AHayastani's ГЛΟГ

I have an urban "garden" on the roof of a house in tropical Chiapas, Mexico. It's the first year that I'm growing plants - mostly Capsicum - in this location. I lived in a temperate region of Europe before, and the adaptation to different growing conditions is not without setbacks. Another issue is that not all material that I would like to use is commonly available here, so at times I have to be more creative than I actually want to be. That being said, it is also unbelievable (for me, at least) to see how some plants manage to grow in this climate even in adverse conditions (despite my bad treatment, that is).
 
I have obtained seeds from various sources (abbreviations in parentheses will be used in this glog): White Hot Peppers (WHP), Towns-End (town), Jayrseyshore Peppers [FB] (jay), Vertiloom (vtl), Badskin (bad), Juan GA [FB] (jga), Semillas La Palma (SLP), Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (rareseeds).
 
I arrived at this house in january and started my first sowings in february. This glog, however, begins in early June and I will just treat this as "the beginning".
 
 
I re-sowed a few cultivars end May since most or all of my plants of that specific cultivar had perished... My 3 plants of Jay's Peach Ghost Scorpion seem to have succumbed to a virus infection, which might have been seed-born. I will soon find out... My Brazilian Mango and Aji Mango Long plants looked depressing, so I sowed the backup seeds. Serrano... I had forgotten to sow them    Trinidad Beans Chocolate, because two out of three plants seem to be reluctant to grow and enter adulthood... Takanotsume is old seed I purchased on ebay, and I'm surprised that anything gets up. Pimenta Moranga and Monster Gum Multicolor (jga) are two cultivars that I was going to sow on March 20, but I somehow lost the seeds... but they recently resurfaced Germination is still OK, even though the seeds were "stored" outside 
 

 
 
I sourced some pequin/chiltepin from the local market, one fruit per tray:
 

 
 
A box of failures... The seed is already old though and has not been properly stored. Cumari Pollux (SLP) is an exception though, and I will await its germination to officially declare the rest as "lost".
 

 
 
Sowed today: Capsicum galapagoense Long (SLP).
 

 

 
 
I had some fun with tomato suckers as well... I put two suckers in water to make them grow roots (cultivar Madagascar) and gave them a baggie of dirt today and placed them with the rest.
 

 
 
I removed some more suckers and put them in water. Hopefully they will make it to tomato plant Three are Midnight Tiger and another Madagascar. The three shoots in perlite below are Aji Tapachula.
 

 

[CaneDog]

Nice to see the production activity!
 
Those aji panca put out some nice pods.  Why doesn't it get credit for first chinense to flower?

 

[PaulG]

Pods starting to roll in for you. D!

 

[ahayastani]

Nice to see the production activity!
 
Those aji panca put out some nice pods.  Why doesn't it get credit for first chinense to flower?

 
Because I thought it would be baccatum    I looked it up and all arrows indeed point towards chinense. I have no idea why I thought otherwise.

 

[ahayastani]

The first seedlings of my last sowing have emerged. The honours go to Fatalii I must admit I was getting worried though...
 

 
 
A further hike through the terrace garden. Photos were taken in the morning, at which time this side of the terrace receives no (direct) sun. This changes around 1pm.
 
Two plants of Thai Spezzano, beginning to flower
 

 
 
Two plants of Big Jamaican, also preparing their first flowers. The plant at the left was originally a backup plant and transplanted later.
 

 
 
The two plants in front are KS Lemon Starrburst, followed (behind) by - I think, but I'm not sure - a type of cordolyne with basil at the bottom. Behind that are two plants of Santa Fe. I feared a lot for the right plant, as it was damaged by a squatting cat, but I think it has almost completely recovered. The cat had pulled the plant almost completely from its growth bag, so yet again the strength of pepper plants amazes me.
 

 
 
Aji jobito at the right and Space Chili Hangjiao 3 "solar flare" at the left. The former was damaged by the same *<@#$ cat, but quickly recovered. I removed a few leaves near the bottom and the plant is setting out its first flowers.
 

 
 
Fushimi in front and a tumbling peperoncini, blown down by a strong gush of wind. It will receive a support in the evening.
 

 
 
TAM jalapeño canopy. This is the unproductive plant
 

 
 
Two plants of Craig's Grande jalapeño. First flowers are appearing.
 

 
 
Two plants of Stuffing Scotch Bonnet. I'm preparing their terrace area where they will receive quite a bit more sun
 

 
 
 
 
 

 

[CaneDog]

 
Because I thought it would be baccatum    I looked it up and all arrows indeed point towards chinense. I have no idea why I thought otherwise.

 
Probably the same reason I did 
 
At least they're nice and slow to ripen like baccatum tend to be...

 

[Edaxflamma]

 
 
I have no idea what plant this is. If you recognize it, please tell me
 

IMG_20210303_064801708.jpg
 
 

 
Looks a lot like "Freakshow" to me. Let's hope I'm wrong haha. Got a photo of the full plant?

 

[ahayastani]

 
Looks a lot like "Freakshow" to me. Let's hope I'm wrong haha. Got a photo of the full plant?

 
 
I'm not really a fan of that herb, but I guess I'd recognize it Also, AMLO legalized growing it if it is for personal consumption (3 plants, I believe; but better check if you want/need to know).
I have two plants of this "Freakshow", both about 1.40m tall and a bit over a year old, germinated from seed. I have spotted this plant only at two locations. Nobody here can tell me what it is... It is forming side stems near the base of the trunk now.
 

 

 

 
I will make this post a non-pepper interludium I will begin a new GLOG and separate peppers from non-peppers when I finally acquire some land and the website receives its update (who knows what will happen first).
 
Stevia cuttings are amazing... This little fella was just a small stem with one leaf which I had accidentally removed from an adult plant. I put it in the dirt and it started growing almost immediately. This must be the easiest plant I have thus far encountered to grow from cuttings.
 

 
 
The fruit of my ornamental pineapple was bending towards the ground. As the weight of the fruit and the size of its crows begin to increase, the stem bends and the fruit will ultimately drop (be dropped?) to the ground. I removed the crown and three shoots that appeared at the bottom. The small white dots in the third photo are adventitious roots.
 

 

 
 
Cashew nut seedlings have emerged. All six have emerged as I type. The following photos are from when the first seedling appeared (day 1, 2 and 4):
 

 

 

 
I have already transplanted two of them:
 

 

 
Here they are again I transplanted a Christmas palm (grown from seed) to a bigger growth bag and sowed mizuna on the surface. I sowed nunum basil (Ocimum gratissimum) in the growth bag at its right.
 

 
 
I've got a few tomatoes ripening up as well
 

 

 
It's not a good time for tomatoes anymore though. Most flowers remain unpollinated.
 

 
 
A few days after a new shipment of compost had arrived, I found that an ant colony had already taken possession of it    This is something of a nuisance, because they mix with the compost, and when I make a mix of the compost and perlite they crawl all over me, and yes, they bite.
 

 
 
The peppers will return in my following post

 

[ahayastani]

 
Probably the same reason I did 
 
At least they're nice and slow to ripen like baccatum tend to be...

 
 
Well, on a completely subjective level, I'd group aji panca with its neighbour Sugar Rush Peach in terms of visual impact. Most of the chinenses that I'm currently growing have a shorter and bush-like growing behaviour, unlike aji panca. The other baccatum nearby is aji guyana, but its visual impact is very different: a reasonably big plant, but not too many leaves, flowers very different as well. However, these are subjective relatives, not objective absolutes. Anyway, it's time to take that course of taxonomy I had planned, not just for peppers but for my work as well...    Here is aji guyana, loading up with pods:
 

 
 
One of the aji ayuyo seedlings had purple cotyledons and further leaf growth still exhibits dashes of purple. The first photo shows this aji ayuyo X while the second supposedly will be the "correct" plant.
 

 

 
 
The Matador plant took a bend... Gushes of wind can be strong at times and I failed to notice that the plant had fallen sideways. I gave it a dried Aloe vera flower stake as temporal support.
 

 
 
Georgescu chocolate:
 

 
 
This was going to be Gator Jigsaw... I removed the plastic bag once I noticed the first seedling had popped up, and a few hours later there was no more seedling    There was a hole instead... I guess it was a bird that mistook the seedling for a worm or caterpillar. The birds did the same with a couple of dahlias that I had grown from seed. So Skullbiker, when you're finished hunting your tomato-picking jay, you're more than welcome to have a shot at mine
 

 
 
Piment d'Espelette continues to grow and has begun to bear fruit. New flowers ready as well.
 

 

 

 
 
Buena Mulata is spawning out some impressive peppers (for being firstlings and grown in a pot). This might be a good candidate for saving seed: straight and good size. Now wait for the taste
 

 
 
My first peperoncino is becoming reality
 

 
 
Blot, a sweet pepper, beginning to flower.
 

 
 
Albino Bull Nose (bell pepper) is getting company 
 

 
 
The same is true for KS White Thai, which has decided to stick with purple. Several small pepper are being formed.
 

 
 
Purple pigmentation on Cubanelle peppers. Has anyone observed this before? Standard search engines throw out the same information: ripening green/yellowish to red, never mentioning the purple pigmentation. I assume it is formed by exposure to the sun - in two weeks, solar altitude will be 90° at noon - and I recently "opened up" the plant. It was inclined to one side and I repositioned the stems to support a more open growth. I guess that this also meant a higher solar exposure for some peppers. However, there is one pepper with a much higher degree of purple pigmentation. If it is not common, I might save seeds and select for this trait if the taste is not bad.
 

 
 
Two plants of Habanada:
 

 
 
First pepper of Thai Spezzano
 

 
 
Piri-piri "African Devil" with some support. It initially suffered from the wind, but now with the proper support is preparing for "going up".
 

 

[ahayastani]

Two small videos of the parts that are semi-finished.
 
The plants are in the first video are organized in rows of three or four plants with a small space in-between. As the plants grow, I will likely change this arrangement by placing two rows of pepper plants back-to-back and creating a larger space in-between. The plants at the end of the first video are ginger and some ornamentals that grow well in the shadow (pineapple is an exception, don't ask).

 
The second part is more chaotic but will be "finished" once I remove the ornamentals and place the pepper plants in their allocated spot.

 

[PaulG]

Wow, Dieter, you have a regular horticultural theme
park on your balcony!  Complete with ant colony!

 

[ahayastani]

Chinese heirloom Benxi is setting its first fruit 
 

 
 
Sugar Rush Peach is protesting...    Many of its firstling peppers have rot, which I believe is a consequence of an inadequate water regime. I water the plant every two days, like any other pepper plant, but this is apparently not enough. Its growing bag is completely drained and the plant itself looks droopy at the end of the second day. This is quite a water-intensive plant... I'm adapting its watering scheme to that of my tomatoes: lots of water on the first day, a little bit on the second; repeat/loop.
 

 

 
 
Two plants of Craig's Grande jalapeño. The first flowers have already wilted and I noticed one of them will set fruit (photo too shaky to be shown  ). A second and larger round of flowers is being prepared
 

 

 
 
Chile chocolate, a local heirloom. I never noticed its first flowers, perhaps (fingers croXed) they have been pollinated. Anyway, these are very fertile grounds, and if it's not *bingo* today, it'll be for tomorrow
 

 

[Edaxflamma]

A wild stab, but I think your mystery freakshow plant may be something in in the Coral Plant family.
 
Check out Jatropha multifida and let me know if that tracks. 

 

[ahayastani]

A wild stab, but I think your mystery freakshow plant may be something in in the Coral Plant family.
 
Check out Jatropha multifida and let me know if that tracks. 

 
That's the one, thanks
 
Theferns (Useful Tropical Plants):
 

 
All parts of the plant are poisonous[423].
The ripe, dry seeds contain a dangerous, bitter, purgative oil which is sometimes used medicinally. Overdoses, it is reported, can be counteracted by drinking a glass of white wine[348]. Limejuice and stimulants are the best antidotes in cases of poisoning by the seeds[582].
The plant may be used as a fish poison[310].

 
Appears to be my kind of plant I recognize the seed in the photos, I'm positive about the identity now.

 

[ahayastani]

One of two Jatropha multifada plants will flower soon I liked the idea I read somewhere of making a hedge with it, so seeds will be welcome.
 
Some photographic impressions from the pepper-field:
 
I believe the first pepper of chile chocolate is a fact The plant has a few flowers but hasn't really entered the productive phase yet.
 

 

 
 
Fushimi
 

 
 
Two plants of Zapotec jalapeño. They have flowered but dropped all flowers. Plants are still growing, however. Quite a formidable "bush" for an annuum.
 

 
 
Santa Fe Grande
 

 
 
Craig's Grande jalapeño's first peppers
 

 
 
TAM jalapeño. I've got two plants: one that sets a lot of small-sized fruit, and another one that produces less but larger peppers. I'm interested to see how this will evolve over the next few months. These still are firstling peppers.
 

 
 
Red Savina setting its first flowers    Still very underwhelming, but one has to start small and be content with the little things... Looking for a suitable candidate to make a Maria Savina cross, but traditional chiles in Oaxaca mostly belong to the annuum group.
 

 
 
Wiri Wiri "African Devil". This plant has grown considerably the last few days and even found the energy to set its first flower.
 

 

 
 
KS White Thai is finally beginning to acquire a white colour.
 

 
 
Hangjiao 3 Solar Flare, first peppers.
 

 

 
 
Morado, a heirloom from Yucatan. This plant should have died, but it managed to survive. I think it suffered from a fungal attack, but with proper care (CuSO4, neem, time) it managed to come back to the land of the living. I must admit the plant has impressed me... It came from far.
 

 
 
Serrano tampiqueño, another plant I was ready to sacrifice. It was infested by aphids and white flies and was about to collapse. I don't know what attracted these critters to this plant in particular, because their numbers are relatively low in other plants. I "showered" the plant with a pyrethroid and treated it with CuSO4 and neem, and now it seems to develop some new growth. I don't routinely apply pyrethroid (anymore), only in particular "rescue" situations.
 

 
 
I bought a 35L container (9 and a bit gallon) to plant two jalapeño peppers à la Skullbiker.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

[PaulG]

You have some interesting varieties going, D!
 
Is the Solar Flare one of the chinese Space Peppers?

 

[ahayastani]

Is the Solar Flare one of the chinese Space Peppers?

 
Indeed! It's an interesting variety. I wouldn't say you have to put it on your bucket grow list, but it certainly won't disappoint. A recommendable all-round pepper, good for stir-fry and also pickled. Not hot either, perhaps a bit lower than a decent jalapeño. Compact plant, good producer.

 

[Pr0digal_son]

I'm not really a fan of that herb, but I guess I'd recognize it Also, AMLO legalized growing it if it is for personal consumption (3 plants, I believe; but better check if you want/need to know).
I have two plants of this "Freakshow", both about 1.40m tall and a bit over a year old, germinated from seed. I have spotted this plant only at two locations. Nobody here can tell me what it is... It is forming side stems near the base of the trunk now.
 

IMG_20210408_171511950.jpg 

IMG_20210408_171646442.jpg 

IMG_20210408_171526758.jpg
 

That is a Coral Plant.

 

[ahayastani]

That is a Coral Plant.

 
It's going to flower. Fingers crossed for some seeds
 

 
 
A few non-peppers things... Peppers will return in the next post
 
 
 
 
I harvested sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas). This is what I got from a 5g bucket: many tubers but rather small.
 

 
 
I took a cutting before harvesting the tuber. You see the root formation? That's less than 24h of growth... (cutting in water).
 

 
 
The cutting was planted in a 35L container (9 and-a-bit gallon) together with a few seeds of an ornamental morning glory (same genus as sweet potato). The plant in front is agastache
 

 

[ahayastani]

Peppers... I likely made a mistake when I sprayed with CuSO4 about a week ago    I guess that I accidentally added twice the prescribed amount. Luckily I didn't kill any plants, but many have "intoxication" signs. They are already recuperating though.
 
Piri Piri "African Devil", its first flower set fruit. Remarkable... The plant must like the local climate
 

 
 
Benxi, a chinese heirloom, with two peppers so far. This variety is not well adapted to our climate... It has flowered a lot but dropped almost everything. The temperatures will drop a few degrees now that the rainy season has begun, so I hope this will mean more peppers
 

 

 
 
Aji jobito. Quite an impressive bush but I haven't seen many flowers. I've spotted two jobitos so far
 

 
 
Big Jamaican beginning to set fruit
 

 
 
Chile chocolate is definitely growing a pepper
 

 
 
Piment d'Espelette, not doing bad. I was expecting far worse for a variety developed in Europe.
 

 
 
Two jalapeño Azabache seedlings in a 35L container.
 

 
 
The first TAM jalapeño is turning red. Both plants are having a growth spurt. One of the branches is following the upwards lead of the PVC support (total height would be ~1m, from ground level).
 

 

 
 
Jalapeño Zapotec has finally decided to set fruit   Impressive plants, I must say...
 

 
KS White Thai is having me confused. I thought the colour change would be purple > white > red, but I checked and it should be white > purple > red, which would make more sense as well... However, I never noticed anything white and peppers were already purple from the very beginning. I'm not sure whether this might be attributable to the high impact of the sun here in the tropics. Or perhaps it's not KS White Thai...  I'll continue growing this variety - taste is good, and I like the visual impact - but I was expecting something else. The plant looks droopy, but handles the climate very well.
 

 ​

 
 
A handful of peperoncini
 

 
 
And a few seedlings Germination has been a major PITA this year though... And I haven't been able to decidedly pinpoint the cause(s) of that, but most arrows point towards seed-related issues.
 

 
 
We're coming from 35-38°C, so this feels very refreshing. The plants clearly agree with me as well!
 

 

[PaulG]

Great to see your success, D!
Gives me some hope for our
PNW future!
 
it looks like you can grow just
about anything on your splendid
balcony!