Sawyer '15 - Killing frost 11/22 + pics

Pulpiteer · Jan 28, 2015

Glad to see the glog started up!

Terrible about that rat. After doing that much damage, too bad you couldn't watch him slowly die or something. I know I probably shouldn't think that, but I'd be so mad.

On the upside, some pretty good varieties did survive, and they are apparently pretty tough plants!
And a funny thought - that *small* overwinter list would be a healthy grow list for many normal people. Just sayin :lol:

Thanks again for sending the seeds! Looking forward to following your grow!

PaulG · Jan 28, 2015

This will be one for the ages when you finally
get your grow list finalized, John!

+1 Andy. The surviving rat-attack plants by themselves
would make a pretty good grow for a lot of people!

Good luck getting 500 in the ground and 200 in pots.
That will be a pretty awesome sight to behold!

meatfreak · Jan 28, 2015

Good luck with the 2015 grow, John. Looking forward to see your grow

tsurrie · Jan 28, 2015

nice and large list man ... and it's not too late... good luck with your grow!
:cheers:

tctenten · Jan 28, 2015

Wow. That is quite a variety you have. Good luck with your plans, they should keep you busy.

deadmongoose · Jan 28, 2015

Wow, I'm envious, I was talking about putting like 8 5Gal buckets on the side yard this year, it didn't make it past the conception stage before getting shut down by the boss. I suppose I'll just have to settle with my 10x30 in the back yard and keep checking your progress with childlike wonder.

Solem22 · Jan 28, 2015

Sorry to hear about the rodent problems John. Looks like you have got an impressive list going for this year. I am planning on growing out the next gen of the NWYB this year. I think I am gonna focus on the neon colored trait along with seeds from pods that smelled the most banana like to see if that can be more prominent. Good luck with your grow this year.

capsidadburn · Jan 28, 2015

Good luck this season John! I'll keep watch.

Mike

Sawyer · Jan 28, 2015

Thank, guys.

Pulpiteer said:
Glad to see the glog started up!

Terrible about that rat. After doing that much damage, too bad you couldn't watch him slowly die or something. I know I probably shouldn't think that, but I'd be so mad.

On the upside, some pretty good varieties did survive, and they are apparently pretty tough plants!
And a funny thought - that *small* overwinter list would be a healthy grow list for many normal people. Just sayin

Thanks again for sending the seeds! Looking forward to following your grow!

If it's what I think it was, it was a wood rat. They kind of look like a squirrel with a skinny tail and don't generally cause any problems until it turns cold. In any case, except for the peppers last year's garden was such a complete disaster due to animal pests, I was kind of numb to it all by the time the peppers got hit. Deer, rabbits, voles, squirrels, woodchucks, raccoons, opossums, all had a turn. Out of 4 plantings of 4 long rows each of pole beans, I had one plant that produced beans. Out of, I forget how many tomato plants, I didn't pick a single tomato. It just goes on and on. I'm working on getting things cleaned up so there'll be fewer places for critters to hide, as well as getting the fence all the way 'round and bamboo barrier afixed thereto. And if I have to, I'll get a depredation permit, or simply SSS. No more Mr. Nice Guy.

You're welcome for the seeds. They are all relatively new variations and so may not grow true at all. And I'm not at all certain the Mustard seeds are even mature enough to sprout. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

PaulG said:
This will be one for the ages when you finally
get your grow list finalized, John!

+1 Andy. The surviving rat-attack plants by themselves
would make a pretty good grow for a lot of people!

Good luck getting 500 in the ground and 200 in pots.
That will be a pretty awesome sight to behold!

You know it, Paul. I think it's doable. And the garden is in a lot better shape than it was last year, so there won't be so much work required to get it ready. Still need to fight back the bamboo encroaching in the NE corner. I had 150 in pots two years ago, so I think 200 is doable. I've already got the pots, growing media, and 7-9 month time-release fertilizer.

meatfreak said:
Good luck with the 2015 grow, John. Looking forward to see your grow

Thanks, Stefan. I'll let you know when the seeds arrive.

tsurrie said:
nice and large list man ... and it's not too late... good luck with your grow!

Thanks, Uros. The last two years, I started too early, considering the late frosts and snows we had. Even if we have an early spring, starting in early February should be good enough. And I do have those 68 OWs that can go in the ground as soon as it's warm enough. (If I can keep them alive that long.)

tctenten said:
Wow. That is quite a variety you have. Good luck with your plans, they should keep you busy.

Thanks, Terry. It's definitely going to be a busy growing season.

deadmongoose said:
Wow, I'm envious, I was talking about putting like 8 5Gal buckets on the side yard this year, it didn't make it past the conception stage before getting shut down by the boss. I suppose I'll just have to settle with my 10x30 in the back yard and keep checking your progress with childlike wonder.

Don't be, Justin. Point and laugh when my diligence lags behind my ambition. In any case, you can put a lot of peppers in a 10x30 area. I had 250 plants (mostly big super-hots) in a 750 sq. ft. space this past year, and while it was extremely crowded, the plants did well. (I did have to crawl on my hands and knees down some of the rows, though.) Maybe disguising the buckets to look like nice planters would help with the boss?

I saw you are experimenting with LEDs. I'll be very interested to see how that turns out. I've got some ideas and plans, myself, but we'll see how far that progresses.

Solem22 said:
Sorry to hear about the rodent problems John. Looks like you have got an impressive list going for this year. I am planning on growing out the next gen of the NWYB this year. I think I am gonna focus on the neon colored trait along with seeds from pods that smelled the most banana like to see if that can be more prominent. Good luck with your grow this year.

Thanks, Rom. It's always something, or so it seems. Good luck with those NWYB. I'll have to look back in the thread to refresh my memory on the neon color. And hey, you got some banana! In the end I had four plants producing and none of them had the banana fragrance. I need to get back over to that thread and wrap it up, or give it a kick for the new year.

capsidadburn said:
Good luck this season John! I'll keep watch.

Mike

Thanks, Mike. I've been meaning to get back to you about your PM. You've got some really interesting things going on.

I've updated the grow list to add 7P Caramel and Mustard, Orchid/Bishop's Crown, and Bull's Heart and remembered I have one Goat's Weed I'm trying to OW. The 7P Caramel and Mustard are both color variations that showed up on their own in 2013 and 2014, respectively. I figure I owe it to the pepper gods to try to stabilize the colors. Likewise with the 7P Peach and Arkansas Peach and Banana. The Orchid/Bishop's Crown are just because I've never grown them before. Bull's Heart, well, sometimes I like a pepper without any bite.

Devv · Jan 28, 2015

Wow!

An ambitious grow planned!

Sorry about the critter problems, a hi-power pellet gun works wonders

And a 8' fence!

Good luck this season John!

RocketMan · Jan 29, 2015

Man, that's a really great list. Can't wait to see it coming up and going into the dirt.

Sawyer · Jan 29, 2015

Devv said:
Wow!

An ambitious grow planned!

Sorry about the critter problems, a hi-power pellet gun works wonders And a 8' fence!

Good luck this season John!

Thanks, Scott. It is an ambitious plan, though I've dialed it back a little from what I planned (and didn't achieve) last year. My pellet gun in on the fritz and I've misplaced the manual for it. You'd think it wouldn't be that difficult to figure out how to re-oil the seal (assuming that's the problem), but no luck so far. Actually I only looked at it once. Need to look again. Anyway, I have shotguns, including a little folding-stock double-barrel .410. If I'm careful with aiming direction, it will safely take care of the smaller varmints, and I've already warned the closest neighbors not to freak out if they hear it. And yeah, a tall fence.

RocketMan said:
Man, that's a really great list. Can't wait to see it coming up and going into the dirt.

Thanks, Bill. I have a good feeling about this year.

Based on my own experience over the last couple of years and a conversation with Stefan, I've struck the Pinata Jalapeno from the list. I love the multi-colored pods, but the plants are just too weak for it to be a viable asset. I'll get the different colors I want by growing different varieties. I may grow a couple of Pinatas in pots, to see if I can find some trick to get them to be healthy.

Also, while cleaning up some in the garden, I found some dried Madballz pods that were mature and still hanging on the dead plant, so those are back on the seed list, and grow list. At the same time, I also found some Ciclon, Colima, and Tajin jalapeno pods. I was very careful to keep them separate bringing them into the house, but then had a brain spasm and seeded them all into the same bowl. :doh:

I was planning to mix the three jalapenos, since they are all seed saved from hybrids (I think?), so I figured I'd just grow them all together and select for the best. I guess when I plant them, it will be easy enough to distinguish the Jals from the Madballz plants.

stickman · Jan 29, 2015

Good luck with 2015 John, and I hope all the critters that pester your crops get lead poisoning...

Devv · Jan 29, 2015

I'm sure you can Google up a pdf on the pellet gun

beerbreath81 · Jan 30, 2015

one hellava list there, most of my seeds come from TWF too. Great site and have yet to find a seed from them not grow true. (knock on wood). I am planing a big grow this year again (just sowed 200 on Wed) and hope all goes well with the additions to the garden and the winter cover crop.

Hopefully you get a handle on the critters and most importantly are able to get some tomatoes this year. Hit me up if you are interested in aquiring additional tomato seeds, can send you a list of what I have.

Take care and dont work too hard!

Pulpiteer · Jan 30, 2015

Tradewinds customer here too. I just got some seeds from there for a few fruit trees. I'm not sure if I can get them to germinate, but it'll be fun to try, and their prices are decent.

Sawyer · Feb 1, 2015

stickman said:
Good luck with 2015 John, and I hope all the critters that pester your crops get lead poisoning...

Thanks, Rick. I'll figure out the critter problem one way or another, or more likely, a combination of ways.

Devv said:
I'm sure you can Google up a pdf on the pellet gun

I bet you're right, Scott. Surely, it's not such an off brand there's no id on it somewhere. Need to look.

beerbreath81 said:
one hellava list there, most of my seeds come from TWF too. Great site and have yet to find a seed from them not grow true. (knock on wood). I am planing a big grow this year again (just sowed 200 on Wed) and hope all goes well with the additions to the garden and the winter cover crop.

Hopefully you get a handle on the critters and most importantly are able to get some tomatoes this year. Hit me up if you are interested in aquiring additional tomato seeds, can send you a list of what I have.

Take care and dont work too hard!

Thanks, BB. I think TWF has had some issues in the past, but they've come a long way in my opinion. I haven't had any problems that I can think of.

Two hundred alone would keep you really busy. How many are you shooting for? I need to find your glog and check it out. I don't know what I'll do if I manage what I'm planning, when the harvest starts rolling in.

I have about three dozen varieties of tomatoes, so I'll pass on adding to that. Thanks for the offer, though.

Pulpiteer said:
Tradewinds customer here too. I just got some seeds from there for a few fruit trees. I'm not sure if I can get them to germinate, but it'll be fun to try, and their prices are decent.

Hey, Andy, I just got caught up with your glog. Nice work. Yeah, Tradewinds has become one of my top go-to places, maybe even my favorite. (Still a Baker's Creek and JL Hudson fan, though.) Plus, their fall 50¢ sale is hard to resist. I bought a couple of cork oak acorns from them last year (definitely not for 50¢, though) and one of them has come up. (I let the other one mold.) So now I have a cork oak tree that isn't adapted to my USDA zone. Not sure what I'll do when it gets bigger.

Okay, good news, everybody! I found some of the missing seeds. I had misplaced the envelope with the massive seed gift from Jason (GA Growhead) last year and found it again a few days ago. All of those that I didn't have otherwise are now back on the list. Except for Blonde and I have some OWs of those.

I also made the mistake of looking at pepperlover's website. Why do I do these things? I ordered Aji Mango, Albanian Red Hot, Farmer's Jalapeno, Sulu Adana, and Tekne Dolmasi. Added to the "new for 2015" list in the OP, and linked.

Pulpiteer · Feb 1, 2015

Yeah, that new stuff on pepperlover is killer. You cannot go there and leave without over ordering. What a great and unique selection.

And those sales on tradewinds are cool, I agree. Gets you to try things you might not normally. Another good site is All Good Things Organic Seeds (the purple throated mullein). Interesting stuff. My first experience with them two years ago led to a good customer experience. Their customer service was awesome.

JJJessee · Feb 1, 2015

Good to see you back in the saddle, John.
I haven't started my main sow either but I'm going to put a few in soil early next week.
Tough break on a that rat. I wouldn't have seen that coming.
Onions are looking fine! I've got them under row-cover .Plus I've got several others started from seed again.
Good Luck for 2015!