Looking great Andy! That Douglah is pretty sick, gonna be a beast!

I love the draft idea, too bad all my friends are too scared of the :onfire:
 
Beehunter said:
Awesome Andy. I love the draft idea! that should make it alot of fun! Your roots do look very impressive! If it was available here i would have been sold on it :) The pic of your Douglah in its new home is really funny! That thing is so big his new home looks small!
Click to expand...

Thanks Britt, the draft was a ton of fun, I'll post on it in a bit. That Douglah has been a pleasant surprise - it just took off. I just noticed it has its first small pods forming, I'll post pics later. Thanks for stopping by!

PIC 1 said:
Wow look at the "raining" flowers on that douglah........ripe pods before the 4th of July

Andy I agree with you on the Happy Frog......I've gone through a Few bags this season

With any medium, always "lighty" pack down into the pots. Roots will roam pretty fast if theres air and open space.

Your greenhouse is exploding with growth....should be just a matter of time (weather permitting) to plant in the ground.

"Me Can't Wait!"

Greg
Click to expand...

I know, in the ground is just around the corner. I don't know about Chicago, but we've had a lot of chilly weather this past week or so. It makes it feel even more distant, but mid-May is just two weeks away. I can't wait either! Greg - have you found any way to duplicate any of the micro biotic elements of the Happy Frog? Like, is it possible to do home grown stuff along those lines? Good to hear from you!


Pr0digal_son said:
I am using Happy Frog in my 1 and 2 gallon pots. Seems to be good. I noticed it is really chunky. I don't think I would start seeds in it but good for older plants. Like the draft idea Andy. I isually just bring them to work and give them away. Nobody likes it too hot at work so some of the plants I label incorrectly. "Yes, when they turn red cut them up and put them in a salad." Enjoy yourself tonight and have a good weekend.
Click to expand...

I think you're right about seed starting in something else and moving to Happy Frog. Which is ok because I was really pleased with my home mix for seed starting. Nice, labeling the plants incorrectly... :lol: do you ever get any reports back on that? I was lucky in finding some guys who were game for trying it out. The real fun will be roping some guys into testing the superhots with me on a video. If I can work that out, I"ll post them. Thanks for reading!

romy6 said:
Time to get me some happy frog. Those root structures are amazing.

Great growing!!!!


Jamie
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Thanks!
The plants have seemed to love it thus far. I'm really amazed at how far good soil goes. I know that's a basic thing, but growing so many and being so involved it really brings that out.

MGOLD86 said:
Looking great Andy! That Douglah is pretty sick, gonna be a beast!

I love the draft idea, too bad all my friends are too scared of the :onfire:
Click to expand...

The draft went awesome. I'll post on it later. They were scared of the superhots, but yet curious, and in the end curiosity can be encouraged to lead us all into stupidity. So I led the way.
Thanks for stopping in!
 
So last Friday we had the pepper draft - three gentlemen who were willing to make the leap into extreme pepper gardening came to choose which of my extra plants they would grow this year. It was a blast! It was a gathering of guys, wives, children, food, and pepper plants. Their names were written on ping pong balls and drawn out for draft order. We had a camera video recording some of the action as well as some interviews and trash talking - hopefully I'll have a video to post later. All in all they sorted through over 80 plants. I'll be excited to see how they all grow out. Here are some pics:

Here I am in the foreground, and the three guys are busy studying their draft sheets and notes to figure out what they will choose.

draft1.jpg


Another shot of what they were picking from.

draft2.jpg


There was lots of food - including this fresh salsa made with orange manzanos. I also made a special ghost pepper chili that turned out pretty good, but made you pay for each bowl you ate.

salsa.jpg


Here is a shot I took today of a flower on my douglah.

dougflower.jpg


And here is one of my first pods - on the douglah. It's tiny, but it's here!

douglah.jpg


After looking around at some other plants, I found some peppers growing on my Jamaican Red Mushroom. Here's a good sized one.

redmush.jpg


Thanks for stopping by!
 
Love that green house shot....and thats some good stemage on that Douglah.2 thumbs up man-and the draft idea was winner!

...and you can't go wrong with the frog!
 
kiddc said:
a pepper draft party? What an excellent idea!
Click to expand...

It was a lot of fun, thanks. We should have fun growing this summer too, especially if I can get the guys to try some of the peppers they are growing.

MGOLD86 said:
"Extreme Pepper Growing"....I am TOTALLY stealing that! Best description ever!
Click to expand...

Thanks, you are welcome to it. It sounds so much better than "Obsessive, micro-managing pepper growing," to describe what I do. A lot more "hip" as the kids say.

gnslngr said:
Love that green house shot....and thats some good stemage on that Douglah.2 thumbs up man-and the draft idea was winner!

...and you can't go wrong with the frog!
Click to expand...

Thanks, that greenhouse has been a great addition. I checked on the Douglah again today and the pods are growing. I'll have fresh pods in the not too distant future. And yeah, still impressed with Happy Frog stuff. The plants love it.



Thanks for checking in guys!
 
Your greenhouse is super awesome, Andy! Good score for sure.
And your draft party sounds like it was a blast - how many plants
did they take? I'll bet the trash talking was too :rofl: !

Say, how did the double digging raised beds turn out? I must have
missed it along the way somewhere : ( Keep up the good work, my friend,
I always enjoy your stories! And the great plant pics!
 
Dude............the pepper draft...OMG that is F*&#ing awesome! What an ingenious idea. I am super jealous of you and your great thoughts...lol.

Great grow dude. I think that some of the rapid root growth that comes from the quality planting mixes is the fact that they have the micro/macro nutes and organisms as well as a supply of Phosphorus which promotes root growth.

I'm using some ProMix from Home Cheepo and it has given me explosive root growth as well. I am so root bound right now, it's not even funny. WE WANT PLANT OUT AND WE WANT IT NOW!
 
Long time without an update, Andy. I'll be glad to see some huge plants next time you post one! I've been pretty inactive on the boards, too, other than posting my newest video each week. That's pretty much it. Hope you and the kids are doing well, and it's almost time for plantout!!!
 
what the hell's goin' on Pulpiteer! TALK TO US MAN!! We need some updates brother, I want to know how that pepper draft is holding up.
 
Hey Andy, just stopped in to see what's goin'. Wha............?
 
Wow, I feel so loved :lol:
Yeah, it's been super busy and keeping on top of moving plants outside and everything...
Anyway, I just got back inside about an hour ago after spending the entire day outside getting the peppers into the ground. 148 of them. Almost done planting in the garden for this season, just a few things left. It turns out that if you want to put 148 peppers into the ground you need to dig 148 holes. I may feel this tomorrow. I'll try to update tomorrow - I do have pictures...
 
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