• Blog your pepper progress. The first image in your first post will be used to represent your Glog.

Devv-2017-Having a good time in the dirt

Another season has come and gone. Time to start a new one!
 
Although I did already a few weeks ago :shh: . After last years dismal (late) start I jumped in a bit early to insure I could have viable plants come dirt day. I can always cut them back, if I need to. I have to compile a list yet, but I'm growing the full spectrum. Sweets, to supers, based upon what we will actually use. Most of my list is to make LB happy; I'm really glad to see her infuse peppers in more and more dishes. Can't beat that when the wife takes interest ;)
 
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Not the best pic; but the shelf is being sketchy, and I don't need all the babies bouncing off the floor.
 
Good luck to all this season :party:
 
Blitz527 said:
Dang, wish I could get something in the ground, I'm still digging out from the snow storm LOL we got hit with a wind storm then not 12 hours later got burried in 18-24 inches of fluffy white shit. Gunna be another month and a half or more before we start getting into the garden and raised beds. Quickly, what kind of bulbs are you using in your t5 set? Everything looks awesome.
 
Thanks Alex!
 
You know I escaped NY in 1978 ;)  And the white stuff was just one of the reasons. I still visit every year, during the summer! I was raised on Long Island. We almost went there for spring break, glad we didn't they had a blizzard.
 
My T5's are 6500K, and I found 6500K bulbs for the T8's while shopping for a replacement fixture for the shop.
 
 
Our good friend John (Trident) is right Pods not pests lol.
I wanna hear your take on Ricks Gochu as soon as them pods are ripe Scott, one I'm looking forward too trying.

Plants that have hit dirt really do look nice and established , the tigermamp really stands out with stunning coloured foliage.

Your hard work and planning is going to reward you big time.
You deserve a of of credit for where you are.



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Superhot Sim said:
Our good friend John (Trident) is right Pods not pests lol.
I wanna hear your take on Ricks Gochu as soon as them pods are ripe Scott, one I'm looking forward too trying.

Plants that have hit dirt really do look nice and established , the tigermamp really stands out with stunning coloured foliage.

Your hard work and planning is going to reward you big time.
You deserve a of of credit for where you are.



Sent from my VFD 900 using Tapatalk
 
Thanks Sim!
 
I'm still learning to grow the peppers, I learn more every year, and I thank all the users who contribute here for sure! I think John's statement was in reference to last years grow. We had a really wet fall and spring which lead to a bumper crop of pack rats in the fields which found my grow (we're in the boonies here). They cut off at the dirt, around 40 plants last year. Once I figured out what was doing the damage I got after them and things got better. Over the winter I took down a pool deck and re-purposed the wood to use as a fence around most of the garden. So I'm hoping out of site out of mind here ;)
 
I'll have some pics tomorrow, but a few here about the bees. I know world wide bees are on the decline; but we have more than our share here. We own 20 acres and last year I counted 3 new hives on the place, so 5 that I know of here on a 900'x950' plot.
 
Last weekend, right out the front door (30 yards):
 
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Hard to see but there were a few thousand swarming. They settled in the left tree just above the first little branch. A slit type hollow exists between it and the next branch. We've had bees before in this tree.
 
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Today, I was tending to the charcoal I'm making and heard a swarm, a scary sound! This is out the back door about 60 yards from the house. I got about 30 yards away. They were swarming almost to the top of the trees. Really hard to catch on camera with the background. They were really loud. They settled in the tree on the right. We've had bees in this tree before as well.
 
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After they calmed down a bit. I got the older camera with the zoom. I guess I need to fill their watering place up!
 
Devv said:
Today, I was tending to the charcoal I'm making and heard a swarm, a scary sound! This is out the back door about 60 yards from the house. I got about 30 yards away. They were swarming almost to the top of the trees. Really hard to catch on camera with the background. They were really loud. They settled in the tree on the right. We've had bees in this tree before as well.
 
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After they calmed down a bit. I got the older camera with the zoom. I guess I need to fill their watering place up!
 
Very cool Scott! If you keep the bees around you'll have to be scrupulous about sequestering blossoms to get pure seed, but no trouble getting blossoms pollinated for sure!
 
My Dad and I kept bees when I was a teenager, and we harvested a few swarms. Unless they're Africanized bees they're very docile when swarming. We didn't need to bother with the head nets when we did it, but we did wear long sleeved shirts and long pants with the cuffs tied down so the bees couldn't crawl inside and feel trapped when we moved around. Some people give themselves "bee beards" by putting the queen on their chin and the workers glom on. http://www.neatorama.com/2015/05/18/How-to-Grow-a-Bee-Beard/
 
 

 
 
stickman said:
 
Very cool Scott! If you keep the bees around you'll have to be scrupulous about sequestering blossoms to get pure seed, but no trouble getting blossoms pollinated for sure!
 
My Dad and I kept bees when I was a teenager, and we harvested a few swarms. Unless they're Africanized bees they're very docile when swarming. We didn't need to bother with the head nets when we did it, but we did wear long sleeved shirts and long pants with the cuffs tied down so the bees couldn't crawl inside and feel trapped when we moved around. Some people give themselves "bee beards" by putting the queen on their chin and the workers glom on. http://www.neatorama.com/2015/05/18/How-to-Grow-a-Bee-Beard/
 
 
 
 
Thanks Rick,
 
I like having them around, but I'm really wary of them. I get really bad localized swelling if stung. 2 stings to my hand and I can't even hold a coffee cup for 2 days.
 
I took a few pics today, not much happening. The plants are starting to grow again.
 
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We spread some more mulch this morning. I'm going all in with last years mulch; it's so broken down it's half powder. When I got this last fall it was the bottom of a once huge mountain of mulch. AT the start of this season I had somewhere between 20-25 yards. Just guessing, but I had a bunch!
 
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A bit blurry, hey the dirt's in focus..some flowers on the purple Jalapeno.
 
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As you can see, once in the dirt the plants are fair game for the buggies :rolleyes:  But this White Bhut is branching and starting to put flowers on.
 
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Aji Limo, ready to rock and roll.
 
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One of 5 (or more) MoA plants. It's my favorite pepper at moment, just so many uses!
 
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The Hugel bed of Annuum's. I scored some Black Cow composted manure at a good price and surrounded each plant so the watering is a bit easier. Although I planted the rest in the ditches I'm not going to flood this season if I can help it. I'm thinking it may cause the plants to have shallow root systems. We shall see :shh:
 
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Aji Amarillo. This gal has a unique growth habit. It leaned over and the branches make it look like 3 plants. Not care ;)  It's growing!
 
So yesterday everything got a healthy dose of nutes and water. I have a bunch of Tomato Tone and used that to start. I guess I used too little (advise needed), so I went with what I know and picked up some Hasta Gro.
 
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The 10 day looks great, I hope we get some of that rain!
 
It looks like the plants are doing really well in your garden Scott! Your soil-building efforts are paying off!  :clap:  Here's hoping you get a good crop in before the summer heat hits. Your Tomatoes in particular are beasts! Most Baccatums like to sprawl, so I'm not surprised to see the Aji Amarillo doing just that. :)
 
stickman said:
It looks like the plants are doing really well in your garden Scott! Your soil-building efforts are paying off!  :clap:  Here's hoping you get a good crop in before the summer heat hits. Your Tomatoes in particular are beasts! Most Baccatums like to sprawl, so I'm not surprised to see the Aji Amarillo doing just that. :)
Plants are looking good and settling into their new dirt beds.
Good score on the cow manure Scott that will certainly help.
I love the MOA nice lush green and always a favourite on both sides of the pond.
As Rick says your hard work and prep going to bring big yields buddy.
Keep it up and happy gardening.

Sent from my VFD 900 using Tapatalk
 
stickman said:
It looks like the plants are doing really well in your garden Scott! Your soil-building efforts are paying off!  :clap:  Here's hoping you get a good crop in before the summer heat hits. Your Tomatoes in particular are beasts! Most Baccatums like to sprawl, so I'm not surprised to see the Aji Amarillo doing just that. :)
 
Thanks Rick!
 
I wonder if the burying the stem would work on peppers? I have an extra plant and will give that a whirl. So those tomatoes grew from 3"s to that in 29 days. Those were the 15" tall ones I buried. I have a few in another row that were half the height and are now 1/4 the height. So it's all about the age and size of the plant to get the rocket growth I need here.
 
 
Superhot Sim said:
Plants are looking good and settling into their new dirt beds.
Good score on the cow manure Scott that will certainly help.
I love the MOA nice lush green and always a favourite on both sides of the pond.
As Rick says your hard work and prep going to bring big yields buddy.
Keep it up and happy gardening.

Sent from my VFD 900 using Tapatalk
 
Thanks Sim!
 
Last year I went into the fields and collected somewhere around 1-2 yards of cow poop; it's just easier to buy it ;)
 
 
PaulG said:
Way to go, Scott - everything looking great.
 
Awesome forecast - good luck getting some
rain without severe thunderstorms!
 
Thanks Paul!
 
And :shh: :shh: :shh:  on the storms. I think as long as we don't get hail (which is forecast) we'll be OK. I have the shop cleaned out enough to put LB's car in there too; mine lives there being it's black ;)
 
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My one plant in the RCW bed. I made the bed about 15-18 months ago. In a tribute to Gary I put a NagaBrain F5 in it to see how it runs.
 
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So I have several experiments going on the true Hugel Bed, the kinda-sorta Hugel beds, the RCW beds, next on the agenda for the 2018 season will be Terra Preta. Read up on this, it's very Interesting!
 
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I've been making charcoal to bury. I'm going to do a 10x10' plot with 6"s of the char 6"s under the soil. Call me crazy but I love this stuff, just read the glog title :rolleyes:
 
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A couple of growdown plants which I will shamelessly double post in the growdown glog.
 
 
Devv said:
 
Thanks Rick!
 
I wonder if the burying the stem would work on peppers? I have an extra plant and will give that a whirl. So those tomatoes grew from 3"s to that in 29 days. Those were the 15" tall ones I buried. I have a few in another row that were half the height and are now 1/4 the height. So it's all about the age and size of the plant to get the rocket growth I need here.
 
 
Good to know... I have a tray of tomatoes that are just cotys right now, but if they're big enough by plant-out I may give your technique a whirl. ;)
 
 
Haven't even started tomato seeds, yet!  I need to get goin'   :oops:   it's just
that they get too big in the greenhouse if I start too early.  I think it's time.  
 
Your garden is so awesome.  I like all the experimental beds you are working
up, very informative, although I doubt I will ever have the chance to use any
of the awesome info you post in your grow log.  
 
My vicarious thrills, though, so thanks   :rofl:
 
 
 
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