Cayennemist's 2021 from SCRATCH! New property

Peppers in the Trees 2021 ​

A Grow Log​

 
  I'm back! I joined in 2015-16-17 and had a fantastic run. I got a new job in 2017 as a Commercial Construction Superintendent. I was working a lot and just didn't have time to for gardening. Stress was high but the pay was great. At the time we were living in San Diego with our 4 kids and I had to put my hobbies on the backburner just to LIFE.
 
Fast forward to Jan, 2021, we are living in Northern California in the ultra rural area that I grew up in, Quincy CA. Life has slowed WAY down. We have horses and a few acres to call our own. Horses have become a big part of our life, especially with my 11yr old daughter. Horse manures was stacking up quick, we produce about 20yds of manure a year. 
 
The first paddock we built went neglected for about a month and then it rained. It was bad, we were left with area that had about 12" deep of mushy mud and poop. The horses cant be in that for too long or they will start having issues with their feet. We quickly moved them to a new area with better drainage and where left with a large flat mud pit.

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When life gives you poop, grow a garden!​

 
  So I had a chat with the wife and kids and they are all in! We do have one major problem in this area when it comes to gardens, deer are overly abundant! So I'm going to have build a deer fence. The local deer are quite athletic and can easily clear a 4ft fence. I'm going to need to BUILD A WALL, and I'm going to make the deer pay for it.   Jokes aside, this is for real. At around 120ft @ $6.00/1ft = $720 not including posts, concrete, screws, stringers. so this wall would quickly exceed $1200...
Nah, I'm good. I decided to used recycled materials and see what I can do that was cheap but looks okay. The  answer was Pallets and some old 2x6 I had laying around.
 

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We have a source for FREE pallets. A local feed store gives them away. SCORE!​

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  I started building "The Wall" on 1/19/2021. The plan is to screw 2 pallets together side by side and make panels. Each panel with sandwich a 2x6 that is 6' 6" tall. These posts will hold 28" wire fence on top of the wall making the total Hight of the entire wall 6' 6" tall. Can a deer clear that? I'm sure some can yes. Will they do it? I doubt it.

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The wall is secured to the ground with a 6' T-post on every 2x6 and the corners will be 6" round posts sunk in to the ground about 24"​

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[Cayennemist]

I have a bag of steer manure that I'm nervous to use, im going to spread it onto the "lawn"

 

[Cayennemist]

I didn't want to fork over the money and go Extreme, but I like the motivation I get from having a grow log. Mixed feelings about it, the site is dated and is lacking some features that should exist especially for a Pay to Play format. lack of inbox space, not being able to edit old posts... This is unacceptable for a site that makes money. Now that I'm a paying member, I get to complain right?
 
Whatever /End Rant
 
BIG UPDATES are coming tonight now that I have room to post more pictures.

 

[PaulG]

Can’t wait to see those, my friend!

 

[Cayennemist]

Greenhouse is 95%​

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These pics are about a week old, today I cleaned it out and placed pallets down around the perimeter.​

I have a functional door and window. I will post some more on that stuff tomorrow.​

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Plants are mostly doing great. I get a few that have issues like my Ali Mangos that seem to not like as much light. And a single peachadew that has Cal Def.​

I did murder one of 5 Pepperoncini with a FPJ experiment and 1 out of 4 Hatch that got a little too big too fast.  The FPJ thing was me getting a little too excited after watching Guru's Dank Tank video. I made a little batch and only let it sit for about 5 days. I was ripe and anaerobic as F#@K... I'm pretty sure it digested the roots on the poor test Pepperoncini over night! it was shriveled up and stanky the next morning. I have never seen a plant die so fast. This is how we learn, glad I didn't put it on a bunch of plants... As for the Hatch, it just grew so fast that it couldn't handle its own weight and it snapped during watering time. ​

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Topping​

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So, growing here in Nor. Cal Zone 6 has its challenges. You have to start early because we have a modest summer, but your plants get too big inside before its time to put them outside... My answer is topping. The guys that get too tall too fast get decapitated just before the split if I can catch it in time. This promotes node growth and bushy plants.​

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Honestly Im not a fan of topping, but if it help things work out better in my climate then why not. We'll see how it works out.​

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Grow table is filling in​

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I have something like 90 plants on this table, next year I am definitely doing a wire rack shelf!​

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As for Fertilizer, I have been adding this stuff to the bottom cups and a little bit in the water.​

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[PaulG]

Dr. Earth makes pretty good products.
I use their Alfalfa Meal.
 
Sorry about having to top your plants. I face the
same problem here. My grow shelf just isn't tall
enough to handle the big plants. That's one reason
I decided to start a month later this season. In the
2liter pots, my chinenses get over 2' tall, so they
go to the greenhouse early. This year, my new shop
table makes a great grow space with 4' of headroom.
No topping this year.
 
You have a full-on grow going there, my friend. And
your greenhouse is looking really good. You are
going to have a great season!

 

[Cayennemist]

Dr. Earth makes pretty good products.
I use their Alfalfa Meal.
 
Sorry about having to top your plants. I face the
same problem here. My grow shelf just isn't tall
enough to handle the big plants. That's one reason
I decided to start a month later this season. In the
2liter pots, my chinenses get over 2' tall, so they
go to the greenhouse early. This year, my new shop
table makes a great grow space with 4' of headroom.
No topping this year.
 
You have a full-on grow going there, my friend. And
your greenhouse is looking really good. You are
going to have a great season!

 
Thanks, now I just need a break in the weather. I am finding lots of good spiders in the greenhouse already. I am going to put all the planters on pallets in hopes that the ants and other bugs get eaten by spiders living in the pallets.
 
I want the inside of the pallets to look like a scene from the movie monster hunter! We have some really good spiders up here in Northern California. Most of them are variants of Wolf Spider that are not harmful to humans at all. We do have Black Widows, but they are more rare and iare only in really dark cool wet spots like water meter boxes. The Wolf Spiders eat Widows, ants, moths, young caterpillars, and all sorts of bad guys!
 
The critter that worries me the most is ants, they do farm aphids here like most places. I think I may use nematodes for fungus gnats, we use the same ones to treat our manure piles to keep Flys down.

 

[ahayastani]

Aphid farmers... Your ants are softcore    We've got those and also what they locally call "arrieras", and which in English is "leafcutter ant", I believe. They "harvest" the leaves of your plants in no time. Ants bite me even when I'm working at my PC.

 

[Cayennemist]

Aphid farmers... Your ants are softcore    We've got those and also what they locally call "arrieras", and which in English is "leafcutter ant", I believe. They "harvest" the leaves of your plants in no time. Ants bite me even when I'm working at my PC.

 
 
 F THAT!!!
 
Yeah we are lucky when it comes to that. My biggest threat is probably Bears and Deer. Not really that bad. I think I can fix that with a little pepper powder.

 

[PaulG]

Aphid farmers... Your ants are softcore    We've got those and also what they locally call "arrieras", and which in English is "leafcutter ant", I believe. They "harvest" the leaves of your plants in no time. Ants bite me even when I'm working at my PC.

Thats what ya get for livin' in a year-round grow zone 

 

[Cayennemist]

Thats what ya get for livin' in a year-round grow zone 

I know right... I change my statement. Freeze is my biggest threat.

 

[Cayennemist]

Ever wake up and check your plants and it just feels like they exploded with growth?​

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Lots of node and side branch growth! Especially on the topped plants. I have been cutting back on light, at about 7 hours of dark with a steady temp of 70F and good airflow. I had some Edema issues, I cleaned out the bottom cups and increased airflow and that seamed to make a difference.​

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[Cayennemist]

Not bad for 60 days from seed!​

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[Cayennemist]

We are sleeping outside tonight!​

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Weatherman says 55F tonight, but no matter, I got a heater on a timer.​

The fan also has its own timer.​

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Defiantly some hardening off to do. I had about a dozen plants wilt and fall over like they were made of rubber.​

I imagine the temp was around 85F. I hit everything with some cool mist and a bamboo stick for support. They bounced right back no problem.​

I'm sure tomorrow I will need to watch them like a hawk.​

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I have multiple plants that are spitting out blossoms left and right. Some I will pull off and some I will keep depending on the plant.​

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I stopped by the nursery today and picked up 3 bails of Peat moss, some chicken manure compost, and a giant bag of perlite. ​

I'll be potting up soon!​

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[ahayastani]

Fickle spring temperatures made my heart often skip a beat... That's the price one has to pay when taking a bet with Mother Nature, I guess Good luck!

 

[Cayennemist]

Fickle spring temperatures made my heart often skip a beat... That's the price one has to pay when taking a bet with Mother Nature, I guess Good luck!

 
I deffinatly had to up my game from growing in So. Cal!  I might look in to some cold tolerant varieties, any ideas?

 

[PaulG]

 
I deffinatly had to up my game from growing in So. Cal!  I might look in to some cold tolerant varieties, any ideas?

Try Rocotos, they like the cooler climates.
I am in zone 8b, and the rocotos do well
here. Not spectacular, but reasonably pro-
ductive.
 
You are doing a great job of developing your
new grow situation, Andrew. The plants look
great, and so does your greenhouse! You are
right, you really have to watch greenhouse
temperatures on the warm sunny days.
 
What is that beautiful purple flower plant?

 

[Cayennemist]

 
What is that beautiful purple flower plant?
 

 
Honestly, IDK lol.
The bag said "Purple Ornamental" That seems a bit vague. Once I get some pods going I'll dig in a little deeper and ask the sender some questions. 
 
At this point in time it is one of my favorites. It is a bushy little guy.

 

[ahayastani]

Try Rocotos, they like the cooler climates.
I am in zone 8b, and the rocotos do well
here. Not spectacular, but reasonably pro-
ductive.

 
Cayennemist, you should check skullbiker's glog. He posted pictures a few weeks back of Rocoto's hit by a soft freeze. If I remember correctly, the plants were damaged but did not die and recover.

 

[PaulG]

 
Honestly, IDK lol.
The bag said "Purple Ornamental" That seems a bit vague. Once I get some pods going I'll dig in a little deeper and ask the sender some questions. 
 
At this point in time it is one of my favorites. It is a bushy little guy.

From your description, sounds like it could be Explosive Ember.

 

[Mr.joe]

From your description, sounds like it could be Explosive Ember.

Does not sound like something you want near the house