Blorvak's Greenhorn 2014 - End of Season Wrap Up!

blorvak · Apr 10, 2014

So it looks like the skipped watering day ended up with a couple pulling in water too fast - for a touch of edema. Doesn't look too bad. Just a few crinkly leaves. A warning for future waterings!

Black Cayenne is the 2nd plant with a tiny flower. Should I pick it? Nah, too small:

And I brought a few more up to the kitchen staging window.

Wide-load Fish Pepper:

And CGN21500:

Still about a month away from plant out. Weekend plan is to make some potting soil in time for it to cycle. And to get some non-peppery things seeded. Thanks for stopping by!

blorvak · Apr 13, 2014

Hey Hot Pepper folks! Hope you're having a great weekend! I'm fighting a cold, but it ain't going to stop me from posting some Sunday portraits!

So the news this week: the first C. Chinense to put out flower buds are the White Bullet Habaneros. These guys are still under the T5's, and are quite stout.

I'm still about a month off from plant off. Was going to build some potting soil for half of my pepper crop, but... eh. Next weekend. I did some less labor intensive stuff like planting some radishes, and chard.

Anyway, here's a pick of the Big Boys' staging area:

Just brought my sole surviving Datil upstairs:

The Tunisian Baklouti is my biggest pepper so far:

Speaking of stout, this Yellow 7-pot is a fireplug:

And this Cracked Jalapeno is forking nicely:

That's it for now. It's crazy how some of these guys were two tiny sets of leaves for months before taking off. I think I can easily shave off a few months off of next year's grow.

z_malloc · Apr 15, 2014

Looking good! Keep up the good work !

blorvak · Apr 16, 2014

z_malloc said:
Looking good! Keep up the good work !

Thanks! And thanks for dropping by! Saw that you updated your glog, and it looks like you're well into a big grow!

Doing a bit of watering and came across a pleasant surprise. One of my yellow rocoto has flower buds:

Now, flowers don't always translate into pods, but considering that all of my yellow rocotos were on death's doorstep before they turned around, I'd say it's pretty good!

All the rocotos are still slow growing. These 3 are 100 days old. And one is shaping up to be a mystery pepper. Take a look:

Any bets as to what the "yellow rocoto" imposter is?

blorvak · Apr 20, 2014

I've been sick as a dog all week, and have 50 things going on, and the only rain free day is Easter Sunday. I gotta squeeze some gardening in!

On the non-pepper front, UPS dropped off my asparagus crowns. Getting those in a raised bed was priority #1. You'll notice that I have a cat problem in my garden. I need to fortify any freshly dug dirt or else the cats will think I've provided them a luxurious bathroom out of the goodness of my heart:

After spending time with the family, I found I had a few hours of light at the end of the day. Time to build some potting soil!:

My soil building station. Peat Moss, perlite, mushroom compost, planting compost, Tomato Tone, kelp meal, Lime, glacial rock dust, and crab meal.

Man, I don't know how you guys pot up 50/100/1000 plants at a time! I called it a night after filling four 7lb root pouches! Luckily, I still have some time to let the soil cycle, so hopefully I can get some more done next weekend.

And finally, some Sunday portraits. Growth has slowed a bit, either because the temps have dipped, or they want new shoes. Or both. Either way it's fine. I don't have room for them to grow much bigger!

Here's a 7 Pot Yellow, with a tasty beer for scale:

Trinidad Cola Bean. Pretty plant. Really curious how it's going to turn out:

CGN 21500. Much less purple now that it's getting some natural light:

And my sole surviving Scotch Bonnet, Red:

Lots of flower buds on the plants now, but none have opened yet. I expect they'll just drop off until the weather takes a turn for the warmer.

And because it's Easter, here's a mess of hot cross buns that I made. My wife got my crud, so it was the least I could do :surprised:

:

blorvak · Apr 24, 2014

Plants slowly growing and rain falling... looks like the Purple Cayenne wants to get the ball rolling, already:

Can you blame it?

blorvak · Apr 25, 2014

Portland spring... plants enjoying a sun-break between thunderstorms:

John1234 · Apr 26, 2014

blorvak said:
My soil building station. Peat Moss, perlite, mushroom compost, planting compost, Tomato Tone, kelp meal, Lime, glacial rock dust, and crab meal.

Man, I don't know how you guys pot up 50/100/1000 plants at a time! I called it a night after filling four 7lb root pouches! Luckily, I still have some time to let the soil cycle, so hopefully I can get some more done next weekend.

A tarp is everyones best friend when it comes to large soil mixes

Just roll it back and forth with a few raking outs. It's crazy how much dirt two people and a tarp can mix.

Things are looking great! I really liked the side by sides, shows what a difference a few tweaks can make, and gives a good idea of a proper growth rate over time. I think I've got a bit of tweaking to do myself

That new soil mix sounds solid, I can't wait to see the results.

blorvak · Apr 28, 2014

miguelovic said:
A tarp is everyones best friend when it comes to large soil mixes Just roll it back and forth with a few raking outs. It's crazy how much dirt two people and a tarp can mix.

Things are looking great! I really liked the side by sides, shows what a difference a few tweaks can make, and gives a good idea of a proper growth rate over time. I think I've got a bit of tweaking to do myself

That new soil mix sounds solid, I can't wait to see the results.

Thanks, and thanks for stopping by miguelovic!

Yep, I mixed soil up in a concrete bin. Probably could have used a tarp. And another set of hands

Mixed up the rest of the soil this weekend, in-between rain showers. Have 8 pots (7.5 gal) prepped. Going to use some commercial mix in a few more for testing purposes. Will post side by side pics. The rest are going in raised beds. We shall see how it all works out. Science! It goes without saying that I'll share the results.

Decided to take a tally of the current state of the grow. Haven't managed to kill anything, but I've given away a bunch. Here's the current grow list:

1 "Yellow Rocoto"
2 Aji Habanero
3 Aji Limon
1 Alma Paprika
1 Black Hungarian
2 CGN 21500
3 Cracked Jalapeno
1 Datil
1 Fish Pepper
2 Goat's Weed
1 Joe E. Parker Pepper
2 Mako akokɔsrade
2 Orange Habanero
1 Pequin
1 Purple Cayenne
1 Scotch Bonnet, Red
1 Scotch Bonnet, Brown
1 Trinidad Cola Bean
1 Trinidad Gold Bean
1 Tunisian Baklouti
2 Yellow 7 Pot
2 Yellow Rocoto

And here's a few Sunday Portraits! First up, Aji Habanero. Still a bit yellow, but growing:

Purple Cayenne, branching out all over the place:

Double shot! Tunisian Baklouti on the left, Pequin on the right:

Yellow Pot 7, very robust:

And a Joe E. Parker Pepper I just brought up from downstairs. Big flowers!:

Supposedly there are some record temps in the 5 day forecast. I'll believe it when I see it

Still a few weeks from safe plant out. But, we're getting there.

Hope everyone has a good week!

blorvak · Apr 29, 2014

Looks to be in the high 80's/low 90's for the next few days! Plant out time, right? As the good Adm. Ackbar once noted, traps abound! Back to 60's (and lows in the 40's) + rain by the weekend.

But I do have more flowers!:

The Black Hungarian is liking it upstairs. The darker varieties are the first flowering for me:

My first chinense are flowering! Here's a White Bullet Hab, budding out all over:

And a mako akokɔsrade. Both have tiny flowers:

Both the chinense had been under the T-5s when they flowered, so I brought them upstairs for some real sun. I've been running a small experiment with some of the plants I have multiples of: keeping one under the t5's, and giving the other natural light. Since I just brought the other Mako upstairs, thought I'd give you a comparison shot of the pair:

Plant on the left has been in natural light for a month or so, one on the right under t5s. The t5 plants seem to be smaller, and spread out sideways. They also branch earlier. The natural light plant is taller, with no flower buds. Does it mean anything? So far, it's simply data

blorvak · May 5, 2014

Rainy, cold, wet, and stormy weekend again. No gardening for me! Dirt day is gonna happen. Just not today!

But hey, Joe E. Parker pepper looks like it's trying to set the first pod of the season!

Black Hungarian is trying too, but I couldn't get a good photo. Lots of flowers, however:

Yellow Rocoto is starting to branch out:

Trinidad Cola Bean is doing well. So well, I needed a beer. You know, to illustrate size:

And here's an Orange Hab. With another beer. For size:

Most of the plants have been moved from under the t5's to natural light. Still a few downstairs. Need to give a few away. Dunno if I'll be able to do it.

blorvak · May 8, 2014

Finally decided to pull the plug on the grow room. Just a few wan looking Aji Limons, a few okra, and eggplant left. Time to bring everybody up into the fold!

So, the eggplant (a thai variety) is a really good example of the tendency of the plants to try and get as squat as possible to absorb more of that tasty t5 light:

It's tempting to get the plants in the ground. Temps are swinging back up again this weekend. Time for operation:harden off.

Enjoy the pepper forest for a few more days, Panda.

MeatHead1313 · May 8, 2014

Plants are looking outstanding blovark! And congrats on your first pod of the season. Looks like you'll be swimming in pods in no time.

PaulG · May 8, 2014

Hey, John, all your plants look fantastic. You are giving Portland area growers a good name!
Looks like a day or two more of sprinkles here, maybe even a shower or two,
then a good stretch of planting out weather. I have all my plants outside for now under
cover from the rain except for a few in the greenhouse I couldn't fit under cover outdoors.
I am going to try to keep planting our between showers, if possible. These babies need
to get into their final homes!

We need to get together with some other PDX area folk just for the fun of it! Let's work
something up after plant out. We could do a seed swap or something. In the Fall it would
be great to have a pod swap and share powders, etc.

Keep up the good work, bud. Your soil mix is awesome.

KingLeerUK · May 8, 2014

Every single plant looks so healthy, I'm jealous. My plants seem stunted in comparison. Your season will be bountiful!

blorvak · May 9, 2014

MeatHead1313 said:
Plants are looking outstanding blovark! And congrats on your first pod of the season. Looks like you'll be swimming in pods in no time.

Thank you! Pretty sure these early pods will drop off once they get transplanted, but a guy can dream. Jealous that you're already getting tomatoes in. I'm just getting my starts this weekend.

PaulG said:
Hey, John, all your plants look fantastic. You are giving Portland area growers a good name!
Looks like a day or two more of sprinkles here, maybe even a shower or two,
then a good stretch of planting out weather. I have all my plants outside for now under
cover from the rain except for a few in the greenhouse I couldn't fit under cover outdoors.
I am going to try to keep planting our between showers, if possible. These babies need
to get into their final homes!

We need to get together with some other PDX area folk just for the fun of it! Let's work
something up after plant out. We could do a seed swap or something. In the Fall it would
be great to have a pod swap and share powders, etc.

Keep up the good work, bud. Your soil mix is awesome.

Thanks for all the kind words, Paul! As I've probably stated before, your glog was a valuable research tool for me! And it would be a great idea to do some PDX swapping. Hoping to get enough harvest to make some powders and sauce.

KingLeerUK said:
Every single plant looks so healthy, I'm jealous. My plants seem stunted in comparison. Your season will be bountiful!

Your plants look fine to me! And you've got ripe pods. That's where I'm hoping to get

Cold with downpours this evening. Hardening off begins this weekend. Wish I started that process sooner.

Signing off with the first Goat's Weed flower. Just a pretty plant:

blorvak · May 10, 2014

It's a pretty NW spring day with a mix of great sun, and showers. Not dirt day for peppers yet, but I did get a delivery of hardened off tomato starts! Thanks Dad! It's tomato dirt day!

First, mixed up a batch of organic ferts: Cup of Tomato Tone, half cup of Kelp Meal, half cup of Crab Meal, and half a small pak of Mycos:

Next, dug some holes, worked in fertilizer, and gave everyone a newspaper collar to protect against cutworms:

Placed the soaker hose, and managed to snap a branch or two. Ah well. They're gonna have to be tough if they're in my garden! Finished off with some plastic mulch:

All in all, I planted: Black Krim, Sioux, Red Brandywine, Hungarian/Italian mix, a Sweet 100, Sweetie, Early Girl, and Big Beef.

The peppers watched from the sidelines. It's their first field trip outside:

blorvak · May 14, 2014

Dirt day approaches. Planning on this weekend, when the rain returns. Hopefully, not too much rain!

We're having unseasonably warm weather right now. 91 degrees out. Have the tiny jungle chilling out behind some economical shade material I picked up on eBay:

Another angle of the high tech Patio Chair Shade Area:

Supposed to only get down to high 50's tonight. Planning on letting the plants stay out for their first overnight excursion. I think they're up to it!

Runescape · May 14, 2014

All your plants look awesome, dude. Goats Weed looks great too, ive seen the pods on stc's glog, pretty neat how they go from green-->black-->red...

blorvak · May 15, 2014

Runescape said:
All your plants look awesome, dude. Goats Weed looks great too, ive seen the pods on stc's glog, pretty neat how they go from green-->black-->red...

Hey, thanks for the complement! Getting a little tired of the constant inside/outside tango, but I've heard enough hardening off horror stories to stick to the plan.

Yep, excited about the Goat's Weed! I have two, and really should give one away. We'll see if that happens :party: