Canedog Offseason Season 2022/23

Well, shoot. I don't know that I should start a new glog with as poor as I was about updating my last one, but here it goes. My offseason season started late, with most of my plants being probably four to six weeks old now. I'll start by posting a few of the newer ones.

This guy is an Oxkutzcab/Oxkutzcabian Orange Habanero. I have three of these growing and a couple Caribbean Red Habanero that are smaller. The Oxkutzcab seem to be out-pacing the reds, but they've also been around a little longer. In this pic I particularly like the transition in the stem at the cotyledons.

@HeatMiser sent me some of his wild texas tepin seeds - what, a couple years ago now? - and I've been trying to grow the variety to production ever since. The seeds were collected off a wild-growing bush in 2014 and still sprout just fine. I have three of the plants growing that I've overwintered, but it's been a very long-season variety for me here in the pnw and between that and the impact of an aphid infestation last winter I haven't yet gotten any of them to ripe pods. I started this new one with the idea of getting it well-established inside and hopefully it will be mature enough to produce by next season. I may just keep it inside until it does.

Aji Guyana. I've grow this variety for a couple seasons now after Wiri Wiri shared seeds with me. I always end up topping it, so I got that out of the way early this time. I'm hoping once will be enough, but if it gets unruly it may end up seeing the scissors again. Great production out of these and pretty early for a baccatum.

This is a second generation (with me) ollantaytambo amarillo rocoto. I was hoping the parent's pods would be more pale that they were, but it produced great-looking yellow pods this summer, which I thought had great flavor. I'm curious whether this next generation's pods will be unchanged, plus it's likely getting crossed with one or two other rocotos I have growing now that are close to the same age.

Uvalde Pequin, from @CraftyFox - thanks man! It looked a little rough when it first came up, but it's looking much stronger now.

I'm working with several mexican culinary varieties, growing given varieties from multiple sources and in different variations to find out what I like best. Pasilla Oaxaca, Pasilla Negro Bahia, and Guajillo are among them. These guys are the most recent sprouts. The others have been growing a while and are more established.

Guajillo

Pasilla Oaxaca

Pasilla Negro Bahia

I'll close with this guy. I thought I'd run out of the orange arequipa rocoto seeds I'd acquired a couple years back, but I found one scraggly seed in the corner of a seed baggie and that scraggly seed has turned into this scraggly young plant. When it germinated I thought the roots might not be strong enough for it to survive, but I've tried to water it just right and it keeps getting stronger day-by-day. If it keeps improving like it has it might make a good match for the ollantaytambo amarillo rocoto.

 

[MarcV]

The blue ones are for germinating spearmint...

 

[CaneDog]

Are you sure blue cups are compatible with capsicum? Everyone knows red ones are the way to go
Good luck with the off-season, looking forward to all the pics.

Thanks, CC. And if this grow goes sideways on me now I'll have something to blame it on.

 

[Grass Snake]

Blue cups are for Bell peppers, red cups for everything else. Ever heard of Blue Bell? That’s good Ice cream, try it if you get a chance. Anyways why are some in double cups and some aren’t?

 

[CaneDog]

Blue cups are for Bell peppers, red cups for are everything else. Ever heard of Blue Bell? That’s good Ice cream, try it if you get a chance. Anyways why are some in double cups and some aren’t?

I saw some green solo cups at the store not long ago. Best for green peppers?

Yeah, it's just that I've been a little slow about cleaning more Solo cups for the recent transplants. I have a bunch waiting and may just do that now while you have me thinking about it. I only use the double cups to allow some drain-through while keeping water off the tables. I don't really like having the roots circle into the reservoir.

 

[Grass Snake]

I saw some green solo cups at the store not long ago. Best for green peppers?

Yeah, it's just that I've been a little slow about cleaning more Solo cups for the recent transplants. I have a bunch waiting and may just do that now while you have me thinking about it. I only use the double cups to allow some drain-through while keeping water off the tables. I don't really like having the roots circle into the reservoir.

Green cups for the high value rare peppers

 

[CaneDog]

A few things happening about now. Plants have started budding, with TM Longhorn the farthest along at 38 days. Several others are close behind, including it appears, the Er Jing Tian at 29 days.

I need to make a decision soon on whether to top the Texas Tepin. Previously, this variety has grown tall quickly for me and I'd like to encourage an early, more compact, bushy structure. I'm thinking about cutting it on the red line. There's a few nodes showing good growth potential below the line and the stretch begins directly above it, so that or the next node down seem like logical places. It's just a bit hard to pull the trigger with it looking as good as it is.

Another thing on my mind is this cup of 4 seeds, which I hope contains two different varieties. I've been trying to isolate a frutescens and an annuum from mixed seeds, but so far I've had lots of the annuum show up and none of the frutescens. All four planted seeds have sprouted and I think the chances are decent that I finally have one of the frutescens. In the pic below, three of the sprouts clearly show anthocyanin in the hypocotyledonous stem and germinated on the same day. The fourth germinated 48 hours after the last of the first bunch and, so far at least, shows a purely green hypocotyl. While it's far from certain at this point, I'm hoping I'll see additional distinguishing characteristics soon.

 

[Grass Snake]

I’d pinch right here

 

[CaneDog]

What's your thinking in going high like that @Grass Snake? My thinking in going low is that with other peppers of a similar growth profile I've had to top low and multiple times to get them under control - some eximium are a good example of this. Otherwise they'll just grow from the top node, despite that many of the nodes look like they're ready to go.

 

[Grass Snake]

Mainly just for aesthetics, I feel the plant is still small enough you can train it to grow the way your wanting without going that low. Personally I’d let it grow the way it is but I can understand why people prefer the top.

 

[PaulG]

What's your thinking in going high like that @Grass Snake? My thinking in going low is that with other peppers of a similar growth profile I've had to top low and multiple times to get them under control - some eximium are a good example of this. Otherwise they'll just grow from the top node, despite that many of the nodes look like they're ready to go.

After topping lots of plants, I have concluded
that lower is better, especially if you are topping
For space considerations. Topping high, I seem
to wind up with a tall plant with a couple of branches
rather than a compact, more bushy plant.

Hope you make the right decision. No pressure

 

[Grass Snake]

I say high Paul says low, let's all agree Paul's wrong but seriously I'd listen to Paul, I'm more of a pruner than a topper haha

 

[CaneDog]

After topping lots of plants, I have concluded that lower is better, especially if you are topping For space considerations. Topping high, I seem to wind up with a tall plant with a couple of branches rather than a compact, more bushy plant.

Hope you make the right decision. No pressure

There's never any pressure when it's your only one, right? I'm thinking I'll likely cut it once and then the highest one or two nodes a second time before it hopefully grows more bush-like. I've had luck with that before.

I say high Paul says low, let's all agree Paul's wrong

This cracked me up.

I like the aesthetic of the "little tree" look, but with this guy I'm especially worried about the same thing Paul says and that it will end up too tall for its indoor conditions without a strong hand.

 

[CaneDog]

Things are just kinda moving along with the grow. Moz Piri is the closest to blooming and should within days. Thunder Mountain Longhorn, Er Jing Tiao, and many others are also close.

Here a few pic's of some varieties I'm growing

Heatmiser's Wild Texas Tepin. Post haircut picture. It seems to be filing in well after topping, but I'm not sure yet whether the growth from the nodes will be uniform or we'll see the top node stretch.

Bahamian Goat. It's been a season or two since I grew this, but I'm been super happy with how these have grown after acquiring the original seeds several years ago.

CraftyFox's Chocolate Habanero "Gurdy." I don't have any isolated seeds from my previous grows, so I'm hoping I can get a true specimen from my OP seeds so I'll have them going forward.

Scotch Bonnet Jamaican Long

Scotch Bonnet Schneider Farms. Given the way MarcV has spoken about this one I figured I'd give it a try. I had seeds from 2018 that I hadn't grown, so I dropped a couple and got good results.

Mari Wiri courtesy of Wiri Wiri. There's a common theme that some of my earlier peppers had a soil mix that led to early deficiencies. I transplanted those plants, but you can still see the remnants in the lower leaves both on this guy and the scotch bonnet, above.

Puno Amarillo Rocoto, looking fuzzy.

Last for this post is a very small Uvalde from CraftyFox. It's been growing quickly though since transplant into its current Solo home.

 

[HeatMiser]

Nice progress CD!

So what's the plan with this indoor grow? Are you going to keep these plants in their solo cups? I've been wondering how long I'd be able to keep them in small containers since I usually run out of room with my main grow, but have been hesitant to experiment with those plants...

 

[CaneDog]

Nice progress CD!

So what's the plan with this indoor grow? Are you going to keep these plants in their solo cups? I've been wondering how long I'd be able to keep them in small containers since I usually run out of room with my main grow, but have been hesitant to experiment with those plants...

Thanks, HM. That's a question I'm trying to figure out on the fly. Most of them I just want to evaluate and collect isolated seeds - some fresh pods will be a nice bonus though Those ones could stay in Solo cups and probably do fine, but I'd rather pot them up to 5.5-inch square McConkey containers- these guys - given that Solo's are pretty high-maintenance for water as the plants get bigger. Plus I'll simply get better production giving them more legroom.

I hope I can fit about 40 plants in the current space with 5.5-inch containers (or maybe a mix of those and Solo cups), so the extra 21 plants would probably go in a 4x2 tent with an HLG 100 3K in another room. It'll be cooler in the tent, so I'll probably look to relocate the rocotos; "doubles," where I kept multiple sprouts and didn't get variance; anything off-pheno that I decide to keep; and taller plants to the tent.

I've had good experience with the solos for smaller podded varieties when I'm simply after a decent number of seeds - plus it's easy to bag the whole plant if they're outside. Serrano, Thai peppers, stuff like that. Even Habanero sized peppers usually do fine for getting a handful of pods and decent number of seeds. Varieties that produces big pods haven't done as well, but sometimes good enough.

 

[MarcV]

Now let's hope you like that Schneider Farms scotch bonnet...

 

[PaulG]

62 plant indoor grow. Egads, CD, that's impressive.
I have had good luck with the 5.5" sq. pots. The plants
can get too big, even in those, since I hate topping a
healthy specimen. My squares are a full 2.liter. I think
they are 6"+ tall.

As for the Tepin will be interesting to see how the top
node grows out. Might have to trim it back to its own
first node to let the other branches catch up. Good luck
with that.

 

[CaneDog]

Now let's hope you like that Schneider Farms scotch bonnet...

I'll be holding you responsible for this one, but I suspect that will be a good thing

62 plant indoor grow. Egads, CD, that's impressive. I have had good luck with the 5.5" sq. pots. The plants can get too big, even in those, since I hate topping a healthy specimen. My squares are a full 2.liter. I think they are 6"+ tall.

As for the Tepin will be interesting to see how the top node grows out. Might have to trim it back to its own first node to let the other branches catch up. Good luck with that.

Yep, it's a reach and I'll be working to keep most quite small to avoid things getting too crazy. Some can really put on size even in the 5.5's - some of the Baccatum come to mind. I'll have to figure out how to juggle this right as I'll need to make room again once Spring-prep gets underway. With Thanksgiving already on us it won't be long until new rounds of starts demand space.

I'm on the same page as you about the TX Tepin. It might make me top it again, but I'll give it a fair chance to cooperate first. I'm hopeful it turns into a good - and productive - little bush.

 

[HeatMiser]

Thanks, HM. That's a question I'm trying to figure out on the fly. Most of them I just want to evaluate and collect isolated seeds - some fresh pods will be a nice bonus though Those ones could stay in Solo cups and probably do fine, but I'd rather pot them up to 5.5-inch square McConkey containers- these guys - given that Solo's are pretty high-maintenance for water as the plants get bigger. Plus I'll simply get better production giving them more legroom.

I hope I can fit about 40 plants in the current space with 5.5-inch containers (or maybe a mix of those and Solo cups), so the extra 21 plants would probably go in a 4x2 tent with an HLG 100 3K in another room. It'll be cooler in the tent, so I'll probably look to relocate the rocotos; "doubles," where I kept multiple sprouts and didn't get variance; anything off-pheno that I decide to keep; and taller plants to the tent.

I've had good experience with the solos for smaller podded varieties when I'm simply after a decent number of seeds - plus it's easy to bag the whole plant if they're outside. Serrano, Thai peppers, stuff like that. Even Habanero sized peppers usually do fine for getting a handful of pods and decent number of seeds. Varieties that produces big pods haven't done as well, but sometimes good enough.

Nice - thanks for the pointers CD! I bought some 3.5 inch square pots this year to try out in my next grow. I guess I'll add some of these 5.5 inch ones as well, if only to keep me from having to water as frequently when the plants get bigger.

I'm definitely interested in seeing how you manage your space with that many plants, so keep us updated!

 

[CaneDog]

An update on the TX Tepin that got topped a while back. I see a little bit of stretch happening, but not enough to take action. Not yet anyway. I like the bushier look now and I'm hoping it doesn't grow out of it.

Uvalde continues to grow and appears to be out of the woods after an inauspicious start.

This is the sole Guajillo to sprout from hundreds of seeds I planted that came out of (heavily) dried smoked pods. Despite the horrible condition of the seeds, it's growing well and seems perfectly normal.

Flowering is starting - or at least getting ready to - on a number of varieties, including this Pasilla Apaseo.

This Tekne Dolmasi is getting close. I'll probably want to limit it to just 2 or 3 pods given how big they get.

And this Pasilla Negro seems about ready to crank out a bunch. I may have to limit fruits on a number of these plants keep them of decent size.

I wanted to get more container soil this weekend, but the nursery is closed Sun and Mon. Tomorrow I'll see if I can get some. I'd like to pot-up a few of the more demanding plants that have been unhappy with their conditions and could probably use a little more root mass to do better.