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AJs 2012 Season - A Pictorial Discussion

I am getting a one day jump on last season...today is my 2012 season start...

The Germinator has been cleaned, I am using new trays for seed starting and Hoffman's Seed Starting Mix as my grow media...

If any of you decide to use Hoffman's Seed Starting Mix, be patient, it takes as much as 24 hours pre-soak to get this light weight mix totally wet...I have said it before and I will say it again...this is the cleanest seed starting mix I have ever used....clean and light weight means better root growth IMO..

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All circuits and systems are a go on the germinator...am stabilizing the temperature for the next 24 hours...as you can see, the upper box is about 93F and the lower box is 85F...I have to vent the top to let both chambers reach the same temperature...

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something tells me this is going to be another hot summer....close to record heat again...so the season will go as mother wants it to...I am learning each year how to change my grow techniques and am adapting to North Texas...

hope you folks enjoy this thread...if anyone has any questions or comments, they are welcome...
 
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Congrats on the ripe scopion! I have some manzanos already, but those are easy. My C. Chineses took a beating in overwintering and I'll probably only have 1 or 2 that I think will come back. The rest of your plants look great too. Hope you have a great season.

Congrats on the ripe scopion! I have some manzanos already, but those are easy. My C. Chineses took a beating in overwintering and I'll probably only have 1 or 2 that I think will come back. The rest of your plants look great too. Hope you have a great season.
 
Pics show evidence of your corolla-stinger theory. Seems like it caused a belly on some but the one with the most pronounced stinger it is stuck to the stem. Good to see you beating the heat.
 
What size are the pots where the plants are lined against the wall and do you keep the plants in those pots the entire season?
 
Looking great AJ! I always take notes on this page! Very jealous of your Scorpion...and now even your weather is better than mine! Hopefully my August will make up for it. I can't wait to see that scorpion hedge row in June...going to be epic.
 
Awesome plants and pretty cool tail shots on those scorps. It's pretty definitive that the corolla comes off and hangs on the top of the tail on certain shaped pods. I hope you're logging some experimental data! I'm always learning from your wisdom.
 
Wow Ronnie, you got some Florida action going on, pods in APRIL! I am tellin ya, if that isn't a sign of your upcoming season then I don't know what is. . . . .


I am not superstitious, but I will make an exception in this case.
 
The purple bhuts are pretty, can't wait to see the fruit develop. I like the leaves on the scorpions, I have a couple TS Morougas and one Douglah x Butch T that has nice leaves like that. Funny I seem to fixate on other parts in the absence of fruit at this point :rolleyes:
 
Beautiful pics again! Those purple bhuts are pretty amazing looking. I hope they dont loose that color now that they are outside. Your third year plant is saweet! How long have you been "waking it up" or how ever you would say not letting it winter?
 
ZanderSpice said:
Congrats on the ripe scopion! I have some manzanos already, but those are easy. My C. Chineses took a beating in overwintering and I'll probably only have 1 or 2 that I think will come back. The rest of your plants look great too. Hope you have a great season.
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thanks...I am lucky I have a "growbox" that I can cut the plants back and let them start growing again...I only lost one plant out of about 15 that I overwintered...feel very lucky...

PIC 1 said:
So cool...........to have a ripe Scorp already!
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you bet it is cool Greg...I will have some fresh hot salsa when this one ripens...I just noticed the color change yesterday so I will see how many days it is until it turns red...

Pr0digal_son said:
Pics show evidence of your corolla-stinger theory. Seems like it caused a belly on some but the one with the most pronounced stinger it is stuck to the stem. Good to see you beating the heat.
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the theory of corolla/stinger is just a thought I had and I am wondering if it is true...all pods that have stingers on my plants don't have the corolla attached at the start of the tail, but most do

dvdpfstr said:
What size are the pots where the plants are lined against the wall and do you keep the plants in those pots the entire season?
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5 gallon nursery containers...these are heavy duty and not the blow mold or injection mold containers...they are perfect for 1st year chinense IMO

RedtailForester said:
Very nice looking plants there AJ!
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TY RTF

stc3248 said:
Looking great AJ! I always take notes on this page! Very jealous of your Scorpion...and now even your weather is better than mine! Hopefully my August will make up for it. I can't wait to see that scorpion hedge row in June...going to be epic.
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thanks stc...no use to be jealous of the scorpion plant...just overwinter or grow thru winter and pot up in the early spring to a 7 or 10 gallon container for the 2nd year plants...

mrz1988 said:
Awesome plants and pretty cool tail shots on those scorps. It's pretty definitive that the corolla comes off and hangs on the top of the tail on certain shaped pods. I hope you're logging some experimental data! I'm always learning from your wisdom.
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the data I am collecting on the pods/tails will all be documented on this glog...not doing that much documentation...just a few pictures and some off the wall comments...

MGOLD86 said:
Wow Ronnie, you got some Florida action going on, pods in APRIL! I am tellin ya, if that isn't a sign of your upcoming season then I don't know what is. . . . .
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thanks MG...I am afraid this summer is going to be hotter than last summer's record heat...I hope not but can't rule it out since we had such a warm winter...I think we only had 14 days of temps below freezing and the overall low was about 23F if I recall correctly...

Spicegeist said:
The purple bhuts are pretty, can't wait to see the fruit develop. I like the leaves on the scorpions, I have a couple TS Morougas and one Douglah x Butch T that has nice leaves like that. Funny I seem to fixate on other parts in the absence of fruit at this point :rolleyes:
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I also like the purple Bhuts...and can't wait to see fruit....they seem to be lagging behind as far as growth goes..

the large leaves will go away as the heat increases, especially now since they are in full sun...

Beehunter said:
Beautiful pics again! Those purple bhuts are pretty amazing looking. I hope they dont loose that color now that they are outside. Your third year plant is saweet! How long have you been "waking it up" or how ever you would say not letting it winter?
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I think the color will fade somewhat now that they are in full sun...these are under 30% shade cloth and pretty well protected...

I cut the 3rd year plants (2 scorpions) back the first of December and put them in my growbox (~3000 lumens/ft[sup]2[/sup]) and they just took off...about the end of January, I moved them to the south facing living room window and they started flowering and trying to fruit in February...
 
13 weeks to get to pods in april ... Simply amazing :)
I can see you're a top notch grower, my oldest are 11 weeks old, only starte buds.

It sure is a great intro for a season full of tasty hot peppers.
 
thanks...don't know about being a top notch grower...I am learning something new every day...good luck in your grow this season...
 
Well the rest of us know you're a top notch grower AJ. Love the looks of the 3rd year plants. The stuck on corollas are driving me batty. I'll have to skip those pics next time. ;)
 
synclinorium said:
I used a Florida weave with my tomatoes last year, and our area is also windy. I did notice some abrasion where the hemp twine contacted the stems, but never enough for concern. As long as you have a small enough support spacing there shouldn't be much pressure at any one point, and as the plants grow in the weight of the alternating plants will hold their neighbors in place, which is part of the beauty of the technique.

Granted, with something like tomatoes their weight can get pretty excessive towards the end of the season, so I did have my twine start breaking around September. Just make sure you're using something sturdy enough for whatever you're growing...
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I bought some t-posts today, but only have enough to do 3 rows with a 6' spacing between posts. I am hoping to get at least 4 plants per section on each 20' row. A couple of questions for you and AJ. Do I weave between every plant, or just weave between each post? Is the 6' spacing too far apart to give enough support?
 
IMO if you can't weave 20 feet, you are doing it wrong...I have three "runs" of florida weave...24, 30 and 40 feet long with just posts at the end and weave in and out of the plants down the row...alternate next higher level...just use string/small rope that is strong enough to be pulled pretty tight...
 
Thanks, AJ! That is encouraging to hear! All of the information I googled on Florida weave, suggested a post every two plants, which would have gotten ridiculously expensive to do. Of course, they were all assuming it was being used for 6'+ tomato plants, and not 2' - 4' pepper plants, so maybe that's why they recommend that spacing.
 
Tremendous results, AJ! Those Scorp pods are insane, like little tornados!
 
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