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2023/2024, wiicek, Let's Make BalcoJungle!

Hi!
Oh, I love watching that kind of stuff...
I am not too experienced in growing peppers, I used to grow some tomatoes but since I moved out from my family house, I didn't have space to grow anything. I bought allotment garden (I think that's the word, english is not my native language) but I can't seem to find time to care about it full time from march to october, it's not as near my flat as I'd want it to be but maybe one year I will make my life a little bit less messy and take make it work.
Now I live in the apartment with a balcony, it is at western side and in the summer the heat is kinda out of control. I think it will do! Oh, I dream of the jungle here!

This year I bought some chillies from the supermarket and, as I often do, I put some seeds into the ground. Don't know the variety, but I have a picture.

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I don't have one with ripen peppers but it was red. One of them is actually orange, and one (or two - I don't know, it was not fruiting at the same time and I was constantly picking it) are sweet, also supermarket type - one is hanging on the bottom left there. It is 3 liters container and there is 6 of them in it, so harvest was small, but peppers beautiful and tasty. I ate a sauce made out of them already.

So, yea, I kinda wanted more, so, I picked some seeds, bought different types of chillies from supermarket again and gathered some seeds. I know I have a jalapeno, piri-piri and that's it from the names I know, but other than that I have 2 or 4 different types of hot ones (maybe cayenne and serrano) and one sweet one (on the picture), I don't remember if I sow a bell peppers also. I also found some ornamental ones and sow them too:

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The purple one died after I sprayed all of them with soap - aphids. Orange and yellow are still alive but aphids and soap made them look miserable... But they're coming right back!

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I don't know if I should take and shower them, they still have white stains from the soap and have sticky places from aphids. I still constantly get rid of them manually, it seems like there is always more to kill but less and less with every day. I do this daily or every other day now.

There are my seedlings!
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They were sow so long ago, from one to two months but they didn't have enought light to grow. I've had them under blue light (grow light with two flexible sticks) but it seemd like it was too weak for them, so I added one with threee sticks and it started to grow rapidly.
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After watering them and ordering them by height (and two days), the thingy looks like that:
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Yesterday I repotted guys from the first picture earler.

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It is 3 liters container and there were, ekhem, SEVEN of them in it! I dried them and made my first sauce (and from other chillies I bought for seeds then) and it was amazing! I think some of them are in my fermented sauce also. It was not a big harvest but yea, seven. I did use them good. One pepper is still hanging there, hah. It's a sweet one.
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The last one was starting to wilt one week ago, I took it out but it was too late. I had my hopes but it probably is not coming back.

So yea, I have a station with blue (and red turned off) light and above it two one-foot shells which I light up with four (two for each) 2k lumens, 4k kelvins light bulbs. It seems like too much for my eyes but plants like it.

I planted everything into special mix for special plants (Cana terra), they will love it, I'm sure. I water it without fertilizers right now but normally I have my hydroponics mix for tomatoes and for every liter of solution I add half a liter of water because I've read that peppers like less of it. I'm in the middle of making my nettle solution for nitrogen, so they will be happy. For now I let them eat what is in that rich mix.

I am making them a station but for now there is nothing to show.

I LOVE IT! Aphids can f*ck themselves (and they surely do,s all the time, but I am coming for their children with baking soda mix if it will be necessairy), I am rolling now and it's gonna be amazing!


Edit. Oh, I forgot.... I was feeling adventurous and didn't put any labels on my trays, so now it is all the mistery! I really think I was tired and stupid then but it is what it is now, lol.
I bought some Sugar Rush Stripey, Thunder Mountain Longhorn, Fatali Habanero, Aji: Lemon Drop, Pineapple and Melon; and El Oro Equador seeds! Forst three came and are in the mix now, Lemon came with 0 seeds, that was weird, I wrote to the shop but they didn't answer, I bought some more somewhere else.

Let's make BalcoJungle!
 
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I was doing some pictures today. It's a free day and weather kinda on a colder side, windy much but I love it like that. For the peppers not so good, this year it's really moody out here in Poland. Few days of hell, few stormy ones and then all around we go.

It's my first year in the jungle, so, for now I can only say that pods don't like it and rippening is way slower than I imagined.

But here is a squirrel!
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:hi:

They are rippening but some of them are on a branches for more than 40 days and it't like hitting 60 now. I'm talking about cayennes, they were first to have fruits and they just now are starting to get brown and red.

I did harvest two already tho. One is in a jar (I think it was only one, I don't remember already, there could be some green also) and one got yoinked today. Almost ready.

Jalapeno snapped on me yesterday.

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Yes, I have a yellow habanero! I didn't know that and I am positively surprised!

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Those I harvested couple of days ago:

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And here are some pictures of pods hanging there:

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I've added a watering system to some of them 😂😂😂

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And I don't know why but this Ramiro looks yellowish to me, but I'll know in the couple of days for sure:

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The yogurt bottles have holes and they water some of the pods where I couldn't put stands under (I don't know how it is called in english, I don't trust the word 'stand' here but I am talking about that thing holding water under the pod) because hangers were too long and I had to put them through the pods in may.

Peppers in a hanging pods are constantly dry and watering them is kinda long - waterproof ground makes water go through it, I have to do it very slowly. I didn't get to buy any watering system yet so, the bottles.


This one has not enough sun because of the pergola. I will have to do something about that next year. And some holes starting to appear.
I've noticed trhem only in Aribibi Chocolates all around the balcony. I think I have beettles.
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My beautiful black molten!
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And her babies!

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And my inside bunch with basil next to it!
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I've had some problems with them.

First of all, the aphids inside are very annoying. I did spray them few times already with some eco friendly spray but they seem to always come back. I did that yesterday the last time, maybe it'll work this time. I mean, the thing works, I think I am just not as constant with this as I should.

Second, the solution had to be bad one time - I did have them outside for couple of days and it might catch some rain then, because for month or two they didn't dring much and didn't grow. When I refilled it they exploded with new leaves and now some flowers.
I love how Fluorescent goes more into white inside and to purple outside.

I wasn't so good to them but I hope now after two refills already they will show me some amazing growth. I try to empty the bucked before refilling them, I didn't do this the last time but I hear it's suppose to happen every now and then but don't need to every time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


So, yea, I have some more knowledge now and new ideas.

The thing is to get them to grow more before taking outside the next year. Let them get that root base and nice long stem before.
So, I will overwinter few of them somehow and germinate some different varieties you saw seeds already. I think I need some sweet ones too because when browsing for peppers and buying them on the internet I can't think straight but for the next year Ramiro will have to do.

I will be repotting them every month or two into bigger pots as I mentioned before and let their roots go out of the last one into solution, so till may they will be really nice and ready.

That's the plan. The only one which got kinda that treatment is the cayenne with dozens of fruits hanging there from jun. It is over two months tho and I don't know if that's because of the variety or something else but i'll know the next year.

This one (the picture is from before because I can't go in there now and catch the right angle, it's hanging down and under the balcony a little):


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For now tho, it is not the end! Second jar is waiting! There is more tomatoes than chillies but they are getting up to speed. Maybe I'll have two jars soon.



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Heyaaaah!

It's the last week of August, isn't it weird?

Aribibi in the biggest pod is being ridiculous but next year it will be so so SOOOO READY. 😭
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Black Molten is a little bit faster but not much. Few pods are hanging there, the most wrinkly here.
That means do not eat, right? I won't be trying those for sure. But they will look cool and probably do some awesome sauce and powder!
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Aribibi chocolates in the 20l one have some really big pods! That is incredible!
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Sugar Rush Stripey looks cooler now, pods are bigger so it looks more crowded there.
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And Peach! Look at that colors! I am thinking about harvesting some but I am scared to do it too early and don't know if mixing them with others in sauces is a good idea, what to do otherwise etc. I AM NOT READY!
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She is beautiful tho.


Wild Brasil looks kinda cool too.
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Dorset Naga is rippening weirdly now. It was doing it pod or two at a time, I was harvesting them every other day or so but now she is doing it more at a time but only party and I feel like I can't harvest them but by not doing it she takes more time.... I think she has different idea about all of that than I have.
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And an eggplant did something. Finally. Gosh.
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Ok, I have harvested plenty of them now. I think I'd have for one 4 liter jar I bought last year.
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Some of them are still not fully rippen but I don't know if that matters.
I have a plate full of mini tomatoes and two bigger red-blackish ones.

Would the taste be great if I mixed all of them together or is it not a great idea? I don't know. I'm a little scared to do this but how would I know if not by experimenting?

Experimenting on smaller samples, you say? Oh. Who would use the 4 liter jar then!?!?!?@?

Pff.
 
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hey friend! since you asked "what will i do with my sugar rush peach peppers"...

from experience, the SRP is very (yummy but also) neutral in flavour, so i think you can definitely use it anywhere in combination with other hot peppers. to me it is like the taste you'd get from a yellow/orange bell pepper but of course with a good "low-level" heat to it.

i personally like this because it is in no way "offensive" in flavour, compared to the way jalapenos have that sharp zing and habanero has like a strong sweet tartness or floral perfuminess to it, or called by some as just simply "the chinense flavour".

MELLOW would be a very apt description of the taste of SRP, but the heat level is above jalapeno/serrano (uneducated guess around 10k) so it still packs enough punch to be "very spicy" to normies and "solid mild heat" to us crazy chileheads.

i said elsewhere on the forum i feel like it would perform well used fresh on a burger/pizza, as an ingredient in salsa, or even better in a salad due to that bell-like taste when raw. i could also see it being nice pickled for on sub sandwiches, burgers, nachos, etc.


but of course if hot sauce is your aim, i feel it's actually also a good choice for that, as the large and numerous pods this variety produces can add a good amount of mass/volume to your sauce without clashing or altering the flavour profile of your main ingredients, and meanwhile still contributing a decent bit of heat so it's less "diluted" than if you used a bell or other mild pepper to stretch your yield.


hope that helps, although i now realize after all that, i actually did the opposite of narrowing down how/where to use it lol

-GyO

EDIT - heck, just realized it might even be good blended up into a smoothie or cocktail.

especially the canadian favourite, the caesar, used instead of or as well as the popular addition of tabasco sauce.
 
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Thank you! That adds to my knowledge a lot, I think I would like peach but habaneros can be a lttle off for my taste buds with that floral hint...

I know should try some of them first and decide what to do next, but I'm scared and love the process more anyway :rolleyes:

But maybe. There is time!

I think I will pick some of those more colored peaches today.


Todays:
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I didn't pick peaches that day but I did yesterday...
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And then I washed all 1884g of my recent harvests...
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And made this!

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I will say that I have spots on my hands still burning 25 and more hours after and I kinda like it. Shhhhh.

I have plenty of jars to made for my coworkers already and peppers I will not overwinter to give away after a season.

I try really hard not to overexpress my pepper crazyness but sometimes it just happens.
 

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Ah, and I tasted the Peaches and I really like them. 🥰

Habaneros did smell kinda soapy and Dorset Nagas... metalic? I don't know, that was the word in my mind every time I smelled them.

I always try to use some of old brine or mix some from other current ferments to make that bacteria stronger and faster and when I opened the jar today, it smells like them. I think Dorset Naga the most.

Will see what happens next!
 
It's hard to do updates as before, because now it is about pods ripening and not us much about bush growing...

OR IS IT?!

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I kinda wanna see how close to ceiling they can get, hah.

Aribibi still doesnt have any flower opening, but it got so bushy...
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And Black Molten with those hanging scary droplets, there is so many of them!
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PJ Ice is having some too...
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Sugar Rush Stripey getting some colors...
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They have those black spots where the pod's wall is too thin, I thought it is blossom end root and maybe it was but I gave them calcium few times so I don't know how would they get deficiency and the spots are only on two maybe three thin pods.


Few random pictures!
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Overall look!
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The Eggplant! And some beans...
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And SOME BEANS!
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I didn't know what it is but I can see now that when I bought Passoflora's sapling I also bought passiflora's seeds somewhat at the same time. And this one sprouted!
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Also, I did germinate few Fatalis but then I killed all of them somehow in May and...
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Either somehow I didn't or it is something else. It can be Fatali or Lemon Drop.

Aaaand Jalapeno is starting to ripe, FINALLY.
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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So... there is less and less pods on some of cayennes and ramiros and everything, chinenses have so much but not an infiniti amounts, aaaahhhhh....

But still, few kilos to harvest, plenty jars to do.

Can't wait to see OWs next year. I'm excited.


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Don't look at labels, my mom did those. 😂
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I'd have more seeds by now but I procrastinated gathering them, don't know why, IT'S SEPTEMBER BEHIND THE... omg, it's tomorrow.




~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Late edit.

Oh, and 20l pot Aribibi is starting to ripe! Exciting! I hear the brown pods are nasty...
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3 more jars!

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Big one exploded again (I don't mean glass everywhere but I do mean brine everywhere).

I forgot to add ginger to the last batch... I think I will later on but maybe I should just try one without?

I want to add some carrots to the next one.

Onions is a nono for me, they are too strong, in any amounts. Taste is always oniony and my taste buds can't find anything else.

I have to buy some fresh tumeric also. Maybe thyme plant. Oh, and I have basil, do they ferment well? So much to learn!

I know I should make posts once every week with all of progress at once but it's easier and more exciting like that.
 
Hmm. Do brown peppers ripen to red and then to brown?

I think my Aribibi is a Habanero.
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That would mean, I have only one Aribibi Chocolate and it will probably have no fruits this year. I think I did have some habanero seeds but thought nothing sprouted. It seems so many sprouted I have them in few smaller pots BECAUSE I WANTED SO MANY ARIBIBIS!

I replaced THE REAL ONE with Sugar Rush Peach, I thought she need more sun. We will see.

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I hope Stripey will not suffer from lack of light, it is spread more towards it than Aribibi was in this place anyway.

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It's raining all day and tomorrow will be 14 Celsius. W. T. F.
...
...

My harvest today (I didn't pick anything for 5 days! I think...)
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And from days before... They've had so much time to fully ripen!

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I would add Red Habaneros to it and it would be so so much more but I would love to know if there would already be some brown there if that was Aribibi. I don't think they would all ripen red before.

I don't remember but the variety I bought might have look like habanero... but maybe little alongated? Ayyy... I wanna pick them.

SO BIG THO.
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Black Moltens won't be that big but there are plenty more and still flowering.

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Fatali is getting them bigger than I thought and also having plenty of pods already...
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And Wild Brasil, it's yellow and don't want to let go of fruits so I won't use force, maybe they're not ready yet...
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Almost forgot about Yellow Bell Pepper. The One and Only in really tiny pod.
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Dorset Nagas are almost all cleared, bigger one is showing flowers again already. One season is almost over and no other shows it only DN.

I dont know how long the season will go on, IT'S 14 CELSIUS TOMORROW WTF.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I did eastern ledge trial, few bell peppers, jalapeno and two volunteer tomatoes in one long pot (I don't know how you call them). That was sometime at the end of june maybe, so way too long in the season, but look...
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I think eastern morning light is so much better (for bell pepper at least) than that hot bastard in the afternoon.

I will have more next year, lol.


And if I'm showing everything already, look, I bought some toys...
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I've put there some small peppers of course. I know it is way too much plants in each one of them but it is trial run and I ALREADY LOVE IT.

SO MUCH MONEY.

But they look so cute and lovely and I started talking to plants now. I love them.
 
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Oh, and I found those in the supermarket today:

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So, I really don't know what will I grow next year but I was looking for some sweet ones so now I have those and Ramiro. And maybe Bell. I am not glad about them, I harvested two or three, one is on a plant. Four small ones is not so fun. Ramiros have way more.
 
Ok, Dancing Italia
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FV
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And few others, I apparently forgot...
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Abundance of Ramiros and one Jalapeno. Two Ramiros on the plant are really... squeezable, I think they are rotten inside but outsides are still not as dark as those I harvested... I will wait few days and see what will happen with them.


And one Ramiro still green is a a fruit of Ramiro x Jalapeno. I pollinated it with SR Peach and then next day fucked up and did Jalapeno instead. So, we all know it will be Jalapenos polen which did the job.


I did few other projects but nothing took. I cut some saplings and wait for roots to show, I will mix them in tiny pots to have better control and faster progress.

I think that's it for today. I will do some jars later or tomorrow.

:metal: :onfire::woohoo::woohoo::woohoo::woohoo::woohoo::woohoo::woohoo::woohoo::seeya:
 
Oh, no, NOW I REMEMBER.

They were not meant to be Aribibis. They were mistaken for en EGGPLANT. Because en EGGPLANT WAS MISTAKEN FOR FLUFFY HABANERO.

Oh, My, God.

They are Habaneros.

...

My memory is being hacked. I knew we are in a simulation.

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Five big scary beauties.

Now it's finished. I was talking to you about them for few hours, walking dogs somewhat in between posts and getting mad because I thought I lost everything at one time.

And my shopping is still thrown in the kitchen waiting to be segregated.

Have an amazing day or evening or really crazy fun dreams.

<3

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