Bpoole's 2015 grow

Trident chilli · May 26, 2015

Severe case of "sunburn" I think were they "hardened off" Keep them shaded and I am sure they will soon recover ... give them a good water as the pots look quite dry

Bpoole55 · Jul 20, 2015

Greetings! Its been awhile...more like two months! Trident Chilii I'm glad to say you were 100% correct! Here is an update on my garden and peppers.

My tomatoes for the season, some are growing, others are still working. A total of 20ish plants? Plus some growing that I didn't plant, I'm assuming some from last year.

My wonderful cucamelons growing! have three pots like this plus some in the raised bed. I tried one earlier, definitely has a citrus taste at the beginning but then a nice cucumber taste after.

A zoomed out picture of all the recovered peppers. Peppers in the pots are doing 10Xs better.

Not sure what this one is..

Aji Lemon

Lost the tag on this one but I think it is a ghost.

Thai

7 Pot Bubblegum

Trinidad Moruga Chocolate Scorpion

A pod from latter

Carolina Reaper, some pods just starting to grow

And last but not least... Zimbabwe Bird Pepper, looks smaller due to grass

Look closely. TONS of peppers!

Some just starting to ripen.

Sorry it's been so long, I hope yall enjoy!! More to come soon!

Bpoole55 · Sep 30, 2015

So its been awhile and i still have more pictures to post but those will come soon. As of now all my plants in the ground are doing better then the ones in the pots. I originally experimented with the soil by putting just garden soil in some, others had a mix of garden soil and compost, and a few had just compost. Most plants are over 3 feet tall, although one is reaching or has already reached 4 feet. But unfortunately that one has the least amount of pods on it.

These are some I picked a couple weeks ago. Got some aji lemons, some that were supposed to be reapers but aren't nearly as hot as a habanero, thai, large orange thai, yellow douglah?, 7 pot bubblegum, red habs?, zimbabwee bird peppers, and the ones on the bottom right I'm not sure what they are. I would like to say I got over 700 bird peppers from one plant and there are still a couple hundred on the same plant. Very good plant to grow!

I went out yesterday and I saw two branches had broken off of my peach ghost plant. A total of 47 pods gone...could these possible ripen if I keep them inside? Suggestions?

Picked these yesterday to make a homemade chipotle sauce. Some red jalapenos and two aji lemons, smoked for about two hours. Got the recipe on here from one of the forums. Kosher salt, ketchup, brown sugar, quarter of an onion, garlic,and apple cider vinegar. Ended up adding some lime juice and worstershire (cant spell). Makes about two pints.

Used up the rest of the tomatoes in the garden to make some tomato sauce. Threw in some zimbabwee bird peppers to make it spicy! Made one quart.

So right now I have a little bit of a problem. I live in the mountains in va and the last frost is supposed to happen in the next two weeks. There are still hundreds of pods in my garden and I'm afraid they wont ripen before the frost hits. I dont want to lose all those peppers considering I havent picked much yet and Ive put in so much work to make these babies grow since February. Is there anything I can do? I don't want to try a dig them up and bring them inside because it will either shock them and will drop a lot of pods or they will just die. Maybe fertilizer?

Comptine · Oct 1, 2015

I've heard that some people sort of wrap their plants outside in plastic, helps keep the temperature a little. I guess it depends on how low the temp drops.

Bpoole55 · Oct 5, 2015

Here's a look of my pepper garden as of yesterday.

When I planted them at the beginning of the season I wasn't expecting them to grow so large. It just makes me wonder how much bigger they could be if they didn't get burned so bad when I weathered them. Probably lost between 1-2 months of growth because of it.

Some of the plants in pots. If you can tell, deer have gotten in a couple times and have started eating some of my plants.

Chocolate scorps. And more deer destruction..

One of my Aji Lemon. I'll be taking the plants in pots in for the winter and I've been debating on digging up my other Aji Lemon because I've heard they will produce during the winter too. On a side note, if you haven't tried this pepper before I suggest that you do. I was surprised at how much of a lemon taste you get when you first bite into one.

The peach ghost pepper plant that lost two limbs with 50 pods on it. One of two plants.

By far my best producer has been this plant. Lost the tag so I'm not sure what it is. Let me know if you can tell what it is or have a good guess.

Awhile back I bought a single hydroponic system so I could grow a plant over the winter. I plan on starting some seeds soon but I'm not sure what would be a good plant to grow during the colder months. Also, I'm not sure if some of the seeds I have are what they say they are. If someone would be willing to send me some seeds that are good growers inside during the winter and know that the seeds are what they are that would be great! Also, depending on how many I pick in the next week or two if anyone would want to trade some peppers just let me know. I'll try to put more posts up every couple of days as it's getting colder. Hope you enjoy!

dragonsfire · Oct 5, 2015

Very nice crop !

Bpoole55 · Oct 5, 2015

dragonsfire said:
Very nice crop !

Thanks!

Bpoole55 · Oct 12, 2015

This was a harvest from a couple days ago. Only about half of the peppers on the bushes were ripe so far.

Unfortunately I think it may have frosted last night...

Also, not sure what some are. I know I have peach ghosts, aji lemons, thai, large orange thai, jalapeno, chocolate scorpion? and chocolate ghost? Not 100% on the others. Feel free to help out!!

Bpoole55 · Oct 19, 2015

Ok I need some help here. This is my first time over wintering a plant. Iv'e decided to keep my zimbabwee bird pepper and aji lemon plants. here is a pic of my zimbabwee that I already trimmed back.

My questions are:
Did I trim back enough?
Do I need to trim it back more?
Did I do too much?
Whats the best way to keep this over the winter?
Certain temps for plants being over wintered?
Fertilizer?
Water?

Any feedback would be helpful!

Genetikx · Oct 19, 2015

I definitely wouldn't trim it back anymore but it looks good. Hopefully you trimmed the roots as well to kind of match the top. That'll really just help to prevent it from being rootbound.

As for the best way, some would just leave it in the dark with very minimal water. That worries me for some reason. Last year I trimmed about the same amount as you but I kept them under grow lights all winter, also with pretty minimal watering, especially when there's little to no leaves to need water. I don't know if what I did is considered ow or just an indoor grow but it worked great. Had huge plants by spring.

Oh btw, would be best to leave some leaves or at least spots where it looks like leaves are about to pop. Cut right above those and they'll grow into fresh branches

Bpoole55 · Oct 19, 2015

Genetikx said:
I definitely wouldn't trim it back anymore but it looks good. Hopefully you trimmed the roots as well to kind of match the top. That'll really just help to prevent it from being rootbound.

As for the best way, some would just leave it in the dark with very minimal water. That worries me for some reason. Last year I trimmed about the same amount as you but I kept them under grow lights all winter, also with pretty minimal watering, especially when there's little to no leaves to need water. I don't know if what I did is considered ow or just an indoor grow but it worked great. Had huge plants by spring.

Oh btw, would be best to leave some leaves or at least spots where it looks like leaves are about to pop. Cut right above those and they'll grow into fresh branches

how would I trim the roots?

Genetikx · Oct 19, 2015

Bpoole55 said:
how would I trim the roots?

You'd take that entire plant out of the bucket, knock off the dirt, cut the roots up, then replant -- preferably in new soil that has a lower chance of bugs. After I knock off the dirt, I spray it well with the garden hose, pretty much getting rid of all dirt and I'm left with bare roots. Then, gently place in new soil. I kinda hold the plant halfway in the bucket while I slowly fill with fresh soil. Trying to recreate how the roots sat in soil originally.

Pepper plants are resilient so don't worry about killing it because you cut the roots...Just use your best judgement on how much to cut.

Bpoole55 · Oct 20, 2015

Genetikx said:
You'd take that entire plant out of the bucket, knock off the dirt, cut the roots up, then replant -- preferably in new soil that has a lower chance of bugs. After I knock off the dirt, I spray it well with the garden hose, pretty much getting rid of all dirt and I'm left with bare roots. Then, gently place in new soil. I kinda hold the plant halfway in the bucket while I slowly fill with fresh soil. Trying to recreate how the roots sat in soil originally.

Pepper plants are resilient so don't worry about killing it because you cut the roots...Just use your best judgement on how much to cut.

I'm just worried about shocking it so bad it dies

Genetikx · Oct 20, 2015

Do you plan on a true ow where it just sits in the dark? If so, the roots probably wouldn't grow much. If you're going to continue growing it under lights, I'd be more worried about it getting rootbound as opposed to shocking it. You're also basically left with sticks and I'm not sure those can be shocked the way leaves can.

Anyone else have advice for bpoole?

Bpoole55 · Oct 21, 2015

Genetikx said:
Do you plan on a true ow where it just sits in the dark? If so, the roots probably wouldn't grow much. If you're going to continue growing it under lights, I'd be more worried about it getting rootbound as opposed to shocking it. You're also basically left with sticks and I'm not sure those can be shocked the way leaves can.

Anyone else have advice for bpoole?

No my grow lights will be used for a hydroponic plant this winter. The other plant is just going to sit.

Bpoole55 · Dec 9, 2016

Hope everyone is doing well! So I decided to take this year off after two seasons of growing peppers. I'm glad to say this upcoming year will be better then ever. Two things have changed. I now live on a blueberry farm with plenty of land and I will have access to a 10x20x8 green house. Unfortunately its starting to get down into the teens here and a greenhouse won't do much. I'm planning to get the greenhouse up in february or march. I will be starting seeds before that but I just need to figure out a warm set up in the house due to the fact that trying to heat a 150 old farm house by a wood burning stove 50 yards away gets tough. I'm glad to be back and hope all of you have a wonderful season, more to come!!

PaulG · Dec 14, 2016

Welcome back - good luck in your new digs!

Bpoole55 · Jun 15, 2017

Hello everyone! I hope all you fine pepper lovers are having a fine Thursday. I'm sorry it has taken so long to give y'all and update. Ended up moving from the previous place I was at and sadly will not be working with the 20 ft. greenhouse I thought I would be. Instead I have bought a smaller one of my own for use at my new location right down the street from work.

The greenhouse I bought off of Amazon for $99.

Here is a look at the inside. Work had a bunch of left over milk crates and I acquired some scrap wood to make a couple of benches.

On the right towards the back are some trays of spicy microgreens I am growing for my restaurant this summer. The 5 in front are the next batch which I planted on Sunday.

Here are some sunflowers, peas, okra, cilantro, brussels, parsley, and broccoli.

A bunch of different types of tomatoes. I'm not sure if I will be able to harvest anything from these but maybe the weather here in Virginia will stay warm a little longer this fall.

Lima beans, okra, brussels, zucchini, hops, cauliflower.

Cucamelons, kale, spinach, swiss chard, thyme, dill, basil, cumin, cilantro.

And last but not least the peppers! Unfortunately they got mixed up in the move. All I know is that I have some carolina reapers, chocolate cherry bomb, zimbabwee bird pepper, aji cito, and hot beads. Pretty sure there are a couple more. I guess we will just have to wait and see.

Not as many peppers as I wanted to grow this year. The whole mix up of not having a greenhouse and having to move again did not help my grow season. Hoping to be able to harvest at least a couple of pods by the end of the year.

Also, I will be moving again in August. The house I will be occupying has a huge basement. I am thinking about getting into hydroponics for the winter. If anyone has and suggestions/comments/words of wisdom please let me know.

Until next time everyone! Enjoy your weekend!

peppamang · Jun 16, 2017

Awesome! What ever happened to your overwintered plants?

Bpoole55 · Jun 16, 2017

peppamang said:
Awesome! What ever happened to your overwintered plants?

So the over wintered plant that I did was a zimbabwee bird pepper which I planted in early 2015. It survived the winter but the harvest for 2016 was nothing compared to the first year. I think I may have only harvested about half as peppers as the year before. I'm assuming that I cut it back too much. Didn't over winter it this year. It actually ended up sitting outside. The farmhouse I lived in over this winter was way too cold inside so I thought oh well.