3/5King's 2013 ZING!-Peppin' Ain't Easy 2.0 "If The Boat's a Rockin'....."

we're still Alive!.....now let's get back to growing peppers.




So I decided to start Peppin' Ain't Easy 2.0 instead of continuing last year’s Glog. This way everything can stay nice and tidy.

If you want to see my shenanigans from last season, CLICK http://thehotpepper....sy35kings-2012/



I’m excited…the season is upon us! (Well except for those that live on the other side of the hemisphere; you bastards have been growing for months!)(Mezo…lol)

Let’s see, where to start….well, I hope everyone’s year is starting out right. I know everyone’s year can’t be going well, so a prayer will go out to all of you that are having a not so good 2013. Me…I’m alive and still ambitious, so I’ll be alright.

On to the plants; well, I started some plants back in November…here I was being hopeful to the extreme..thinking I would have some nice plants to give away around Christmas or the new year….that was my first mistake circa 2013..

I did something wrong (like usual) listed below will be the list of seeds I started and what my setup consists of....(Like it says above…peppin’ ain’t easy)

Seeds 2013 (started Nov. 17, 2012)

Carolina Reaper
Bubble Gum 7pot
Explosive Ember
FireCracker
Red Missle
Purple Puru
Orange Starbust
Cappezoli
Brazilian Starfish

More coming…


Soil

Pro-Mix Organic with sea based compost

Nutrients

General Organics-Bio Thrive (gave first feeding at around 60 days old)

Grow Box/Light Setup

5- 6500 Kelvin 2750 Lumen 1- 2700 Kelvin 2750 Lumen (CFL’s) (Total: 16,500 Lumens)

5- Square foot growing area

Sides and roof lined with mylar bubble wrap (Like the stuff you line your basements with for insulation)

Plants are 4-10 Inches away from lights (depending on how big they are)

Bottom Watered

Foliar fed with bio thrive (every two to three days)


Side Note: (I did water the plants at about 30 days with the used water from my fish tank. I used this water for about 2 weeks and then went back to regular water for awhile)

Temps- 80-90 Degrees




So there you have it, this is the start to my 2012/13 season. Now to get on to the hiccups along the way…dang I forgot to mention the overwinter…I’ll get to that debacle in a minute.

Problems encountered; The plants started growing fine but as they got older, they just randomly dropping leaves (although it seems that the leaves that drop are the older leaves) Not from the bottom up or the top down, just random. Sometimes they drop when they are green, sometimes they drop after they have yellowed and some…some even just shrivel up and die on the plant..lol. This is a funky situation.

Also a lot of the plants seem to be stuck…like the plants look like they are getting older (stems getting thicker, mature leaves) but they aren’t really growing in size anymore. Now I can say that they A. Should have enough light at 3300 lumens a square foot B. Maybe they are too close or not close enough to the light.


My thoughts about the leaf drop: Possible that they are A. Getting too little of light (which shouldn’t be the case) B. They are getting burnt by hot spots from the bubble mylar or C. I have no idea…



Well, if you have any input or ideas as to why my situation is bucked up, please feel free to inform me.

Now for my overwinter; I brought in one Moruga for the winter. When I brought it in, it was thriving. New growth was popping up left and right. It was growing fast, so I asked Pepperguru what I should do. He told me I could just clip it like a bonsai tree. Well…the plant had shot a lot of branched out of the main trunk, before the split. So I cut most of those branches that had shot out, off and left all of the foliage above the first main split. After I did that, the plant didn’t do so well anymore. There really wasn’t anymore new growth and what was there although did get bigger, started to die and drop leaves. As well, the branches started to die from the top down. So I cut them back….everything started dying back more…so I cut it back more. Then one of my last (new) green branches had a dead leaf on it, so I went to pull it off and with barely any pressure, the whole branch pulled right off the plant! Hahahaha…I laughed so hard and then immediately used some cutting gel and stuck it in some soil. The pics you see below are what’s left…..ah haha, It makes me laugh so hard.

So there you have it. I know this was/is a lot to read but I wanted to be thorough lol. This way everyone’s questions are answered before they are asked and you all get an idea of where I’m at and what it took to get here.

LET THE GAMES BEGIN 2013!! Now for the pics..


SOME LEAVES THAT DROPPED

ORANGE STARBURST

CAROLINA REAPER

EXPLOSIVE EMBER

ORANGE STARBURST

BUBBLEGUM 7

INDOOR GROW

INDOOR GROW

MORUGA OVERWINTER

MORUGA CUTTING

 

[KiNGDeNNiZ]

Been away fromTHP. Great updates. Happy bithday as stay fit.


P-son. I have bubblegum seeds if you like

 

[Pulpiteer]

 
First time I've used that emoticon. 
That's how special this birthday wish is.
 
Hope you have a good one!

 

[3/5King]

Happy B-Day sir. Hope all is well with you. Still on the fitness program?

Hey P Sizzle! Thank you. Yes sir, I have my first half marathon on Oct. 26th that I'm training for. Things are good, just been super busy....errr, lazy....lol I've been creeping the forums. Hope all is well with you!

Been away fromTHP. Great updates. Happy bithday as stay fit.

Thanks KD!

P-son. I have bubblegum seeds if you like

 
First time I've used that emoticon. 
That's how special this birthday wish is.
 
Hope you have a good one!

Lol, I am honored Pulpy! Thank you!

Birthday was good. Stuffed my face and hung out with family.
I'll try and sneak an update in here after a couple days. Got some pics to take.

 

[PaulG]

Happy Birthday David!  You and the garden are lookin' good - kudos all around!
The Tea Barrel is over the top, for sure, but how convenient; how many plants
you wind up with anyway?  Looks like a banner season for you, buddy!  Keep up
the good work!

 

[Devv]

Happy B-Day!
 
Hope the day was special!

 

[3/5King]

Happy Birthday David!  You and the garden are lookin' good - kudos all around!
The Tea Barrel is over the top, for sure, but how convenient; how many plants
you wind up with anyway?  Looks like a banner season for you, buddy!  Keep up
the good work!

 
Hey Pauly! Thank you! The tea barrel is awesome, it worked out perfectly and will get tons of use next year. We are going to integrate rain water into the picture next season. I ended up between my garden and my friend and I's about 40 plants. Definitely a better year, we probably picked around 300% More peppers with less plants. 

Happy B-Day!
 
Hope the day was special!

 
Hi Devv! Thank you, it was a very special day and the festivities continue today!
Alright everyone, I have been away-ish for awhile. I've been lurking but not posting. I don't know why, I think my mind has just been filled with other things and I got super lazy. Still creeping everyone's grows and what not though. I wanted to give a little update as it is coming to the end of the season. Hoping to get one more pull before the weather says "F-YOU" to the garden. 
 
Garden did immensely better than last year. We've had probably a 300% or better haul this year. The overwinters didn't do so well though, they all produced way less than last year and didn't get any bigger. I have no idea why. I'm trying to decide if I should bring them back in for the winter or if they will never get any better and I should start over with new plants?? I'd like to have 3rd year plants next year but I also don't have a lot of space to spend on plants that aren't producing much peppers. Decisions, decisions....lol
 
As for the fitness adventures, I am finishing up my training for my first half marathon on October 26th, then I'm taking a few months off the feet. I've been having issues with my right foot, so I need to see if it will start feeling normal again lol. I'll probably get some miles back in on the bike as it's fell to the way side in preparation for the Half. Things are going well though. A few more pounds to an almost 100lb loss. Just another 60 to go.....peanuts...lol
 
Alright, here's some pics, only a few as I've been lazy with the lens too....
 
 
THE YARD LOOKS SO SERINE!

 
GARDEN IS READY TO GO INTO IT'S SLUMBER

 
THE "GIANT"....PUMPKIN...NOT A BAD SIZE BUT WE NEED TO STRIVE FOR BIGGER...LOL

 
HOME GARDEN

 
BUBBLEGUM 7 WITHOUT THE SKIRT OR THE BLEEDING RED....HAHA SO IS IT A BB7? YEAH, IT CAME FROM THE SAME SEED AS ANOTHER PLANT THAT DOES HAVE THE TRAITS. 

 
MY FAVORITE PLANT OF THE SEASON, THE YELLOW CHARPITA (SPELLING?) 

 

[Devv]

The Carpita is a beautiful plant, did well with that one.
 
Wow! 100lb's, that's dedication. Glad you did it, you must feel a lot better!
 
Enjoy the rest of the day!

 

[wildseed57]

Hi 3/5 King looks like your 2013 grow did well for you, My year was a mix of good and bad, my garden put out quite a few vegies despite me having to have colon surgerywhich took some time to get over the liquid diet and then having to go back into the hospital and had some tumers taken out of my liver and one out of my lung, all that really set me back and I'm still recovering from that.
Needless to say I own my soul to the hospitals around here, and will for the rest of my life, I quit counting the amount when I hit $500,000, but when you owe that kind of money to hospitals you might as well give up trying.
Well the up side is next year grow looks like it will be a good one, gots lots of things planned for it,  along with several new ultra hot peppers which should be very interesting growing them.
Hope you Have another great season for 2014 I can't waite to see what all you have growing.

 

[3/5King]

The Carpita is a beautiful plant, did well with that one.
 
Wow! 100lb's, that's dedication. Glad you did it, you must feel a lot better!
 
Enjoy the rest of the day!

Hey Devv! Thank you, it was a journey and still is.

I love the charpita! It will be in my garden next year for sure.

Hi 3/5 King looks like your 2013 grow did well for you, My year was a mix of good and bad, my garden put out quite a few vegies despite me having to have colon surgerywhich took some time to get over the liquid diet and then having to go back into the hospital and had some tumers taken out of my liver and one out of my lung, all that really set me back and I'm still recovering from that.
Needless to say I own my soul to the hospitals around here, and will for the rest of my life, I quit counting the amount when I hit $500,000, but when you owe that kind of money to hospitals you might as well give up trying.
Well the up side is next year grow looks like it will be a good one, gots lots of things planned for it,  along with several new ultra hot peppers which should be very interesting growing them.
Hope you Have another great season for 2014 I can't waite to see what all you have growing.

Holy crap George! You are a tough turkey. I'm am really glad you are recovering well. That's quite the undergoing. Glad to hear you are handling it with high spirits. Sometime you just have to say F it! 2014 already on the radar ey! Yup, I've already got seeds going. We're going to be trying out an indoor grow this winter. Let me know if you want some seeds or powder. I'll send you out some goodies!



Hey everyone, I've been such a sloth when it comes to my updates. The garden is chopped and put to rest. All the peppers are dried....time to make powder!

So we took about 6 plants to overwinter and one to grow under our lights.....within a few days we had....wait for it........Aphids....good lord. You know, we even bought fresh dirt and shook out the roots....irritating. It puts a temp. Hault to our winter indoor grow. Blah blah blah...what a pita. Gotta figure out how to stop them suckers from coming indoors. Oh well...life would be boring without a challenge.....or so I'm told..

Welp, I finished my first Half Marathon Oct. 26th. With a finishing time of 2:40:27 my goal was A) to finish and B) to finish under 3hrs. So I am pleased. Felt like I could have kept going. You should have seen the look on the waitresses face when I placed my order at breakfast....lmao priceless!!

Thanks for hanging around with me guys!

 

[PaulG]

Great season, David!  You have really ramped it up over last year!
Have a nice winter break, and then get Grow2014 underway!

 

[wildseed57]

Hey David, yeah its been tough and i can't say that there wasn't moments when I was really down and felt like just giving up, but if I had quit what would there be left to do. My Grand Daughters would miss me and who would help them get over the tough spots in life.
Life is never easy,  its the hard things in life that that make us, good or bad we decide on how we are shaped like iron the more you get beat on it the harder you get and once tempered you can hold a sharp edge and be able to take what may come your way. 
 
Well enough of that its interesting how aphids fine there way inside, I sure have a batch of them, even after washing the plants down and praying them with peroxide and sterilizing the soil with heat I still got them. luckily I have some spray that has neem oil in it so I have been keeping them under control.
As for seeds I have quite a few varieties, although a wild one might temp me, I have always been fond of them.
I have a bunch of really hot crosses, a long with some reaper and jays ghost scorpion, Infinities, Barrackpores and a host of others, I gave away a ton of seeds as I couldn't eat any thing hot for most of the summer and was just able to taste a few fresh ones by fall, so I saved all the seeds from them and dried all the peppers which gave me a pound or more of powder by the end of fall, so I'm good there.
Well I better end this as I don't want to hijack your post i will pop in of and on to check on you grow so take care and stay healthy.

 

[Devv]

Good job on the marathon, you're certainly an inspiration for those who want to get fit!
 
Good luck on your indoor growing, I'm doing the same, first time around.