CaneDog 2020

2020 is underway, so it's time to start the new season's glog!  Odd times though, as I'm still harvesting stragglers from last season while the earliest of my 2020 starts are already up.  Grow areas are a bit disorganized as a result 
 
This season's grow should be a little more balanced than last season, though I'll still have a ridiculous number of rocotos - many OW's plus a bunch of new varieties - and quite a few carry-over OW wilds, too.
 
A big "thanks" to all who shared seeds with me for this season.  I'm appreciative and excited to have lots of cool varieties in the mix, many of which I got to watch you grow last season and can now try myself.  I think I'm current with everyone, but if by any chance you were expecting seeds from me that may have slipped through the cracks just shoot me a PM.
 
As I mentioned, things aren't super organized right now, but here's a few pics anyway.
 
I planted a few seeds early, just because I couldn't hold off the extra few weeks without planting something.
 
Amarillo de Arequipa Rocoto just popped- Thanks CTB!

 
Ecuador Sweet Rocoto twins - and a big shout out to the two peeps who sent me seeds for these. Both sources germinated and I'm really happy to have them growing.  Disclaimer: they may look overly wet, but these just got sprayed (to avoid HH's) and it's a very porous medium.

 
Put another few rocotos in to soak today.

 
This is a galapagoense that popped a few days back, exactly 100 days after sowing.

 
And this pod contains Jalapeno Zapotec x Purple Jalapeno F1, one of a couple F1 JZ crosses I'll be growing out this season. The other is Tekne Dolmasi x JZ.

 
Finally, I got a solid recommendation on a new media mix I'll be trying out this season in a few variations. The mix is heavy in partially composted bark fines, a fir/hemlock mix as pine's hard to get locally. It's proving to be a veritable mycelium factory.  Bodes well for good symbiosis with the appropriate fungal species this year.

 

 
Heck, they're even fruiting out the drainage holes... 

 
 
That's it for now.  Good luck to all in 2020!
CD

 

[PaulG]

Hey, Señor McDog! You mentioned you were
going to put the rococos outside - when are
you thinking of doing that? Our nights still in
mid 30's quite often. If we had 40's consistently,
I might do the same.

 

[stettoman]

Seeds go in the kerosene in just under twoweeks. They need isolated til I can take the OWs out, so it's going to be.....int'resting....

 

[CaneDog]

Hey, Señor McDog! You mentioned you were
going to put the rococos outside - when are
you thinking of doing that? Our nights still in
mid 30's quite often. If we had 40's consistently,
I might do the same.

 
I have a 6 or 8 OW's that have been outside all winter, except for a few cold weather stretches.  I'm generally not concerned with the established plants as long as the temps are 38F or above.  I bring them in at least overnight below that. They seem fine for even a little lower, but I try not to push them too far and I definitely don't want them out below 35F, even when they're at their most cold-hardy.
 
With the OW's that I cut back and moved inside late 2019, I'll up-size into larger pots with fresh dirt and give them a bit of an in-and-out adjustment period, but they should do fine with that treatment as well.  They're scheduled to move out over course of the next two weeks.
 
With the new crop of rocotos I won't be putting them out overnight until sometime in April and I'll harden them off first.  The young ones don't seem to do quite as well in the colder temps and I try to consider that too abrupt a change may set them back.  With yours though, being ahead of mine and with your greenhouse, I bet you could transition them out sooner than I'd be comfortable in my circumstances.
 

Seeds go in the kerosene in just under twoweeks. They need isolated til I can take the OWs out, so it's going to be.....int'resting....

 
That's great it's getting close.  The aphid management is definitely mondo hassle becoming a massive PITA if they get in with the sprouts.  Separate rooms alone usually goes a long way toward preventing the spread.  Also, spraying off the infested plants in the shower (usually just plain H2O) every couple weeks has massively decreased the activity here and seems to have totally stopped migration.  I'm planing to step it up to weekly treatments and more Dr. Bronner's now that things are a bit more organized and hopefully that will (effectively) eliminate them.

 

[stettoman]

Aaah, shit. Couldn't stand it, put a couple more of the XL Brown seeds to soak...

 

[Bookers]

Haha I have 10 seeds 5 Rocoto varieties and it's driving me nuts not seeing any hooks ... I'm scared I used to heavy of a soil... this weekend makes 2 weeks. I guess patience is a virtue...

Kerosene??? That's a new one lol

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[CaneDog]

Aaah, shit. Couldn't stand it, put a couple more of the XL Brown seeds to soak...

 
That's the spirit!  No reason to dip your toe in the water when you can just jump in
 

Haha I have 10 seeds 5 Rocoto varieties and it's driving me nuts not seeing any hooks ... I'm scared I used to heavy of a soil... this weekend makes 2 weeks. I guess patience is a virtue...

Kerosene??? That's a new one lol

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Patience doesn't hurt - I could use a little right now with my last few seeds cooking.  I think cooler germination temps are often better with rocotos (low-mid 70F's and definitely not > 80F) and sometimes either turning up the heat (if you've been running low-mid 70F's, try turning the heat up 5F for a couple days) or moving to day/night cycling (especially if you're already running on the warm side, cooling off "overnight" temps by 5F-10F then back up for the "day" for a couple/few days) are tricks that sometimes stimulate germination.  Also, if the soil is heavy, maybe check that it's not staying too wet.
 
I hear either a kerosene or diesel fuel soak is critical to getting good performance from the SSE Fatalii, but I'm not so sure for rocotos 

 

[Bookers]

Cane, ooookay on the kero... whatever pops dem kernels....snicker
Im just so anxious. I checked the date, it has only been 9 days but feels like a month. Got bored... so last night soaked some yellow TMS and I just put a few Yellow Tatiana F5 to soak. Pulled a Scorched Butch T seeding for an emergency resurrection lol cheers...

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[PtMD989]

I thought the kerosene soak was just for y’all’s grow down plants [emoji16].


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[Bookers]

Idk news to me respect the the pop lol

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[solid7]

Also, I found this weird egg that apparently came in with the bark fines.  It's about 7cm in diameter and I can see an embryo IRL, but it doesn't show as clearly in the photo.  Any ideas what it is?  I figure I might move it in a sealed container with bark fines and see if it hatches.

Are you sure that you're well versed in the metric system, buddy? Or just one too many down at Chuck's?

7cm diameter is a big fucking egg... Run away.

 

[CaneDog]

Cane, ooookay on the kero... whatever pops dem kernels....snicker
Im just so anxious. I checked the date, it has only been 9 days but feels like a month. Got bored... so last night soaked some yellow TMS and I just put a few Yellow Tatiana F5 to soak. Pulled a Scorched Butch T seeding for an emergency resurrection lol cheers...

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I tend to get anxious when I've been germinating a bunch of seeds and they've been coming up regularly, but then I plant a new batch and it seems like I'm waiting forever - which is happening right now.  11 or 12 days is the mode for rocotos for me.  Your guys should be popping up over the next few days.
 

I thought the kerosene soak was just for y’all’s grow down plants [emoji16].

 
   Definitely advice best contained to the growdown threads.  We can't have everyone learning the hard-earned secrets of superior pepper cultivation. 
 

Are you sure that you're well versed in the metric system, buddy? Or just one too many down at Chuck's?

7cm diameter is a big fucking egg... Run away.

 
Tell that to the F'n ostrich running around my grow room!  
 
Haha, yeah, that's supposed to be mm's, not cm's.  Was just a solo slug egg.

 

[stettoman]

Umm, I bet slug eggs don't go around laying themselves, eh?
 
Better go sift for signs of the MAMMA!!

 

[lespaulde]

I know what you mean CD, when many varieties pop quickly, waiting for a few cultivars to get their act together drives me nuts! This being my first year with Rocoto, I definitely had to practise some mindfulness etc to keep calm, because those buggers are some princesses. Only by power cycling the heating dome so that they cooled down at night did I get germination. Very good to know to try and keep things cooler in general and will try to achieve this in the next round of seed dropping.

That's amazing info to have that OW Rocotos should survive being outside (perhaps in a greenhouse) with mildly cold temperatures - this I'll be sure to keep in mind for next winter. My BJ Purple and NuMex OS definitely bit the dust being outside this winter, but it was also never my intention to save them another year so no harm done.

Awesome progress all around though, you are setting up for a killer season I can see!

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[CaneDog]

Umm, I bet slug eggs don't go around laying themselves, eh?
 
Better go sift for signs of the MAMMA!!

 
I'm no expert on the private lives of slug eggs, but that's probably a safe bet!  Thankfully, the egg came in with the bark so mama is long gone.  Last thing I need is big mama tearing through my grow room devouring the new starts!  Something like that could drive a man to 
 

I know what you mean CD, when many varieties pop quickly, waiting for a few cultivars to get their act together drives me nuts! This being my first year with Rocoto, I definitely had to practise some mindfulness etc to keep calm, because those buggers are some princesses. Only by power cycling the heating dome so that they cooled down at night did I get germination. Very good to know to try and keep things cooler in general and will try to achieve this in the next round of seed dropping.

That's amazing info to have that OW Rocotos should survive being outside (perhaps in a greenhouse) with mildly cold temperatures - this I'll be sure to keep in mind for next winter. My BJ Purple and NuMex OS definitely bit then dust being outside this winter, but it was also never my intention to save them another year so no harm done.

Awesome progress all around though, you are setting up for a killer season I can see!

 
It would be interesting to see the results of a legit test of whether temp cycling helps rocotos with germination, because it has definitely seemed that way at times for me.
 
The rocotos have done fairly well for me overwinter here, but even the ones that are essentially outside plants get some indoor time.  Sometimes during colder snaps I'll let them spend a couple/few days in the house round-the-clock.  Even though they may not be getting much light, I think the periodic brief periods of warmth help them.  Drying out somewhat may figure into that as well.  I try not to get them too warm for too long though, so they don't lose any cold-hardiness.  
 
And I'm counting on a killer season this year - for all of us!

 

[stettoman]

 
 
It would be interesting to see the results of a legit test of whether temp cycling helps rocotos with germination, because it has definitely seemed that way at times for me.
 
 

 
I actually have the perfect environment to test that hypotenuse: My studio/grow room is a fair constant +/-65 degrees year round. It's in the cellar and I keep the one funace vent closed to maintain the temp. When I'm germinating seed I use a large heat mat that at full power reaches +/-80 degs. My Root Riot plugs this year are going into those tiny Solo cuplettes, making them very mobile. I can place them on the mat during daylight hours and move them to the 65 degree table top over night. After reading lespaulde's post I've already decided to do this with one of the two XL Browns I planted, leaving the other on the mat as a "control". I know that's a pretty limited batch to test this idea, but I will soon be "sewing" a larger number of pubes, and will repeat the process, eh? 

 

[CaneDog]

I'll be interested to see how that goes for you.  I've had great results just sticking them in a cupboard in springtime when the house temps were ranging between 68F at night to low-to-mid 70F's during the day.  If it does go well, it shouldn't be hard to duplicate it in mass.  Just throw them on a tray or something similar for easy transfer.
 
So, what color plants are you expecting from this batch of "browns" 

 

[stettoman]

 
So, what color plants are you expecting from this batch of "browns" 

 
 
I'm actually hoping for daffodils.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
...or garlic.

 

[PaulG]

For what it's worth, the stubborn germinators in
my wilds grow hooked up over the next three days
after I put them on the furnace duct where there
was a bit of temp swing rather than the constant
temp (80˚F) grow shelf.

 

[lespaulde]

Going to be some good reading all around, awesome tests to be doing! In fact, I do remember reading your posts on changing location Paul which inspired me to try it since I had been waiting 3+ weeks at that point already. For now, going to get comfy and watch

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[CaneDog]

I'm actually hoping for daffodils.
 
...or garlic.

 
Given your experiences with the XLB so far, daffodils or garlic might be as likely as anything!  JK. Looking forward to you getting a good one going this season. Great-looking pods on mine last season and hoping they all do the same this time around.