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How many Back up Sprouts?

cheezydemon

cheezydemon

Are you so good that you do not need back up nagas?

Every year I hate to kill the little guys, but sometimes something goes wrong and I am glad that I had extras.

I know Potowie has his system down to a science, how about everyone else?
 
My goal this year was to have 2 viable, healthy plants each of 104 varieties to transplant into 5 gallon containers. Some will have more but as long as the seeds germinate I will have at least two of each variety. I started 5 seeds of each variety (except the ones I want a bunch of plants of like tabasco...started 25 seeds hoping to get 12 plants).

I am now in the first transplant stage and am wanting to get 4 plants of each variety into 9 ounce cups. Next time I transplant will be to 6" pots which I pick the best 3. When it comes time to transplant into 5 gallon containers, I hope to have 2 viable specimens of each variety....

For my "super hots", like the T. Scorpion, D. Naga, N. Morich, Bhut Jolikia, & Bih Jolokia, and others "preordained" (read orange hab, chocolate hab, tabasco, orange thai), I will transplant as many seedlings as I can.

Don't know if this will work or not but that is what I am trying....
 
I usually don't grow extras because I just won't get rid of them and I end up with too many. I'm glad I started extra Nagas for the contest because the aphids did a lot of damage.
 
I always plant extra plants and those that don't get used I give away. Sometimes I do what I like to call Gorilla Gardening. I take the plants and sneak out laght at night, find a spot in someone else's garden and plant them. They I stick a little sign in the ground saying something like, "You have been struck by the Gorilla Gardeners. This is a [plant name here] and it's up to you to ensure it's survival. Give it love and water".
 
I wasnt taking any chances and started about 12 Nagas 10 bhut figuring maybe half would go now I have 12/10 sprouts :shocked: I am going to keep healthier ones and give some others away when larger.... with a stipulation that they dont throw away the peppers and at the least give me a few pods. I planted "extras" last year and wasnt sure if they would take off and kept all of them ...Im still eating Piquins... I had 6 plants. I get attached to them to and cant cut the apron strings
 
Good to know! I have decided to grow no more than 1 of each plant in order to try the most plants possible. Giving them away sounds like a winner.
 
I'm like Cheezy. I have room for only about 60 plants (in containers) so this year I'm growing about 55 varieties - if they all survive. I'll pick the 30 I like the best and bring them inside this winter. What I have seen is the Thai Dragon plant doesn't need any additional lighting and is doing quite well with 8 shoots, each with 4 or more leaves growing on it.

Mike
 
I usually plant four or five of each of the really hot ones. That's one for me, one for my sister, and one for another friend, plus a couple of backups. I plant more sweet peppers, because more people want them.

I've been giving serious thought to taking all my extras to the Farmer's Market this spring, and see if I can't make a little something back to support my habit.
 
Pam, this is a scary thought but we are thinking alike on this one...I had thought about the farmers market too....question is, how much would someone pay for a 6" pot with a 6-8" Hot Exotic Pepper in it?
 
AlabamaJack said:
Pam, this is a scary thought but we are thinking alike on this one...I had thought about the farmers market too....question is, how much would someone pay for a 6" pot with a 6-8" Hot Exotic Pepper in it?
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Well, they're paying around $3.50 for a good-sized tomato or pepper at one of the big box stores. At the market I'm going to, they only charge $5.00 to set up a table, so all I'd have to sell is 2 or 3 plants to break even on gas for the car and the booth. I was toying with $2.00 or so for the ones in the 15 oz cups, and a little more for anything larger. And, as I've mentioned before, it's a lot of fun to talk to the people browsing the market.
 
I've been thinking more about selling ripe peppers (and eggplants, cucumbers, tomatoes). Enough to cover all my costs.

Mike
 
I have not totalled up what I will have in the peppers once they go into 6" pots....but I bet it's over 1.00...the pot itself is 39 cents...I was thinking about 4-5 bucks a pop...but that is only for the "Exotic Superhots"...which is the way I will advertise them...
 
wordwiz said:
I've been thinking more about selling ripe peppers (and eggplants, cucumbers, tomatoes). Enough to cover all my costs.

Mike
Click to expand...

My sister and I do take ripe peppers to the market, but we sell more sweet peppers than anything else. The tomatoes and the egg plants get eaten before they can make it to the market.
 
I sell my pepper plants and other vegetables for $3 dollars each in 3/12" pots and they are 6-12 inches tall. I pay 6 cents for the pot. They cost me about a dollar to produce adding up all costs (electricity, soil, pots, water, seeds, taxes, other). I tried selling for more in larger pots but it didn't fly too well they just bought cheaper smaller pots. So I think around 3 dollars is about what people will pay for a peppers plant. But that will depend on your location and customer base. Mine are both small.
 
Sorry Cheezy...didn't mean to hijack your thread...

3 bucks is fair...I think that is close to what HD, Walmart, and Lowes sells them for...however, we still have the "Exotic Superhots" advertisements.......lol
 
i had this great plan to only do two plants of each variety and then only keep the healthiest one for each variety when i transplant. that all went to hell. i always sprout two extra seeds then i need, just in case, but something about those damn seeds have a hold on me and cry out 'plant me, plant meeee' so now i have 29 plants instead of 18...and i'm pretty sure i'm not gonna have the heart to kill off even one of each now, so i've already started looking for good homes for them. so far i've unloaded one.
i'm not gonna go all the way to a farmers market for 19 plants but you guys did give me the idea of selling them at my annual garage sale, i organize a big sale day for the whole street so the turnout is ussually huge, i'm sure to get a couple takers.
 
AlabamaJack said:
Sorry Cheezy...didn't mean to hijack your thread...

3 bucks is fair...I think that is close to what HD, Walmart, and Lowes sells them for...however, we still have the "Exotic Superhots" advertisements.......lol
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No problem my friend, the question was answered!

And another good one was brought up. Maybe an ad in the bargain mart (if you have that) it is a local for sale by owner of just about anything. A couple of bucks for the ad: WORLD'S HOTTEST PEPPER PLANTS!! $3 each!!!!!
 
GrumpyBear said:
but something about those damn seeds have a hold on me and cry out 'plant me, plant meeee'
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Exactly my problem. I plant many knowing that some will be puny and some will fail to germinate, but there is this part of me that looks at a pathetic little plant and takes it as a challenge.

This reminds me of a story... My brother "rescued" a russian thistle from his yard before it got plucked out as the common nuisance weed that it is. He repotted it, fertilized it, and babied that thing like it was a prize winning rose bush. Months later, he proudly displayed it on his front porch - a seven foot spiked monstrosity with a huge purple bloom on top. To this day (in his mind) it is his crowning gardening achievement.
 
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