Dear fellow pepperheads,
After being inspired by reading the glogs here and elsewhere, I figured it was time to write my own, and post about progress, issues and thoughts related to my grows. This is only my second year of growing peppers, and went from 2 plants last year (Jalapeño and Peter Chili) to now wanting to grow a few more for better variety and a larger stock to get through the winter, give to friends/family etc, you know the drill.
So my modest grow list is now:
Aji Benito (local nursery)
Numex Orange Spice (local nursery)
Jamaican Bell (local nursery)
Bhut Orange Copenhagen (local hardware store)
Corno di Toro (local nursery)
Sweetbite Yummy (local hardware store)
Last year I grew in a grow bag, and while the jalapeño worked pretty well, the Peter Chili only gave me 3 chilis despite growing to a nice bushy plant. My guess was that the less than optimal summer weather last year meant it didn't get hot enough (it kept having flower drop) , which is why this year I invested in a small greenhouse/cold frame. This should be able to house all 6 plants I hope, and already gets to the mid- and high-thirties (degrees C) during the day and therefore will hopefully support even the B.O.C..
In addition, I also invested in 6 autopots, or better put, 1x Easy2grow kit with 2x extension kits, which from what I could find online, should help produce a bumper crop. I'd love to hear what people here have experienced, as the number of people growing peppers in them for fun still seems somewhat limited when browsing the web.
I bought the small plants on April 12th, some from the local hardware store, but most from an organic local nursery, which specializes in pepper plants and acclimatizes them to the Danish climate already from seedling onwards. So while that means slower growth at first, it means the plants are more robust which I could see when comparing them with the hardware store ones while the night temps were still low. The hardware store ones for sure were unhappy <10C, while the nursery ones have been fine down to the 6C I've exposed them to. On colder nights, I moved all the plants indoor, and kept the hardware store bought plants indoor day & night until just last week.
Plants were put into the autopots in the last week of April, and are growing in a 35/35/30 mix of soil, coco and Leca. As recommended, there is a ~4cm layer of Leca at the bottom of the pots to improve drainage. For those unfamiliar with autopots, they use a smartvalve which allows all the water to be used by the plant before allowing the trays to fill up again, and is completely gravity-powered and thus maintenance free. It comes with a 47L tank, which should be sufficient for up to 6 plants exactly. For nutrients, I'm using a standard 3-1-4 liquid fertiliser which is optimized for drip systems etc, and shouldn't clog the autopot system.
Currently, plants are still standing on a raised box inside the cold frame as they're still a bit smaller than expected and I want them to get as much sun as possible, but will move them into their final position in a week and a half and let the smartvalves take it from there. Both the Sweetbite Yummy and B.O.C. have started flowering already, but I picked the first 6-7 flowers to encourage further growth, but from now on will let them do their thing. FYI, all plants except the Aji Benito and Numex Orange Spice were topped to encourage bushy growth, given the limited height I have available in the cold frame. So far it seems to have paid off, besides the obvious delay in vertical growth and flowering. My hope is that by the end of June, everything is flowering and producing pods, so that I can start harvesting from August onwards. But let's see!
All in all, I'm very excited this year and can't wait to see how the planning and new technology etc pans out, and will post regular updates here for those interested.
Sweetbite Yummy:
B.O.C.:
Topped B.O.C.:
Topped Sweetbity Yummy:
Jamaican bell:
Corno di Toro yellow:
Numex Orange Spice:
Aji Benito:
And the whole collection outside:
As you can see, most plants were very small at the start, but given that it was only April 12th, it should all be fine
Sent from my ZTE A2017G using Tapatalk
After being inspired by reading the glogs here and elsewhere, I figured it was time to write my own, and post about progress, issues and thoughts related to my grows. This is only my second year of growing peppers, and went from 2 plants last year (Jalapeño and Peter Chili) to now wanting to grow a few more for better variety and a larger stock to get through the winter, give to friends/family etc, you know the drill.
So my modest grow list is now:
Aji Benito (local nursery)
Numex Orange Spice (local nursery)
Jamaican Bell (local nursery)
Bhut Orange Copenhagen (local hardware store)
Corno di Toro (local nursery)
Sweetbite Yummy (local hardware store)
Last year I grew in a grow bag, and while the jalapeño worked pretty well, the Peter Chili only gave me 3 chilis despite growing to a nice bushy plant. My guess was that the less than optimal summer weather last year meant it didn't get hot enough (it kept having flower drop) , which is why this year I invested in a small greenhouse/cold frame. This should be able to house all 6 plants I hope, and already gets to the mid- and high-thirties (degrees C) during the day and therefore will hopefully support even the B.O.C..
In addition, I also invested in 6 autopots, or better put, 1x Easy2grow kit with 2x extension kits, which from what I could find online, should help produce a bumper crop. I'd love to hear what people here have experienced, as the number of people growing peppers in them for fun still seems somewhat limited when browsing the web.
I bought the small plants on April 12th, some from the local hardware store, but most from an organic local nursery, which specializes in pepper plants and acclimatizes them to the Danish climate already from seedling onwards. So while that means slower growth at first, it means the plants are more robust which I could see when comparing them with the hardware store ones while the night temps were still low. The hardware store ones for sure were unhappy <10C, while the nursery ones have been fine down to the 6C I've exposed them to. On colder nights, I moved all the plants indoor, and kept the hardware store bought plants indoor day & night until just last week.
Plants were put into the autopots in the last week of April, and are growing in a 35/35/30 mix of soil, coco and Leca. As recommended, there is a ~4cm layer of Leca at the bottom of the pots to improve drainage. For those unfamiliar with autopots, they use a smartvalve which allows all the water to be used by the plant before allowing the trays to fill up again, and is completely gravity-powered and thus maintenance free. It comes with a 47L tank, which should be sufficient for up to 6 plants exactly. For nutrients, I'm using a standard 3-1-4 liquid fertiliser which is optimized for drip systems etc, and shouldn't clog the autopot system.
Currently, plants are still standing on a raised box inside the cold frame as they're still a bit smaller than expected and I want them to get as much sun as possible, but will move them into their final position in a week and a half and let the smartvalves take it from there. Both the Sweetbite Yummy and B.O.C. have started flowering already, but I picked the first 6-7 flowers to encourage further growth, but from now on will let them do their thing. FYI, all plants except the Aji Benito and Numex Orange Spice were topped to encourage bushy growth, given the limited height I have available in the cold frame. So far it seems to have paid off, besides the obvious delay in vertical growth and flowering. My hope is that by the end of June, everything is flowering and producing pods, so that I can start harvesting from August onwards. But let's see!
All in all, I'm very excited this year and can't wait to see how the planning and new technology etc pans out, and will post regular updates here for those interested.
Sweetbite Yummy:
B.O.C.:
Topped B.O.C.:
Topped Sweetbity Yummy:
Jamaican bell:
Corno di Toro yellow:
Numex Orange Spice:
Aji Benito:
And the whole collection outside:
As you can see, most plants were very small at the start, but given that it was only April 12th, it should all be fine
Sent from my ZTE A2017G using Tapatalk
Do you guys generally pinch the first couple of flowers to let the plant focus on growth, or is this not really needed in the long run as the plant knows best what to do? I only did it on the B.O.C and Bell as they were bigger to begin with, but feel it's too late in the season for the other plants. But I think the growth in just one week was quite significant (top one today, bottom one 8 days ago):
