BPWilly's 2014 grow

bpwilly · Sep 24, 2014

Thanks, just a few more to go

Just a few grow shots of what I have yet to get ripened!

Giant White Habanero

My "Not Black" Naga's Disappointed that they re not black, but happy as all heck that they are really productive

My Bhut that is very productive this year and behind it on the left a Cumari that has loads of green peppers. I hope that some ripen before the real fall weather hits

That is all for now. Might be a while for many more ripe ones as we have rain predicted for the full week.

turbo · Sep 24, 2014

Wow, great pick! You're plants look awesome. I thought a couple of my plants had a lot of peppers, but they are nothing compared to yours. I think there is more Giant White Hob than plant (by volume). Looks like you had pretty good success from your potted plants. I still need to figure out what I'm doing wrong with pots.

Lets hope this rain doesn't slow down the ripening process.

Devv · Sep 24, 2014

Very impressive!

I wish I had found your glog earlier, but I was too busy growing!

I must say you have done a most excellent job this season!

bpwilly · Sep 25, 2014

turbo said:
Wow, great pick! You're plants look awesome. I thought a couple of my plants had a lot of peppers, but they are nothing compared to yours. I think there is more Giant White Hob than plant (by volume). Looks like you had pretty good success from your potted plants. I still need to figure out what I'm doing wrong with pots.

Lets hope this rain doesn't slow down the ripening process.

Turbo, Thanks, The pick did surprise me as well. Guess I need to get down on my hands and knees more ofter to see what is growing under all those leaves! Those are shots of my better plants, I have plenty that are not doing as well, and others that are someplace in between. I know I try to many things at the same time (soil mix, pot size, fertilizers, etc) so when things go well, I am never sure what the real cause was.

Last year I had some Fatalli's that went absolutely crazy putting out pods in 5 gal buckets, and this year they are not nearly as productive. I do have about 15 various peppers in larger 12 to 15 gallon pots, and these are doing much better so I am leaning towards larger pots in the future.

I did try a couple of plants in 10 gallon fabric pots this year and was not impressed at all. I know others have had good success, so I will have to try it again next year to see if this was just a fluke or not. I know I did water all the plants on the same schedule, and maybe the fabric plants need it more frequently, but they never got that droopy look that a plant gets when it really needs a drink

That Giant White Habanero surprised me as I was completely unaware it had so many pods, till I checked it from the back side. Surprise!

Devv said:
Very impressive!

I wish I had found your glog earlier, but I was too busy growing!

I must say you have done a most excellent job this season!

Devv, Thanks for the kind words, but I am just a rookie that happens to get lucky once in a while. I have been learning a lot from the folks on this list, but I am not sure I will never know as much as some. I am feeling a little more relaxed about how I grow them and feel more open to trying to not stress as much and try new approaches. I had planned to use more AACT this year, but did not use it nearly enough to be able to tell if it made much of a difference. Then I read PIC 1's glog and see what he is able to accomplish and I know I have so much more to try out.

I do need to scale back and focus on a fewer number of plants so I can really see what effect various methods of changes to soil or fertilizers have on the plants. I can say this is a real addicting hobby!

Devv · Sep 25, 2014

bpwilly said:
Devv, Thanks for the kind words, but I am just a rookie that happens to get lucky once in a while. I have been learning a lot from the folks on this list, but I am not sure I will never know as much as some. I am feeling a little more relaxed about how I grow them and feel more open to trying to not stress as much and try new approaches. I had planned to use more AACT this year, but did not use it nearly enough to be able to tell if it made much of a difference. Then I read PIC 1's glog and see what he is able to accomplish and I know I have so much more to try out.

I do need to scale back and focus on a fewer number of plants so I can really see what effect various methods of changes to soil or fertilizers have on the plants. I can say this is a real addicting hobby!

One thing is we're always learning, and hanging out here is a great way to pick up some good info. This was my second season growing anything hotter than Jals. I think you did way better than me. I had a lot of plants just not do much. I got some nice pulls only because of high plant numbers. Growing here with the heat, it's something we try to work around....

Keep on truckin!

bpwilly · Sep 26, 2014

Devv said:
One thing is we're always learning, and hanging out here is a great way to pick up some good info. This was my second season growing anything hotter than Jals. I think you did way better than me. I had a lot of plants just not do much. I got some nice pulls only because of high plant numbers. Growing here with the heat, it's something we try to work around....

Keep on truckin!

Agreed,the pepper growing learning is a continuous game. The past 2 years I have had fabric ground cover in my garden covering everything. Have mixed feelings about this. On the plus side, I did not have to pull a single weed this year! Yea :party:

The down side is that the fabric make a ideal place for slugs to live and they nearly wiped my grow out earlier in the year. :tear:

The tough part is that I would like to be able to easily add compost, etc to the soil and the fabric makes that difficult without pulling it all up. Am thinking that I may just have to brew gallons of AACT and drench the garden with it this fall and before plant out next spring to see if that helps get more goodness into the dirt.

But it is fun to try different things to see what the effect will be on that years crop. :surprised:

Devv · Sep 26, 2014

Well here my grow starts in March, around the first, that's when the tomatoes, corn, squash. etc. goes in. Peppers after the 15th. But by mid July, we're pretty much done here. It just gets too hot. I can, and have run the peppers until December.

But it takes a toll on the soil, it has no time to recover for the next season. So I pulled them in favor of building the soil for the next season. I tilled in 10+ yds of shredded leaves and planted Crimson Clover, this is on 2,500sf of the garden. Once the clover has gotten a foothold, I'll plant rye, let it get 9"s tall and till it under.

As for weeds this year, I added 24 yards of mulch I got for free from the county, can't beat free!

bpwilly · Sep 27, 2014

Wow, That is a nice sized garden. I did a cover crop a few years back, with clover and rye. Was worried that it might be hard to get ride of it, but tilling seemed to stop it in the spring. Not sure how much it helped, but figure it did not hurt.

You get the heat and that sounds like a real challenge. Not something I have to worry about up here!. For me it is hard to get the garden planted in the spring sometimes, as we get some much rain, that if I have not already tilled everything in the winter, I would be tilling in mud, so then I get a real late plant out date. This year it was mid May before I could get then planted out.

That is the best thing about using the fabric ground cover for the past 2 years. As long as I do not walk on the raised rows, they soil stays soft enough that I do not have to till. Just makes it rather tough to add things like compost.

I did till in about 20 yards of fine wood chips/bark dust and it sure helps in keeping the soil from clumping up to much. With all this rain, we can get some pretty clay/sandy type soil pretty quick.

I am amazed at your ability to grow in those sort of heat conditions, as I see how fast the heat we do get (80-90 deg) can really do a number on the plants unless I really watch them.

Sounds like your building up some pretty good soil. Best of luck next year

Devv · Sep 27, 2014

The cover crop IMHO is essential, for one thing it helps stop the leaching of nutrients. Instead the cover crop utilizes them, and once tilled in they are soon readily available to your garden plants. Keeping things on top as I say.. And when clover is planted it actually adds to the gardens nitrogen content. My garden started out as sand, I've added heavy top soil and truck loads of leaves, manure, and wood mulch. I now have 18"s of good earth, nice dark soil, before I hit the sand, and 2 "s below is clay.

I bought a chipper-shredder this summer, I love it. It chips stuff in nice small pieces. Soon I'll be at the county yard scarfing the free mulch and regrinding it. As well as all the leaves from my job. I share peppers and produce with the people who maintain the grounds, they in turn fill my truck with leaves

PaulG · Sep 28, 2014

bpwilly said:
I guess I should have reviewed my post #86 from a few days ago before I submitted it. Looks like I forgot to attach the picture of the pull from the other day.

Must be getting old! Anyway, here is that picture. Hope it make sense

A mind is a terrible thing to lose, my friend!

Awesome pulls and pod pics, bud!

bpwilly · Sep 29, 2014

Devv said:
The cover crop IMHO is essential, for one thing it helps stop the leaching of nutrients. Instead the cover crop utilizes them, and once tilled in they are soon readily available to your garden plants. Keeping things on top as I say.. And when clover is planted it actually adds to the gardens nitrogen content. My garden started out as sand, I've added heavy top soil and truck loads of leaves, manure, and wood mulch. I now have 18"s of good earth, nice dark soil, before I hit the sand, and 2 "s below is clay.

I bought a chipper-shredder this summer, I love it. It chips stuff in nice small pieces. Soon I'll be at the county yard scarfing the free mulch and regrinding it. As well as all the leaves from my job. I share peppers and produce with the people who maintain the grounds, they in turn fill my truck with leaves

Wow, That is a lot of additions to that soil to get that much good stuff. My hats off to you for sticking with it. I am always amazed by how little of a impact (visual) the addition of 20 yards of anything has on a garden, and given the size of yours, you much have brought in a lot!

I bought a chipper a few years back, as I have a lot of fruit trees and when I prune all the suckers of, I have quite a pile. I have found that as long as I shred them while they are still green, they go real fast, but when you let them dry, it becomes a bit more of a chore. It sure does make great ground cover. I use it around my grapes and blueberries and it sure helps keep the weeds down. Plus I don't have a large pile of branches to burn at some point. I bet those leaves help a lot, that is a good idea to regrind. I will have to try that with leaves.

Thanks for the ideas.

PaulG said:
A mind is a terrible thing to lose, my friend!

Awesome pulls and pod pics, bud!

Some days I am surprised at what I can forget. I was out picking the latest batch of peppers, and had several baskets full. The next day as I was leaving the house, I saw that I had a full basket still sitting in the middle of the garden! I need to worry about me!

Thanks for the kind words. I have seen yours, now there is some talent!
More pulls coming, but the weather is changing soon.

Devv · Sep 29, 2014

bpwilly said:
Wow, That is a lot of additions to that soil to get that much good stuff. My hats off to you for sticking with it. I am always amazed by how little of a impact (visual) the addition of 20 yards of anything has on a garden, and given the size of yours, you much have brought in a lot!

I bought a chipper a few years back, as I have a lot of fruit trees and when I prune all the suckers of, I have quite a pile. I have found that as long as I shred them while they are still green, they go real fast, but when you let them dry, it becomes a bit more of a chore. It sure does make great ground cover. I use it around my grapes and blueberries and it sure helps keep the weeds down. Plus I don't have a large pile of branches to burn at some point. I bet those leaves help a lot, that is a good idea to regrind. I will have to try that with leaves.

Thanks for the ideas.

Mine has a chute for the small stuff, but you have to drop them in, or it wants your arm!

Some days I am surprised at what I can forget. I was out picking the latest batch of peppers, and had several baskets full. The next day as I was leaving the house, I saw that I had a full basket still sitting in the middle of the garden! I need to worry about me!

You know when you go to get something in another room, and you get there, and can't remember what you came in there for? They say that's normal. They say your brain "resets" when you enter another room, as it's a different place. Epecially if you're over 50

Thanks for the kind words. I have seen yours, now there is some talent!
More pulls coming, but the weather is changing soon.

bpwilly · Sep 30, 2014

LOL

Sometimes I am not sure I have to even enter a new room. I don't know how many times I have been in the garage and used a tool, and 2 minutes later I can not find that tool for the life of me. It is like it just up and walked off. Then I will find it a day later still inside the garage, but someplace other than where I was using it.

I feel like I am losing my mind, but the good thing is that I know that if I wait long enough, I will find it again. Nothing like a reunion with your own mind!

Devv · Oct 1, 2014

I have that problem with tape measures and pencils in the wood shop, so I have several, and I'm also good at misplacing my water. Funny I don't have that problem with beer

bpwilly · Oct 2, 2014

LOL

Agreed about the beer, I do not seem to lose it, but then it may be that I don't let go of it!

I have the same problem with the reading glasses. Never needed them before and then all of a sudden I need then for so many things. So glad that COSTCO sells them in packages of 3, so I can buy a couple pair for each room. Hate not being able to read the directions on the fertilizer or bug spray bottles, or dang tape measures!

Thanks for the laugh today!

Roguejim · Oct 2, 2014

Great glog, man. I need to go back through from the beginning. I've never heard of a Giant White Hab. Where did you find those seeds?

bpwilly · Oct 3, 2014

Roguejim said:
Great glog, man. I need to go back through from the beginning. I've never heard of a Giant White Hab. Where did you find those seeds?

I got those from Judy at Pepperlover last year. I don't see them on her list this year though. Let me know, and if they ripen up in time, I will send you some seeds.

Got another pull the other day as well as made more room in the freezer by making more purees from last years pods.

Got surprised at how many peppers had ripened in just a few days.

Starting from the left side moving clockwise, there was Yellow and Chocolate Fatalii's, Yellow 7 Pot Brainstrains (love these, plus they grow nice here), Lemon Drops, Scotch Bonnets (no classic A shapes, but nice flavor), Nagas and Nagabons, Bhuts - Red, Yellow and Chocolate, nice pull of Bahamian Goat peppers, Congo's - Red, Yellow and Black, Trinidad Smooth (red) and Trinidad Perfume (first time growing these), mix of Fish peppers, fresnos, Cayenne's, Biqueno Yellow, some Jalapenos, and right above the Biquenos some Reapers note that some of these are coming out a burgundy color, rather than the red from last year. Then in the yogurt containers, I have some 7 pot Chaguanas, 7 pot chocolate, a unknown that I got from a fellow grower up in Canada, and then a few orange Scorpions, a few Cumari's and Blue Mystery from Judy.

More than I expected, and plenty more to come if the weather holds. Sunny during the day but much cooler in the night.

The purees I made this time, I boiled them down quite a bit more

I made a red one with reapers, 7 pot, morugas, bhuts, naga's, etc All together they weighed in at 2.5 kilograms. Made 7 pints. I like the flavor, but it sure is hot.

The yellow on was made with habs, scorpions, white bhuts, yellow BS, fatalii, etc. In total they weighed 3.75 kilo's and made 8 pints. Very hot as well, but the flavor of the red is better.

Not sure what I will do with all this, but at least it cleared out a lot of freezer space for this years harvests.

Now to get my Garlic planted for next year!

Devv · Oct 3, 2014

So I guess you're now like me, you have too much powder, puree, hot sauce, and peppers.

Planted Garlic 2 weeks ago, still waiting for one to peak it's head. Once I see the first I'll be happy.

turbo · Oct 3, 2014

Hey Bill, when are you planning on planting your garlic? I've got my seed garlic delivered a week ago, but its looking like it'll be a warm winter. I may hold off all the way until the first of December before I plant.

bpwilly · Oct 4, 2014

Devv said:
So I guess you're now like me, you have too much powder, puree, hot sauce, and peppers.

Planted Garlic 2 weeks ago, still waiting for one to peak it's head. Once I see the first I'll be happy.

Yes, I sure do have more than I know what to do with at this time. Plus a lot of these are hotter than I can enjoy on a regular basis, so the plan for next year (best wishes) is to cut back the numbers and to grow a few more of the milder and easier to eat peppers. I still enjoy some of the supers, plus some are just very fun to grow (Bhut, Brainstrain, etc) I do like the Bahamian Goat and Scotch Bonnets as well as the Fatalii and Congos, so those will be included in my grow, but I think I will add a few milder ones. Last year I grew some Uba Tuba and they did pretty well and tasted great, so I might try them again. In some cases it is just a need to cut back. I like growing lemon drops, as they seem top do well here, but maybe only grow 1 or 2 plants. It is like planting to many cherry tomatoes. One plant will do me fine, and 4-8 is just sadistically nuts for me. I need to find that balance. Seeing all these new crosses and types that I have never grown does not help me make up my mind!

A few years back, I did the same thing with dried beans and grew dang near the whole garden with just them. Got a great crop, but I ended up with more dried beans than I could use in the next 3 years. Again, balance is not my strength yet!

But all this growing is also a way for me to learn and experiment on improving my gardening skills and seeing what really helps the soil. I am transitioning from the type that just added a bunch of store bought fertilizer without understanding what it might be doing to the soils, and only reacting to what it did to the plants, to slowly understanding what it means to feed my soil. It sure takes patience!

turbo said:
Hey Bill, when are you planning on planting your garlic? I've got my seed garlic delivered a week ago, but its looking like it'll be a warm winter. I may hold off all the way until the first of December before I plant.

Turbo, I plan on planting it with in the next few weeks, but first I need to get the beds ready. If I don't get something done soon, the ground might be to wet later for me to work it. I did not get very much garlic this year, as I wanted to just try a small scale grow as opposed to my normal approach of jumping in with both feet and buying a boatload before I know what I like.

I might try growing them in some small beds this year, but that will depend on what other chores I find to distract myself in the next few weeks. I have been working on salvaging a old outbuilding that we use for the chicken coop as well as the barn. Both of them have foundation and truss problems, so I am working to brace them so they do not collapse before I can get the wall foundations or trusses replaced. Interesting experience to jack up a roof when you are inside a building and listening to all the cracking and creaking. Scary, but so far nothing has fallen down yet. Got the chicken coop braced by building some new additional walls inside and panning on doing the same to the barn.

The honey-do's never end! But it keeps me out of trouble in my new retirement!