AHayastani's GLOG 2022

ahayastani · Jan 28, 2022

PaulG said:
Man, I just keep seeing new plants in your Grow Log.
How many are you growing this season, Dieter? They
all look great. Is there an room to move around on
your balcony ?

If you're looking for a plan, then you're reading the wrong GLOG... I'm dividing the sowing of "various varieties" into five "phases". Most plants I've shown are "Phase 1" and "Phase 2". I still haven't formally presented a handful of varieties: Aji Margariteño, SRP Stripey, Criolla de Cocina. The following plantlets are "Phase 3" (includes doubles and back-up plants):

And this is "Phase 4" (sown 9-11 Jan):

"Phase 5" has still to come, and I think there will be a "Phase 6" as well... Still plenty of space (in my opinion).

MarcV · Jan 29, 2022

I'm sure there's gonna be a phase 7 and 8 also!

Alex_K · Jan 30, 2022

So many varieties! It must be hard to take care of them all!

Healthy looking plants!

ahayastani · Feb 15, 2022

Time for some updates... I was busy with the preparations for a series of lectures I gave to a class of Master students (voluntary basis) and ended up with you-know-which-virus. Damn :censored:

Tired, tired, and headaches... wearing out my patience.

The first Dorset Naga is ready for picking. Production is not bad for a plant that does not receive direct sunlight...

Some plantlets by its side that will be ready for transplant before I realized it...

MarcV · Feb 16, 2022

Hope you get better soon!

ahayastani · Feb 16, 2022

SRP Stripey. I'm growing one plant but also have a backup plant that is doing much better then anticipated. The backup plant does not receive direct sunlight but stands near an outside light that automatically switches on and off at dusk and dawn, respectively. I'm growing the "normal" plant in a much bigger container (~ double the size of my grow bags). Both plants are flowering but still no trace of peppers.

I grew SRP last season and I found that my standard grow bags were not big enough for this variety... I also found it to become an unwieldy plant if allowed to run its own course, and therefore I'm keeping a close eye on these plants and occasionally remove some of the lower growth (leaves + stems).

"Normal" Plant

Backup Plant

MarcV said:
Hope you get better soon!

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, so according to traditional wisdom my body should gain some beef

I find the frustration that I can't get my work done actually harder to cope with.

ahayastani · Feb 16, 2022

Criolla de cocina, a personal favourite (MX.F1). I'm growing two plants and both are already carrying some peppers.

PaulG · Feb 16, 2022

Hey, @ahayastani - Brother, I am sorry to hear you
have caught Covid.I hope that you are able to get
back on track quickly. I am assuming you are vac-
cinated, etc, right? That has to make working on
your pepper grow a pain until you get some energy
back.

In spite of that, your plants look great. That tray of
soon-to-be transplants looks awesome!

:cheers:

Good luck, my friend!

ahayastani · Feb 16, 2022

Sarit Gat, a pepper variety that hails from Kosovo. I obtained seeds from Badskin's Garden, but they come from a selection by Reinsaat. When I still lived in Europe, I regularly obtained vegetable seeds from Reinsaat and Bingenheimer Saatgut and hold them in high esteem. Their mission is to offer OP alternatives to hybrids for cultivation on a commercial scale.

Sarit Gat is a precocious little plant... Seeds hit the dirt on 11 Dec and I noticed its first pepper.... (second image, difficult to obtain focus). There still is a risk that it may be dropped, but luckily there are some flower buds ready as well.

PaulG said:
I hope that you are able to get
back on track quickly. I am assuming you are vac-
cinated, etc, right?

Yes. I've always been rather careful as well. Doesn't mean it can't happen. The irony of this, however, is that my better half was very bad (needed oxygen) a year ago and I didn't feel a thing. But now, with vaccines and all, the currently circulating strain(s) hit(s) me whereas my wife feels nothing (both tested +)

ahayastani · Feb 17, 2022

Antep Aci Dolma. This variety has caused me some problems. It acted as a pest magnet in the beginning and therefore I placed it in a different spot where I could check it easier on a daily basis. Isolated from the other pepper plants, it grew and flowered well, was free from pests, and didn't yield a single pepper. I changed its location again and placed it among other pepper plants. It had small peppers within days... It now has several peppers and I now hope they will turn red soon.

The small pepper plant to the left in the first image is Hot Paper Lantern Habanero. It grows quite fast for a chinense.

ahayastani · Feb 17, 2022

Peach Bhut Jolokia SS, a rather big plant

(about 1m70, including ~30cm grow bag). The arrow indicates the highest point. When I looked at the image afterwards, I noticed that it would be necessary to place an arrow... You may notice that the plant has droopy leaves. It's only like that when it receives the full afternoon sun (still winter!), so I will change its location away from the edge.

SS stands for "Selected Strain". The plant most certainly is productive! The pepper in the last of four images is changing colour (peach near calyx), but it's from the backup plant (terrible growing conditions, but the backup plant insists on delivering).

ahayastani · Feb 17, 2022

Buena Mulata X. I believe that at some point a jalapeño milkman delivered some milk at the address of a buena mulata. The peppers look more like a cross between a jalapeño and a cayenne, with some purpling but never as dramatic as with Buena Mulata. Even though I'm not sure about the genetics, I've always cherished the peppers it delivered. Flowers appearing...

PaulG · Feb 17, 2022

Your grow season is really full-on underway, my friend.

Is that a banana plant in the first pic in post 131?

ahayastani said:
...the backup plant (terrible growing conditions, but the backup plant insists on delivering).

Isn't that the way it goes, Dieter :rolleyes:

?

ahayastani · Feb 17, 2022

I picked my first harvest of sorts... Finally, it has begun *insert dramatic music*. Hots to the right, rest to the left.

They were cleaned and are now in the fridge waiting for a few culinary encounters this weekend

.

Their IDs:

God Stopper
Peri Peri "African Devil"
7 Pot White
Aji Jobito
Pepper X
Aji Dulce Rosita (Red)
(non) KS Thai White
Dorset Naga
Hangjiao 10 "After Glow"
Scorpion Large RFC
Big Sun (habanero)

Happy with all of them, although Big Sun doesn't look that big and I don't know what to make of Aji Dulce Rosita. I searched THP's archives and the phenotype is different from the images I found. My peppers are considerably narrower. The seed vendor doesn't offer this variety anymore, but I checked my e-mail from my order and the image there corresponds 100% with my Aji Dulce Rosita. If anyone of you has grown this variety before, I'd like to hear your comments.

We were startled by an earthquake two nights ago. The worst part was for our Southern neighbours though. Rattling glass, worse than poltergeists

PaulG said:
Is that a banana plant in the first pic in post 131?

I'm affraid that banana plants won't fit on my terrace... It is a Canna plant, you likely have seen it before, even in the PNW.

thoroughburro · Feb 17, 2022

There are quite a few red Ají Dulces out there. It’s such a generic name! I decided to only grow Ají Dulces I know the origin of.

ahayastani · Feb 17, 2022

thoroughburro said:
There are quite a few red Ají Dulces out there. It’s such a generic name! I decided to only grow Ají Dulces I know the origin of.

True, but Rosita is from Venezuela. Before my time on this board, a Venezuelan national (Lindberg) provided seeds of several Venezuelan varieties with the THP community. You can read here and here.

ahayastani · Mar 17, 2022

I guess it's time for an update... I've had a lot of work of recently, but thus far the plants have managed the periodic neglect. I've lost a few plantlets over the last month:

I sacrificed my chile costeño plantlet because the leaves looked diseased;
Oro de Ecuador died on me for uncertain reasons;
Leviathan Gnarly Scorpion was destroyed by concupiscent pussycats.

Of all my adult and adolescent plants, only two are giving me worries. One (Scotch Brains) might just suffer from retarded growth (no pun intended), but the other (local pubescens) is really struggling and acts as a pest magnet. I start to see why pubescens won't do well in the hot tropics.

The heat has been climbing over the last few weeks and some refreshing rain would be welcome. We'll still have to wait a month or two for that though. I'm noticing that birds are eating some of the peppers, and they really seem to like Black Betty (Red). It's the only pepper they eat while still unripe.

I've collected four major harvest from my plants so far and we're only at the beginning. The image below are last weekend's hots (hotter than habanero): 1.5 kg from basically five plants. I'm currently eating ~1 kg a week, mainly as self-made pickles.

More updates to follow

skullbiker · Mar 17, 2022

ahayastani said:
I guess it's time for an update... I've had a lot of work of recently, but thus far the plants have managed the periodic neglect. I've lost a few plantlets over the last month:

I sacrificed my chile costeño plantlet because the leaves looked diseased;

Oro de Ecuador died on me for uncertain reasons;

Leviathan Gnarly Scorpion was destroyed by concupiscent pussycats.

Of all my adult and adolescent plants, only two are giving me worries. One (Scotch Brains) might just suffer from retarded growth (no pun intended), but the other (local pubescens) is really struggling and acts as a pest magnet. I start to see why pubescens won't do well in the hot tropics.

The heat has been climbing over the last few weeks and some refreshing rain would be welcome. We'll still have to wait a month or two for that though. I'm noticing that birds are eating some of the peppers, and they really seem to like Black Betty (Red). It's the only pepper they eat while still unripe.

I've collected four major harvest from my plants so far and we're only at the beginning. The image below are last weekend's hots (hotter than habanero): 1.5 kg from basically five plants. I'm currently eating ~1 kg a week, mainly as self-made pickles.

More updates to follow

Damned birds! You need a good pellet gun. That harvest looks pretty darn good.

ahayastani · Mar 17, 2022

Corbaci (Çorbacı), a low heat pepper from Turkey. I obtained the seeds from Vertiloom. Seeds (4) were covered with dirt on 9/1 (after 24h soak in 1/10 commercial H2O2). The first seedling popped up on 16/1 and the last one on 23/1. Two plants are now in their final grow bag (I still have one backup plant). The pepper plants in the middle and the left are Corbaci; the one on the right is a soon-to-be-ditched pubescens.

Both plants are already in production mode. They don't receive a lot of light though, but that will change by the end of March.

ahayastani · Mar 17, 2022

Primo x Butch T. I bought seeds from SLP in 2018 that have remained untouched in the fridge ever since. I tested the germination rate of 3 varieties, and Primo x Butch T was one of them. At the time, they were included by SLP as courtesy samples. I covered 5 seeds with dirt on 11/1 (after a 24h soak in 1/10 commercial H2O2) and 3 seedlings emerged on 18/1. The last seedling emerged on 21/1. It was difficult to choose 3 seedlings for transplantation because they all looked healthy and vigorous. I have transplanted one plantlet to its final growth bag and still have two backup plantlets.

This variety has surprised me. It's now two months after sowing and the first peppers are already appearing. For my growing conditions, that is exceptionally fast for a chinense. They usually begin a flower show after three months and then drop everything, so this is non-standard behaviour for me. The plant is currently about 0.5m tall.

Some flower and pepper shots: