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.
 

 

[PaulG]

A number of Rocoto varieties have that narrowing
next to the calyx. Many Peruvian types have the
manzano shape. My favorite Rocoto type is the
Peruvian Red. Nice, big Apple-shaped pods.
 
Your pic of the habaneros look like the Orange
habs I have grown in the past. Some look like
Roatan Pumpkin pods, except for the color. Also
basically a habanero type pepper.
 

 

[Devv]

You mentioned Pineapples..
 

 

 
We have 4 'apples on the vine this year. My wife loves to grow them. And they're on the driveway because they get so heavy; now they're close to the shop when it may get cold...

 

[ahayastani]

Interesting, Scott! I notice you trim the leaves. That is to save space, or just so they won't prick anymore? Does this in any way influence the fruit yield?

 

[skullbiker]

You mentioned Pineapples..
 
We have 4 'apples on the vine this year. My wife loves to grow them. And they're on the driveway because they get so heavy; now they're close to the shop when it may get cold...

 
Hey Devv, my wife likes those pineapples too. I think we have about half a dozen in ground and about the same in pots.
 

 

 

[Devv]

Interesting, Scott! I notice you trim the leaves. That is to save space, or just so they won't prick anymore? Does this in any way influence the fruit yield?

These are mostly mature plants, and over the winter the leaves we trim start to look a bit rough so we trim. I haven't seen any difference in the yields so far..

 

[Devv]

 
Hey Devv, my wife likes those pineapples too. I think we have about half a dozen in ground and about the same in pots.
 

8C4A9631-0FFA-4F44-A5FF-FE877F9A6CB0.jpeg
 

AE15753F-D3E0-4CAC-8715-BE6DEFAEC186.jpeg

Well done buddy!
We tried on two occasions to plant them in the dirt here, and then we get a freak 2 days of the teens. So, they die. We lost over 20 plants that way.
I guess tropical weather versus semi desert?

 

[ahayastani]

I have two pepper plants of CAP 1546. I obtained the seeds from Vertiloom. According to the website of IPK Gatersleben, it is a C. annuum that was collected in Japan (Kyoto area). I don't know the exact volume of the plastic grow bags. A full bag is ~1 gallon, and I fill about ~2/3 of it. I tasted an unripe pod (show below). Taste was weak but not bad; whatever there was of pungency arrived quite late. The plant has, in my opinion, some promise as ornamental pepper. The pods could even be used to decorate plates. I will repeat the tasting experiment later with more pods of various ripening stages. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
I had a chat with Clavo... He suffered quite a bit from last red spider mite attack, but he is on the mend. However, I spotted a flower with only three petals and I can't recall ever having seen a pepper flower with only three petals. I would appreciate anyone with some experience to comment on this: is it normal, not that common, rare, ... Seeds were obtained from SLP.
 

 

 

 

[PaulG]

That is a cool, unusual flower.
Looks almost like a mini Trillium!

 

[ahayastani]

That is a cool, unusual flower.
Looks almost like a mini Trillium!

 
Exactly! I hope it won't be dropped, or that it will produce more like this in the future.

 

[ahayastani]

Capsicum galapagoense Long germinated! Seven seedlings popped up on 19/06 and yesterday one more emerged from the dirt Seeds (SLP) had been stored in the fridge since February 2019. One of the seedlings has three cotyledons, which thus far I have only observed with C. chinense.
 

 
About two weeks ago, I put two cuttings in moist perlite in the hope that they would form roots. The cutting on the left is Phrik Khi Nu, but I forgot to write down the ID of the other one. I handled quite some plants that day... But I believe it is pico de paloma. We'll see in a few weeks. If they survive, that is... I took the cuttings out of the perlite much too soon, but since I had the impression that something was affecting the cuttings, I felt I had to take them out to assess the problem. I planted the cuttings in dirt instead of returning to moist perlite. Phrik Khi Nu has a few small roots at the bottom, hardly visible because I didn't wash off the perlite. The other cutting has a clearly developed root and some smaller " white buttons" where roots may start to grow. This is an experiment, more a "let's see what happens". I didn't have any practical experience with growing peppers from cuttings until last month.
 

 

 

 

[Bhuter]

Same here, if only to attempt to compare my pequines with what's available on the seed market.
 
I bought a habanero plant from a street vendor, but its fruits are somewhat different. I still don't know which cultivar it is, but it comes quite close to Petenero (cv. from Guatemala).
 
Rocoto peppers from local producers do not resemble the typical Mexican manzano or perron-shape, but have a narrowing at the fruit's stem. Their shape resembles quite a lot the cv. Rocoto Guatemalan Orange shown by Atlantic Pepper Seeds.
 
It could well be that the pequines bear more resemblance to Guatemalan types than to the better know cvs. of Northern Mexico. We'll see
 
 
Petenero image of SLP:
 

 
Rocoto Guatemalan Orange from Atlantic Pepper Seeds:
 

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Great stuff, bud!
The Rocotos that I have grown have all had that "Outie belly-button" at the calyx/pod top. I thought that was the norm.

Here's one of Dale's (TGCM) great pic.

Aji Oro I grew from Dale's seeds

Beautiful stuff!!!!

 

[ahayastani]

Good news I found the person that sold me dirt on the now-suspended market and contacted him. He agreed to bring me ten bags of dirt with his pick-up. He hadn't had an income in two months...
 
So a lot of work the next few days...
 
I transplanted the seedlings that were sown about a month ago. Their names are on the labels  The number of transplants is the number of labels + 1, but + 2 for pequin.
 

 

 

 
I use a mix of 1:1 dirt:perlite. The dirt is basically vermicompost that contains animal shit. The vendor has an organic garden and sells his compost surplus. I also mix in some spent coffee grit.
 

 

 

 
I planted two pequines with other plants: one with a mamey (left) and another one with a pineapple (right):
 

 

 
Some plants desperately need(ed) to be potted-up... Jalapeño white (jga; left) and sweet pepper Doux d'Espagne (rareseeds; right):
 

 

 
I remember Doux d'Espagne from my childhood... It was a great success in our garden, but for a reason I don't remember it was grown for only one season. A sweet pepper from Spain with a French name

 

[PaulG]

Seedlings look good. Great to see some of them
in some grow bags. Good luck getting the rest
of them potted up.
 
Your compost/perlite mix looks great.

 

[skullbiker]

Now that you have the material to pot up you can get things growing. Have you used grow bags before? I tried some 5 and 10 gallon ones a few years ago but hated them and stayed with plastic pots, I think my plants do OK in them.

 

[ahayastani]

Now that you have the material to pot up you can get things growing. Have you used grow bags before? I tried some 5 and 10 gallon ones a few years ago but hated them and stayed with plastic pots, I think my plants do OK in them.

 
I don't have any experience with grow bags. I used pots before, but only for propagation and growing seedlings. I do prefer pots, but grow bags are readily available at accessible prices. Pots (or buckets) are relatively expensive, especially if you need to buy 200 at once  

 

[Bhuter]

Good news I found the person that sold me dirt on the now-suspended market and contacted him. He agreed to bring me ten bags of dirt with his pick-up. He hadn't had an income in two months...
 
So a lot of work the next few days...
 
I transplanted the seedlings that were sown about a month ago. Their names are on the labels  The number of transplants is the number of labels + 1, but + 2 for pequin.
 

IMG_20200620_111934065.jpg
 

IMG_20200620_111635498.jpg 

IMG_20200620_110225231.jpg
 
I use a mix of 1:1 dirt:perlite. The dirt is basically vermicompost that contains animal shit. The vendor has an organic garden and sells his compost surplus. I also mix in some spent coffee grit.
 

IMG_20200620_095549788_HDR.jpg

IMG_20200620_112716895.jpg
 

IMG_20200620_114919584_HDR.jpg 

IMG_20200620_165710381_HDR.jpg
 
I planted two pequines with other plants: one with a mamey (left) and another one with a pineapple (right):
 

IMG_20200620_165730246.jpg 

IMG_20200620_165748676.jpg
 
Some plants desperately need(ed) to be potted-up... Jalapeño white (jga; left) and sweet pepper Doux d'Espagne (rareseeds; right):
 

IMG_20200620_171615976_HDR.jpg 

IMG_20200620_173651554_HDR.jpg
 
I remember Doux d'Espagne from my childhood... It was a great success in our garden, but for a reason I don't remember it was grown for only one season. A sweet pepper from Spain with a French name

Nice varieties!!!.............that I'd like to try. Especially Doux d'Espagne! The linguistics and geographical mismatch would be MY main reason for growing it. But sweet peppers rock!

The mangos are a definite, too! Nice, healthy plants!
I've had to order soil myself. Two bags, here and there.
Awesome! I'll be following along!

 

[ahayastani]

Nice varieties!!!.............that I'd like to try. Especially Doux d'Espagne! The linguistics and geographical mismatch would be MY main reason for growing it. But sweet peppers rock!

The mangos are a definite, too! Nice, healthy plants!
I've had to order soil myself. Two bags, here and there.
Awesome! I'll be following along!

 
 
Perhaps you are mistaking mango for mamey (Pouteria sapota); at least that is the plant in the photograph. It is a delicious tropical fruit  (good combination with ice cream).
 
I will make two posts: one with peppers and another one with all the rest
 
It appears I will soon be eating my very first self-cultivated superhot: Reaper x SRTSL (F5 seeds from WHP). You can see its stinger peeping at the pepper's bottom:
 

 
A part of the day was invested in potting up pepper plants... Shown in the next photographs is Pimenta Beringela ("Aubergine Pepper", seeds from badskin). I feel somehow attracted to this cultivar, though I have no idea why Anyway, abysmal germination (1/10) which was completely my fault. The vendor's seed quality has never failed me. But since I have only one plant, I give it some priority compared to other pepper plants. I took two cuttings from the bottom of the plant. Let's see how they root (I cut the top of a plastic soda bottle and placed it upside-down inside a plastic beaker).
 

 

 

 

[ahayastani]

Tomato time...
 
Weeks ago, I planted my tomato plants in 4 gallon grow bags. Since I didn't have enough dirt available at the time, I only half-filled the bags, thinking/hoping that I could fill up the rest later. Theoretically, it would have the added advantage of promoting root growth by burying the lower part of the stem. The following images show this process (from left to right: Madagascar, Cœur de Zèbre, Peachy Keen).
 

 

 

 
Plant with double sucker (Cœur de Zèbre; vertiloom)...
 

 
I'm continuing my efforts to grow plants from cuttings. Cultivar Madagascar on the left and Midnight Tiger on the right (reported in my first post of this GLOG). In the case of Madagascar, root formation was noticed a few days after the suckers were placed in water, but it took Midnight Tiger more than a week to develop small roots.
 

 

 
Surender Curry cuttings are forming roots (my previous post). Good news for my salsa tomatoes I will plant them in dirt in a few days or so.
 

 
I also planted a new cultivar: Fleur de Reagir (badskin). I only half-filled the grow bag, hoping to play the same trick I mentioned in the beginning of this post.
 

 

 
 
 
 

 

[Bhuter]

Perhaps you are mistaking mango for mamey (Pouteria sapota); at least that is the plant in the photograph. It is a delicious tropical fruit  (good combination with ice cream).
 
I will make two posts: one with peppers and another one with all the rest
 
It appears I will soon be eating my very first self-cultivated superhot: Reaper x SRTSL (F5 seeds from WHP). You can see its stinger peeping at the pepper's bottom:
 

IMG_20200621_103005137.jpg
 
A part of the day was invested in potting up pepper plants... Shown in the next photographs is Pimenta Beringela ("Aubergine Pepper", seeds from badskin). I feel somehow attracted to this cultivar, though I have no idea why Anyway, abysmal germination (1/10) which was completely my fault. The vendor's seed quality has never failed me. But since I have only one plant, I give it some priority compared to other pepper plants. I took two cuttings from the bottom of the plant. Let's see how they root (I cut the top of a plastic soda bottle and placed it upside-down inside a plastic beaker).
 

IMG_20200621_113821618_HDR.jpg 

IMG_20200621_115306228.jpg 

IMG_20200621_115400223.jpg

I was actually referring to your peppers: Aji and Brazilian Mango.
And the "Spanch" pepper, too. (Spanish/French. Lol)

 

[Devv]

I like the attention you give to the cloning process. I see it as free plants