TXCG's 2013 grow log - Big harvest (9/7)

WalkGood · May 30, 2013

Looking great!

grantmichaels · May 30, 2013

I think I might have been enlightened about Pro-Mix from your glog a few months ago, and I'd like to take a moment to say thanks ...

Everything is looking very nice ...

TXCG · Jun 4, 2013

First green bean harvest. Not all my plants are producing beans yet but most are budding/flowering. Looks like the purple beans should be setting soon:

Little update on my grow bag vs 5 gallon Fatalii comparison:

April 10:

June 4th:

Size is pretty comparable so far & I don't think I'll really start to see a difference until they get closer to being root bound. The one in the 5gallon buckets was one of the 4 plants I had to quarantine for aphids awhile back but has since recovered. You can see the damage from the aphids & me squishing them on some of the leaves.

Got my first set Moruga Scorpion of the year. This plant has noticeably larger flowers than any of my other plants, probably a good 25% bigger than the rest. This pic is from 2 days ago:

This morning I noticed that giant flower had set into a tiny little pod

Got my first open Chiletepin blossom this morning too. Should be millions more soon to follow, they're finally starting to really take off:

Both of my animals seem to be interested in my Red Fatalii. The first fruit is already getting pretty big, I hope neither of them are dumb enough to take a bite lol

If you look close you can see the first fruit is getting pretty large.

Bella shows no regard for warning signs.

millworkman · Jun 4, 2013

Looking nice Tx.

TXCG · Jun 5, 2013

So far so good at the community garden plot. The peppers are definitely growing slower in my raised bed than in my container garden but they're looking happy enough. I found out we have at least 18 months before we're going to have to move our garden so looks like I'll get a chance to try & overwinter these after all.

Oski · Jun 5, 2013

everything is looking very good. I too just got my first chiltepin flower today

TXCG · Jun 6, 2013

Looks like the cavalry has arrived:

First red Fatalii is starting to look pretty mean

TXCG · Jun 8, 2013

The red fatalii in my raised bed is growing almost perfectly symmetrical so far.

It looks just as happy as can be.

Of all my plants my other red Fatalii is the only one that split into 3 instead of 2 when the main stalk branched out. A few years back I had a plant pop with 3 seed leaves, I wonder if this is what it would have grown like if it had made it.

That first big pod just keeps getting uglier. Can't wait to eat this one. How do the red Fataliis compare flavor-wise to the yellow ones?

My rattlesnake pole beans started setting fruit a few days ago, the purple stripes look pretty neat.

TXCG · Jun 13, 2013

Lemon drops are very prolific producers. This one has probably 3x the pods of all my other plants combined.

My trinidad seasoning peppers are starting to pod up pretty heavily too.

Red fatalii continues to pump out gnarly looking pods. The one in my raised bed in the community garden is just now starting to set flower buds. The plants in my container garden are just monsters compared to the ones in the raised bed.

First yellow fatalii pod is getting pretty big.

First tomatoes almost ripe:

Community garden is doing great just not growing as fast as my container garden. I've just started pinching flower buds on the volunteer basil so it's starting to get bushy. Last year I was growing lemon & lime basil & this seems to be some hybrid of the two. Sprite basil?

I'm going to pick up some mulch at home depot after work today & put a few inches down since it's starting to get good and hot. I'm thinking wood chips unless anyone has a better suggestion.

TXCG · Jun 14, 2013

Put down some mulch in the community garden. Ended up buying some shredded cedar since it was cheap & locally sourced. Sounds like it won't break down as fast as some others since it's a type of redwood but I'm planning on overwintering these plants in place & not tilling in the mulch anyway. I had a bunch left over so I went ahead & topped off all my 5 gallon containers at home with mulch too. Supposedly fresh cedar mulch is mildly insect repelling at first so perhaps it will scare off a bug or two, not counting on it though. That's what the safer's soap is for :flamethrower:

TXCG · Jun 18, 2013

First Trinidad Scorpion fruit finally set

With about a trillion more to follow. The top of a few plants look pretty crappy due to aphid problems but I've pretty much got them whipped with safer soap & all the newest growth is coming out normal. Don't think the damaged leaves are going to recover at all though. I've never seen so many damn flower buds

One of my Trinidad Seasoning peppers was particularly hard hit by the aphids so I trimmed off a lot of the severely damaged parts. It's amazing how quickly a well-established plant will send out new growth after being trimmed.

First Trinidad Perfume pods on the plant I "gave" a friend. I say gave, it's more like I ran out of pots & forced him to take this one & a chiletepin

Lemon drops are definitely one of the most prolific producers I've ever grown. Seems like every single flower they make sets into a fruit, there has to be close to 100 pods on this plant already.

A bunch of large pods down below canopy level:

Obligatory cat picture

Oski · Jun 18, 2013

months in the making. Makes it all worth it doesn't it

TXCG · Jun 19, 2013

Man just overnight that first scorpion has started to take shape. It's got that whole fat shoulder skinny tail thing going on now.

vs Yesterday:

Looks like I finally got a Moruga to actually set too. All the previous ones that have appeared to set have aborted before they got to this size.

windchicken · Jun 19, 2013

Good looking grow! Very nice job...congratulations!

The THP skate crew wants to know....When is your friend going to drain his pool? I see some sweet curves in there...

TXCG · Jun 20, 2013

Upon closer inspection of that Moruga pod I posted...

Little flower biting aphid bastard! I sprayed with some more safer soap last night so he's probably already in hell with the rest of his friends.

In just one day that little Moruga has started to really take shape too. So excited to finally have fruit on both my scorpions!

TXCG · Jun 23, 2013

I decided to go buy some giant smart pots & pot up a few plants. Came back from the hydro store with two 15 gallon pots, one 20 gallon pot, a bale of promix bx & a bag of humus compost. When I originally planted everything I just went with straight promix and decided not to add additional perlite but since I'm adding compost I'm going to add some this time.

Sweet Datill and Trinidad Seasoning both covered in pods:

Aji Lemon Drop in its new 15 gallon pot next to the yellow Fatalii that is currently in a 7 gallon pot.

Trinidad Seasoning, Ai Lemon Drop & Chiletepin

Yellow Fatalii in its giant new 20 gallon pot

Apparently big ass pots attract big ass bugs:

That thing's stinger ain't got crap on this scorpion's

Moruga pod is getting fat and nasty

stc3248 · Jun 23, 2013

Seems like I am always late to the damn party!!! Haha...great start to a great season. Very colorful descriptions you use..."Managed to chew this leaf off before I smashed his skull" "In a box until he gets his shit together" love it! Pure TX attitude! Keep up the great grow!

Pepper-Guru · Jun 23, 2013

TXCG said:
First Trinidad Scorpion fruit finally setThe top of a few plants look pretty crappy due to aphid problems but I've pretty much got them whipped with safer soap & all the newest growth is coming out normal. Don't think the damaged leaves are going to recover at all though. I've never seen so many damn flower buds

Thats mites my man. Classic Mite symptoms. Everything is looking awesome though! I remember you were the first person I started talking to when I joined this forum. Good times

TXCG · Jun 23, 2013

stc3248 said:
Seems like I am always late to the damn party!!! Haha...great start to a great season. Very colorful descriptions you use..."Managed to chew this leaf off before I smashed his skull" "In a box until he gets his shit together" love it! Pure TX attitude! Keep up the great grow!

Thanks stc!

Pepper-Guru said:
Thats mites my man. Classic Mite symptoms. Everything is looking awesome though! I remember you were the first person I started talking to when I joined this forum. Good times

I thought so too so I took some leaves to work and checked for mites under a pretty powerful microscope but didn't see anything, just aphids:

Can aphids cause this kind of damage? I ended up alternately spraying spinosad & safer soap & it seems to have gotten the aphids under control. If there were mites that might have got them too.

And I remember when you joined too, it's been fun watching you grow monsters and your grow log was the inspiration for me buying the giant pots. I want my own fatalii tree lol.

I brought my IR thermometer home from work to do a little backyard science & see how well this mulch was keeping the soil cool in these pots.Lots of pics so I might need a bump in a minute.

Conditions: 2pm, bright sunlight, 96F

1) Smart Pots vs Silver 5 Gallon buckets external temperature
Results:
Smart Pot: 113.5F (+17.5F over ambient)
5 gallon: 130.6F (+34.6F over ambient)
Difference: Smart pot 17.1F cooler than 5 gallon bucket.

2) Top of mulch vs top of soil under mulch (20 gallon pot 2-3" mulch)
Results:
Top of mulch: 147.2F (+51F over ambient)
Top of soil under mulch: 98.6F (+2.6F over ambient)
Cooling: 49F cooler than top of mulch

3) Top of mulch vs top of soil in pot with no mulch
Results:
Mulch (max temp I could find in all pots): 157.8F (+61.8F over ambient)
Soil: 138.2F (+42.2F over ambient)

4) Temperature at top of mulch under my lemon drop. The canopy shades the whole pot.

Pepper-Guru · Jun 23, 2013

Very interesting! I was just discussing root zone temps with OZZZ today.