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

 

[3/5King]

looking good. you have more pods than me. I bet the fish fertilizer bumped em. I see a lot of maui purple salads in your future

Thanks DC, are Maui Purples good? I've never had them. I've actually never had most of the peppers I'm growing lol
Tiny update. I'm about to go out and hunt the elusive pepper leaf decimator....Guns'a blazzin'!

Here's the first super hots I've got to sample this season, thanks to a friend that lurkes the pages of THP. I told him to join; thanks Jason! These are Choco Scorpions from Baker's Peppers.

This is the first little bite I took yesterday. Today I cut off one side and ate it....man it had my jaw tightening up and I could feel my pulse pumping in my wisdom teeth..lol. Not much sweating, no stomach pain....so far so good! The pepper is mild in flavor, slightly sweet and finishes with a strong Chinense flavor. When you first chew it up its not as prominent though. You know when you hit a hot part of the pepper because its a little bitter from all of the cap oil....yum!

This is my first 'peno of the season...way too early, tasted like grass with zero heat..haha! Disgusting.

So the 10K was awesome. Perfect weather, awesome company and everything I hoped it would be. My sister, her boyfriend and two other buddies of mine did it. I went in wanting to finish in 1hr 25mins and my finish time was 1hr 23mins and 21 sec. Felt great the whole way through. Now to train for our next event; some type of onstical run and our next distance will be to reach 10 miles. Let the games begin!

Me and my sister after the race.

 

[stc3248]

Kept waiting for the run update! Nice job busting your goal! I'll bet it got your heart going about as much as them choco scorps! Great job and lookin good!

 

[Dot Com]

those choco scorps look spicy & congrats on the run.

 

[3/5King]

Kept waiting for the run update! Nice job busting your goal! I'll bet it got your heart going about as much as them choco scorps! Great job and lookin good!

Thanks Shane! Now that the 10K is over, we're going for the 10miler. I need to improve my speed though as it takes me long enough a it is to run a 10K, it would be a little hard to train for a 10mile run. Loosing the lbs is the best way I can think of to increase my speed ATM. I've looked up a lot of training tips to increase speed like repeaters and tempo runs, intervals as well as (what was said to be the most important) my base running. Saying that the farther you run, the faster you get? Idk but if you have any tips/advice/recommendations feel free to share.

those choco scorps look spicy & congrats on the run.

Thank you DC. Oh, they are pretty damn hot. I might enter this months TD. If I do, I'll be using those in it for sure.


Time for a little update:

Went over to see the garden. It's getting bigger by the day. It's alive I tell you, it's ALIVE!!.....haha, doing so much better than last year. The super hot plants are still smaller but they seem to have stepped it up a both over the last week or so. I've got a lot more pod action going on and hope to have the first ripe pepper in a couple weeks. If my supers don't start high tailing it like they stole something, I'm afraid I might not get much of a harvest....trying to stay positive. It needs to get warm and stay that way.

PICS!! Just a few..

Peno'....the hot head's green pepper.

Overall garden (pepper side that is) shot.

Supposed to be a Volcano Pepper plant, hmmmm idk, I've never seen one before...lol

Giant pumpkin, pumpkin plant...AFTER it was pruned...yikes!

The pumpkin is tryin' to creep up on old Briggy...better watch out, Briggy'll bite back.

Was doing some lower leaf pruning and happens upon these two behemoths! Some Chocolate Hab variety.

I'll have some more pics soon. Have a safe and happy 4th everyone!

 

[DocNrock]

Congrats on the run, Dave!  That Chocolate Scorp sounds like a winner.  I have a mystery chocolate growing that is either a Choc Scorp or a Douglah, not sure yet.  Would be cool if it was the Scorp, as I have two other Douglahs. 
 
Your garden is looking fine!  Are those Volcanos a frutescens?  Kind of look like it from the calyx.  If so, awesome size to them.  Did you get the seed for those Chocolate Habs from Ajijoe?  I got "Long Chocolate Hab" seeds from him and the pods look a lot like that.  Very nice! 
 
That pumpkin plant is amazing.  All those giant leaves are just energy factories pumping energy into growing a massive pumpkin!  Can't wait to see the behemoth! 

 

[Pulpiteer]

The garden is looking awesome! All those funky aphid problems from having them inside are behind you I see - great news.  And nice work on the run!

 

[Stefan_W]

Man, your garden looks great! That creeping pumpkin plant is hilarious. Looks really healthy though, and I'm sure you'll have some king sized jack o' lanterns come Halloween. 
 
Those chocolate hab type pods are absolutely HUGE! They look like they've been crossed with one of the giant cayenne varieties.
 
Congrats on the run! 

 

[3/5King]

Congrats on the run, Dave!  That Chocolate Scorp sounds like a winner.  I have a mystery chocolate growing that is either a Choc Scorp or a Douglah, not sure yet.  Would be cool if it was the Scorp, as I have two other Douglahs. 
 
Your garden is looking fine!  Are those Volcanos a frutescens?  Kind of look like it from the calyx.  If so, awesome size to them.  Did you get the seed for those Chocolate Habs from Ajijoe?  I got "Long Chocolate Hab" seeds from him and the pods look a lot like that.  Very nice! 
 
That pumpkin plant is amazing.  All those giant leaves are just energy factories pumping energy into growing a massive pumpkin!  Can't wait to see the behemoth! 

Hey DnR. I thought I responded to you...frickin' brain fart. Thank you for the comps. A wicked garden my way does grow. Choco Scorps are pretty tasty, I've got an overwinter that I hope bangs out a ton of pods. I had a Douglah last year that I didn't get any pods off of but I OW'd him so that bastard better start pumping out some heat motha chuckA!

I'm not sure what the Volcanos are. All I know is they look like a Texas toothpick ad they're supposed to taste pretty good. It's podding so I'm a happy camper. I did get those seeds from Ajijoe, I actually got a lot of his varieties growing in the garden. I meant to post some pics in his thread.

Hell yes that pumpkin plant better out out some big ol' orange tubby bellies. Can't wait to see how that turns out! It will be cool for sure.

The garden is looking awesome! All those funky aphid problems from having them inside are behind you I see - great news.  And nice work on the run!

Hey Andy, thank you very much man! Screw dem der aphids....we toasted them like champagne on New Year's Eve! The run was fun....time to go bigger, get thinner and wild out!

Man, your garden looks great! That creeping pumpkin plant is hilarious. Looks really healthy though, and I'm sure you'll have some king sized jack o' lanterns come Halloween. 
 
Those chocolate hab type pods are absolutely HUGE! They look like they've been crossed with one of the giant cayenne varieties.
 
Congrats on the run! 

Thanks Stefan! Hope we find some room for them...lol it's a monster and it's out of control. Those pods are huge....I can't wait to eat it! I'm going to go back and see exactly what it is.




I'm going on a camping/fishing trip in lower southwest Mi tomorrow-Sunday. Hoping to catch every meal....hahahahahaha ha.....hey, that's what dreams are made of...

I'll post up some pics of the garden tomorrow and if I catch some nice fish, I'll post those pics too. Gonna be nice to get away with the my buddies and bask in the sun. If I miraculously catch a trout, I'm going to Bear Gryles that SOB and take a bite out of em' while he's still on the hook....good times.

 

[Stefan_W]

Definitely post the fish pictures! And if you were forced to stop for burgers because you couldn't outsmart the trout just post the burger pics anyway

 

[wildseed57]

Great looking grow you got there David, My squash and cucumbers are fighting for space and my Italian Pole beans are having it out with my Chinese noodle beans. It won't be long till I have to fight my way into the garden. Like your Pumpkin vine my Acorn squash really wants to take over, I hate to have to cut it back but its climbing into my 30 gallon container where I have my Primo and red Brain strain with some lemon grass to separate the two. Next year I plan to grow more Asian and tropical veggies that will take the heat and humidity as the Powdery and Downy Mildew is working its way through my garden. Those Chocolate habs are monsters I bet that they will have some bite to them when they get ripe.

 

[HillBilly Jeff]

Peppers are looking good.

 

[Devv]

Congrats on your 10K!
 
And the garden is looking real fine.

 

[3/5King]

Definitely post the fish pictures! And if you were forced to stop for burgers because you couldn't outsmart the trout just post the burger pics anyway

 
 
I will have them up here in a few minutes. We did some catching but not enough to constitute filleting them.....equals I was just lazy...lol Most of the fish caught were bass. Oh and one burger pic coming right up!
 
 

Great looking grow you got there David, My squash and cucumbers are fighting for space and my Italian Pole beans are having it out with my Chinese noodle beans. It won't be long till I have to fight my way into the garden. Like your Pumpkin vine my Acorn squash really wants to take over, I hate to have to cut it back but its climbing into my 30 gallon container where I have my Primo and red Brain strain with some lemon grass to separate the two. Next year I plan to grow more Asian and tropical veggies that will take the heat and humidity as the Powdery and Downy Mildew is working its way through my garden. Those Chocolate habs are monsters I bet that they will have some bite to them when they get ripe.

 
 
Yes, all of the squash and cuc. varieties love to try and hog the garden. The pumpkin vines will plow through anything and everything! The pumpkin grabbed on to one of our pepper plants and was slowly trying to take it over....we put the kabash on that. I can't say that I've ever experienced Powdery or Downy Mildew, hope you get that dealt with quick. I can't wait to try one of those chocolate habs...it's going to be a mouthful and I'm sure it will burn something fierce...but will be oh so delicious.
 
 

Peppers are looking good.

 
 
Thanks Bodeen and HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROTHER! Hope it's a perfect day for ya buddy.
 
 

Congrats on your 10K!
 
And the garden is looking real fine.

 
 
Thanks Devv! Garden is doing real well and now that the 10K is out of the way, it's time to take it to the next level....
UPDATE:
 
 
 
So this update is not so much garden related (because I have to go out and take some pictures of the garden first) but I will have an update on that tonight.
 
 
Fishing trip was a blast! We were on the boat fishing longer than we were sleeping, eating, resting, driving....lol. We fished from 9:30am to 11:30pm on Friday and then went back to camp and slept until 4:00am. Then we got back on the water at 5:00am and fished until 9:30pm. Fishing was alright, we didn't get skunked but it could have been better. I think the nice weather had a lot to do with it...isn't that the case? You need to fish before a storm or right after-in between one. If you try and go out when there's a stretch of good weather, it makes for great camping/relaxing weather but lacking on the catching end of things.
 
All in all the trip was wonderful.....now, back to reality....
 
Side note: I found a place that rents house boats on the Mississippi (WI part of the Mississippi) You get it from 9:00am Monday- 3:00pm- Thursday for 875.00 bucks. NOW WE ARE TALKING! Now all I need is some more spending money to go with this awesome idea.....too be continued...
 
Lastly, I signed up for and event called "BADASS-DASH" on August 31st. It's a 7K (5 Miles) filled with 20+ obsticals. THIS....should be fun. Time to get muddy with some smokin' hot athletic females.....yep...count me in.
 
 
On to some pics.
 
Forgot a hammer.....cast iron skillet works well in it's place....
 

 
Extreme Camping Burger......new TD idea??
 


 
Night Time bass on a crank bait
 

 
 
Not too shabby....the fish is nice too. 
 

 
Really cool tree carving in front of someone's house
 


 
Friday morning in front of the camping spot (Miller Lake Campground)
 

 
Saturday Morning on Pine Lake
 

 
Saturday Night in front of the campfire
 

 
 
Bump? Have a few more pics to post.

 

[muskymojo]

BUMP
 
That burger and taters look awesome! 
 
Nothing like a sunset on the water! Good stuff!

 

[3/5King]

Thanks Musky.
 
 
 
 
Next few shots are just some of the nice houses/scenery on the lake.
 




 
Another nice morning shot
 

 
Last of the fish pics
 





 
That's it for the pics, I'll do a garden update in a little bit. 

 

[Jeff H]

 
Lastly, I signed up for and event called "BADASS-DASH" on August 31st. It's a 7K (5 Miles) filled with 20+ obsticals. THIS....should be fun. Time to get muddy with some smokin' hot athletic females.....yep...count me in.

 
My wife did something similar last year called the Spartan race. Supposedly the same obstacles as the Tough Mudder, just shorter. Aug is definitely a better time to run it then my wife's early April run. She was very close to hypothermia. there is no shortage of water in these races.

 

[wildseed57]

Nice pics of your fishing trip, how did you get your mouth around that monster burger? the fried potato's looked really tasty and looked like they had been given a good amount of hot  pepper powder. 
Its been awhile since I have been able to get out on a boat, last time I was out we started catching white bass and had landed 6 when a bad storm came raging in, we got all the lines and poles in and headed for shore which took 15 hair razing minutes, as lighting was striking every where, we made it back to where our trucks where parked and took cover inside the trucks soaked to the skin and shaking from being cold and wet, 10 minutes later the storm was completely over with,  so it was back to the boat, still shaking but a little drier, but after that we had to hunt down the fish, but that day was pretty much over because of the storm.
I ended up cutting back the Acorn squash vine some and harvested 4 nice squash today the vine was going crazy and was threatening to take over the 30 gallon container where my primo and red brain strain were at i just could not let it climb into the container and pull down my peppers. 

 

[DocNrock]

Dude, that burger looked incredible!  Great pics and congrats on the catches!

 

[Dot Com]

thats about as thorough an update as I think I've ever seen in my time here Thats what summers all about, fishing & peppers & picnics & peppers & foot races & peppers etc...
 
You hear about that ultra race in death valley?

Runners race 135 miles in 120-degree heat
I only run 3-4 miles at a time right now but it was 87 when i went running in the late afternoon ystrdy.

 

[3/5King]

 
My wife did something similar last year called the Spartan race. Supposedly the same obstacles as the Tough Mudder, just shorter. Aug is definitely a better time to run it then my wife's early April run. She was very close to hypothermia. there is no shortage of water in these races.

Yeah, we were going to do the Tough Mudder but I didn't want to pay for it...maybe next year. Ouch, early April, that's rough. Congrats to her for gettin' it done! She's a tough cookie.

Nice pics of your fishing trip, how did you get your mouth around that monster burger? the fried potato's looked really tasty and looked like they had been given a good amount of hot  pepper powder. 
Its been awhile since I have been able to get out on a boat, last time I was out we started catching white bass and had landed 6 when a bad storm came raging in, we got all the lines and poles in and headed for shore which took 15 hair razing minutes, as lighting was striking every where, we made it back to where our trucks where parked and took cover inside the trucks soaked to the skin and shaking from being cold and wet, 10 minutes later the storm was completely over with,  so it was back to the boat, still shaking but a little drier, but after that we had to hunt down the fish, but that day was pretty much over because of the storm.
I ended up cutting back the Acorn squash vine some and harvested 4 nice squash today the vine was going crazy and was threatening to take over the 30 gallon container where my primo and red brain strain were at i just could not let it climb into the container and pull down my peppers. 

It didn't really fit but in the end it was conquered! The potatoes were covered in Moruga powder....delicious.

Yeah, fishing in bad weather can get sketchy.

Put the squash on the squash ey! Can't have them raining on your evil pepper parade!

Dude, that burger looked incredible!  Great pics and congrats on the catches!

You know....the burger was incredible. It tasted even better than my Extreme Burger TD entry. It was missed as soon as it was gone....so good.

Thank you, we had fun and caught enough to keep us interested. The weather was out of this world...couldn't ask for better.

thats about as thorough an update as I think I've ever seen in my time here Thats what summers all about, fishing & peppers & picnics & peppers & foot races & peppers etc...
 
You hear about that ultra race in death valley? Runners race 135 miles in 120-degree heat
I only run 3-4 miles at a time right now but it was 87 when i went running in the late afternoon ystrdy.

Thanks DC! Yes sir I've heard of it....won't catch me doing it. I read that the runners have a constant fever the whole time. I like running in the heat but that's out of my league.

I ran the past two days and it's been scorching (90+) with not even a breeze. It put me to the test. I can't last very long in it either. 3.5-4.5mi but I'll tell you what, when it cools down, the running in high temps will only benefit our cooler runs. I love that.

The pepper plants are loving the hot weather though!





So I was thinking....anyone (with ripe pods right now) interested in doing a SFRB swap? I could use some fresh pods and it's going to be a little while before I see any ripe ones. If anyone wants to send some now, I can send a box in a month or so??? Maybe I have some varieties growing you don't?? Idk. If anyone is interested, let me know! (Shane...wink wink) lol

If not, no Briggy!