Devv's Dirt Grow-Almost done..

Weekend March 2-3:
I’ve been working on the garden for years; it was dormant for a few years (like 10) while I changed careers. The base soil if you want to call it that is sand. I added heavy black dirt to the upper 2/3 years ago; I’ve since added heavy red dirt (clay ) to half of the lower 1/3. For two years straight I’ve added 4”s of compost to the upper 2/3 and this year 4”s to the bottom 1/3. I clean horse pens for the free manure; kitchen waste is added to the compost. Our property is on a slope and heavy rains cause erosion problems. Above the garden the land is heavily terraced to divert water runoff.
Finished concreting the base of the fence, used 22 80lb bags, the Waskily Wabbits should be done, until they find another way in. They have been a real menace! I tried a hot wire system, it was not too effective and killed birds and squirrels; I didn’t like that.

Planted the Onions January 15th, Garlic was planted September 15th. They took a beating with the 30mph winds, 55 mph gusts last Monday.

Tilled and my wife planted corn, cukes, watermelons, bush beans and cantelope.

Bush Beans above

Cukes, and Melons behind the Rosemary above.

Corn below.

I started these the first week of January; I think I got carried away.

The Potatoes, planted February 15th are coming up. I planted then 8”s deep and I keep covering them up, and will do so until the ground is level where planted.

Never ending mulch pile.

Hmmm.. too many images...

 

[Devv]

Well carnage is going on in garden land, the tomatoes that are coming out of the cages are just folding over in the wind. Peppers are looking like kites in the wind. Chris I feel yer pain...We had close to a 40 degree drop from yesterday to this morning, we're not out of the woods yet.

Global warming? Not this year!

I was going to drop some of the hots in the dirt until I saw the forecast, glad I didn't.

I have 10 5 gal buckets lined up, standard pickle buckets, a buck a piece. I plan on drilling drainage holes, hoping these will suffice as I've dropped enough coin into this years garden.

I've never used any containers for growing peppers before, I have to many for the space left in the garden. I fear for their lives....

Lowes has MG Moisture Control potting soil on sale this weekend, I've read that some have had good results with this product...but this is me we're talking about..

 

[WalkGood]

Was just about to hit “like this” and then I read the word “carnage” dam that sucks brethren. Wicked weather you guys have, high winds, 80° during the day with lows in the 40°s at night wow. Any way you can rig up wind deflectors, plant near walls or fence that may help your peppers beat dat wind? I feel for ya, it drives me nuts when I see a pod blow off :/

What the hell, I'm going back to hit “like this” anyway, it’ll give ya some points

 

[annie57]

Blue norther or just "spring," Scott? I'm really sorry, but I bet stuff bounces back. We hit 87 here today. They've changed forecast, Sat. night to only 47, so the stuff in little greenhouse will be okay . . . and I think the 5 gal buckets will work. I'm kinda stuck with same MGMControl but gonna do a trial of a 5-1-1-1 mix with it in containers only . (Also some 5 gal buckets, some nursery pots.) I have 0 experience with peppers in containers, really. I plant a few cayenne for my mother in containers every year but . . . if you discover some magic trick on those, PM me, okay? Am sorry about weird weather, but I think they'll come back, maybe stronger and good call on not burying the hots! I honestly think it'll be okay, but that's a lot of work and hope, and work, damnit. Very strange weather! Much peace and am really crossing fingers for ya, hon.

 

[StupidJerk]

Looking good. I've not spent much time here lately so I haven't seen a lot of these great newer grow logs. You clearly know what you're doing. You'll be swimming in peppers and tomatoes soon. While your environment might be a little harsher than mine, I'm sure jealous of all the land you have to work with.

 

[DesertChris]

Last year, before we put tight weave shadecloth on the west garden fence, I actually had 2 serranos have every single leaf stripped off em in the wind!!

Stupid wind

It blew crazy hard here for 5 days straight..... finally calmed down today.
One day it was up to 85mph recorded gusts...yikes... and around 70mph consistently!
I was very glad the plants are still on the porch where they were nicely sheltered

But dang...that wind was so noisy for so long, it was starting to give me a headache! LOL

 

[WalkGood]

Not sure if you'd think me crazy but click here to get a basic idea of what I was talking about when I said inground "wind deflector" if you're plants are not protected by fence, wall or house. I'm not sure if your like me and look for scrap wood that's being tossed at construction sites for some free projects, but if you can get it for free it might be worth testing out a few designs to foil the wind upward. Although at the speeds you're talking about it better be very strong and secure or it would just be a dangerous projectile :0

 

[Devv]

Was just about to hit “like this” and then I read the word “carnage” dam that sucks brethren. Wicked weather you guys have, high winds, 80° during the day with lows in the 40°s at night wow. Any way you can rig up wind deflectors, plant near walls or fence that may help your peppers beat dat wind? I feel for ya, it drives me nuts when I see a pod blow off :/

What the hell, I'm going back to hit “like this” anyway, it’ll give ya some points

Well I just spent the last 90 minutes catching up in the garden, it's gonna make it, it's just uhhh a bit ruffled

Put the maties back in their cages as best a I could and watered.

Blue norther or just "spring," Scott? I'm really sorry, but I bet stuff bounces back. We hit 87 here today. They've changed forecast, Sat. night to only 47, so the stuff in little greenhouse will be okay . . . and I think the 5 gal buckets will work. I'm kinda stuck with same MGMControl but gonna do a trial of a 5-1-1-1 mix with it in containers only . (Also some 5 gal buckets, some nursery pots.) I have 0 experience with peppers in containers, really. I plant a few cayenne for my mother in containers every year but . . . if you discover some magic trick on those, PM me, okay? Am sorry about weird weather, but I think they'll come back, maybe stronger and good call on not burying the hots! I honestly think it'll be okay, but that's a lot of work and hope, and work, damnit. Very strange weather! Much peace and am really crossing fingers for ya, hon.

Annie, late Northers, way late, 4 or 5 since the first week of March...

My first time with containers as well, trying the MG stuff cuz I'm...well... unprepared. I don't have anything else ready and no time to hunt for what I really want to do. Plus it's on sale...always a good thing.

I guess we'll be sharing container growing this year

Looking good. I've not spent much time here lately so I haven't seen a lot of these great newer grow logs. You clearly know what you're doing. You'll be swimming in peppers and tomatoes soon. While your environment might be a little harsher than mine, I'm sure jealous of all the land you have to work with.

Thanks for the compliments!

I've been doing most of this a long time but am learning a ton of new tricks visiting all these fantastic glogs. Before this year it was buy seedlings, plant, water, weed, and harvest. I feel like a whole new dimension has opened up.

Last year, before we put tight weave shadecloth on the west garden fence, I actually had 2 serranos have every single leaf stripped off em in the wind!!

Stupid wind

It blew crazy hard here for 5 days straight..... finally calmed down today.
One day it was up to 85mph recorded gusts...yikes... and around 70mph consistently!
I was very glad the plants are still on the porch where they were nicely sheltered

But dang...that wind was so noisy for so long, it was starting to give me a headache! LOL

Chris, I can't wait to see your garden planted, but from what you say your weather is like it's gonna be crazy.

So when the wind tears your hard work up I'll definitely feel your pain.

Here's to warmer, not hotter, or windy weather nation wide!

Not sure if you'd think me crazy but click here to get a basic idea of what I was talking about when I said inground "wind deflector" if you're plants are not protected by fence, wall or house. I'm not sure if your like me and look for scrap wood that's being tossed at construction sites for some free projects, but if you can get it for free it might be worth testing out a few designs to foil the wind upward. Although at the speeds you're talking about it better be very strong and secure or it would just be a dangerous projectile :0

Not crazy!

I have to read up on the subject this weekend. Thanks for the suggestion.

I already have wind material on two sides but the upper portion, the South end still gets wind because of the higher elevation. After the winds two weeks ago the wife and I put up scrap plywood (glad I'm a packrat) on the North side of the sunshade structure. This helped but we still get wind, 20mph steady and gusting to 30 for 12 hours gets rough. I've never experienced what Chris goes through, but this is the first year of sustained winds so often after the last frost day.

I have to go, I'm bottom watering the hots, they're dry. Dirt day for them is Saturday!

'Yall have a good one and keep up those great glogs I love to visit.

Scott

 

[Devv]

Today I decided to plant some of the "hotties" in the garden, they're still lootle but hopefully they will take off and run.

This is the largest one a Reaper about 2 months since hooking in a 6" pot.

It had a decent root system..

These Poblano's should have hit the dirt a couple of weeks ago, but every time I looked at the weather a front was rolling our way.

Here's today's dirt venture, furthest way on the right the Poblano's, in the same row 4 Red Caribbean's. Center furthest away a Yellow Banana, 4 Reapers with a Red Caribbean (3rd Chinense) I mixed in. Hell I didn't even have a beer yet...on the left 2 Cayenne's and 4 Orange Habs. Not the best pic but I tried to get all of them in one shot. On the far left and right are the mixed Bell, Jalapeno's (hot and mild) all mixed up. Got some Marigold's mixed in there hoping for some good Juju...

Went to San Antonio today, I hate going there, the drivers suck. Ask Shane he's lived in rural Tejas and knows how people "should drive, but I still have the New Yorker driving skills when I need them ( and used some today....just hate to go there...
Anyways... rambling again...who me?
Picked up some of that MG stuff. The driveway is a way's from the garden and I have no back left after leaning over cars for 25 years...so I used Mr. Deere. Thank the Lord my wife and son talked me into buying this little guy.

Potted up a few I wish to isolate for seeds next year, like I know how to grow anything in a pot. I think they're doomed...but I'll give it a try.

Here's a young Reaper who's really confused. Was born a helmet head, I intervened and saved his life, well that's my side of the story. He'd probably taken care of his sh!t on his own....but you know. He set his first true leaves and just stopped for like 2 weeks. I'm like hellooooo, knock, knock are you there? Well he did some weird stuff and decided to grow twin nodes from just above the cotties, so now he has 4 branches. OK he's still going. Who know's he may kick some real ass this year. Time will tell. Pic is not the greatest, I even have trouble seeing what he's doing with my face in his...

I also up potted a Bhut and a Primo, albeit prematurely, but what the heck? Don't know which is which at the moment, I'd have to go outside and look....does it matter at this stage?

There's not as much wild life around here as I thought there would be when we moved here 24 years ago, but the last few weeks we have been hearing Turkeys (uh Turkles according to me) and a few have come close, but dang they are hard to shoot (with a camera dang it), as soon as I move they haul butt. This one is about 175 yards away, about the max for my 10 year old D60.

In closing here's the wife's almost famous Pineapple. It looks like every one of the "nodes"? is going to have a flower. Oh, and spiderman visited...

"Yall have a great weekend and pray for warm, not hot, not windy weather.

Thanks for coming by,

Scott

 

[sicman]

looking good i be digging ol frakenstein.

 

[WalkGood]

Random crazy ¯\(º_o)/¯ WalkGood thoughts notes bullets from his PC computer lappy:

• Reaper looking good awesome, can’t wait to see her looking mean with hot pods and whoa super nice looking roots on her ^_^
• Good call on dem Poblano’s, they look like they were outgrowing their pots. How were the roots on them?
• Great looking “today’s venture” picture, love the look ^_^
• MG MC, you’ll have to document an analysis of nutrients, contaminant content, composition, acidity or pH level, fertility of the soil, indicate nutrient deficiencies, potential essential or non-essential trace minerals, ROFLMAO just tell us how you like it, hehe.
• Wow that young Reaper with four branches looks very cool … take good care of dat girl, I gotta good feeling about her!
• Great color on the Bhut & Primo, I’ve done that premature up potting … saves you time later on, hehe
• Nice shot of the Wild Turkey, I’d probably be shooting with other than a camera
• Pineapple is looking good great, bet you can’t wait … I know I can’t wait to have mine sucking up water rum after it’s picked No new slips on my end but I’m guessing I should eventually get a few again. Just when you want to stop growing these cause they’re so inexpensive at market and they take up pepper space you get a few slips to pull you right back into growing more and more, lolz
• Love the place, everything looks great … keep up dat great grow ...
• Hat’s off mon \o_ and have a great weekend!

 

[stickman]

Good luck connecting with a shotgun if they know you're there Ramon... They may have a brain the size of a peanut, but they have excellent eyesight and a cynical nature. They can literally spot the blink of an eye through brush at 50 meters, and from personal experience, they know the difference between a fly rod and a long arm.

Scott, you got corn up already?!! I don't think you'll have any problems with your chiles... Nice...

 

[DocNrock]

Scott, sorry to hear about the hella wind! At least it sounds like it has died down some. Haven't driven in San Antonio, but here in the "Inland Empire" of So Cal, the drivers are absolutely awful, so I can empathize completely. Your garden plot looks great!

Regarding container grows, this is my first full season and I have everything in containers. I think you will do just fine. The MG soil should have all the nutes you need for some time, and the moisture control will help buffer the over/under watering thing. To me, the most difficult part about containers is watering, as it is very easy to over or under water. You'll get it sorted in short order, I'm sure.

Can't wait to see pics of your grow in full swing. I bet those plants will get huge in that great soil you have there.

 

[annie57]

Scott, soil looks gorgeous, man, esp. since winds were beyond rough down that way, recently! (I start there as plants have to have foundation to root: you've done well with that soil! Hard work!) Nice Carib Reds, Primos, let me know how the CAROLINA Reaper tastes: you guys always stealing stuff from us: you stole Mack Brown from Carolina, Rick Barnes is from Hickory, 20 minutes from here, and you can have Coach "G" in women's basketball from dook. BUT the taste of yours might be better than the couple I tried down near Chesnee, S.C. T'were a tad bitter: hot as f**&*&^ though! I should amend this entire thing: South ain't NORTH Carolina: the Reaper was developed in S.C.! (Who am I foolin'? ) Beautiful, beautiful plants and again, bro, LOVE that soil!!!

For those of you who don't know what soil down that way looks like, works with (or doesn't) "in the raw," ya'll lookin' at a miracle! Speaking of miracles, keep me posted, on MGMC. It goes on sale next week, I think at Lowe's; could have gotten it yest. at Home Depot but fixied 'rent's anniversary meal. LOVE the arrow shafts, dude.

"Wild Turkles among the Mesquite, Darlin.'" Sounds like a good two step song. Plot: drunk cowboy goes out to shoot turkeys but instead, gets him some nice, chopped mesquite for smoking brisket: the cow was slower mover, esp. being milked, as was de wife. "It may not be the intelligent way, but it's the cowboy way!" Riders in the Sky, "Ranger Doug"

Again, just gorgeous stuff, Scott!!

 

[Devv]

looking good i be digging ol frakenstein.

Thanks for the compliments!

Frankenstein does save me some $$$, charcoal has gotten crazy.

Best thing was it was all scrap materials, sucker sure is heavy.

Random crazy ¯\(º_o)/¯ WalkGood thoughts notes bullets from his PC computer lappy:

• Reaper looking good awesome, can’t wait to see her looking mean with hot pods and whoa super nice looking roots on her ^_^
• Good call on dem Poblano’s, they look like they were outgrowing their pots. How were the roots on them?
• Great looking “today’s venture” picture, love the look ^_^
• MG MC, you’ll have to document an analysis of nutrients, contaminant content, composition, acidity or pH level, fertility of the soil, indicate nutrient deficiencies, potential essential or non-essential trace minerals, ROFLMAO just tell us how you like it, hehe.
• Wow that young Reaper with four branches looks very cool … take good care of dat girl, I gotta good feeling about her!
• Great color on the Bhut & Primo, I’ve done that premature up potting … saves you time later on, hehe
• Nice shot of the Wild Turkey, I’d probably be shooting with other than a camera
• Pineapple is looking good great, bet you can’t wait … I know I can’t wait to have mine sucking up water rum after it’s picked No new slips on my end but I’m guessing I should eventually get a few again. Just when you want to stop growing these cause they’re so inexpensive at market and they take up pepper space you get a few slips to pull you right back into growing more and more, lolz
• Love the place, everything looks great … keep up dat great grow ...
• Hat’s off mon \o_ and have a great weekend!

Yeah, I can't wait to see the Reaper pods! Or any pods...

The Poblano's weren't really that root bound, I had to go and soak 'em just a while ago as they were drooping. We use the Pob's for cooking and I plan on drying some out for tamales, we have a killer recipe.

On the MG, have you seen JJ's analysis? I hoping I have the same success. Never have grown anything in pots before, can't hardly over water in the garden.

I'm thinking that Reaper is gonna be flat gnarly, time will tell. Good thing is it's healthy now, I haven't had much luck with helmet heads..

Ah the turkey, the back room as we call it is all windows, the turkeys can be in the field and we're sitting down, see a turkey, grab the camera, and they already have covered 75 to 100yds. They have been within 20 feet of the garden a few times but I can't get a close shot. All in all I prefer store bought turkey, ever clean one?

Pineapple and rum sounds good!

Thanks for coming by and paying a visit Bro.

Good luck connecting with a shotgun if they know you're there Ramon... They may have a brain the size of a peanut, but they have excellent eyesight and a cynical nature. They can literally spot the blink of an eye through brush at 50 meters, and from personal experience, they know the difference between a fly rod and a long arm.

Scott, you got corn up already?!! I don't think you'll have any problems with your chiles... Nice...

Would you believe I've shot several of them while bowhunting? You're right you can't move, blink, nothing.

I planted the corn the first weekend of March, gambled by two weeks and they made it. So far nothing is tearing them up, they should be going to tassel in a few weeks. Fresh garden picked corn is da bomb!

Thanks for visiting

Scott, sorry to hear about the hella wind! At least it sounds like it has died down some. Haven't driven in San Antonio, but here in the "Inland Empire" of So Cal, the drivers are absolutely awful, so I can empathize completely. Your garden plot looks great!

Regarding container grows, this is my first full season and I have everything in containers. I think you will do just fine. The MG soil should have all the nutes you need for some time, and the moisture control will help buffer the over/under watering thing. To me, the most difficult part about containers is watering, as it is very easy to over or under water. You'll get it sorted in short order, I'm sure.

Can't wait to see pics of your grow in full swing. I bet those plants will get huge in that great soil you have there.

Hella wind is supposed to return again this week, this a definitely a different year.

Yeah, the SA drive is different than the 7 mile drive to work here in Devine, you get used to the people waving as you go by. In SA you can't signal and move over, as you're warning them so they can shut the door...

Thanks for the compliments, except for the wind when these late fronts blow in conditions have been ideal. Unless something changes we should be good here..

I must say you've done very well with your container grow! Hopefully they will do OK. I have everything that's potted slated for garden dirt too. I'm hoping to get some true seeds out of the potted ones.

Thanks for coming by!

PS: 600+ hp in that GT-R is way cool!

Scott, soil looks gorgeous, man, esp. since winds were beyond rough down that way, recently! (I start there as plants have to have foundation to root: you've done well with that soil! Hard work!) Nice Carib Reds, Primos, let me know how the CAROLINA Reaper tastes: you guys always stealing stuff from us: you stole Mack Brown from Carolina, Rick Barnes is from Hickory, 20 minutes from here, and you can have Coach "G" in women's basketball from dook. BUT the taste of yours might be better than the couple I tried down near Chesnee, S.C. T'were a tad bitter: hot as f**&*&^ though! I should amend this entire thing: South ain't NORTH Carolina: the Reaper was developed in S.C.! (Who am I foolin'? ) Beautiful, beautiful plants and again, bro, LOVE that soil!!!

For those of you who don't know what soil down that way looks like, works with (or doesn't) "in the raw," ya'll lookin' at a miracle! Speaking of miracles, keep me posted, on MGMC. It goes on sale next week, I think at Lowe's; could have gotten it yest. at Home Depot but fixied 'rent's anniversary meal. LOVE the arrow shafts, dude.

"Wild Turkles among the Mesquite, Darlin.'" Sounds like a good two step song. Plot: drunk cowboy goes out to shoot turkeys but instead, gets him some nice, chopped mesquite for smoking brisket: the cow was slower mover, esp. being milked, as was de wife. "It may not be the intelligent way, but it's the cowboy way!" Riders in the Sky, "Ranger Doug"

Again, just gorgeous stuff, Scott!!

Annie,

When I know it's going to be windy I turn the wobblers on for about a hour, helps keeps the losses down.

Thanks for the compliments, I can't wait to see your plant out!

I would try some of the MG, JJ and Shane have had good results, and you can add to it. None of the potting sold today looks like it years ago. I guess the peat bogs are hurting, but this stuff looks pretty good! Those bags I got were $14 for 64 quarts and a bag filled 3 5gal containers with some left over.

LOL on the song

Those arrow shafts, they're the old ones from the 80's and 90's finely found a use for them. And they're reusable.

Thanks for coming by

Edit: you know why...

 

[buddy]

[sup]Very nice! Good luck on your 2013 growing season.[/sup]

 

[DesertChris]

Awesome!
Plants hitting the dirt

I am still afraid to put any in the ground, jist in case it gets cold again. Nights have hit the upper 30's a couple times recently.
Plants all stayed outside, but I was fretting about them.

I had the pleasure of clearing tumbleweeds from fencelines all weekend.... an added "bonus of the wind is gazzillions of tumbleweeds coming to visit....

 

[Devv]

[sup]Very nice! Good luck on your 2013 growing season.[/sup]

Thanks!

Awesome!
Plants hitting the dirt

I am still afraid to put any in the ground, jist in case it gets cold again. Nights have hit the upper 30's a couple times recently.
Plants all stayed outside, but I was fretting about them.

I had the pleasure of clearing tumbleweeds from fencelines all weekend.... an added "bonus of the wind is gazzillions of tumbleweeds coming to visit....

Oh, it's gonna get cold again here, one forecast is saying 42 on Friday night, I hope not, but the wind is coming back, grrrr. Never had a hard freeze this winter but the fronts keep rolling in, we have never to my recollection had this kind of weather this late in spring and it was 90 today and yesterday. Too weird.

After I tilled Sat. I put the last 3 bubblers in, gave the new plantings a soak this afternoon, in fact did the whole garden. The corn was curling and liked the water.

You'll get em in dirt soon enough...so the wind can work 'em..I guess. Hopefully your numbers will prevail!

 

[WalkGood]

I hope you know I was jesting about the MG testing analysis, yes I did see Carl's comparison and it's very great work he’s doing. His own soil isn't far behind and I am enjoying to follow as I do here. With a little tweaking he could probably save a bundle with his own mix. I think the fluffiness is critical to achieve via sifting …

Hope you dodge that cold bullet. Oh and I love bow hunting, when we were younger we even bow fished, talk about hard … seems the smart ones know its coming …

Keep up dat great grow and posted pics

 

[DesertChris]

Luckily the spots I chose for peppers this year seem to be well sheltered, so hopefully they thrive!

I am thinking of using habanero powder mixed in water and applied with a sprayer to abate the rabbits and squirrels.
Hopefully that will make them run for their lives!!

 

[Devv]

I hope you know I was jesting about the MG testing analysis, yes I did see Carl's comparison and it's very great work he’s doing. His own soil isn't far behind and I am enjoying to follow as I do here. With a little tweaking he could probably save a bundle with his own mix. I think the fluffiness is critical to achieve via sifting …

Hope you dodge that cold bullet. Oh and I love bow hunting, when we were younger we even bow fished, talk about hard … seems the smart ones know its coming …

Keep up dat great grow and posted pics

Oh, never even thought that. My deal this year is my lack of preparation to use containers, and I based my purchase on the wise words of those using it.

I bow hunted until 2009, when I lost my deer lease. I used to live for it, it was 40 minutes away and I went 6 days a week when I could. At one point I had a meat locker for week day hunts. Scored a few hogs and many deer. Never have tried to fish with a bow, the coast is like 3 hours away, no access to any other resources.

Luckily the spots I chose for peppers this year seem to be well sheltered, so hopefully they thrive!

I am thinking of using habanero powder mixed in water and applied with a sprayer to abate the rabbits and squirrels.
Hopefully that will make them run for their lives!!

I think you have the pepper game down with sheer numbers this year!

Squirrels harm your plants? Not here, they may look for acorns but have never damaged the crops. Wabbit's on the other hand gave me grief, but the new fence and concrete base solved that.

Now I'm worrying about the racoons, at least I think that's what is rummaging around my mulch pile. I just worry when the corn gets ready....