Better Late than Pepper

Terrible puns aside, I'm getting a very late start to the growing year.  This is my first attempt at growing peppers, but I'm hoping that I can get some experience and some hot sauce by the end of the year.  Fortunately I live in a mild climate and I think that means I can grow into winter.
 
My plan was to get started in March, but due to what's happened this year, I haven't had the opportunity until recently. On top of that, two separate orders of seeds I ordered never arrived so I'm not getting to plant all that I wanted, but I've got a few seeds in the works. I've been raring to go and annoying my wife  , but I decided to get started with what I have on hand and try to salvage what's left of the year.  Here are the seeds I've planted so far:
 
Cherry Bomb
Yellow Moruga Scorpion
Red Moruga Scorpion
Carolina Reaper
Bhut Jolokia Chocolate
Orange Habanero
Red Caribbean Habanero
Hot Lemon Habanero
Naga Viper
Jalapeno
Serrano
 
I was able to get a mini greenhouse and heating mat for the seeds so they're tucked away in the dining room. I'm winging it and going off of what I've seen on youtube and read online. I feel like I've watched hours and hours of pepper videos and I'm excited, can't wait to see what happens and I hope the wait has been worth it.
 
 
 
 

 

[ahayastani]

Sooo... you gave your suegra a superhot and you didn't warn her?

 

[FarWestPep]

Sooo... you gave your suegra a superhot and you didn't warn her?

 
Haha noo, I'm not that cruel..it was just a hot pepper  . I didn't want to give her anything crazy spicy so she got an Ancho San Luis.  Although funnily enough, she's the only one here that tolerates a little bit of spiciness as she eats guindillas from time to time. It actually worked out nicely because today is her saint's day and this was basically a present. Like most older ladies it seems, she's good with plants and can make cuttings grow pretty easily so I think the plant is in good hands with her. If I end up with some reapers or bhuts in a few months, I'll definitely see if she wants to try them with me   She made rice with snails and ribs for my wife and me so I want to give her something in return.
 
 

 

[FarWestPep]

Here are the peppers' new digs. Right now they're chilling, but tomorrow I'll turn the lights back on albeit on 16/8 schedule from now on. I'm thinking about buying some cheap metal trays from the grocery store to put around the smaller LEDs to direct the light a little better.
 
 

 

[PaulG]

Wow, that rice dish in post #22 looks so
spanish. Really brings back memories of the
great food there!

 

[FarWestPep]

Wow, that rice dish in post #22 looks so
spanish. Really brings back memories of the
great food there!

 
My mother-in-law really knows how to cook and she's generous with food, it's a great combination    Before I came to Spain, I didn't realize anyone but the French ate snails, but I've come to really enjoy them rice. I haven't tried it yet, but there's also a soup that they make here with smaller snails that I'm going to have to taste one of these days.

 

[ahayastani]

 
My mother-in-law really knows how to cook and she's generous with food, it's a great combination    Before I came to Spain, I didn't realize anyone but the French ate snails, but I've come to really enjoy them rice. I haven't tried it yet, but there's also a soup that they make here with smaller snails that I'm going to have to taste one of these days.

 
I hiked to Santiago de Compostela in 2000 and entered Spain by the camino aragonés (crossing through the mountains instead of walking around them). In the North, and especially in the regions around La Rioja, I encountered many people collecting snails in the early morning. Food in Spain is good, but avoid tourist centres.

 

[FarWestPep]

 
I hiked to Santiago de Compostela in 2000 and entered Spain by the camino aragonés (crossing through the mountains instead of walking around them). In the North, and especially in the regions around La Rioja, I encountered many people collecting snails in the early morning. Food in Spain is good, but avoid tourist centres.

 
I'm all for collecting the snails, I mean why not right. It's certainly a unique part of Spanish cuisine that is distinct from the Americas. Lucky for me, Murcia the city isn't very touristy as the majority that come here stay on the coast and go to Alicante/Benidorm. I'm itching to eat at a restaurant, but definitely not in a rush all things considered. I don't mind settling for family cooking in the meantime.
 
How was your experience the camino? My wife did it a few years ago with some coworkers, but we're talking about doing it in a year or two. 

 

[ahayastani]

 
How was your experience the camino? My wife did it a few years ago with some coworkers, but we're talking about doing it in a year or two. 

 
I did it alone and started in Lourdes. I followed the camino del Piemonte to Oloron (still France), and from there to Jaca (Spain) crossing at Somport. I hiked through Aragon and La Rioja to Burgos, and from there to Leon, and further to Compostela. Most people, however, started in St-Jean-Pied-de-Port and hiked through Navarra, avoiding the Pyrenees. In the mountains, I hiked ~30km/day, but in the plains (especially from Burgos to Leon), I never hiked less than 40 km/day, often 45-50 km/day. Finding food/shops in hamlets often was problematic, but not in smaller towns. Local food was simply delicious. I never went to restaurants or that sort of things, but bought my food in bakeries, butcher shops, groceries, ... I stayed an extra day in Burgos and one in Leon to spend more time sight-seeing. Went to restaurants in both places and Burgos s*ck*ed d0nkey b*lls. 
 
I hiked alone. I considered it a spiritual retreat, which is difficult with other people around. In 2000, every hamlet on the camino had a place where pilgrims could stay for very reasonable prices. One advise I should give you is to plan ahead the time you want to go hiking. Parts of the camino are also popular with Spanish youth, so if you hike during school vacation, better be prepared for finding the hostels stuffed with drunk youngsters  Even h*rny Oregon babes   The other advice is to pack as light as possible.
 
I would do it again if I was offered the opportunity, without a second thought.

 

[FarWestPep]

 
I did it alone and started in Lourdes. I followed the camino del Piemonte to Oloron (still France), and from there to Jaca (Spain) crossing at Somport. I hiked through Aragon and La Rioja to Burgos, and from there to Leon, and further to Compostela. Most people, however, started in St-Jean-Pied-de-Port and hiked through Navarra, avoiding the Pyrenees. In the mountains, I hiked ~30km/day, but in the plains (especially from Burgos to Leon), I never hiked less than 40 km/day, often 45-50 km/day. Finding food/shops in hamlets often was problematic, but not in smaller towns. Local food was simply delicious. I never went to restaurants or that sort of things, but bought my food in bakeries, butcher shops, groceries, ... I stayed an extra day in Burgos and one in Leon to spend more time sight-seeing. Went to restaurants in both places and Burgos s*ck*ed d0nkey b*lls. 
 
I hiked alone. I considered it a spiritual retreat, which is difficult with other people around. In 2000, every hamlet on the camino had a place where pilgrims could stay for very reasonable prices. One advise I should give you is to plan ahead the time you want to go hiking. Parts of the camino are also popular with Spanish youth, so if you hike during school vacation, better be prepared for finding the hostels stuffed with drunk youngsters  Even h*rny Oregon babes   The other advice is to pack as light as possible.
 
I would do it again if I was offered the opportunity, without a second thought.

 
Oh wow you did the whole shebang, that's impressive! Admittedly, I would probably opt for a 100 km route over a week, so maybe only about 20 km a day   I'm definitely okay eating at bakeries and food from little shops, I'm a sucker for empanadillas for sure. Definitely want to stop by some restaurants along the way like you did. Too bad about Burgos though, but I suppose there are bad restaurants everywhere. I won't be doing it alone, but I imagine I'll still get some time to think and let my mind wander as the kilometers roll by. I think it'll be a fun experience with my wife and daughter, although quite different from your experience. I've never done a trip like this, only hiking in the mountains for a couple of days. It would be nice to meet a bunch of different people on the way, even if they're cachonda   I'm all about traveling light, I usually try to limit myself to one bag when I visit my family, but I want to make sure I've got a bunch of socks and stuff for my feet just in case. Everybody I know who's done it has said they same as you, they'd do it again in a heartbeat. That speaks pretty strongly about the experience and makes me enthusiastic to try it out.

 

[FarWestPep]

Update pic on plants. I've added the metal trays although I'm not sure how much they're actually doing    I also started the first round of fertilizing with some biobizz grow. I noticed that after filling the trays and letting the plants soak up the water, they don't feel as full and saturated as they did in the seed starting cells. I supplemented with some spraying on top, but it makes me wonder if I need to poke some additional holes or just let them sit in the water longer than 30 min. It's tough resisting the urge to overlove the plants, but the last thing I want is to kill them. I'll just have to do my best not to do too much and be conservative with the watering and fertilizing.
 
 

 

[ahayastani]

Quite some change in little time.

 

[FarWestPep]

Quite some change in little time.

 
Yeah, I'm pretty happy with the progress. I probably won't be seeing any fruit for a while though, my guess would be a couple of months or so from now.

 

[FarWestPep]

A bit more growth since the last pic update. I've had to do some shuffling around as the slower growing plants get overshadowed by the big ones, good problem to have. The serrano is really exploding with new growth all along the stem. Did another round of watering which got me thinking about using drip irrigation in the future as it would be easier than what I'm doing now, lugging the plants through my apartment and then taking them all out to drain the trays after an hour isn't the easiest. I don't have to worry about it for awhile, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do once the peppers get too big for their current pots. Although I want to get them outside eventually, the sun/heat is just so intense here that I'm worried they'd get baked without constant checking/watering and that's unfortunately not possible for me to do. I know a place with some shade cloth for sale, but I would have to figure out a way to string it up. Stuff to mull over in the coming weeks. It'd be cool to keep the peppers indoors for the season, they'll most likely get too big and I know my wife won't like the electricity bill    
 
I did my first partial harvest of cilantro the other day to make some Chipotle style rice. It was the first time I've used something that I've grown myself and it was quite satisfying. I'm looking forward to what I can do with the peppers.

 

[PaulG]

Great progress, FWP!
 
Plants look like they are really liking what
you are doing. If those are just transplanted,
their roots won’t reach the bottom of the bags
for a few days, so some top watering is probably
a good idea.

 

[FarWestPep]

Great progress, FWP!
 
Plants look like they are really liking what
you are doing. If those are just transplanted,
their roots won’t reach the bottom of the bags
for a few days, so some top watering is probably
a good idea.

 
Thanks  , I'm feeling pretty good with the progress, although I know there's some beginner's luck involved. The less is more approach is working in my favor. You're right about the roots, only the biggest plants have a root or two poking down to the bottom drainage holes with the rest still filling out their spots. A couple of spritzes here and there are definitely in order. After watering today it's even more clear to me that the plants are really starting to get crowded and I'm not sure what I'm going to do in the meantime other than moving leaves around so they can all soak up some light. There isn't enough room to spread them out where they are currently located, but I might be forced to find a new place in a couple of weeks. Ideally I'd get another grow light, but that's probably getting ahead of myself.. perhaps next season.

 

[FarWestPep]

It's getting crazy! Flower buds are showing up on some of the plants and I'm probably going to pick them off until they become a bit more mature.  I can't be lazy for much longer though because the plants aren't going to fit. Time to sit down and think up a solution    

 

[ahayastani]

I usually don't pinch off early flower buds. If it is too early, the plant will drop the flowers anyway. Also, imagine that one fruit is retained... you'll have an early treat
 
Not sure if it can be a solution, but did you consider renting a piece of agricultural land nearby?

 

[FarWestPep]

I usually don't pinch off early flower buds. If it is too early, the plant will drop the flowers anyway. Also, imagine that one fruit is retained... you'll have an early treat
 
Not sure if it can be a solution, but did you consider renting a piece of agricultural land nearby?

 
That's good to know about the flowers, I honestly don't know much beyond what I've seen and read online. I decided early on I wasn't going to bother with things like topping since this is my first year growing and perhaps it's better if I don't meddle too much. It sure would be nice to have a pepper to munch on soon 
 
Funny you mention renting some terreno because my brother-in-law was talking about that just a week or two ago and it got me thinking about doing it myself. Since being in an apartment doesn't lend to having a huge garden, it's a very appealing thought. Eventually I would like to grow other plants and vegetables so it would be a natural next step. I don't think it'll happen this year, but for sure 2021 or 2022. Where I live, there's a lot of huertas close by so it'd be easy to find something within a 5-10 minute drive. Or I could just buy a house   ..but for that I might have to wait 10 years or more

 

[FarWestPep]

Well the inevitable plant issue has shown up. I'm not exactly sure what's happening, but I'm leaning towards edema. Two of the plants, serrano and jalapeno, have bumpy leaves with a crystal like substance on the tops and bottoms. There isn't any browning or yellowing of the leaves apart from the bumpy stuff and it doesn't wipe off or anything. Initially I thought it might be some kind of infestation but I've stared at it for a while and didn't see anything moving so I don't think it's a pest problem. That being said I really don't know. I don't see anything flying around or see other evidence of bugs. Right now these are the only two plants with this issue. It could be happening because I water about every four days and at night just before the grow lights turn off. It's not humid at all inside so that shouldn't be a contributing factor. I've got a fan aimed at them for a couple of hours everyday which should be helping with airflow, but it might be that they are just too crowded together. If possible, I'd like to wait until mid-August to move them outside because the heat is so intense here that I'm afraid they wouldn't survive although needs must and all. 

 

[FarWestPep]

Spotted a bug    although only one. I believe it was an aphid. I tried to squish it, but I think it got away. Went ahead and sprayed the plant it was on with the hose so hopefully I got rid of that sucker. I scoured the other plants looking for movement, as well as checking under leaves, but didn't see anything else. It's on my radar now so I'll need to check from time to time and make sure those little bastards don't get a foothold. It's amazing how these bugs can get to indoor plants and start doing their thing, goes to show you how good they are at what they do even if it's awful. Despite that, I won't be showing them any mercy if I see more of them.
 
First flowers are on the Hungarian hot wax and I think they got fertilized, but only time will tell.
 
Although it was probably unnecessary, I decided to trim off some of the edema leaves on the serrano. It might stunt the growth a bit, but after seeing the bug I got a little anxious and started clippin'.