Pulpiteer 2013 Grow Log

Sure does sound like great fun...Edema is a fact of life during the indoor season, and even when you do everything right some will end up with it. All you can hope to do is minimize it. I had two big tower fans going and temps were very warm in my grow box and a couple still got a touch of edema. Its nothing to sweat too much, the plant'll be fine once its outside in the big bad world. You've really pulled those plants along quickly! You started much later than a bunch of us, but your timing proved to be about perfect!

Man, I was thinking the same thing Shane, those plants have come along really quickly. How much longer till you can get them outside Andy? The garden plots are looking like theyre begging for some plants to grow.

Looks like your garden is eagerly awaiting some nice weather. Plants are ready , you have been ready. But mother nature just keeps taking her sweet time. Hope you get a few pics of the pepper lottery . I still remeber last years pics . Look'd like some good action

Now I wish I lived closer to you. We would have tiled that basement and never had to worry about that nasty carpet again

Pulpiteer said:

I'll have to remember that Karl - sounds like a good experiment for our kids. I never did that growing up. You are in prime maple syrup country, I would think. You've gotta have some maples around you. Or is it all pine and paper birch up there? If not, make some next year. It's amazing.

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Oh yeah, we got a TON of maples here in the UP! Lots of maple syrup and candy is made up this way, though I don't have one in my yard. We also have a lot of pine/spruce/tamarack/cedar/birch/elder/alder/hawthorn/apple/sugarplum/dogwood/willow, anyway, haha!

Your garden is shaping up nicely, I'll bet the excitement is growing down there!

Andy you plants are growing up fast. I thought you were starting late too. Guess not. I had a bit of edema on my plants this year myself. It didn't seem to slow things down any so I didn't worry about it. Your plants look great otherwise. Your annual pepperdraft/party is awesome. I wish i could stir up enough interest in superhots to host one here. All of my friends and family are scared of chili peppers. Well, not all, but most. Anyway, have a great plantout and pepperdraft!

Just catching up here, can't wait to see how the draft turns out. Liking the tee shirt!

I'm sure you're way past ready to stick some plants in the dirt.

Wow man, I feel like it has been like years since I have been on here! So many updates! Congrats on the addition, it looks like your plans are well on their way to superstardom, and ill send good vibes for great weather!

Keep it up, Happy Growing!!

Matt

stc3248 said:

Sure does sound like great fun...Edema is a fact of life during the indoor season, and even when you do everything right some will end up with it. All you can hope to do is minimize it. I had two big tower fans going and temps were very warm in my grow box and a couple still got a touch of edema. Its nothing to sweat too much, the plant'll be fine once its outside in the big bad world. You've really pulled those plants along quickly! You started much later than a bunch of us, but your timing proved to be about perfect!

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We'll see if the timing is perfect. I think we may be done with frost for the season, but I'm not 100% sure. It's earlier than normal, after a prolonged winter. So I'm hardening things up, but I can take my time with that. Anyway, yeah, once they are in the ground and adjusted, they'll get running. They won't be as root bound as I was last year.

RocketMan said:

Man, I was thinking the same thing Shane, those plants have come along really quickly. How much longer till you can get them outside Andy? The garden plots are looking like theyre begging for some plants to grow.

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Thanks Bill - our safe plant out date is towards the end of May. Most old timers here go by Memorial Day weekend, but usually I push that by a week.

romy6 said:

Looks like your garden is eagerly awaiting some nice weather. Plants are ready , you have been ready. But mother nature just keeps taking her sweet time. Hope you get a few pics of the pepper lottery . I still remeber last years pics . Look'd like some good action

Now I wish I lived closer to you. We would have tiled that basement and never had to worry about that nasty carpet again

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The nice weather really came on this past week, and this week looks to be good too. I would've appreciated your help with the basement for sure. What a mess. Still have rolled up carpet down there waiting to get into a dumpster. I think we'll throw a remnant on there or something that we can dry out easier next time.

Hendrix1326 said:

Oh yeah, we got a TON of maples here in the UP! Lots of maple syrup and candy is made up this way, though I don't have one in my yard. We also have a lot of pine/spruce/tamarack/cedar/birch/elder/alder/hawthorn/apple/sugarplum/dogwood/willow, anyway, haha!

Your garden is shaping up nicely, I'll bet the excitement is growing down there!

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Well there you go - you'll have to take on Maple syrup as a project next year. It's not too hard and the payoff is awesome!

Dshlogg said:

Andy you plants are growing up fast. I thought you were starting late too. Guess not. I had a bit of edema on my plants this year myself. It didn't seem to slow things down any so I didn't worry about it. Your plants look great otherwise. Your annual pepperdraft/party is awesome. I wish i could stir up enough interest in superhots to host one here. All of my friends and family are scared of chili peppers. Well, not all, but most. Anyway, have a great plantout and pepperdraft!

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Thanks Dan! We had a great time with the pepper draft. I'll post pics below. The interest is building. At first people were hesitant, but now they are interested.

Devv said:

Just catching up here, can't wait to see how the draft turns out. Liking the tee shirt!

I'm sure you're way past ready to stick some plants in the dirt.

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It was awesome - thanks!

MGOLD86 said:

Wow man, I feel like it has been like years since I have been on here! So many updates! Congrats on the addition, it looks like your plans are well on their way to superstardom, and ill send good vibes for great weather!

Keep it up, Happy Growing!!

Matt

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Hey great to hear from you Matt! I hope things are going well for you. Thanks for the good vibes - I think it's working so far. The past week was beautiful, and I got a lot of work in today as well.



Ok, update time. It's a little late in coming, but another really busy week or two with the pepper draft, a child on the way, a tree plant out in the park for a church project, flooded basement, and meetings. Plus, with the nice weather I've been spending a bit of time outside planting things and prepping the ground. So, here we go:


First off, the 2nd Annual Pastor's Pepper Draft.
We had a new couple join us for festivities this year as word spread and excitement built. As was tradition, my son drew ping pong balls with the participants' names on them to determine draft order. In order to balance it out further, the picks went 1,2,3,4,4,3,2,1 - if that makes sense. This added a twist of two people picking twice in a row. Trades and trash talking was allowed. Here are the rules being explained:



Once the strategy kicked in, things got serious. People came prepared with their own draft boards and rankings, as well as a wish list of what particular peppers they wanted. They had all studied up on a document I gave them describing the varieties that were up for grabs, as well as a youtube playlist I created to show some of the peppers being sampled. I'll also say that being their 2nd year made them much more savvy. It was a challenge for them because wouldn't you know, I seemed to have just enough of their favorites so that they had to fight over them. My mistake... :

Strategy and studying





Of course, we had way too much food and plenty of heat.



For those of you who are curious, the first overall pick was a Carolina Reaper. There was 1 trade, and the deliberation and negotiation in this trade took quite awhile. I never know what will end up being a surprise popular pick, but a chocolate cherry sweet pepper was traded for an aji lemon. Both parties were cautiously optimistic, being that no one really trusts each other at the Pastor's Pepper Draft.

And a final shot of the tshirt. Plus my sunburn from the tree project earlier in the day. I wore a bandana on my head, if you couldn't tell.



So, Judy was kind enough to send me some pepper seeds to try out - and if you are not familiar with pepperlover.com, you should be. So even though it is late, I'm trying a few new varieties. White Bhut, Golden Rocoto, Orange Rocoto, Tabago Scotch Bonnet Yellow, Goats Weed, Jimmy Nardello, and retrying the Giant Mexican Rocoto. Pics of them soaking:



I could not get any Giant Mexican Rocoto seeds to germinate last time, so I am experimenting. One batch with a cold soak in chamomile tea first, one regular in chamomile tea, one scarified in tea, one in a peroxide solution, one in a vinegar solution, one soaked in tea and 'borg' sowed (at least 10 seeds together). We will see how it goes.

The weather here has been awesome. So today I put my pepper on the back porch to begin hardening off. Since they are out of the direct sunlight, I am just leaving them out there to adjust. Here they are:


The Nanking Cherry bush I planted last year, bloomed this year. It's a pretty little flowering shrub right now. Hopefully I'll get some little cherries too!



I've been planting a lot of stuff - working my 1/4 acre city lot hard. This will give you an idea. Last fall I planted the shrub and autumn olive seen here. In the past week or so I planted two pear trees (3 kinds of Asian Pears grafted on one dwarf pear tree), a few currants (2 pictured) 2 serviceberries (1 pictured), beans, peas, asparagus crowns, strawberries, a 'spicy oregano', horseradish, and yarrow. There is more to go, but here is a picture of one area.



I'm trying to get some things that will grow in the shade of that Maple. With the pear trees I'll do guilds - companion planting. I already sowed some clover and bush beans at the base of the plants, as well as planting yarrow by one of them. I'll add some more things as I go to attract good guy bugs and add nitrogen and mine other nutrients to give back to the trees.

Finally, right next door to us is this Magnolia tree.



Alright, it's bed time. Thanks for stopping by!

Woohoo!! Peppers on the porch

Awesome stuff about your pepper draft!

Pulpiteer said:

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Looks like the perfect launching pad for some hot capsules this season.

Your plants are gonna love it.

Awesome update, love the pictures and the yard looks great mon!!!

I must agree with the others Andy. Just can't wait till you can only see the top half of your house . Shouldn't be long

Whew, that Pepper Draft looks like it was a blast Andy. Man, looking at your plants sitting on the back porch I'd never know you got a late start. They look great and ready to get into the dirt

Have a great weekend

Glad your Pepper Draft was a success. Who knows maybe they will start growing their own soon.

Plants look happy and ready to see the dirt.

Keep up the good work.

DesertChris said:

Woohoo!! Peppers on the porch

Awesome stuff about your pepper draft!

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Thanks! The draft was great. I've actually moved the peppers into my small greenhouse (although this weekend the temps are dipping low, so they'll be inside). Plant out will be soon!

Silver_Surfer said:

Looks like the perfect launching pad for some hot capsules this season.

Your plants are gonna love it.

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I hope so! I've been working on that soil a few years now, and I anticipate this year should go well. We'll see.

WalkGood said:

Awesome update, love the pictures and the yard looks great mon!!!

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Thanks!

romy6 said:

I must agree with the others Andy. Just can't wait till you can only see the top half of your house . Shouldn't be long

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Yep, won't be too long and that will hopefully be a pepper jungle.

RocketMan said:

Whew, that Pepper Draft looks like it was a blast Andy. Man, looking at your plants sitting on the back porch I'd never know you got a late start. They look great and ready to get into the dirt

Have a great weekend

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Thanks! The draft was a lot of fun. Spreading the hobby.

Devv said:

Glad your Pepper Draft was a success. Who knows maybe they will start growing their own soon.

Plants look happy and ready to see the dirt.

Keep up the good work.

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The plants responded well to their time outside thus far. I'm ready for them to see the dirt.
I've got one guy for sure that was checking out my grow set up as far as seed starting. I have to admit though, it's fun to grow those extras and have folks over for a party.

I've got one guy for sure that was checking out my grow set up as far as seed starting. I have to admit though, it's fun to grow those extras and have folks over for a party.

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I didn't have a party but shared some extra plants with 5 friends. They report back all the time on the progress. I love it.

I've been bringing in veggies for years to share with fellow employees, it's surprising to see how many have now started their own grow, and they are now bringing in extras to work. Man they disappear fast!

Have a great weekend!

I typed up a response here yesterday...and evidently forgot to hit the post button??? Anyway, great job on the draft! I hope to use your example with my Unit next season. Such a great idea! Of course it may get a little more unruly with a bunch military hooligans! Can't wait to see the house hiding behind the plants again like Jamie said!

Has your plant out happened yet?  We need some recent pics!
 
Got mine in last weekend, and I am taking most of the leftovers to church Sunday.  Already posted on the church's Facebook page, so that people can put dibs on what they want.  The tomatoes were spoken for almost immediately, and the sweet peppers, but I think some people are afraid of the heat.  I don't know why though ...   

Yeah...what Bonnie said!

Alright - it's been a very long time.  I apologize, but it has been very busy here at the Pulpiteer homestead.
 
Firstly, I got things in the greenhouse around May 8 for a few weeks of hardening off.  We have had some pesky late frosts up here, much later than the last few years, so it's been difficult.
 


Meanwhile, on May 20 we had our 4th child:
Here I am with him. I am already exhausted in this picture.





He is home and healthy, and so is mamma. It was an emergency c-section, however, which was a bit scary. So, my wife is still healing, I've been on paternity leave, but had a wedding to officiate (with rehearsal), and trying to keep the other three kiddos going and off their mother. The baby was on the verge of jaundice, so we had bilirubin tests and what not for a while as well. Busy. But like I said, we are all doing well and my wife is healing up. She's a superhero. I'm very blessed.

This past week (I cannot remember the day, they all blend together) I spent a couple of days planting out the peppers with every spare moment I could find:







I used the flags to mark off my grid, which was a quicker, but less accurate way to do it. They all pretty much grow together if it goes well anyway. The flags were found at our local surplus store for a dime apiece. I just used a little hand rake and shovel for the holes - pulled back the wood mulch, dug a little hole, filled the hole with some composted, dark and wonderful leaf mulch from the city, then planted them. They were hardened off better this year, I can tell already.

Here's a shot of the Scotch Bonnet rows from today (a few days in ground already):



And a wider shot of it all in the ground:



Oh - when I was pulling back some mulch I'd find this sort of thing - pepper sprouts from some of last year's peppers that didn't get harvested.



Alright, I've got a group of shots from my 'non's' that shows some of the other planting I've done, but I think I'll need a bump for that.