2018 - The Farm

Well, I've been gone a few years from the board, and away from growing peppers, but looks like life is pushing me back that way again. 
 
I recently (last month) closed on a 25 acre farm in Central Illinois with some primo soil, and I'm going to give a commercial grow a test run. 
 

 

 
From up on the roof, when I was doing some roof repairs on the outbuildings. Not much as far as the eye can see, but cornfields...
 

 
 
Has a 4 stall garage and a horse stable on the property
 

 

 

 
Probably do my grow room upstairs here after I insulate it
 

 
Built some doors for the horse barn and patched the roof last month
 

 

 
 
Anyway just dropped a cold grand on seeds from pepperlover and buckeye, going to hit a greenhouse supplier up for other materials next week.
 
Have plans to build a 30x72' greenhouse in the spring, and a ~1200 sq foot dedicated grow room. Too late really to help with this year's grow, but next year it'll save me a lot of hassle on hardening off. 
 
The greenhouse, I am going to do a piped infloor heat slab, with a horizontal loop geothermal system (I own a mini excavator) that is solar powered. So heating should be nice, uniform, not create heat / cold bubbles, and not dry out plants like forced air would. I build circuit boards in my day job, so I will also build a microcontroller to handle the automated watering system with soil moisture monitors and actuated plumbing valves on the water supply.
 
Also plan on building a "deep winter" greenhouse for year round production. Got blueprints I made from a couple of years back, those are walled on three sides with heavy duty insulation, with the glass wall side angled to face winter solstice, so you can grow in the deep freeze months of the north. In the summer, those get hot enough to use as a natural dehydrator, replace the tables with racks for bulk drying.
 
Only doing a half acre or so of peppers to start with this year, the balance will be put in corn. I can't manage more than that with the labor I have available. (When you start talking thousands of plants, simple tasks like up-potting grow in to hundreds or thousands of man hours...)
 
Going to hire some local kids to help, school has a good ag co-op program for high schoolers, they can get school credit working on local farms. Since the plant out and harvest doesn't conflict too badly with corn, shouldn't have a problem finding labor around here.
 
Anyway, that's the plans.
 
We'll see how it goes.. er.. grows.
 

 

[Walchit]

Yeah Justin is the man!

 

[Trident chilli]

If all goes well he will be asking you for seed at the end of the season ... great glog

 

[TrentL]

I'm gonna hire help next year for seed starting. It was so frustrating and time consuming  My wife barely talked to me because I was in such a bad mood. It sucks!

 
What I found is listening to light music (roots acoustic, americana, etc) helped keep me on track and keeps the stress level down. My "normal" music is much heavier stuff.. Just remember you control the environment and the ambiance. Take the time to set it up so it's relaxing.
 

 
Now those two are my stable ones, aji golden being the one that i eat straight from the bush because it has so low heat.

 
I've never grown either of them before, or tasted them. But I figured what the hell; I see a lot of Aji's in people's grow lists on here so they must be good.
 

Looks like Justin hooked you up with some good all purpose pods the whole family can love. Should go over well at the farmers market. His seeds pop really well for me (except for Dopey lol but hey, that's an unstable cross)... Love that they're always well washed and healthy looking seeds

 
Yes, dude, he sent me more than I can realistically get down. I asked for like two annuums and I got this big pack full of a farm's worth of seeds, really blew me away! I got 4 trays off of the NuMex package and still have enough to probably do 4 more trays if I can find the room. 
 

Yeah Justin is the man!

 
After seeing how he hooked me up with no strings attached, yeah.
 

If all goes well he will be asking you for seed at the end of the season ... great glog

 
Oh he didn't have to even ask; I offered right up front.
 
I'm going to build some isolation cages at the farm - probably somewhere around 30-ish of them, with 2 plants of the same species in each (not for any particular reason other than # of pods and having a backup in case one gets effed up somehow), and I'm going to keep another 16 plants indoors at home in isolation, to set up seed stock for next year's.
 
However, with all the workload I have, I'm *really* wondering how I'm going to have time to harvest, process pods in to flake, deal with farmers markets and shipping stuff out, *AND* have time to process seeds. I mean, I just don't see there being enough hours in the day to do everything. 
 
I don't have any desire to get in to the seed selling business, I want to sell produce, and maybe later hot smoked jerky and various flake mixes (I had a very addictive moruga scorp flake mix I used on pizzas, but I ran out, so I bought a farm...).. so maybe it'll work out well for both of us this way. Give him the isolated pods, let him process them, get some seed stock back for next year's crop, and he can inventory and sell the rest as he wants. 
 
I mean, he's all of like 40 minutes from me so what the hell, let's be neighborly here. I met him in person about 3 years ago at my office, when we traded some plants out. I got something like 10 or 12 varieties I didn't have on my list, and he got a bunch of spares that I didn't have room for in my garden. 
 
Dunno, we'll see how things go. But after his generosity man, yeah.. I've gotta do something to return the favor. The dude gave me enough seeds to do like another half acre. It's unreal.

 

[Chilidude]

 
I've never grown either of them before, or tasted them. But I figured what the hell; I see a lot of Aji's in people's grow lists on here so they must be good.

 
Some Finnish folks are so crazy that they use Naga morich and Lemon drops in icecream, candies and all sort of baking.
 
Not me of course, because i have only used lemon drop/naga morich powder to make a spicy dry cake and other similar things...But not in icecream yet.
 
I actually have a Finnish recipe for a chocolate cake, that uses Naga morich and lemon drop in it:
http://thehotpepper.com/topic/64023-cake-and-all-thats-floury-fluffyness-thread/
 
I have not done this one yet, but it sounds very tasty.

 

[TrentL]

And on the 7th day He looked at what the monkeys hath done with thine passive hydroponics, and how it kicketh ass over His creation of complex soil biology, and sayeth "Let thine monkeys fend for thineselves!"
 

 

 

[TrentL]

Hard to believe that sprout was transplanted a mere 10 days ago... thing is going to be MONSTROUS by mid May.

 

[TrentL]

18 soil failures in a row, maybe 19.  Losing track.
 
Organic stuff is still proving to be a pain in the ass.
 
The newest tests are 24 hours in now though. And I might have goofed a little - that fish emulsion WAS kicking in - just didn't give it *quite* enough time (plus, they were starved on phosphorus so it would have been bad news). Since I switched the M group pots to hydro, did it a little too fast, and getting some fertilizer burn (especially on the maters). They should work through it if it don't kill 'em.
 
However, the M group pots are now starting to come around a little.
 
Yesterday I'd given half the starter trays (front half of each) a hydro cocktail of cal mag, 50% 12-0-0, 50% 1-2-2. They have since started straightening out their leaves and started greening up. 
 
The back half of the trays got an organic cocktail today for comparison purposes. 
 
2 tblspoon / gallon liquid bone meal (0-11-0)
2 tblspoon / gallon alaskan fish emulsion (5-1-1)
1 teaspoon / 2 gallons mycorrhizae
2 teaspoons CalMag (to fix the mag deficiency)
 
The hydro got a 24 hour head start, will report back in a few days with some comparisons.
 
Mix N (a complicated organic mix) also has 54 plants potted up now and got the same organic cocktail detailed above, 24 hours after transplant, 3 oz per pot.
 
 

I re-tested my water here at the house with my expensive pH meter (that I finally located after 2 weeks), and it wasn't QUITE as bad as the test strips were making out. 7.29 was the tap water.
 
The vinegar solution I've been feeding the plants clocked in at 6.48, which is nearly exactly what I wanted (6.5), so at least I confirmed that was good.
 
I had a few deaths on pepper plants in Mix M and I took a sample of soil. Mixed it in pH 7 distilled water and let it rest for an hour before taking the reading. It clocked in at 7.59! All Mix M had in it was blood meal, and azomite. How the hell it managed to climb up to that level is still a mystery. I thought it was bone meal causing that (bone meal was causing it to SKYROCKET), but something (azomite?) might still be causing the high pH readings.
 
Mix N was very conservative on amounts of organic nutrients. Effectively had 10:3:1 coir/perlite/worm castings. Then to that, 1/4 cup blood meal, 1/4 cup of seabird guano, 1/8 cup azomite, 1/8 cup kelp meal (this was a 2 part delayed mix, so there's more going on than that over the course of 2 weeks, but I'm trying to simplify a little for the glog)
 
The plan on Mix N is a bit different. First, the plants got a dose of hydro nutes the night before they were transplanted and the sopping wet hydro plugs were centered in the pot of Mix N. That kept the hydro solution intact. VERY nice looking roots on those plugs. Nice and fuzzy. Then a day after transplant (to let the sopping wet plug distribute some hydro solution around to the moist mix around it), I did a circular watering around the new soil with the "organic cocktail" above (which was pretty f'n potent, in it's own right.) The addition of myco, and the liquid ferts which had some water soluble stuff readily available, should allow for rapid breakdown so as those roots start spreading out they can find some good damp soil with plenty of nutrients to suck up right away. Then there SHOULD be enough organic stuff for the bacteria to break down to feed them for quite a while.
 
The goal is to have something that doesn't stall the plants out. I already got a mix that don't kill them (M) but it also STOPS them from doing anything. At least, peppers, it halts. Tomatoes were doing alright in it. 
 
But I'm getting closer; maybe by the time the annuums and 2nd round of tomatoes get transplanted I'll have the organic mix finally figured out.
 
In the meantime still planning on hydro for all the remaining ~600 or so chinense, except for some experimental set-asides.
 

 

[TrentL]

Also have 98% germination now on the amish paste. 7 empty cells tonight out of 288 - 281 sprouts in 2 days on Amish Paste, on the warming mats.

THAT is a kickass start on the tomato crop. Gotta hand it to Johnny's, them were some damn good seeds I ordered.
 
 

 

[Chilidude]

The combined NPK value in Ghe floramicro/floramato is:
 
6-2-6
 
Combined NPK value in the b'cuzz coco a+b is:
 
6-5-11
 
The fact is that the B'cuzz coco a+b seems to be more complete fertilizer alone for chili growing than the Ghe combo fertilizer ever could hope to be in terms of value for money. My fertilizer dosage is made purposely to start drifting towards the higher P and K values as the chili grows more bigger to force it to start flowering/making loads of pods.

 

[TrentL]

I have 210 pounds of worm poop on my front porch. Sunday delivery via UPS Amazon Prime. I was too tired to bring it indoors and I'm NOT quite sure where in the hell I'm going to store 210 POUNDS of worm poop. It'll be 240 pounds tomorrow, the 8th bag was delayed a day.
 
I'll probably keep a bag or two here and haul the rest of it out to the farm, probably transport trays of sprouts out there and then transplant on site.
 
I'll be doing 3 side by side tests of passive hydro using these;
 

 
Both of the ones you linked me to, and one more I picked at random that seemed somewhat reasonable price. 
 
There should be 216 plants in each initial test; one test per table.
 
Then another couple tables for organic testing each with 216. 
 
Some tables might come up a little short on plant count since I'm running short of plants in the first grow group; over 200 fatalities so far out of the 980 sprouts, 

 

[TrentL]

 
The fact is that the B'cuzz coco a+b seems to be more complete fertilizer alone for chili growing than the Ghe combo fertilizer ever could hope to be in terms of value for money. My fertilizer dosage is made purposely to start drifting towards the higher P and K values as the chili grows more bigger to force it to start flowering/making loads of pods.

 
By the time they hit the field and start producing, hopefully I will be done with them and won't have to augment the flowering part. But if I do I'll be mixing ferts in to the holding tank and pumping them out through drip irrigation. Taking soil tests soon at the farm, once the soil dries out just a bit and becomes workable (it's still saturated from snow, rain, and quite frozen).
 
I'll get organic stuff spread on the designated section based on the soil test results, in early April, so it has time to start working for a month and a half before I put plants in. 
 
The water is what concerns me. Actually, frightens me a little. I might have to get a new well bored. I think the one there is too shallow and the yellow sulfur water it's pumping out is probably going to be unsuitable for plant life.
 
Which pisses me off, because the well inspector gave the water a clean bill of health before I bought the property. That's a civil suit waiting to happen though, if my water lab tests are substantially different than his. He didn't do them the first two trips he made to the farm, and I am very suspicious the guy sent in tap water for the water test that I insisted on getting before closing.

 

[Chilidude]

Bio nova coco forte a+b combined NPK:
 
8-6-12
 
Growth science a+b NPK:
 
5.5-6-4.5
 
Canna coco a+b combined NPK:
 
4-4-3
 
If i say so myself the Bio nova coco forte a+b seems to be good for chili growing as a stand alone fertilizer.
 
Canna coco a+b and that Growth science a+b stuff seem like they want that calmag added to them to make it work better for chili growing.
 
All of those are good stuff for chili growing with some slight adjustment of the values, but that Bio nova stuff seems to be the clear winner without needing any adjustments at all in terms of value for money.

 

[TrentL]

I've fallen behind a bit on the other stuff I promised early on. 
 
This is an FG42 (Fallschirmjägergewehr 42, or "paratrooper rifle 42"), which is a german paratrooper carbine.
 

 

 

 

 

 
Relative size to a 6' tall 180 pound man.
 

 
It's a late war squad automatic weapon fitting the light machine gun role, designed for a select few german paratroopers. It never saw extensive production in the war, and was quite rare.  It fires the same 8mm round used by most other German rifles, and weighs about the same as a KAR98 (German's standard bolt action rifle at the time.)
 
It was by far the most advanced small arm of WWII, technology wise. After the war, we incorporated many of the concepts of this weapon in to production of the M60 US machinegun. 
 
This particular example is not a war bring-back, but a custom ordered and manufactured BATFE approved semi-automatic build which I commissioned in 2016 for the sum of $4,995 USD + shipping. I picked everything from the finish color to the wood type to various specific nuanced features on the firearm, to make it the same as a very specific run of the original German weapons.
 
War trophy bring backs of this rifle are worth over a quarter million dollars US, as of the last time one hit auction, which is an incredibly rare event in and of itself. 
 
This particular rifle is about the closest I could come to holding that particular section of history in my hands, and is a neat addition to my WWII firearms collection.
 

 

[TrentL]

Bio nova coco forte a+b combined NPK:
 
8-6-12
 
Growth science a+b NPK:
 
5.5-6-4.5
 
Canna coco a+b combined NPK:
 
4-4-3
 
If i say so myself the Bio nova coco forte a+b seems to be good for chili growing as a stand alone fertilizer.
 
Canna coco a+b and that Growth science a+b stuff seem like they want that calmag added to them to make it work better for chili growing.
 
All of those are good stuff for chili growing with some slight adjustment of the values, but that Bio nova stuff seems to be the clear winner without needing any adjustments at all in terms of value for money.

 
Thanks for giving the dope on the bio nova mix, I looked and looked but couldn't find it's NPK value online so I ordered blind. The K portion of bio nova might be a bit high since coco is naturally high in potassium. Will be curious to see how it works out compared to the other two which are noticeably more balanced.
 
I'm thinking some of the pots might get set aside for a stronger dose of canna after they take off. 4-4-3 seems a bit weak, might need 2 of those a week to keep up with what the plants are capable of supporting, growth wise. Even doubling the weekly regimen will leave it 33% behind what I've been using without fert burn to this point on the passive hydro test plants. They've now taken full strength doses of 12-2-2 + cal mag without any issues whatsoever, no hint of root burn or fertilizer burn showing on the leaves. (That's 10 days from transplant, I'm already giving them 100% strength 12-2-2+calmag! As of 12 days (two since full strength) they are looking absolutely perfect)
 

 

[Chilidude]

 
Thanks for giving the dope on the bio nova mix, I looked and looked but couldn't find it's NPK value online so I ordered blind. The K portion of bio nova might be a bit high since coco is naturally high in potassium. Will be curious to see how it works out compared to the other two which are noticeably more balanced.
 
I'm thinking some of the pots might get set aside for a stronger dose of canna after they take off. 4-4-3 seems a bit weak, might need 2 of those a week to keep up with what the plants are capable of supporting, growth wise. Even doubling the weekly regimen will leave it 33% behind what I've been using without fert burn to this point on the passive hydro test plants. They've now taken full strength doses of 12-2-2 + cal mag without any issues whatsoever, no hint of root burn or fertilizer burn showing on the leaves. (That's 10 days from transplant, I'm already giving them 100% strength 12-2-2+calmag! As of 12 days (two since full strength) they are looking absolutely perfect)
 

 
Bio nova stuff should work fine for chili growing as they just love higher amount of potassium/Phosphorus and magnesium in the flowering/harvest time. Chilis are not something that need super precise values of different nutrients to make them produce great harvest in the end, just dont give them high amount of Nitrogen when they are ready to start flowering.
 
Too much nitrogen just makes the flowers drop and the chili will produce you bunch of green leaves for your efforts.

 

[TrentL]

 
Bio nova stuff should work fine for chili growing as they just love higher amount of potassium/Phosphorus and magnesium in the flowering/harvest time.

 
Yeah I figure on dumping out 0-10-10 or thereabouts through the drip irrigation when the time comes. Just not sure what form it's gonna take yet. Need to get my soil tests back before I have any idea of what I'm looking at for an irrigation /fertilizer schedule. That ground might be great.. or it might be in serious need of reconstitution that'll take years to get done right.

 

[TrentL]

The effects of fertilizer on seedlings. These are 1 month old Aji Cereza.
 
You can see in the left photo taken 3/9 that the plants are stalled out, yellow, leaves cupping upward very badly, cotys yellow and falling off.
 
The right photo was taken today. The front half of the tray got a hydro cocktail on 3/9. The back half got an organic cocktail yesterday around noon. Both cocktails received a 1ml/l dose of cal-mag. 
 

 
Both organic and inorganic of the tray are straightening out their leaves (magnesium is available now) and greening up.
 
Calmag works *very* quickly to straighten out magnesium deficiency; seeing spectacular results after just 30 hours.
 
 

 

[TrentL]

Three days of growth on the passive hydro test.
 
Left was 3/9/18, right was just taken today 3/12/18
 

 
You can see the failed organic experiments to the left and right are still holding on. They are starting to show signs of life since I finally felt bad for them on 3/9 and gave them the same dose of nutes as the passive hydro - I don't know if it's "too little too late" or if it's the high pH issue blocking nutes; probably both. That soil tested at 7.52 pH off of a 7.0 distilled water solution when mixed and left to rest for a few hours. So something is raising the pH still in those pots. They're still saturated, as well, which doesn't help, and leaves me with no options other than "repotting or waiting" - I am choosing to wait.
 
 
 
 

 

[TrentL]

Totally organic tomatoes, mix M (the one that stalled and has nearly killed peppers)
 
Left is 3/9 right is today, 3/12.
 
On 3/7 they got 1 oz liquid bone meal very weak concentration (1 tsp / half gal), and 2 ox of cal mag (50% strength)

That wasn't cutting it.  
 
On 3/8 they got 50% dose 2 oz of fish emulsion.
 
It just wasn't cutting it, either, they continued to yellow and grew appreciably slower than the hydro comparisons.
 
Yesterday I gave them a healthy 3oz dose of 5-11-1 organic fertilizer (liquid bone meal and liquid fish emulsion, 100% rated strength), mixed with a 100% dose of Great White mycorrhizae, plus cal mag.
 
NOW They're starting to green up where they were yellow, and continuing to grow.
 

 
 

 

[TrentL]

Will try not to jinx myself here, but the latest full organic transplants are actually kicking ass and taking names for a change. I *might* have it figured out finally.
 
Will post some pics with comparisons tomorrow, today was too busy.