Blorvak 2015! - First Harvest!

ronaldo_fanbelt · Jun 28, 2015

Nice update.

blorvak · Jun 28, 2015

Thanks!

So today, I've got everyone's current pics. I'll start with the Brazilian Starfish that suffered a unplanned topping:

It's forked nicely. I can't help but think that it might be doing better if I hadn't somehow decapitated it, but there you go!

Next is the Farmer's Jalapeno. Handsome looking, strong plant:

My Goat's Weeds have a few peppers already:

This guy is the Amish Bush. One of the few peppers that suffered no transplant related leaf damage. It's completely covered with flowers. I have a feeling I'm going to have many tiny peppers:

Have some Aji Amarillos already! Very excited!:

And I even have a few Chinense pods going! Here's some MOA Scotch Bonnets:

Updated pic of the Round C. Praetermissum. Pretty, unusual flowers. I think I might have a pod or two set!:

The Yellow Fatallii is another plant that didn't suffer much sunburn at plant out, and never got too spindly. And now, pods!:

And the plant current in the lead for the first ripe pepper? The Guindilla Verde. It's already loaded with some 3-4 inch beauties:

And that's the state of the pepper garden! More heat coming up this week. I don't think I'll move everyone into the shade this time around. They can tough it out.

Roguejim · Jun 28, 2015

Nice. We're having 100F degree temps here, and I never have resorted to shade cloth. Some of the upper pods get blanched white on one side, but that's about it. Limit the extra work, if at all possible!

Plantguy76 · Jun 28, 2015

My starfish are not near that tall & are more bushy but are getting pods they are in the ground
My Queen Laurie was doing good but started to get sunburned so after house sitting for my mom I decided to move its location its in a container & it is more a bush
I also am getting pods on my yellow moas .
Your plants look good nice pods

PaulS · Jun 29, 2015

Looking good dude.
Whats the name of your band? what kind of music do you play?

blorvak · Jul 4, 2015

Roguejim said:
Nice. We're having 100F degree temps here, and I never have resorted to shade cloth. Some of the upper pods get blanched white on one side, but that's about it. Limit the extra work, if at all possible!

I get a little paranoid, because I get a LOT of sun in my backyard, and the plants will droop significantly. But yeah, I let it ride for this super hot week, and I think they're all going to be okay. Still a few more 97 degree days to go! But I'm all about working smarter, and not harder. Says the guy who almost had heat stroke putting in a garden path yesterday...

Plantguy76 said:
My starfish are not near that tall & are more bushy but are getting pods they are in the ground
My Queen Laurie was doing good but started to get sunburned so after house sitting for my mom I decided to move its location its in a container & it is more a bush
I also am getting pods on my yellow moas .
Your plants look good nice pods

Thanks! Truth be told, I wish all my plants were a bit more bushy. They grew really leggy this year. As far as I can tell, it's because of our really mild winter. I got lots of growth early.

PaulS said:
Looking good dude.
Whats the name of your band? what kind of music do you play?

Thanks! My band is called Somerset Meadows, and we play mostly rocking indie-rock. https://somersetmeadows.bandcamp.com, if you're curious!

So I hope everyone is having a great 4th! This last week was notable for it's record setting hot weather. And it's not over yet!

Snapped a few pics in sun.

My very first wild pod! Round C. Praetermissum. As of now, I have exactly one set! I have a feeling that if it were 10 degrees cooler, I'd have a lot more pods.

My very first C. frutescens pods! Bradley's Bahamanian is one of the plants who seems to like the heat more than my other ones.

Now my Cracked Jalapenos... they don't like the heat all that well:

Brigit Locoto has set a pod! It's got a whole top/bottom growth pattern going on.

And my first ripening pod! A Bell of Lebanon is getting red. I'm assuming these will get bigger as the season goes on.

And finally, the Queen Laurie. Still the tallest plant. No flowers yet, but it looks like it might be getting around to fixing that.

Thanks for looking, and hope you all are having a good weekend!

blorvak · Jul 9, 2015

Heat. We still have the heat. But we also have some ripe pods! So, I'm cool with that!

So I checked last year's blog, and my first ripe pod was July 15. I'm a week earlier this year! Looks like my decision to start my plants later this year didn't affect their maturation all that much.

Bell of Lebanon is getting there. I'm hoping that these are baby, early season pods, and I'll get the classic bigger bell-types later:

Black Hungarian is turning a nice shade of ruby:

Cracked Jalapeno is turning red too. Last year, it took a while before the Jalapenos started to turn:

Guindilla Verde is usually eaten green, but I like to taste ripe pods for all of my peppers:

And what's that? A tiny MOA Scotch Bonnet?:

And I know it's early in the season, but man, I'd like to see some more pods on all of my plants! If everyone could be like Amish Bush:

Finally, first harvest shot!

All in all, I think it's coming along well enough. I kinda think my garden could be looking more robust considering all the sun we've been getting, but looking at last year's glog, it all seems to be on track.

Color on the peppers is much better this year. I'm attributing this to a swap in my fertilizer regime. Last year, I used this generic fish hydrolysate every few weeks, and I don't think it helped much out at all. My peppers produced, but were always a bit yellow-y. This year I'm applying Tomato Tone every two weeks, and I like the results. This is in no way a scientific observation, but that's hard to do on my scale.

Temps ramping down to the high 70's soon. Hopefully, I can get some pods to set!

cone9 · Jul 9, 2015

Lookin' fine!!

Good work.

blorvak · Jul 14, 2015

cone9 said:
Lookin' fine!!

Good work.

Thanks! Plants are doing all the work, really.

Now that the heat has broke, and it's comfortably in the low 80's, the plants seem a bit happier. My only troubled plant is the Charapita. It's looking a bit yellow, and doesn't seem to be growing much. I should hit it with some cal-mag, but there are only so many hours in the day...

Just have a quick harvest pick to share. This is pretty much the end of the very first pods that set after plant out:

Some Bell of Lebanons at the top (popper-size!), with some MOA Scotch Bonnets underneath. Bottom row we have, from L to R: Allepo, Guindilla Verde, Jalapenos, and the tiniest Guwahati Bhut of all time.

I had to try the Bhut, and it indeed had quite a kick! Can't wait to get a full sized edition!

I'll get out and get some plant shots this week.

blorvak · Jul 23, 2015

As usual in the pepper world, things are going slow and steady. I promise to get some updates on the plants soon, but today I've got a quick harvest pic. Still early in the season, but I've got a bit of red coming in:

From L to R: 2 Ros de Mallorca, 2 Allepo, the first Goat's Weed (wish these guys would kick into gear), and my first Amish Bush pepper.

So, of course, the Amish Bush was so tiny that I had to try it. Tiny peppers tend to be hot, and this guy wasn't an exception. I'd say that it's about as hot as my Cracked Jalapenos this year, and they're at the upper end of the hottest Jalapenos I've tried. Very respectable! Flavor was a bit jalapeno-ish as well.

Hoping the garden picks up soon. Tomatoes still aren't in yet, so I'm not too worried. And some plants have a goodly number of pods! The Aji Limon, Pequin, Bradley's Bahamanian, Alleppo, Guindilla, all aren't doing so bad. If only I could get the Bhuts to set a pod or two...

blorvak · Jul 26, 2015

Hey an update!

Finally got out to the garden with my phone. And hey, it's overcast! Had a big BBQ last night, and that summoned the first rain we've had in at least a month. Forecast has us back in the 99's throughout the week. Wonder how many pods are gonna set then :tear:

?

Updated plant shots!

First off, my sad Charapita... still yellow, but getting some secondary growth:

Yellow Rocoto. No flowers since I first put it out. Lots of growth, however. It's been in the shade. Moving it back to full sun to see if it likes that:

White Bullet Hab. A few pods, but it really hasn't kicked into gear yet. Bigger than last year's plant:

One of the plants that loves the heat... Bradley's Bahamanian:

Guwahati Bhut. Great looking plant, no pods yet. Both of my bhuts are bare. I've moved this one into the place the Yellow Rocoto was at to see if it likes more shade:

Farmer's Jalapeno pod. Starting to get the characteristic cracking:

Aji Limon. Doing much better this year:

Round C. Praetermissum. Fussy about setting any pods. I have one, maybe a few more. Seems healthy, however!:

Yellow Fatalii. Getting some color!:

Allepo. Doing fairly well, with several pods. My dad has one and is getting bumper harvests:

And that's ten. Have a few more. Give a bump if ya want to see 'em!

Genetikx · Jul 26, 2015

Bump. Let's do this

Blister · Jul 26, 2015

Buuuuuump!

blorvak · Jul 26, 2015

Thanks!

Aji Amarillo. Not a ton of pods yet, but the few it has are fine looking!:

Goat's Weed, just about finishing up it's first flush of pods. Waiting on Round 2!:

Queen Laurie. My biggest plant, and one of the slowest one to flower. I finally have a blossom or two, and it looks like a few pods have set:

MOA Scotch Bonnet. I have two: one in the pot, and one in the ground. Just like last year, the one in the pot is doing way better:

Upper deck of the Birgit Locoto. This is the most prolific baccatum I've grown. Lots of pods, and lots of flowers:

And finally, a non-pepper shot. One thing that absolutely loves the heat are the sweet potatoes. My first year growing them. Think they're doing okay?

That's what I've got for today! I just hit everyone with some organic Cal Mag, and the tomatoes too. My first application of the season. Thinking about giving the non-podding plants some ferts, and the podding plants some kelp. Hope everyone is having a good season!

cone9 · Jul 26, 2015

Queen Laurie's a big girl! I have two plants, both about 3 feet tall. (Last year's plant grew to about 6 feet.) Both are loaded with pods with two ripe on one of the plants. I think you'll really like these - I expect QL to become one of my perennial favorites along with the Brazilian Starfsh (which gets just as large and productive).

I'm really fond of baccatums. Another I am anxious to try is El Oro de Ecuador. I planted them this year but one had one seed germinate and it died shortly thereafter. I've never had the opportunity to try them but they sound inviting.