Devv's 2014- Stick a fork in me, I'm done....

stc3248 · Feb 23, 2014

Haha...yup, gotta stay out there and keep at it or life sure does get shorter...not to mention it is more worth living when you stay active! Plants look fan-freakin-tastic! Hoop houses look great! You are building a nice oasis in the harsh little world I know you live in!

OCD Chilehead · Feb 23, 2014

Pics look great as always. Peppers in the ground look great. Hoops getting you a major jump on spring even though you are in Texas. It was 57 today in Colorado. Great days to get out and work in the yard. I'm thinking hoop house. Thanks for sharing.

HillBilly Jeff · Feb 23, 2014

Plants are looking marvelous. Planting strawberries this year. Had them before but they were hard to maintain in the garden, so I am going raised bed.

Good luck and I hope your good weather holds.

capsidadburn · Feb 23, 2014

Beautiful Scott! Plants in dirt, Pot ups, Nice plants with very beer in hand inviting background!

Congrats on amazing job!

JJJessee · Feb 23, 2014

Lookin' good, Scott. Thanks for the temperature data.
I'll be testing the waters with onions before peppers to try and get a hang of it.
A min - max thermometer would be nice if they are affordable.
Those are some nice sized transplants, once they take they will just explode!

PIC 1 · Feb 23, 2014

Great photos !
It must be a relief to get some of the plants in the ground....they look hardened of and ready to Grow !
The pods will be forming in no time...

Penny · Feb 24, 2014

LOVE the space....great pictures and plants too.

Jeff H · Feb 24, 2014

Both the nons and the peppers are looking real good Scott. Very interesting how you have the garlic planted for all this time and no weeds have grown up yet.

Devv · Feb 24, 2014

stc3248 said:
Haha...yup, gotta stay out there and keep at it or life sure does get shorter...not to mention it is more worth living when you stay active! Plants look fan-freakin-tastic! Hoop houses look great! You are building a nice oasis in the harsh little world I know you live in!

Thanks Shane!

I'm hoping everything holds together for a nice spring pod set!

How's the song go? "you never slow down, you never grow old." That's my motto!

OCD Chilehead said:
Pics look great as always. Peppers in the ground look great. Hoops getting you a major jump on spring even though you are in Texas. It was 57 today in Colorado. Great days to get out and work in the yard. I'm thinking hoop house. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks OCD!

This year it's an experiment, here we have to try and beat the 100's, so the earlier I can get things going the better production I will have. If this is as successful as I hope I will have more hoop houses for next season. The 4 mil plastic is the biggest expense, at about $41.00 for 100' of 12' wide rolls even that's not too bad. I should be able to get 2 years out of the plastic. Depends on how the UV hurts it. I do see really nice growth with the first round of tomatoes, the peppers have been OK but not taking off like the Tom's.

HillBilly Jeff said:
Plants are looking marvelous. Planting strawberries this year. Had them before but they were hard to maintain in the garden, so I am going raised bed.

Good luck and I hope your good weather holds.

Thanks Jeff!

This is year 2 growing the strawberries in really large pots. We couldn't keep them watered in the garden 3 seasons ago. I think next year we're going to put them in a 2' deep raised bed. We made one for the Asparugus, and they're popping already!

capsidadburn said:
Beautiful Scott! Plants in dirt, Pot ups, Nice plants with very beer in hand inviting background!

Congrats on amazing job!

Thanks Mike!

Isn't this weather amazing?

My plans are to run an 1 1/4" line to the garden from the new well and plug it in to the bubbler system, which hopefully I can make permanent. That's the plan anyway. Last year I could only run 3 at a time.

JJJessee said:
Lookin' good, Scott. Thanks for the temperature data.
I'll be testing the waters with onions before peppers to try and get a hang of it.
A min - max thermometer would be nice if they are affordable.
Those are some nice sized transplants, once they take they will just explode!

Thanks JJJ!

I got the idea from Rick and Greg, they both use the hoop houses to extend their season. And Rick mentioned the min-max thermometer. It's been so warm here I havent closed the sides down since planting. But colder weather is one the way, looks like tomorrow night is a test. I'll be placing gallon water jugs next to the plants to help hold the temps. Read about that and saw you use that technique last season. My head's a sponge..LOL

PIC 1 said:
Great photos !
It must be a relief to get some of the plants in the ground....they look hardened of and ready to Grow !
The pods will be forming in no time...

Thanks Greg!

Those are hardened off, and yes great to have a few in the dirt. Just wish I could control the temps thoughout the whole garden.

Penny said:
LOVE the space....great pictures and plants too.

Thanks Penny!

I'm hoping for next year to have the lower 20' revved up. I never have enough $$$ to prep it like I would like too.

Jeff H said:
Both the nons and the peppers are looking real good Scott. Very interesting how you have the garlic planted for all this time and no weeds have grown up yet.

Thanks Jeff!

We weed the garden to keep them down. LB is a serious weeder!

OCD Chilehead · Feb 24, 2014

The plastic should last you at least a couple seasons I would think. Your probably only using it in the Spring and maybe a few weeks in the Fall . I try to do things on a budget. I look on Craig's list for used supplies through out the year for projects. Missed a deal on a heavy duty metal carport 15x25 for $100obo. It would have been a great makeshift greenhouse. But I did pick up 6- 4ft,4bulb t12s for $2each. Sometimes you can find shade cloth and plastic from construction on there too. Good luck and cant wait to see the progress.

Trippa · Feb 25, 2014

Plants are looking great devv!! ... Looks like the plants are loving the sun!

maximumcapsicum · Feb 25, 2014

Hey Scott it's been a couple of days how are the babies liking the hoop house?

Devv · Feb 25, 2014

OCD Chilehead said:
The plastic should last you at least a couple seasons I would think. Your probably only using it in the Spring and maybe a few weeks in the Fall . I try to do things on a budget. I look on Craig's list for used supplies through out the year for projects. Missed a deal on a heavy duty metal carport 15x25 for $100obo. It would have been a great makeshift greenhouse. But I did pick up 6- 4ft,4bulb t12s for $2each. Sometimes you can find shade cloth and plastic from construction on there too. Good luck and cant wait to see the progress.

Hi OCD,

That's what I'm hoping for, my intention is spring use only, fall grow lasts until mid to late November. By that time I'm ready to be done!

I really need to check Craigs list more often, seems like the older I get the less time I have.

Trippa said:
Plants are looking great devv!! ... Looks like the plants are loving the sun!

Thanks Trippa!

They are so ready for dirt day, and so am I!

maximumcapsicum said:
Hey Scott it's been a couple of days how are the babies liking the hoop house?

Hi Adam,

They're hangin', it's supposed to get in the 30's Wednesday night. With the front blowing in real soon. This should be a good test to see how the plants do when it gets cold out.

I have a few pics, hauled in over 100 plants and found some things I had missed.

Trinidad Perfume has set a pod.

So has this Sweet Hungarian Paprika, so I guess I can skip the birds and the bees story now...

Aji Cristal trying

Jaime's Green Hornet

Madame Jeanette, seeds from Stefan W

A couple of Naga Brains born of F2 seed. If I understand this Jamie bred these and sent them to Gary.

Bahamian Goat seeds from Jason

Datil seeds from Jason

Jal Colima seeds from Stefan

The older gals came in this afternoon, cold front on the way. The wind, sun, and bugs sure has roughed them up. They're starting to drop the big fat leaves and settle down with the smaller summer leaves. They'll be inside for 48 hours and out again Thursday afternoon.

Solem22 · Feb 25, 2014

Congrats on your first pods! Looks like things are moving right along for you :fireball:

JJJessee · Feb 25, 2014

Podzacious!
And a beautiful Bactuum flower.

We're getting that cold front too, back to 50 by Friday they say.
Wind plus cold is what really works plants over, so you should be good in hoop house if the real cold is just a few hours.
I put up little 4x6 hoop outside my grow room in the back yard. By the weekend I should be able to let the onions see what they think of it.

stickman · Feb 25, 2014

Lookin' good Scott... flowers and PODS! That's a big bonus... :onfire:

Since you didn't put down the black plastic mulch before setting up your low row cover, you might want to spray the outside of the water jugs you'll be using for thermal mass with a flat black paint. If you have it on hand you could do it tonight... That way they'll be ready for you to put out tomorrow and will absorb the maximum amount of heat before the sun goes down. Just a thought...

Jeff H · Feb 25, 2014

Alright. Peppers.

won't be long now.

I'm guessing the bigger plants are all plenty hardened off by now. They look like they are really enjoying their time outside.

I like Rick's idea of painting the water bottles black. That 2 I'll collect a decent amount of heat.

OCD Chilehead · Feb 25, 2014

I wish my season last through November. Mine will be for Fall use. First frost anytime in October. I think you will do well this year. Good luck. I hate cold fronts.

MeatHead1313 · Feb 25, 2014

Congrats on the pods Scott! And beautiful pic of the aji crystal flower.

Devv · Feb 25, 2014

Solem22 said:
Congrats on your first pods! Looks like things are moving right along for you

Thanks!

We're getting closer to the real dirt day! I can't wait!

JJJessee said:
Podzacious!
And a beautiful Bactuum flower.

We're getting that cold front too, back to 50 by Friday they say.
Wind plus cold is what really works plants over, so you should be good in hoop house if the real cold is just a few hours.
I put up little 4x6 hoop outside my grow room in the back yard. By the weekend I should be able to let the onions see what they think of it.

Thanks JJJ!

This a real quickie as far as cold fronts go. Tomorrow goes to 48° with the low of 35-36°, which means 40° for us I hope.

Your Onions will love the hoop house!

stickman said:
Lookin' good Scott... flowers and PODS! That's a big bonus...

Since you didn't put down the black plastic mulch before setting up your low row cover, you might want to spray the outside of the water jugs you'll be using for thermal mass with a flat black paint. If you have it on hand you could do it tonight... That way they'll be ready for you to put out tomorrow and will absorb the maximum amount of heat before the sun goes down. Just a thought...

Thanks Rick!

The pods were surprises, but aside from bug inspections and watering, they've been on their own. Just not enough hours in the day.

I never even finished putting out the 1 gal jugs, I stayed home today, a bit under the weather, slept a lot..I think we'll be fine. The soil temps have to be way up there with 11-12 days of 70's and 80's. My climate is way warmer than yours, so I'm banking on that.

Jeff H said:
Alright. Peppers. won't be long now.

I'm guessing the bigger plants are all plenty hardened off by now. They look like they are really enjoying their time outside.

I like Rick's idea of painting the water bottles black. That 2 I'll collect a decent amount of heat.

The larger ones are fully hardened, and show the wear and tear of the process. But the new growth looks fine and they are ready to rock! I just hopw the weather holds and I don't have to keep them in more than a few days until they hit the dirt.

OCD Chilehead said:
I wish my season last through November. Mine will be for Fall use. First frost anytime in October. I think you will do well this year. Good luck. I hate cold fronts.

Yes, we are in 2 different worlds regarding climate. Late April-May could have us in the 100's, hope not, but this year I think we can work around it.

MeatHead1313 said:
Congrats on the pods Scott! And beautiful pic of the aji crystal flower.

Thanks Chris!

My first Baccatum flower, they sure are pretty! Next I want to see a purple one! May be a while..

So here are the hoops, battened down for now:

The first Asparugus are coming up. Never have grown these before. The hog panel? The morning after setting up the raised bed and planting Otis was on top, dirt a flyin', his head 18"s in the hole he'd dug. Bad doggy!

A few of the Peach trees are brave, flowering early, hope the weather hangs and we get Peaches. I have a wide variety of trees with differing cool hour rates, so we can get something...yeah, the birds will get them, but we try