2019 Hay Bale Pepper Patch

I've been a member for a while but never posted a grow log. My usual garden is too boring for that. I use 20-30 pots and overwinter my mama plants in a hillbilly winter shelter. Our ground here isn't good for in soil gardening and I've not been enthused enough to undertake the work and expense to build raised beds.
 
Now I have my peppers working the way I want and have the need for a much larger grow to supply a project. The main peppers I'll grow will be reaper, douglah and fatalii. For a couple of years I'll do hay bale gardens and heap tons of organic trash into the area. I have monumental amounts of pine straw, oak leaves and bonfire ash every year to dump in the walkways. I think this will do a world of good to make this new garden area mo'betta for eventual in ground growing.
 
I closed off a 38x38 patch in the NE field that gets full sun. This is the area I chose. The big painted guy is my fertilizer supplier.
 
The little painted guy is my running buddy and load inspector.
 
 

 

[DWB]

96° and 60% here right now at 4:30 PM. I'm laying low today.

 

[DWB]

 
 Man, that must be another level of muggy down in that wet jungle when the temps are soaring.

 
This is far above my pay grade but I wonder if my little piece of jungle is acting like some kind of freaky little miniature rain forest and supporting itself by sucking moisture out of the air? Not a drop of rain in two weeks but the plants are doing great. Most nights and mornings, the humidity is bumping on 100%. When I took this picture shortly after 9 AM, it was still 92% and the plants were still dripping wet all the way through while no other plants or  trees in the yard were like this.
 

 

[BDASPNY]

its witchcraft!  they're creating their own water!

 

[Mr.joe]

How deep is ground water in your area?

 

[CaneDog]

This is far above my pay grade but I wonder if my little piece of jungle is acting like some kind of freaky little miniature rain forest and supporting itself by sucking moisture out of the air? Not a drop of rain in two weeks but the plants are doing great. Most nights and mornings, the humidity is bumping on 100%. When I took this picture shortly after 9 AM, it was still 92% and the plants were still dripping wet all the way through while no other plants or  trees in the yard were like this.
 

 
That wouldn't surprise me.  On a smaller scale, I have a fairly densely planted raised bed of Chinense that needs surprisingly little water later in the season (once the roots have settled in and a dense canopy covers the bed) after needing water regularly early on. This despite that it's cooler and wetter early in the season and hotter/drier later - plus the plants are much larger then, so should have greater water needs. Other less densely planted areas can be bone dry, yet the soil surface in that bed will still be dark with moisture in many spots.  The plants seem to love that environment too.
 
I've assumed it becomes such a humid environment that evaporation from the ground is greatly reduced and probably also leaf transpiration within the canopy, but hadn't really thought about them taking moisture from the air. throw all those ideas together and it definitely seems like a scenario where any water present is maintained well and used efficiently.
 
Anyhow, there's one thing I can say with certainty, it sure makes things a lot easier not having to water all the time!

 

[DWB]

its witchcraft!  they're creating their own water!

 
Maybe
 

How deep is ground water in your area?

 
Not sure. Our well is 40-something feet deep. The deepest holes I've dug here were 6' and in the summer. Never struck water but I'm sure there's good soil moisture close to the surface. Our Pensacola Bahia grass has very deep roots while the centipedegrass has a shallow root system. Even with no rain for two weeks, both grasses are still growing like the weeds.
 
OTOH, the water table at our river property is so high sometimes it's at the surface. You can dig a shallow well with a tin can. That place is 6 miles crowfly and 150' downhill from here.
 

 
That wouldn't surprise me.  On a smaller scale, I have a fairly densely planted raised bed of Chinense that needs surprisingly little water later in the season (once the roots have settled in and a dense canopy covers the bed) after needing water regularly early on. This despite that it's cooler and wetter early in the season and hotter/drier later - plus the plants are much larger then, so should have greater water needs. Other less densely planted areas can be bone dry, yet the soil surface in that bed will still be dark with moisture in many spots.  The plants seem to love that environment too.
 
I've assumed it becomes such a humid environment that evaporation from the ground is greatly reduced and probably also leaf transpiration within the canopy, but hadn't really thought about them taking moisture from the air. throw all those ideas together and it definitely seems like a scenario where any water present is maintained well and used efficiently.
 
Anyhow, there's one thing I can say with certainty, it sure makes things a lot easier not having to water all the time!

 
Thanks for the insights CD. I've not considered these plants able to thrive on atmospheric moisture that collects in the jungle but I suppose stranger things have happened. Foliar irrigation? Regardless, it's a fascinating little microclimate and becomes more fascinating the more I pay attention to things. I sure am glad I started this grow log to document all the weirdness.

 

[stettoman]

 
 
... Our well is 40-something feet deep. ...

 
Cryinoutloud, you dig that by hand?
 
Ours is 480 ft.
 
Ridiculous, yes. Until one takes the groundwater analysis into consideration. We're in CORPORATE farm country, they don't till acreage, they till sq. miles. Fert usage is heavy, and so is crop rotation. Many many different chems are broadcast around here, not to mention metric tonnage of turkey and bovine (and yes, human) fecal compost. There are days it's best to go visit the relatives at the lake for the smell. 
 
Around the end of July the crop dusters get busy with the salt water to kill the wheat, again at the end of August to kill the soybeans. All this stuff accumulates somewhere...mostly down below.
 
So we went to 480 ft. to find some clean water...The state comes around every couple years to make sure it's drinkable....

 

[Mr.joe]

 
Cryinoutloud, you dig that by hand?
 
Ours is 480 ft.
 
Ridiculous, yes. Until one takes the groundwater analysis into consideration. We're in CORPORATE farm country, they don't till acreage, they till sq. miles. Fert usage is heavy, and so is crop rotation. Many many different chems are broadcast around here, not to mention metric tonnage of turkey and bovine (and yes, human) fecal compost. There are days it's best to go visit the relatives at the lake for the smell. 
 
Around the end of July the crop dusters get busy with the salt water to kill the wheat, again at the end of August to kill the soybeans. All this stuff accumulates somewhere...mostly down below.
 
So we went to 480 ft. to find some clean water...The state comes around every couple years to make sure it's drinkable....

480 foot is deep. All those commercial farms can definitely pollute the water. I don't have any of that around me and I still sent a water sample to test just for my own curiosity.

 

[DWB]

 
Cryinoutloud, you dig that by hand?
 
Ours is 480 ft.
 

 
Dang Eric, I sure am glad I didn't have to pay for that one. Is it a 4" well, too?
 
The good ground water around here isn't very deep. The well at the Styx River property is only 35' deep. I never can remember those things but I had the well pulled in the summer to change the jet. I'm surprised every time that happens. Man, it must be an ordeal to do any work on your well.

 

[stettoman]

480 foot is deep. All those commercial farms can definitely pollute the water. I don't have any of that around me and I still sent a water sample to test just for my own curiosity.

 
 

 
Dang Eric, I sure am glad I didn't have to pay for that one. Is it a 4" well, too?
 
The good ground water around here isn't very deep. The well at the Styx River property is only 35' deep. I never can remember those things but I had the well pulled in the summer to change the jet. I'm surprised every time that happens. Man, it must be an ordeal to do any work on your well.

 
Ours is 10 years old last June. No issues so far, but now that I said that...
 
We dug it as the original 1950s era 300 foot well was condemned for traces of microbiologicals and typical farm runoff. How many years of farming does it take for that shit to seep 300 feet? I dunno when large scale fertilization started around here, but the farms started around 1870 when the Indian tribe started selling the land to Monsanto... : (ok, that was a local "funny" the farmers like to tell each other)... 

 

[DWB]

The jungle was dripping wet this morning, as usual, but with no rain realistically expected until next week, I'm getting paranoid.  Time to start giving them a little extra since it's painless.
 

 

[BDASPNY]

nice watering setup.
 
 
so the real question is how wet will it be the next morning?

 

[DWB]

nice watering setup.
 
 
so the real question is how wet will it be the next morning?

 
I ran it 20 minutes today and actually wet the floor a little bit.
 

 

[DWB]

nice watering setup.
 
 
so the real question is how wet will it be the next morning?

 
This is the first double tap in a while.
 

 

[BDASPNY]

 
I ran it 20 minutes today and actually wet the floor a little bit.
 

 
 
interested to see if its even more wet this morning. 
 
 
I imagine the roots on those plants must be at least as long as they are tall..  they've got to of found a water source in the ground.

 

[DWB]

 
 
interested to see if its even more wet this morning. 
 
 
I imagine the roots on those plants must be at least as long as they are tall..  they've got to of found a water source in the ground.

 
A bit earlier this morning. The humidity is 92% The grass is still wet and some of the trees are damp.
 
The jungle plants are much drippier this morning and the floor is wetter than yesterday afternoon. I can hear dripping today.
 
No changes in plant appearance due to the watering yesterday.
 
I agree. These plants must have massive root systems. This could be a really good thing. A Rooto-tiller working the land
 

 

 

[BDASPNY]

 
A bit earlier this morning. The humidity is 92% The grass is still wet and some of the trees are damp.
 
The jungle plants are much drippier this morning and the floor is wetter than yesterday afternoon. I can hear dripping today.
 
No changes in plant appearance due to the watering yesterday.
 
I agree. These plants must have massive root systems. This could be a really good thing. A Rooto-tiller working the land
 

 

 
very interesting. need some documentation and science data  to see what's going on for the how and why.
 
im sure the roots are tenderizing the ground below. lol   do your plants die in winter?

 

[stettoman]

My peppers, when planted in the 8th acre, quit needing any watering from me after the middle of July. I absolutely attribute that to deep root systems, same goes for my tomatoes.
 
This summer we're getting 1.5"--plus per month of rain, so deep roots aren't necessary, but I'm not growing anything in the 8th acre this year...

 

[DWB]

 
very interesting. need some documentation and science data  to see what's going on for the how and why.
 
im sure the roots are tenderizing the ground below. lol   do your plants die in winter?

 
I typically grow ±30 pots, cut the plants and pot size way back and store them in the hillbilly winter shelter until spring. Last year I kept them under frost covers until Jan 15 before doing the big hack job..
 
I haven't planted in the ground out here for nearly 20 years.
 
 

My peppers, when planted in the 8th acre, quit needing any watering from me after the middle of July. I absolutely attribute that to deep root systems, same goes for my tomatoes.
 
This summer we're getting 1.5"--plus per month of rain, so deep roots aren't necessary, but I'm not growing anything in the 8th acre this year...

 
That's not much rain. Last year we got over 100". This year so far, 40"

 

[Mr.joe]

I went 4 days without water and plants looked fine still. It has rained one time (for just a couple minutes) since plant out. My plants are tiny compared to yours the largest ones probably not much over 3 foot tall. My potted plants look suicidal if they go one day without water.Your plants could probably finish the season without any more water.