Sawyer '18 – Back from the Void

Devv · Mar 26, 2018

One thing about the deer is they make killer sausage :shh:

Devv · Mar 26, 2018

Plants are looking mighty stellar John!

ColdSmoke · Mar 27, 2018

Damn stink bugs! I hate when bounce off your dome, but way worse when they stick to your eyebrow then fall into your steak dinner!

Sorry, referring to the conversation a bit back. Plants look great!

stickman · Mar 28, 2018

Out of curiosity, have you ever tried spraying with Tobacco tea? My Dad grew roses that quickly got infested with Rose Chafers and Japanese Beetles, and he got rid of them by using the tea and putting out scent traps for the Japs.
Two caveats... don't breath any of the spray or get it on your skin, and don't let any of the overspray come in contact with any nightshades. There's enough nicotine sulfate in the tobacco from two cigarettes to make you violently ill or even cause fatality in some people.
Also, the cheap chewing tobacco used to make the tea often contains Tobacco Mosaic Virus that can seriously affect Solanacea crops like peppers, tomatoes, eggplants and potatoes.

Sent from my SM-S327VL using Tapatalk

Sawyer · Mar 29, 2018

I seem to be missing a post. Thought I had posted most of what follows a few days ago, but I guess there was glitch between typing and clicking to post. Gotta remember to compose offline, then copy/paste to post. Let me get this down, then I'll go back and respond to posts I've missed. Then I'll update progress.

Trent, don't get me started on deer. Giant rats. As Scott says, tasty ones, but CWD is in this area now, so I suppose my venison-eating days are over. Will get a depredation permit from Game and Fish if I have trouble with them this year.

I think the worst single animal trouble I've had, though, was a woodchuck, aka groundhog. Pulled okra plants over to eat every pod on a whole row of okra. Seemed to have a taste for almost-ripe cantaloupes, too. That one got live trapped and relocated a few miles away, across a river.

Of course, there were the voles that would chew a hole in the under side of watermelons and hollow them out. I just about smashed one into my face (a watermelon, not a vole) anticipating a heavier weight once. Or the neighbor's chickens that would peck holes in the tops of whatever melons the voles didn't get. Or the racoons that would use the chicken-pecked holes as a start and completely rip open and consume what was left. Lost what I'd hoped would be about a $2000 or $3000 commercial melon crop that year.

Then there are the rabbits that have eaten every carrot I've planted for the last 10 years or so. And the beans. Or the neighbor's goats that ate just about everything. At least the goats and chickens are long gone. And the great horned owls I think are nesting in a hollow tree here are keeping the rabbits in check.

I looked at the faces of three of the ladybugs hanging around and I'm pretty sure they are Harmonia axyridis. White sides on the pronotum with a black “W” or butterfly shape in the middle. Speaking of ladybugs, I learned only within the last five years or so that I do have one native species here, the pink spotted lady beetle, Coleomegilla maculata. For years I had been smashing them in the mistaken belief they were simply a pink variety of spotted cucumber beetle, Diabrotica undecimpunctata. Never too late to learn.

Devv · Mar 30, 2018

Yes sir! We have our share too of the natives enjoying our hard earned labors. We have given up on growing corn and cantaloupes.

Sawyer · Mar 31, 2018

Devv said:
Yes sir! We have our share too of the natives enjoying our hard earned labors. We have given up on growing corn and cantaloupes.

I don't remember the last time I tried to grow corn, it's been so long. Won't give up on the melons, though. I've got enough fencing that once installed should protect the garden space. That and a rigorous trap and relocate program will hopefully keep the raccoons in check.

The bamboo is probably the biggest threat I'm facing right now. It's a cash crop in its own right, but sure is invasive. It's taken over about a third of the tillable garden space.

Sawyer · Mar 31, 2018

nmlarson said:
The gov't DID import them, in Pennsylvania, at least....to eat Gypsy Moth caterpillar larvae, as I recall. A couple of decades back, deciduous forests in Pennsylvania were being decimated by Gypsy Moth caterpillars. You could stand outside and listen to their s*it hitting the ground, there were that many in the trees. You couldn't spend any time outside without a hat. Ewwwww.

I wish they'd find something to take care of the brown marmorated stink bugs. They were probably responsible for more damage to my crops last year than all the other pests combined. Needless to say, this year I've made a big investment in micromesh.

What types of bulbs are you using? Try LED bulbs. It may make a difference. We replaced the incandescent, yellow bug and CFL bulbs in all our outdoor lamps with LED bulbs. No bugs swarming the lights anymore!

Nancy

Hi, Nancy, welcome to THP. I missed your post first time around. With only ten minutes between your post and mine, I imagine you posted while I was composing mine. And then I didn't refresh before posting. Another reason to compose offline, then c&p to post.

I'm with you on the stinkbugs. If I plant anything susceptible this year, I'm going to try to keep the eggs smashed before they get out of control.

I'm a big fan of LEDs and they are just starting to come into their own. I still prefer an old-fashioned incandescent for the winter reading lamp, for the extra heat they put off.

Sawyer · Apr 5, 2018

ColdSmoke said:
Damn stink bugs! I hate when bounce off your dome, but way worse when they stick to your eyebrow then fall into your steak dinner!
Sorry, referring to the conversation a bit back. Plants look great!

Hah! Yeah, I bought a gallon of locally produced apple cider a few years back. Wound up pouring it out because of the awful stinkbug taste to it. Guess they didn't wash the apples well enough before pressing.
I wonder if a spray made of pureed and strained stinkbug would be an effective repellent for anything. Other than people.

stickman said:
Out of curiosity, have you ever tried spraying with Tobacco tea? My Dad grew roses that quickly got infested with Rose Chafers and Japanese Beetles, and he got rid of them by using the tea and putting out scent traps for the Japs.
Two caveats... don't breath any of the spray or get it on your skin, and don't let any of the overspray come in contact with any nightshades. There's enough nicotine sulfate in the tobacco from two cigarettes to make you violently ill or even cause fatality in some people.
Also, the cheap chewing tobacco used to make the tea often contains Tobacco Mosaic Virus that can seriously affect Solanacea crops like peppers, tomatoes, eggplants and potatoes.
Sent from my SM-S327VL using Tapatalk

Rick, yes, one year I grew my own tobacco and made a spray that in ignorance I then sprayed on my potatoes, trying to control whatever it was that was eating the leaves. It controlled them, and killed the potatoes. Haven't thought to try it against the beetles.
I have a few varieties of Nicotiana, if any of the seed are still viable, that I'll try to start this year. Some are supposed to pack an extra whammy in the nicotine department.

Sawyer · Apr 5, 2018

Not enough pictures in this thread. Here's one from a day or two back, with annotations. I call this flat PF2; it was planted on March 20.

Lacks consistency on the label placement, but I think the information is conveyed.

AS - American Seeds
D - Devv
PL - Pepper Lover
S - self-saved
TW - Trade Winds

No joy on some old TW Jimmy Nardello or my own Kali Ghost, but everything else has at least a few sprouted, even if some of them are hiding behind others.

This is PF-1, planted on March 19th:

I have one more flat of peppers planted so far, a 288 cell seedling tray sown with about 36 varieties. I'll get pics/info for it up soon.

Sawyer · Apr 6, 2018

Here are some random pics from the last few days. First flower of the year:

From the maybe-Padron.

An upskirt shot:

Touched it after taking the pic to ensure pollination and it fell off. Oh, well.

My SoG:

Sea of Ghosts, goes marching on.

An OWLB:

Over-wintering ladybug, hanging out on an OW Papa Dreadie.

Devv · Apr 6, 2018

I think you'll have some Ghost peppers this year

Sawyer · Apr 6, 2018

Devv said:
I think you'll have some Ghost peppers this year

Mayhaps. I shall plan accordingly.

Came across this beauty in the habanero bin at the local Whole Foods today.

I always thought habs were short and blocky, but the color is a perfect match to the rest of the bin. Haven't tasted it yet, but will extract and plant the seeds. The pepper cost 8¢.

stickman · Apr 7, 2018

+1 on #52... you going into production coz? [emoji6]

I had some old seed, collected in 2012, that I wanted to sow this season. I tried pre-soaking in a couple different solutions to try to boost my germination percentages, and the one that seemed to work best was a 35ml/gal solution of "Ful Power" fulvic acid. Not perfect, but I got a 70% germ rate with it. Re-constituted coconut water only got me 10%

Looking good John, keep on truckin'!

Sent from my SM-S327VL using Tapatalk

Sawyer · Apr 7, 2018

stickman said:
+1 on #52... you going into production coz? [emoji6]

Looking good John, keep on truckin'!

Sent from my SM-S327VL using Tapatalk

Thanks, Rick. Re commercial production, yes on plants, hopefully on the pepper berries themselves. Why ghosts? Because that's what I have. I do have a hot sauce recipe that uses ghosts and given an adequate crop, I'm sure I can come up with others. Also have a few non-food products that can use them.

And, too, it's because these seeds are getting pretty old and I want to be sure to preserve the genetics.

Beyond that, I'd really like to set up a grower's cooperative here locally. I see peppers, specifically, and therapeutic gardening in general, as a way to help folks living outside the mainstream. By that I mean returning vets having trouble reintegrating, certain disabled person's, the elderly, retired, semi-retired, unemployed, or otherwise under-employed. Someone with as little as a hundred square feet of available space can grow enough peppers to provide a few extra bucks over the course of a season. In addition to the therapeutic value of the activity.

Sawyer · Apr 7, 2018

stickman said:
I had some old seed, collected in 2012, that I wanted to sow this season. I tried pre-soaking in a couple different solutions to try to boost my germination percentages, and the one that seemed to work best was a 35ml/gal solution of "Ful Power" fulvic acid. Not perfect, but I got a 70% germ rate with it. Re-constituted coconut water only got me 10%

I wonder if humic acid would work similarly. For the most part, this year is a "use what I have" year. I have some humic acid, as well as some gibberellic acid.

I sure would like to get those results, though. Most of my older seeds, at least the ones the pantry moths haven't gotten to, date only back to 2015 or 2014. (The ghosts being the exception, dating to the mid-aughts, but those were refrigerated.)

Sawyer · Apr 8, 2018

The 12 x 24, 288-cell seedling flat isn't particularly photogenic yet. Large swaths aren't germinating, and may never, due to the age of the seed, but some varieties are fresher seeds and those are popping. This flat was planted on 180327 and these are the varieties that have produced at least one seedling.

Jalapeño (self-saved unknown variety)
Sulu Adana (ss)
Large Orange Thai (Devv)
Pluma (PL)
Trinidad Cherry (PL)
Naga Reaper (PL)
Habanero (American Seeds)
Jalapeno (AS)
TAM Jalapeño (Trade Winds)
New Mexico #6 (AS)
California Wonder (AS)
Bellingrath Gardens (TW)
Santa Fe Grande (TW)

Sawyer · Apr 13, 2018

Planted some more seeds a few days ago. A couple hundred Arkansas Traveler tomato seeds, seven varieties of cherry tomatoes and the following peppers:

'14 Banana Bhut
Martel's red ghost
Devil's Brain
'14 F3 7Pod Peach

Glad I found the banana bhut seeds. I'm still hopeful of finding some from 2015, but these looked okay. They, as well as the others, were in a sealed plastic container so the pantry moths couldn't get to them.

Martel is a local friend and these seeds are from a pepper he grew in 2015. Don't remember the details. Will ask next time I see him.

Don't remember where I got the Devil's Brain seeds. Not PL packaging. Just the name written on a a piece of paper, nothing else. Not my handwriting. Seeds look very fresh.

The '14 F3 7Pod Peach derived from a 7Pod Burgundy plant I grew from PL seeds in 2011(?). Don't remember getting two gens in a single season, but maybe I did. Anyway, that burgundy plant threw off all sorts of atypical colors, caramel, mustard, brown, red, in addition to its namesake.

This is what the cherry tomatoes looked like:

They were in a clear plastic football shaped container at the local Walmart last fall. I imagine they are mostly hybrids, but it will be interesting to see what grows.

Sawyer · Apr 14, 2018

Okay, playing around trying to figure a better, or at least different way to label nursery flat photos. Let's try this. This is PF#1, first non-ghost pepper seeds planted this year. Sown 180319, picture taken today.

Meh, that might work. Flat #2 coming up (perhaps not quite so) shortly.

Sawyer · Apr 14, 2018

Second time around was a lot easier. PF#2:

SoG:

That might be it for tonight. Spent the first half of the day helping the watershed alliance clean up one of our local stream drainages. Feel an early turn in coming on.