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Mas Fuego's South Florida Grow 2017

With any luck I can make this a fairly interesting grow log for the beginners like me. If you want to follow a professional grower to glean pro-style tips, keep moving. If you want to watch a guy stumble along the road of gardening, you are in the right place!

I am in south Florida so I don't have a frost to worry about. it does get cold(ish) around February and theoretically I should wait till then to go outside but like I said, I am not a pro.
 
The plan is to grow in pots on a drip irrigation system that I plan to build.
 
I will try to track my seeds and where they came from:
 
Currently Growing
Jalapeno - Burpee
Serano - Burpee [Not gonna grow]
Brazilian Ghost  - Forum  [Probably Not gonna grow]
Jamaican Scotch Bonnet - Forum
White Hab - Ebay [None have made fully germinated]
Chocolate Hab - EBay  [Probably Not gonna grow]
Yellow 7 Pot - Forum   [Probably Not gonna grow]
Red Sweet Pepper - Ebay
Carolina Reaper - Forum
 
Cucamellon - eBay - these take off!
Pickle Cuke - eBay
Homestead Tomato - eBay
Floridade Tomato - eBay
Tomatillo - scrapped out of a tomatillo from Publix
 
Awaiting Arrival
Habanero Paper Lantern - Juanitos
cumari do para - Juanitos

Still Trying To Source
sweetheart pepper
Sweet Lunchbox Mini Peppers
Sugar Rush Peach Pepper
(basically any mild, sweet peppers)
Ají Lemon Drop
Malawi Piquante
 
So I am going to do a little sloppy catch up here.

Back in Late October I had my first little sprouts from my jalapenos and Seranos.
NV0zEU9.jpg


I had them in the jiffy pucks on my computer. After a while they began to sprout.  By mid November they looked like this. They started to develop some mold and after asking the forum, was told to put them in front of a fan. I put them outside and in a day they were fine.

49rgleJ.jpg


I had a guy from another forum send me some Brazilian Ghost Seeds and after a while they looked like this:

UYUTLeu.jpg

 
I had a Serano from last year and finally ate the fruit and I really did not like it. Almost no flavor and no heat at all. I have a handful of Seranos growing and I will not continue to grow them.  Maybe I had a bad plant but I don't want to waste my time with them.

 
 
Last week I made some salsa verde with my still budding little sickly Jalapeno plant. Delicious! I made a hot batch with a Scorpian from my now richly budding Scorpian plant and it was set your mouth on fire hot. This episode changed the course of my grow.

 
I made a medium (with the jalapenos) and a hot (the mild with a Scorpian). The medium was too hot for most of the folks at the party. The hot was to hot for almost all and basically turned into a test of guy's manhood.
 
The mild was delicious, though it could have used a little more salt and I used to much lime juice.
 
I realized through this misadventure that I don't really want to grow a ton of superhots. I am now trying to source and grow more mild peppers. If you have any suggestions, let me know!
 
omg i would kill to be somewhere i could grow more than4 to 5 months outdoors...No idea why any humans ancestors ended up in places that got cold and decided "yeah, this makes sense to lay down roots." WHEN YOU CANT LAY ACTUAL ROOTS 70% OF THE YEAR!!! :drunk:   Very jealous
 
As of today, here is what we are working with:


Jamaican Scotch Bonnet
WnkmaAw.jpg


Red Sweet Pepper

uNwqZD4.jpg


Yellow 7 Pot

fegRRko.jpg


Chocolate Hab

2jYXPrb.jpg


Reaper and Brazilian Ghost Pepper


dlFRDbr.jpg


Jalapeno & Jamaican Scotch Bonnet


12l1z3c.jpg

 

BearDown said:
Good luck! Jealous of that South Florida weather. Looking forward to seeing some pics.
 
It is actually getting cooler today, has me a little worried. Fortunately everything is small enough that I can put it in the garage if needed.
 
It's 73 out right now and supposed to get down into the upper 60s tonight.
 
 
JUR-Z-Devil said:
omg i would kill to be somewhere i could grow more than4 to 5 months outdoors...No idea why any humans ancestors ended up in places that got cold and decided "yeah, this makes sense to lay down roots." WHEN YOU CANT LAY ACTUAL ROOTS 70% OF THE YEAR!!! :drunk:   Very jealous
 
 
I ask my northern friends the same thing all the time.
 
Well . . . I wanted to grow tomatillo but could not find the seeds locally. I saved some of the seeds when I made the salsa verde this past Sunday. On Tuesday I put them in some peat pellets and put it on my router inside a sealed Tupperware container. Today it looks like this:
 
tomatillo seedlings
 
8VZgffq.jpg

 
I have never grown these before so, like everything else, it's all an experiment!
 
So yesterday I went to get rid of my Serrano plant because I hated what I had eaten of it. I tasted the pods on it before destroying it and I loved them! I think the ones I had before had gotten over ripe and therefor disgusting. I harvested the few pods on it and cut it down. But, I have two Serrano seedlings that I am now not going to destroy.  In the past I went from 3 oz cups to 12 oz cups to 20oz cups. I have gotten tired of that so I went from two seedlings i in a little flat to each in a 20 oz cup.
 
I don't know if that will be a problem but if they don't grow, I still got lots of seeds!
 
I have researched Tomatoes and they seem to be pretty tough to grow. Publix has lots and lots of tomatoes do I abandoned my plans to grow the ones I had germinated. So here is what I have that I am keeping so far:
 
44kmQtN.jpg

 
2 Serranos
2 Red Sweet Peppers
Jamaicain Scotch Bonnett
Carolina Reaper
2 Jalapenos
 
I topped the Jalapenos two days ago and they are growing nodes (I think that's what they are called) like crazy. I will only grow one of these.
 
On another note: I don't know if this is normal but my Trinidad Moruga Scorpian is producing more than it has in the 6 months I have had it. Not sure if I finally got the watering schedule down or what but it currently had more fruit on it than I have harvested the entire season
 
Here is one branch. Terrible pic but it is what it is.
 
r54MCbn.jpg

 
 
I dont know about tomatoes being hard... i grow multiple kinds every year and have never had a problem... I actually find them much easier then peppers to get going... only issue i ever have is planting too many and having way too many tomatoes... at the end of the year my garden is littered with bite sized tomatoes all over the ground that just never got eaten...
 
JUR-Z-Devil said:
I dont know about tomatoes being hard... i grow multiple kinds every year and have never had a problem... I actually find them much easier then peppers to get going... only issue i ever have is planting too many and having way too many tomatoes... at the end of the year my garden is littered with bite sized tomatoes all over the ground that just never got eaten...
What zone are you in?

You gon learn today!
 
JUR-Z-Devil said:
Im in 7a... NJ the Garden State Famous for NJ Tomatoes.. Does it get harder to grow the farther south you go?
 

From what I am told it is really hard to grow them well in south Florida. Now surely there is someone who will chime in and say they just pour ketchup in the ground and get more tomatoes than they can eat but my friends and family that tried told me between the heat / sun and pests it is a challenge.
 
I ordered some plants that are built / bread / engineered for Florida but am still skeptical.
 
Ketchup!!! :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
 
worth a try still... I mean i would assume it was the opposite... its not like they are made for NJ weather... I still have to start them indoors weeks before spring... You already germinated them, so at least give it a go... i bet you do great...
 
Dude! I'm in Tejas, and I have been growin' Tom's for 35 years. If I can grow them here, so can you. I wish the heck I could grow peppers as well...LOL
 
My "dirt day" as I grow them in the dirt, not in pots, is March 1st, IF the 10 day forecast is nice ;)
 
So around January 15th I sow the seeds. I use Early Girl. I use them because they're a great Mater. They have a short season, which here is the case. It gets too dang hot too dang fast. So you want the crop to set really fast and produce before 95-100's hit.
 
By March 1st they're about 12-15"s tall; I trim all the leaves off except the 2 below the crown, and bury them at a 45° leaving the 2 top leaves and the crown exposed. I plant them in a ditch, well a small one, about 4"s deep so I can flood irigate.
 
69.jpg

 
May 15th 2016
 
We processed over 100 quarts. Funny thing we used 4 for hot sauce this week and 18 for the "red sauce".
Give it a whirl!
 
"In the past I went from 3 oz cups to 12 oz cups to 20oz cups. I have gotten tired
of that so I went from two seedlings i in a little flat to each in a 20 oz cup."
 
I think that's a good idea.  I basically do the same; as soon as the cotyledons turn
green, I take the netting off the Jiffy Pellets and plant them into the 18-oz. beverage cups.  
The next stage is a 2 liter or a #1 nursery pot (actually 3/4 gallon) until plant out time.
I like to let the roots grow unimpeded at the early stages.
 
Merry Christmas!
 
Devv said:
Dude! I'm in Tejas, and I have been growin' Tom's for 35 years. If I can grow them here, so can you. I wish the heck I could grow peppers as well...LOL
 
My "dirt day" as I grow them in the dirt, not in pots, is March 1st, IF the 10 day forecast is nice ;)
 
So around January 15th I sow the seeds. I use Early Girl. I use them because they're a great Mater. They have a short season, which here is the case. It gets too dang hot too dang fast. So you want the crop to set really fast and produce before 95-100's hit.
 
By March 1st they're about 12-15"s tall; I trim all the leaves off except the 2 below the crown, and bury them at a 45° leaving the 2 top leaves and the crown exposed. I plant them in a ditch, well a small one, about 4"s deep so I can flood irigate.
 
69.jpg

 
May 15th 2016
 
We processed over 100 quarts. Funny thing we used 4 for hot sauce this week and 18 for the "red sauce".
Give it a whirl!
What kind did you grow? And I think the major problem is pests in the soil. But I am no expert.

You gon learn today!
PaulG said:
"In the past I went from 3 oz cups to 12 oz cups to 20oz cups. I have gotten tired
of that so I went from two seedlings i in a little flat to each in a 20 oz cup."
 

I think that's a good idea.  I basically do the same; as soon as the cotyledons turn

green, I take the netting off the Jiffy Pellets and plant them into the 18-oz. beverage cups.  

The next stage is a 2 liter or a #1 nursery pot (actually 3/4 gallon) until plant out time.

I like to let the roots grow unimpeded at the early stages.

 

Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas!

Thanks. That makes sense.

You gon learn today!
 
For us here I use the Early Girl variety. I also use Calmag to stop the dreaded blossom end rot, 1 tsp to a gallon of water. I apply it using an old time watering can. Applying it to all the foliage twice a week (in the morning) until I see color in the maties. This last season I also bought some cheapo bird netting, as the birds usually nailed about 40-50% of the fruits. We had next to zero bird damage and no BER.
 
Merry Christmas!
 
mas_fuego said:
So yesterday I went to get rid of my Serrano plant because I hated what I had eaten of it. I tasted the pods on it before destroying it and I loved them! I think the ones I had before had gotten over ripe and therefor disgusting. I harvested the few pods on it and cut it down. But, I have two Serrano seedlings that I am now not going to destroy.  In the past I went from 3 oz cups to 12 oz cups to 20oz cups. I have gotten tired of that so I went from two seedlings i in a little flat to each in a 20 oz cup.
 
I don't know if that will be a problem but if they don't grow, I still got lots of seeds!
 
I have researched Tomatoes and they seem to be pretty tough to grow. Publix has lots and lots of tomatoes do I abandoned my plans to grow the ones I had germinated. So here is what I have that I am keeping so far:
 
 
 
Tomatoes are grown in South Florida, two plantings per year.  Once in September, again in February.

It's not impossible, but having lived in the midwest, I can tell you, it's exponentially harder growing tomatoes in Florida.  It's not that the pests in the soil are the problem - it's the lack of fertility in said "soil". (sand)
 
I've shared my Florida tried and true container growing method several times.  If you get that fertigation system going that you've been inquiring about, you should really revisit my tomato growing method.  It took me several years to get it figured out.  But when you do, you'll be well rewarded.
 
31086771093_f55da43142_z.jpg
 
Well, I said I am no pro. I am working my way through all this slowly but surely.  I think I just discovered I can't edit my first post in the glog. I planned to use it as a type of index and keep it updated. I guess not. Here is a brief update:
 
Soil:
If I had it all to do over again, I would go to a local nursery and buy a dozen cubic feet of potting soil, mix some slow release fertilizer into it and be done with it. Right now I am thinking I am going with 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 perlite 1/3 black Kow / Mushroom compost. Mix in some lime, some bone meal, some epson salt. Boom. done
 
Seedlings
 
I started with a bunch of super hot seedlings and I decided to steer mostly away from those. There just is not enough you can do with them. So I am effectively learning on seedlings I don't plan to grow. I gave away my Reaper which was doing really well for a little plant. It was up to about 30 leaves. I am giving away my scotch bonnets and my reaper and my ghost peppers. I have some habs, 7 pot and something else still sprouting.
 
I transferred my jalapeno after topping it about a week ago
4nNXWzj.jpg

 
Transferred my little tomatillo seedlings
I35My7c.jpg

 
My Meyer Lemon looks like it is finally coming back from transfer shock
KangJOI.jpg

 
I am getting the rest of my drip system in tomorrow and will start plumbing it and connecting it to my irrigation system. I also need to come to some conclusion on how I am going to trellis my cucamellons and cage my tomatoes.
 
I had my first orange hab seed give what might be a sprout so I put it in soil. I also started trying to sprout Habanero paper lantern and Scotch Bonnet MOA.
 
That's it for now. Maybe tomorrow I will try to give a full list of what is growing.
Chime in on your thoughts of my soil mix.
 
Blessings!
 
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