2019 - The Farm

PaulG · Feb 27, 2019

You can add my name to that list!

There are some great varieties growing there, Trent!

TrentL · Feb 28, 2019

PaulG said:
Trent, is it too late for you to start more Rocotos?
I could send you bunch of Red Rocoto seeds if
you like. With your barn, you might be able to make
it hang on long enough to ripen up pods. They are
big and Red!

Yeah probably way too late, if I was going to do rocotos they would have gone in back in early January. That's when I seeded those first ones. If I start them now, there's nearly zero chance of getting any ripe pods, they just take way too damn long. I don't want to risk bringing pests indoors w/ overwinters. Need to keep the indoor grow areas as sterile as I can, if they get aphids / etc I'm uber-fooked.

TrentL · Feb 28, 2019

Although, I *can* start a rocoto indoors and try swapping out bloom lights when it gets big enough. It's not like I have a shortage of indoor lights. I wouldn't mind growing one for seed and for pepper-head-friend only add-ons. They'd be ripe right about the time I'm doing seed harvesting if I started 'em now.

If anyone wants me to toss some seeds in, just shoot me a PM and I'll send my addy. I don't mind taking on the challenge of trying to grow the most notoriously difficult pepper 100% indoors, to maturity.

Worst case is I'll cut it back next winter and stick it in the high tunnel early next spring and have a hell of a head start on next year.

TrentL · Feb 28, 2019

Ruid said:
All I know is that with that grow list, I'll be checking his website at harvest time. If not for Trent, I wouldn't know the taste of a Scotch Bonnet.

This year will be super nuts. Last year was just the warm up lap.

m1hagen said:
Same here, would've never had a chance to try several things he sent me. I will be ordering again this year for sure.

Heck I could send out a package a week to anyone this year and not run out of new pods to try.

Should start a subscription service lol. Like those cheese club things, where you get a different package of different cheeses every week.

Closing in on the halfway point for chinense pot-ups. Have capacity for 3240, topped 1500 tonight.

Walchit · Feb 28, 2019

Makes my 450 plants seem like a small grow

TrentL · Feb 28, 2019

Walchit said:
Makes my 450 plants seem like a small grow

There's many a day I wish I had a small grow.

So tired of transplanting. There's no shortcuts unless you spent huge money on equipment for pot fillers, drills, etc, and even then there'll be the human element.

Nope, it's the same for everyone, man, every plant gets touched and there's really no shortcuts to speak of. Every pot needs labeled. Seedlings need selected for desired traits (especially since all the seeds we got from everyone are open pollinated, you can spot some crosses right away and discard them).

It's just grueling all the way around.

PaulG · Feb 28, 2019

Grueling, but so rewarding, Trent! Your grow
log is a treasure trove of information and

how-to's.

I wish you all the best going forward.

TrentL said:
Although, I *can* start a rocoto indoors and try swapping out bloom lights when it gets big enough. It's not like I have a shortage of indoor lights. I wouldn't mind growing one for seed and for pepper-head-friend only add-ons. They'd be ripe right about the time I'm doing seed harvesting if I started 'em now.

If anyone wants me to toss some seeds in, just shoot me a PM and I'll send my addy. I don't mind taking on the challenge of trying to grow the most notoriously difficult pepper 100% indoors, to maturity.

PM sent, Trent.
:point:

Walchit said:
Makes my 450 plants seem like a small grow

Yeah, take that, Andy

Ruid · Feb 28, 2019

Speaking of transplanting, will we be able to get new stomachs after we all f*ck up our current ones?

PtMD989 · Feb 28, 2019

You are busier than, a 1 legged man in a ass kicking contest [emoji16]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

TrentL · Mar 2, 2019

Will be a short delay responding to PM's and I have one seed order I didn't get out today that I wanted to. Was in the hospital last night with my grandmother, they were planning on bringing her home to hospice today and I sat up there all night with my aunt and my son so she had family close by. This morning came, and the doc decided she was too unstable to transport home, so stuck around longer. She passed away this afternoon at 2:15, surrounded by family.

Anyway things are a bit screwed up, wife has briefly taken over maintenance of plants, I'll be back to get business side going again early next week.

PtMD989 · Mar 2, 2019

Sorry for your loss.

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DWB · Mar 2, 2019

Sorry Trent. Losing close family is awful. We lost two last year but they were also surrounded by family. That has to be the best way to go.

m1hagen · Mar 2, 2019

Sorry for your loss Trent, may she rest in peace.

tsurrie · Mar 3, 2019

Sorry for your loss Trent. Good she had the loved ones by her side, that means a lot to the ones passing, I guess.

BDASPNY · Mar 3, 2019

sorry for your loss. I lost my granny a few years back a year after her stroke. I know how awful it can feel.

its good yours was surrounded by her family during that time.

Zippy · Mar 3, 2019

Sorry for your loss Trent. Take all the time you need and come back when you are ready.

saiias · Mar 3, 2019

Sorry for your loss Trent.

Sent from my S9

TrentL · Mar 3, 2019

Thanks folks, appreciate it. I'm in big trouble with regards to the timeline at the farm now, and it'll get worse with days off for shuttling family around that's coming in from out of state for the visitation and funeral Thurs / Friday.

I'm going to be pouring on some long hours to try to catch up (if that's even possible at this point) so might not be some updates for a while, after today's update.

I'm uploading some pics I took yesterday when watering plants right now, it's amazing the difference in size between the ones I transplanted 2/8 vs. 2/28... looked like they were busy doing nothing then BOOM, raced ahead of all of the others I've transplanted since. Not sure if that's because of the soil (the biggest ones are in last year's potting soil mix), or the head start, or both. I'll know in a couple weeks if the others are going to catch up and keep pace.

I need to do a controlled experiment on transplant age vs. production, might do that with the annuums since it won't take any extra time or work, and they'll all be in the same soil mix so it'll be easy to track.

Photos will be inbound shortly

TrentL · Mar 3, 2019

Some specimens of the 2018 graveyard dirt transplants. These were done early, only 45 plants were transplanted, they have done fantastic so far. This soil mix was 100% fatal to plants in 2018.

You'll easily be able to see those and their cohorts again, sporadically, in side by side comparisons to later transplants, in the pictures to follow. Hard to miss 'em.

Big Sun Habanero;

Freeport orange scotch bonnets;

MOA scotch bonnets; these were brought out before I realized there was an iron problem, so mostly stunted and dying; the group on the left keeps shrinking as we cull dead plants. The rest of the plants was brought out after we purged the well.

Caribbean Red Habanero; mix G (there will be another batch of mix H yet to come)

Aside from some specimens which are now clearly showing signs of being crossed up with something (some annuum features, or weird development) they're all very healthy and happy. Going to be interesting to see what sorts of oddballs I get out of them. Going to be a lot of "Red Habanero x ????" tags next year I think if any of the mutant pods are tasty.

Butch T's and a few different Reaper hybrids

TrentL · Mar 3, 2019

Reapers; most were brought out before the well prob was resolved, very stunted;

Moruga Scorpion x Reaper

Various 7-pot crosses

Several different types of Habaneros

7-pot brainstrain; some were from earlier soil tests, some just transplanted

Scotch Brains (from scott)

Various ultra-hot crosses

Some random annuums (Matay, machu pichu), and some ultrahots

Various ultrahot crosses

7-pot primo

Waiting in limbo for Mix H to get mixed up for a comparison test; primo, brainstrain, some scotch bonnets

I have a pretty good day/night temp swing, keeping the heaters downstairs set at 50F - most heat is now supplied by the lights.

That's it for today