Devv's 2015 - 16, Life is good!

Sawyer · Feb 8, 2015

They grow up so fast...

That's interesting you mention it being the coldest winter you've seen there. Here, only one state away, it's been one of the milder winters (so far... knock on wood). It's only been down close to 10ªF once and hasn't been in single digits at all. Last year we had two spells of near-0ºF temps.

capsidadburn · Feb 8, 2015

I feel like it started out early as being a really cold looking winter, but has since revealed itself to have more bark than bite in my area. Even my Cedar allergies are minimal this season, knock on nearest faux wood available! There is still plenty of time for the cold to show itself though.

I sure do not miss those single digit temps! Growing up in Joplin and living a few years in Lawrence, Ks. I got my fill! :tear:

Devv · Feb 8, 2015

Pepper Ridge Farm said:
Yes very beautiful plants and much farther along than I first thought. They look good in their new shoes and growing leaps and bounds, very pretty plants this early in the season. Stay vigilant with the aphids and let's hope some natural predators decides to take care of them for you. I have never used a shade cloth before but that seems like a really ingenious way to harden off the plants. Roots look very healthy and I agree not to let the get too root bound before potting up. I have pulled mature plants at the end of the season and knock off the dirt and you can still see the shape of the solo cup in the roots. Your well on your way to another great season my friend, your plants look great!

Thanks Cappy!

I'm watching them closely! Those plants were sown 7 weeks ago today. Due to travel plans I started a bit later than normal this year. I also pushed them a bit harder, bottom watering with a mix of 1oz. of fish emulsion and 1oz. seaweed extract to 2.75 gallons of water. All the water is collected rain water.

I used the shade cloth last year and it worked great. Might as well use what you have

I put up the shade cloth late May early June depending on the weather. Putting them in the trailer helps some with the wind, it's been blowing pretty good here the last few days.

JoynersHotPeppers said:
Looking so green and amazing!

Thanks Chris!

maximumcapsicum said:
Plants look fantastic Scott! Nice use of the grow cloth and local conditions. It's cool to see how you set up and adapt your grow. They're gonna be stretchin up soon. They gonna pose in front of the pool this year?

Thanks Adam!

Oh yeah, pool pics next weekend

Sawyer said:
They grow up so fast...

That's interesting you mention it being the coldest winter you've seen there. Here, only one state away, it's been one of the milder winters (so far... knock on wood). It's only been down close to 10ªF once and hasn't been in single digits at all. Last year we had two spells of near-0ºF temps.

Yes they do

They are doing real well despite the Aphid attack.

But that one state away is a long way from me

We finally have seasonal weather for most of the week. I would love to NOT have another cold front blow in until fall. Normally we get a cold front every 2-3 weeks, and they last 3 days. It's been cold here (our cold, highs in the 40's) for 7 weeks. With less than 10 days of nice weather.

capsidadburn said:
I feel like it started out early as being a really cold looking winter, but has since revealed itself to have more bark than bite in my area. Even my Cedar allergies are minimal this season, knock on nearest faux wood available! There is still plenty of time for the cold to show itself though.

I sure do not miss those single digit temps! Growing up in Joplin and living a few years in Lawrence, Ks. I got my fill!

We're on the North side of a ridge that's close to 200' above town, so It's windy here, especially when it's out of the North. This is my fist year of Cedar issues, it's been horrible!

yeah looking at the pics from up North, and they just keep getting slammed. I made the right decision bailing from New York in 78!

Glad you're having a mild year!

I spent another 3 or 4 hours potting up plants to the 1 gallon pots. I have 36 pepper plants in 1 gallons, and 18 tomato plants. I have more but they're not ready yet. Definitely a reduced grow this season, which is good. The work load should be more manageable

The first Asparagus shoot broke through yesterday, a good sign! This year we get to eat some...yum! The cattle panels are there because my dogs like to jump up in the raised beds and dig, bad doggies!

Got a bhut load of Onions in the ground, and planted way, way too many. I could fill the whole garden! Gonna try and find homes for them tomorrow.

The wood on the ground is for the sun shade frame expansion. I had such plans for what I wanted to get accomplished this weekend, but we had company yesterday. The good thing is the girl child moved out yesterday, so it's just me and LB again....yes!

TrentL · Feb 8, 2015

Damnit I *knew* - I just *knew* that you'd already have plants in the ground.

I just put my seeds in the starter pods today - but here you are, 10 long pages in to your 2015 Glog already.

I haven't read through yet but wanted to drop by and say hi!

Will read through the rest in a bit.

thirdcoasttx · Feb 8, 2015

I hate aphids!!!! The ants brought em around my plants last year, so next weekend I'm going to go spread ant killer outside. How long you figure before plant out? Seems we've had a light winter so far, I'm getting the itch to put em outside. As always looking good Scott hope you got those bastard aphids under control.

organic pepper · Feb 8, 2015

That's looking awesome Scott! You've been busy this week. Digging that asparagus! One day I'll give that a shot myself. I sure buy enough of it as is. Dont they take like 2 to 3 yrs for the crown to fully develope? Never tried growing them. Cheers pal.

cone9 · Feb 8, 2015

Lookin' good, Scott. Glad you got a handle on the aphid issue.

You gotta' love those asparagus sprouts. It wasn't easy but I resisted cutting any of mine last year. I'm hoping to be well rewarded for my self discipline!

Jeff H · Feb 8, 2015

Looks great Scott. Onions and asparagus, nice. . :party:

You'll have peppers in the dirt soon enough.

TrentL · Feb 8, 2015

OK I got caught up.

Very nice looking peppers, man!

On the used potting soil do you do anything specific to treat it (to get rid of any potential pests) or do you just whack the clumps on a screen and sift in to a bucket?

I've got to re-use some of the potting soil this year from my 5 gallon cloth pots, on my sprouts. But I'm worried that 3 months for them to grow indoors in that soil will be more than long enough to hatch anything in that soil that's been outdoors for the better part of the year.

I fought aphids BAD last winter and didn't overwinter this year, hoping to keep my sprouts for 2015 clean and clear.

Pulpiteer · Feb 8, 2015

Man, asparagus shooting up already... I'm a bit jealous.

stickman · Feb 9, 2015

Devv said:
Yeah Aphids do suck

Ooh... bad pun... no biscuit!

Hi Randy,

I've learned that pepper plants seem to be an Aphid favorite. I've never seen one on a tomato plant to this day; but have seen them on the Peach trees.

Oh, I intend to prevail!

The aphids seem to like some peppers more than others too... they really love my Manzano, and will pass by other varieties to infest that one! Good luck Scott!

Nice timing on the repotting too! You're really on the ball mr. P! :party:

PaulG · Feb 9, 2015

Out of likes according to the positivity police,
but everything looks great, Scott.
Your garden plot is money.

beerbreath81 · Feb 9, 2015

sorry to hear bout the ahpids, good on ya for acting fast, sounds like you got em under control. They look great soakin up the sun. The garden looks great too Scott, can see the hard work that went into that spot. The jar of "REAPER JUICE" looks intimidating :onfire:

Devv · Feb 9, 2015

TrentL said:
Damnit I *knew* - I just *knew* that you'd already have plants in the ground.

I just put my seeds in the starter pods today - but here you are, 10 long pages in to your 2015 Glog already.

I haven't read through yet but wanted to drop by and say hi!

Will read through the rest in a bit.

Hi Trent!

Good to see ya!

I've had "stuff" growing all winter; it rarely hard freezes here so the cool weather plants do OK.

thirdcoasttx said:
I hate aphids!!!! The ants brought em around my plants last year, so next weekend I'm going to go spread ant killer outside. How long you figure before plant out? Seems we've had a light winter so far, I'm getting the itch to put em outside. As always looking good Scott hope you got those bastard aphids under control.

You and me both! I never saw them until I started growing so many peppers. They sure do love to hit the peppers :tear:

organic pepper said:
That's looking awesome Scott! You've been busy this week. Digging that asparagus! One day I'll give that a shot myself. I sure buy enough of it as is. Dont they take like 2 to 3 yrs for the crown to fully develope? Never tried growing them. Cheers pal.

Thanks Aaron!

I stay busy

but this last week was crazy! I came home to 80° today and drooping peppers. I took advantage of the doggie pool, a 4' round rig that holds a bhut load of plants. In fact I still have some soaking. Some are stubborn about getting to the proper weight.

Correct on the Asparagus, this season is number 2, so we get to eat a few

. Next spring we can do a real harvest.

cone9 said:
Lookin' good, Scott. Glad you got a handle on the aphid issue.

You gotta' love those asparagus sprouts. It wasn't easy but I resisted cutting any of mine last year. I'm hoping to be well rewarded for my self discipline!

Thanks Dave!

And they should come back really strong this spring. I clipped them flush as they died back and covered them with an inch of soil.

Jeff H said:
Looks great Scott. Onions and asparagus, nice. .

You'll have peppers in the dirt soon enough.

Thanks Jeff!

In 3 weeks corn and what not gets directly sown, weather permitting. I'll watch the 10 day.
Peppers to be planted after March 15th, that too depending on the 10 day at that date.

TrentL said:
OK I got caught up.

Very nice looking peppers, man!

On the used potting soil do you do anything specific to treat it (to get rid of any potential pests) or do you just whack the clumps on a screen and sift in to a bucket?

I've got to re-use some of the potting soil this year from my 5 gallon cloth pots, on my sprouts. But I'm worried that 3 months for them to grow indoors in that soil will be more than long enough to hatch anything in that soil that's been outdoors for the better part of the year.

I fought aphids BAD last winter and didn't overwinter this year, hoping to keep my sprouts for 2015 clean and clear.

Thanks Trent!

And yes just screened it. No grubs, which was my main worry. I'm using rain water with mosquito dunks to bottom water. 95% of the used soil was from 2 huge pots, like 40 gallons each, that held strawberries. We moved them to a raised bed a few months ago.

I know Annie actually cooked hers in some sort of outdoor rig to kill bad guys. The way I see it is they go in the dirt soon, and then for the most part have to fend for themselves. That and they somehow became infested with Aphids in a newly prepared room that's never had plants in it before. I still have more to learn about the Aphid life cycle

Pulpiteer said:
Man, asparagus shooting up already... I'm a bit jealous.

Your time will come soon, we're just on different schedules

You'll be pulling loads of peppers as I pull up my plants in late summer.

stickman said:
The aphids seem to like some peppers more than others too... they really love my Manzano, and will pass by other varieties to infest that one! Good luck Scott!

Nice timing on the repotting too! You're really on the ball mr. P!

Thanks Rick!

LOL on the pun, I didn't even realize it

I feel the plants are most vulnerable to infestation when they are all crowded together under the lights. Now that I'm bringing them outside this week I fear the dreaded mite attacks I've had in the past. This year I have them on the driveway in the trailer, so maybe I'll be spared. Once they get a little larger they pretty much can shrug them off. Unless things get crazy.

PaulG said:
Out of likes according to the positivity police,
but everything looks great, Scott.
Your garden plot is money.

Thanks Paul!

It's a labor of love, I just love to stay busy.

beerbreath81 said:
sorry to hear bout the ahpids, good on ya for acting fast, sounds like you got em under control. They look great soakin up the sun. The garden looks great too Scott, can see the hard work that went into that spot. The jar of "REAPER JUICE" looks intimidating

Thanks Anthony!

The garden is almost where I want it, it takes a while to get the soil to the proper tilth and loaded with natural nutrients. I'm close!

Yeah, I made some Reaper puree a while back, simply evil!

Peter S · Feb 9, 2015

Those plants are looking awesome in the new pots!

JJJessee · Feb 9, 2015

Wow, Asparagus! Already. I got about 7 weeks to go.
Glad the aphids were put in check. I tried neem oil on mine a time or two last year, but I'm not so sure but a gentle but good scrub with plain water would have done just as good. When a warm spell came I set them out and ladybugs, but especially hoverfly cleaned house in short order.
Those onions look fine. With your irrigation and some additional feeding you'll have some whoopers. And they will dry good in your climate.
And your plants look great!

ronaldo_fanbelt · Feb 9, 2015

Another epic grow. I can't wait to see this full tilt.

Devv · Feb 10, 2015

Peter S said:
Those plants are looking awesome in the new pots!

Thanks Peter!

I've been really pleased with the progress so far, and I haven't killed any yet

Although the last 2 days I come home and a few look horrible. They're outside under shade cloth. They need to suck it up and move on!

JJJessee said:
Wow, Asparagus! Already. I got about 7 weeks to go.
Glad the aphids were put in check. I tried neem oil on mine a time or two last year, but I'm not so sure but a gentle but good scrub with plain water would have done just as good. When a warm spell came I set them out and ladybugs, but especially hoverfly cleaned house in short order.
Those onions look fine. With your irrigation and some additional feeding you'll have some whoopers. And they will dry good in your climate.
And your plants look great!

Thanks JJJ!

Spring is close! Just three weeks and (weather permitting) maters and ground sown plants go in. Fingers are crossed!

The peppers were simply loaded with Aphids, 95% were under the leaves with just a few to show me some sign.

Boy, I planted way to many Onion seeds! Friday I bring in the remainder and give them away, got some takers...

ronaldo_fanbelt said:
Another epic grow. I can't wait to see this full tilt.

Thanks for stopping by Ronaldo!

Devv · Feb 15, 2015

I've been slacking with this glog this year, Mountain Cedar (Juniper) has been kicking my tail. Between coughing my brains out, all I want to do is sleep.

Got a surprise rain this morning, caught me off guard. I had the tractor, mower, tiller, and the shredder out expecting to use them today.

Did a final till on the area where we plant potatoes yesterday and got them planted. I can't remember ever planting on the bottom of the garden, but the soil is easier to work

Manzano, only one I have running. I think it's looking good for us just leaving it there where it sat all summer. We've had a couple of frosts and it doesn't care. Maybe it will set some fruit soon

A couple of the Peach trees are flowering. I have a variety of trees with different chill rates (14 or 15). You never know what the weather will do here, so if these flowers drop later this week, others will kick in.

Group shot, you can see the Aphid damage on a few, but they seem to be gone :party:

The tomatoes want some dirt and now! They grew like 5"s in a week. When I put them in the 1 gallon pots I sunk them down low after trimming the leaves. The original peat pellet is 2"s from the bottom of the pot.

Pimenta Lisa, I just love the color of this plant. It got new shoes yesterday.

Isabell Island Hab, another striking plant. Note the Aphid scars...

Brazilian Starfish reaching for the sky. a really nice plant!

That's all I have for now.

Thanks for reading...

Runescape · Feb 15, 2015

Whoa, awesome pics and plants...