DesertChris' High Desert Extreme Gardening Glog

Gotrox · Feb 28, 2013

Yup.
West of you in the high desert.
But 5600' high desert.
Windy.
Erratic freezes late spring.
Blistering Augusts.
It's a challenge.

Did I say windy?

Good luck!

DesertChris · Feb 28, 2013

Exactly!!

We are at 2,400 feet elevation, so not nearly as high in the sky as you.
Wind, wind wind, almost always from the west....

Last year the crazy wind, one day in the summer, actually stripped every single leaf of of 2 serranos and several jalapenos, that were on the windward side of the garden! They all recovered and grew new leaves, but dang.....
Lesson learned, and we put tightly woven shade cloth on the fence to cut down on wind...

Then there is the cold....frost until may, and in January temps dropped to 7° and overwhelmed my temporary greenhouse I rigged together with a small heat source to overwinter peppers....they all lost their leaves instantly...i put them in the garden shed with the heat source, and look like they are just now coming back to life......

Oh and lets not forget the triple sun we get in the summer...
1 regular sun
2 extra sun because it is clear skies and thinner atmosphere
3 reflected sun from the light colored sand

Yep, we need a bit of luck, and lots and lots of strategic planning!

On a lighter note, I sowed 200 hot pepper seeds and 300 tomato seeds today

With the ones already growing, and already sowed, and still to be sowed, I should have significant #'s to start with. So if loss from wind and heat occurs, we should have plenty to survive...at least that worked in the past...lol

idosimon · Feb 28, 2013

Where are you in socal? Judging by your description maybe Palm Springs? Anyways its nice to see another californian here! Good luck with your grow!

DesertChris · Feb 28, 2013

idosimon said:
Where are you in socal? Judging by your description maybe Palm Springs? Anyways its nice to see another californian here! Good luck with your grow!

Hi, I am actually just outside of Lancaster. (The very northern edge of los angeles county)
Thanks for the good luck wishes!!
Definately cool to see other California folks here

I used to live up in Santa Rosa, Fort Bragg, and Arcata....once upon a time....But was raised down in San Diego

StupidJerk · Feb 28, 2013

Nice grow list! I hoped you would do a grow log. Can't wait to see the plants.

TheFanMan · Feb 28, 2013

sounds pretty harsh for the plants up there.

RPM55 · Feb 28, 2013

That's an impressive grow list you have. Good luck with your grow.

HopsNBarley · Feb 28, 2013

Awesome list! Good luck this year!

Jamison · Feb 28, 2013

Long list of plants! Good luck! Sounds like your working out a game plan, I'll stay tuned.

DesertChris · Feb 28, 2013

Thanks Everyone! Especially StupidJerk and wayright for helping me double my growlist!!

TheFanMan ...... Yes....it is a challenge, but they do well with some various techniques....last year my generic jalapenos were rippin' hot, hotter than any I have ever had before!

Running errands today, I found these in a small hispanic food corner market!
For $1.29 I had to buy them. I chewed one up, and they are great

So I soaked a buch of seeds from several of the pods, in warm water for a couple hours.
Then proceeded to use my special technique for store bought packaged dried pods....
CARPETBOMBING a peat pellet with seeds!! LOL
I started 4 pellets of them in the germ trays

DesertChris · Mar 1, 2013

Woke up this morning toa few more hooks....seeds sown on 2-23...Including 1 Chocolate Hab.

3 Datils and a Douglah

Bad news is 2 Naga Vipers came up as "No-Cots".....sad little spikes...not even a helmet head

So counting the OP Orange Habby from last year pods that came out a TriCot, I have now germinated seedlings with 0-3 Cotyledons.....

Sawyer · Mar 1, 2013

DesertChris said:
Bad news is 2 Naga Vipers came up as "No-Cots".....sad little spikes...not even a helmet head
So counting the OP Orange Habby from last year pods that came out a TriCot, I have now germinated seedlings with 0-3 Cotyledons.....

Don't give up on those no-cot spikes. If there is even the slightest bit of meristematic tissue at the end of the spike, they may go ahead and sprout a leaf. I've had three or four hopeless-looking coty-less spikes pull out of it and grow leaves. It doesn't happen often, but unless the space is an issue for you, it doesn't cost anything to wait and see.

DesertChris · Mar 1, 2013

I have room, for now....might run out of room in a couple weeks....one of the spikes was from 2 days ago, one this morning. the older one may have a tiny split at the tip, can't tell without a magnifying glass...lol....luckily I am not short on Viper seelings that do have cots

I did have a couple thai peppers get their cots sheared of by a mouse in the garden shed, and 2 of the four I brought into the house managed to grow true leaves

There is hope, however slim....

StupidJerk · Mar 1, 2013

If you don't have room under your light, try next to a window. That's where I put my sad bastards to thrive or die.

DesertChris · Mar 1, 2013

Yep, they will get pushed over to the sliding glass door area soon, That is where I have a bunch of plants that aren't under the light, but still get some through the window..... Also, I run a bunch of plants out to the porch during the day, and back into the house at night

Last night, our son said it looks like a jungle in the dining area....lol

PjPEPPERS · Mar 1, 2013

Good luck with your grow this season, sounds like it's stacked against you so be awesome to see your progress. Wishing you the best of luck for 2013.

DesertChris · Mar 1, 2013

OK, here is the Main Garden area that we put in last year...1600 sq feet.... Little kids hang out in here, so no Superhot stuff allowed...Sweet Peppers, Mild Peppers, Tomatoes and other food crops will be packed in here like sardines.... LOL

Here is the Goat Pen addition for this year 1269 sq feet.....Habanero heat rating and higher will go in here, along with tomatoes...Still have to clean it up and run water lines to it.

Here is the back porch where I will have anything I want to really protect from wind or sun, and anything I want to stare at for hours on end! Container plants only.

Here is the far back addition we are putting in this year too...Not sure how big, but likely 80 feet by 25 feet....Sprawling stuff like Squashes Melons etc. will be in there

Still have to set up the water lines here too, but at least there water already on one end

Here are my Overwinter "Sticks" in pots...They gaot hammered by the 7 degree night we had in january

Some are starting to show signs of life

PjPEPPERS said:
Good luck with your grow this season, sounds like it's stacked against you so be awesome to see your progress. Wishing you the best of luck for 2013.

It's not too bad with some strategy.... Plant em real close together and the support each other from the wind, and shade each other to...Also use windbreaks on the western side of garden areas to help out....
Oh, and water twice a day during the hottest parts of the year...LOL

Sawyer · Mar 1, 2013

You should save seed from any of your sticks that survive. Anything that can survive 7º F deserves to be propagated.

DesertChris · Mar 1, 2013

Now for the fun part....
Here is my Germinating and seedling area in the dining room

Notice the recycled warped wood I used to make a rack to hang the 3 ordinary flourescent shoplights from...hahahha
There are a variety of wavelength bulbs in there, and seem to be working fine.

I have one germination heat mat, but found that on top of the lights is nice and warm! So 1 pepper tray on the mat, 1 pepper tray and 2 tomato trays staying nice and warm on top of the lights.
Then I switch the 2 pepper trays every 12 hours or so.

The back door with bunches of plants getting a bit of light.

Seedlings in the dining room, they go outside during the day...

These are all Pepper seedlings under the lights

4'x8' table I recycled from the desert....On the back porch now

Great for potting up, and for seedlings to get some sun in the day...

Sawyer said:
You should save seed from any of your sticks that survive. Anything that can survive 7º F deserves to be propagated.

Well....I had made a temporary pvc pipe, and plastic sheeting, greenhouse, on the back porch.... there was a small heat source....but when it hit seven degrees overnight outside in January, it got down to about 20 degrees or so inside the greenhouse area...They instantly lost their leaves, and tons of ripening pods went squishy on me

But you are right, if they live, they deserve to reproduce.... I did germinate and sprout a few seeds from the orange Habaneros, but hopefully the parent plants start growing again too...