Stetto's First Winter Grow ('16-'17)

stettoman · Oct 7, 2017

MikeUSMC said:
Awesome job, Eric! Best of luck with your overwintering. I highly suggest you invest in some Neem oil, if you haven't already

Devv said:
Hey Eric,

Below is a copy/paste that I saved from Pic1. He lives in Chicago, a most excellent grower.

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I don't have any issues with aphids on my OW plants. I cut my plants down to the trunk, get rid of all foliage, and uproot them. I use a water hose, and spray all of the soil from the roots, and trim them down to a little ball. I then dunk the plant in a dish soap water mixture, completely submerging the plant for a few minutes. Then I pot up the plant in a 1 gallon pot, fresh soil, and bring it inside.
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Now I'm not suggesting you do this by any means. I just want to present the information. Here in the deep south an OW to me is moving them into the garage a few times when it wants to frost 3 or 4 times over the winter. He (Pic1) essentially put them to sleep for the duration of the winter.

Mike's comment regarding Neem is all about bringing them inside, with the passengers

Glad to see the nice pulls Eric!

Mike, Scott, thanks for the info. Yes on the neem. I don't get aphids, but we had a plague of mealy bugs on our bay laurel last winter, I had to about kill it to get rid of the critters.

But if you don't give 'em anything to eat, they don't threaten so much, do they....I'm going to let these plants give up what they will for pods, then cut 'em way back.

Malarky · Oct 7, 2017

Devv said:
I don't have any issues with aphids on my OW plants. I cut my plants down to the trunk, get rid of all foliage, and uproot them. I use a water hose, and spray all of the soil from the roots, and trim them down to a little ball. I then dunk the plant in a dish soap water mixture, completely submerging the plant for a few minutes. Then I pot up the plant in a 1 gallon pot, fresh soil, and bring it in.

This is exactly what I did last winter. Worked great. I'll probably do it again the same way. Just go really light on the fertilizer.

stettoman · Oct 17, 2017

Next season the bulk of my grow is going into buckets, especially the long breathers like Aji Amarillo and Brazillian Starfish and the Thais. I brought the potted Aji Amarillo and the Aji Mango in around a week ago, the Mangos are almost all picked now, and the Aji Amarillos are doing this...

This is wonderful. I picked the green Amarillos in the 8th acre, a small handful actually started to ripen, but they all puckered and spoiled really fast, some over night.

But this works. I just have to convince the cats to CUT IT OUT!!

stettoman · Oct 17, 2017

Yes, that's a ghost.

Malarky · Oct 17, 2017

I'm going to save whatever green pods I have left for A green baccatum sauce

stettoman · Oct 17, 2017

Malarky said:
I'm going to save whatever green pods I have left for A green baccatum sauce.

Y'know, I pretty much picked all of mine with the same intent, but I spent too much time trying to get them to ripen.

It's ok, I'm going to have plenty, and my dehydrator has been going nonstop for weeks already.

Besides, I picked up a wealth of information to utilize next season!

Devv · Oct 18, 2017

Well said Eric!

We just keep learning.....

stettoman · Nov 5, 2017

Obviously no more "updates", but Zone 3 is still at it. Besides my Growdown plant I still have an Aji Mango, Aji Amarillo and a Rocoto Amarillo alive and threatened by cats. All but the Aji Lemon Drop will be a year old before Christmas...

The Rocoto is doing especially well (for Zone 3 in November).

I have ziplock bags full of Rocoto Amarillo, Mini Rocoto Rojo and Aji Oro, these I think are going fresh into the Dale/GreenChileMonster Rocoto jelly jar.

My dehydrator has been working nonstop for many weeks, one of the last loads went in this morning. Via the banana-in-a-bag trick I actually have enough Large Orange Thai for a couple tablespoons of powder. A larger harvest of those is a goal for next year. The Aji Mango is slated for a haircut and overwintering, perhaps the Aji Amarillo as well.

You guys rock. 'Nuff sed.

stettoman · Nov 6, 2017

Time to process some Rocotos. These just now came out of the bath.

I was curious how Dale was getting that beautiful translucent amber when he made the Rocoto jelly, funny how that works. This is really nummy stuff!

Thegreenchilemonster · Nov 6, 2017

Looking good! Rocoto jelly is some tasty stuff.

stettoman · Nov 9, 2017

The Darlin' Bride has endowed me with a new nickname.

She never could get hers to set. I quit the Sure-Jel. Mrs. Wages kicks it's ass....jes' sayin'......

stettoman · Nov 10, 2017

I had a better harvest than I expected, got lucky with some of these right at the end. Not a lot of vine ripened, but beggars can't be choosers.

I envy you guys who have long enough seasons to enjoy more of these peppers fresh. But I'm not complaining, I got some yummies!

Most are being dried

There's a large bag in the upper left corner labeled "Bert". These are peppers from Hippy Seed, I was intrigued and bought some, but I also grew an Aji Angelo, seed from Geonerd. I couldn't tell the difference between the pods, though Geo's plant grew a good foot and a half taller and podded up a little sooner. Heat's the same, pheno the same, flavor, everything. Not sure what to conclude, so I conclude nothing.

I've used Aji Mango in a few basic Mexican recipes. Wunnerful! The Aji Amarillo is dedicated to chilis and my Texas bean recipe. So far I've also ground a bottle's worth of Urfa Biber, which I haven't used yet, and a bunch of the Paprika. Got my work cut out, what with a little 'lectric coffee grinder...

I did pick up a boxful of spice bottles, though. A trick I found on the interweb is to drop a couple of dry beans in with the powder to prevent caking. So far so good.

I've read that some like using the powders more than fresh for making hot sauces. I'll have to look for recipes. Right now I'm getting mighty fat spreading pepper jelly on everything. I just got a whitetail back from the processor, going to try a jerk with some chops and the Papa Dreadie chokecherry jelly....MmmmmmmmmmmmmmmBOY!

Devv · Nov 10, 2017

Ohhh, you just have to make some dried sausage from that deer!

Powders look great!

I say a job well done this season

PaulG · Nov 20, 2017

+1 Scott. Really great season for you, Eric. Those Aji Amarillo
in the above indoor pic look awesome! Now to relax for the
winter and enjoy the fruits of your labors!

PaulG · Nov 20, 2017

deleted repeated post

stettoman · Nov 21, 2017

Devv said:
Ohhh, you just have to make some dried sausage from that deer!

Powders look great!

I say a job well done this season

PaulG said:
+1 Scott. Really great season for you, Eric. Those Aji Amarillo
in the above indoor pic look awesome! Now to relax for the
winter and enjoy the fruits of your labors!

You guys were a huge help this season, thanks!!

I don't understand that Aji Amarillo. It's not flowering anymore, but the leaves are full and lush, there are a dozen 4 inch pods still in one stage of ripening or another. I've cut my Aji Mango down to 7" tall, no leaves, kept in the dark end of the office, and it's trying to grow leaves....

I haven't pulled it from the pot for a root trim and replant yet, once I do it should go into a comfortable induced coma til Spring. That Amarillo will get the same as soon as it finishes with existing pods. I love the Aji Amarillo, but if I learned anything from this last season, it's that Zone 3 is potted plant territory for them--Just too short a season for them in the dirt.

Actually, most of my grow next year will likely be potted.

Devv · Nov 23, 2017

Unless your climate is really suited for all the pepper varieties you wish to grow, then containers are the way to go. You can certainly control their environment a bit easier

PaulG · Nov 23, 2017

+1 Scottie :thumbsup:

bpiela · Nov 28, 2017

stettoman said:
You guys were a huge help this season, thanks!!

I don't understand that Aji Amarillo. It's not flowering anymore, but the leaves are full and lush, there are a dozen 4 inch pods still in one stage of ripening or another. I've cut my Aji Mango down to 7" tall, no leaves, kept in the dark end of the office, and it's trying to grow leaves....

I haven't pulled it from the pot for a root trim and replant yet, once I do it should go into a comfortable induced coma til Spring. That Amarillo will get the same as soon as it finishes with existing pods. I love the Aji Amarillo, but if I learned anything from this last season, it's that Zone 3 is potted plant territory for them--Just too short a season for them in the dirt.

Actually, most of my grow next year will likely be potted.

I think you still need to give it light or it will die. I don't believe the OW'd pepper plants act like cacti and can go dormant and live in darkness. They still need some kind of light.

thoms · Nov 28, 2017

stettoman said:
For grins, another time-lapse....

Joo-ly 31

August 10

And finally, Sept. 15

These plants, for the most part, have gotten massive, and some have a bumper crop hanging from them. They need to turn ripe. There are a few I fear I don't have length-of-season for.

For instance, the Large Orange Thai. Took forever to flower, just recently got into that gear. The plant is over 5 feet tall. There are a few pods on it, here's hoping!

Aji Amarillo, feels like it weighs a full pound. These in the 8th acre did start to pick up a tad, but again, ripen!

As you can see, there are some pods, not too scrawny either. But every single Amarillo plant in the garden got eaten down to nuthin' by the Dammed Deer Babies from Hell, so I should be ecstatic that they even came back, right?

There's not much else to report on the 8th acre. The plants continue to thrive and most are producing pods, but if they don't start to trigger a ripening frenzy I'm not sure what I'll do with green ones. Weather-wise we're in a decent patch of good warm Fall, no end in sight, though I've seen a 70 degree forecast turn to a 40 degree one in a matter of hours, so fingers are crossed. This is a nerve wracking time of year in good ol' Zone 3.....

woooww ... very good growth chili. what fertilizer you use generativ period

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